In my current job, I have to wrestle with getting a variety of software programs installed in a lab environment in a completely automated way. Some software makes this easier than others. Minitab used to be one of the easier ones, but with version 18 it has become a little harder.
As far as I can remember, when you silently installed Minitab 17 with a network license there was no need to register it on the first run. (I could be mistaken, but my notes from last year don’t indicate I had to do anything special.) With Minitab 18 you must register with an email address, first name, and last name on the first launch. I could almost handle this by including it in the image I capture, but I prefer to install small programs like this at the time of deployment.
After a bit of investigating and testing, I’ve found a way to get around this registration requirement on first launch. All you need to do is drop a file named License.ini in C:\ProgramData\Minitab with the following contents:
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[Minitab 18] EMail={enter email address here} firstName={enter a first name here} lastName={enter a last name here} |
That’s it. On first launch Minitab 18 will see these prepopulated items, fill in the remaining items, and move on as if it were already registered. I’m not sure if anything is case sensitive or if the blank lines are required, but I know what I’ve listed above works for me. The email address you enter should be of valid format but it doesn’t need to be an actual address. For example, [email protected] will work just fine. Here’s a sample completed file:
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[Minitab 18] EMail=computerlab@university.edu firstName=Computer lastName=Lab |
It was true for 17.21 but 17.3 asks registration. 🙁
I used to escape registration screen installing 17.21 and not installing minitab update
now. i will try this trick.
Thanks for the share! Needed this for a package build.
Glad it helped!
I have used this method for past few years, but this does not seem to work anymore in Minitab 20
@gerald
you have to add the following Line in the License.ini File:
registrationBypassed=TRUE
I’ve done it with the PDK:
Set-IniValue -FilePath “$envAllUsersProfile\Minitab\License.ini” -Section ‘Minitab 20’ -Key ‘registrationBypassed’ -Value ‘TRUE’
Works for me 🙂
Hi
Do you know what the batch file command be to suppress the Registration and Application Analytics windows on first run in version 21 could be? The installation includes the network license so we don’t need users to register.
(Not using PS yet, still learning!)
Thanks
Hi Dan,
I haven’t touched this since I originally wrote this up, so I’m not sure if it’s even relevant any more. Sorry I can’t help you here!