Question: My team is attempting to perform an automated installation of Sitecore via [Salt](http://www.saltstack.com/) using the Sitecore executable. We prefer to use the .exe over a manual installation of the zip package because the installation wizard handles registering Sitecore as an installed program by modifying the registry. This would theoretically let Salt know that the "state" has been fulfilled.

When running the executable with the /? argument, the following list of options is displayed:

```
/? or /help : this help screen
/i : install (default)
/x : uninstall
/q : force silent (no UI) mode
/qb : force basic UI mode
/nq : force full UI mode
/nosplash : do not display splash screen
/Log : enable logging
/LogFile [path] : specify log file
/ConfigFile [path] : specify configuration file
/ExtractCab : extract embedded components
/DisplayCab : display a list of embedded components
/DisplayConfig : display a list of configurations
/ComponentArgs ["id|display_name":"value"...] : additional component args
/ControlArgs ["id":"value" ...] : additional control values
/CompleteCommandArgs [args] : additional complete command 

```

Despite our best efforts, we are unable to find documentation on these arguments apart from the descriptions above. I think what we're after is a way to provide a config file to the executable (using the `/ConfigFile` argument) that contains the following information:

* Install / uninstall
* Installation type (full / client-only)
* Instance name
* Database credentials

Running the `/DisplayConfig` command only displays language options and that's about it.

Does anyone know how to provide a config to the executable and/or pass it the arguments it needs?

Answer: 
I wrote a blog post about the issue of getting the Sitecore installer automated: 

<http://jermdavis.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/unattended-installs-of-sitecore/>

I think that might help you?
Are you tied to using that tool or are you open to others? My team has had pretty great results with the SIM tool which comes directly from the Sitecore Marketplace. It has command line functionality as well as an API for more trickier installation setups. I consider this a borderline magical utility for Sitecore :)

<https://marketplace.sitecore.net/en/Modules/Sitecore_Instance_Manager.aspx>