Midnight Commander is a visual file manager. This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of Midnight Commander from the command line using the EXE installer.
How to Install Midnight Commander Silently
Midnight Commander Silent Install (EXE)
- Navigate to: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mcwin32/files/latest/download
- Download the mcwin32-buildXXX-setup.exe to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command: mcwin32-buildXXX-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART
- Press Enter
After a few moments you will find Midnight Commander entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | GNU Midnight Commander |
| Vendor: | The Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| Architecture: | x86 |
| Installer Type: | EXE |
| Silent Install Switch: | mcwin32-buildXXX-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART |
| Silent Uninstall Switch (32-bit System) | "%ProgramFiles%\Midnight Commander\unins000.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART |
| Silent Uninstall Switch (64-bit System) | "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Midnight Commander\unins000.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART |
| Download Link: | https://sourceforge.net/projects/mcwin32/files/latest/download |
The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.
Additional Configurations
Create an Installation Log File
The Midnight Commander installer offers the option to generate a log file during installation to assist with troubleshooting should any problems arise. You can use the following command to create a verbose log file with details about the installation.
Midnight Commander Silent Install (EXE) with Logging
mcwin32-buildXXX-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART /LOG="%WINDIR%\Temp\MidnightCommander-Install.log" |
Change Default Installation Directory
You can also change the default installation directory by using the following command line parameters. In this example, I’m installing Midnight Commander to “C:\Midnight Commander”
mcwin32-buildXXX-setup.exe /DIR="C:\Midnight Commander" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART |
Include Desktop Shortcut During Install
The Midnight Commander installer does not create a desktop shortcut by default. If you want the desktop shortcut, then you can run the following command line switches to include it.
Midnight Commander Silent Install (EXE) with Desktop Shortcut
mcwin32-buildXXX-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART /MERGETASKS=desktopicon |
How to Uninstall Midnight Commander Silently
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Enter one of the following commands:
Midnight Commander Silent Uninstall (EXE) on 32-bit System
"%ProgramFiles%\Midnight Commander\unins000.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART |
Midnight Commander Silent Uninstall (EXE) on 64-bit System
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Midnight Commander\unins000.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART |
Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.