Silent Windows desktop distribution¶

Available on Entry, Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Advanced plans

You can distribute the official Windows desktop app silently to end users using the MSI installer, pre-configured with server URLs and settings. For comprehensive MSI installation options including Group Policy configuration, see the MSI installer and Group Policy guide.

Silent MSI installation¶

Download the latest Windows MSI installer from the Mattermost Desktop releases page on GitHub.
Move the MSI file to a shared location such as a file server with read-only permissions.
Use your software deployment tool (SCCM, Intune, PDQ Deploy, etc.) to deploy the MSI with silent installation parameters:

Silent install:
```
msiexec /i \\SERVER\shared_folder\mattermost-desktop-v6.1.0-x64.msi /qn
```

Pre-configuration with config.json¶

To pre-configure servers and settings, create a config.json file in the user’s Mattermost data directory before first launch:

Location: %APPDATA%\Mattermost\config.json

Example config.json:

{
  "version": 2,
  "teams": [
    {
      "name": "core",
      "url": "https://community.mattermost.com",
      "order": 0
    },
    {
      "name": "hq",
      "url": "https://hq.example.com",
      "order": 1
    }
  ],
  "showTrayIcon": true,
  "trayIconTheme": "light",
  "minimizeToTray": true,
  "notifications": {
    "flashWindow": 2,
    "bounceIcon": true,
    "bounceIconType": "informational"
  },
  "showUnreadBadge": true,
  "useSpellChecker": true,
  "enableHardwareAcceleration": true,
  "autostart": false,
  "spellCheckerLocale": "en-US",
  "darkMode": false
}

Batch script for silent install with pre-configuration:

rem Install Mattermost desktop app silently
msiexec /i \\SERVER\shared_folder\mattermost-desktop-v6.1.0-x64.msi /qn

rem Wait for installation to complete
timeout /t 10

rem Create config directory if it doesn't exist
if not exist "%APPDATA%\Mattermost" mkdir %APPDATA%\Mattermost

rem Copy pre-configured config.json
copy \\SERVER\shared_folder\config.json %APPDATA%\Mattermost\config.json

Windows App: Silently removing the app¶

The MSI installer can be silently uninstalled using:

msiexec /x {PRODUCT-CODE-GUID} /qn

To find the product code for your installed version:

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Mattermost*"} | Select-Object Name, IdentifyingNumber

Alternatively, uninstall by searching for the MSI file:

msiexec /x mattermost-desktop-v6.1.0-x64.msi /qn

Migration from EXE to MSI¶

Organizations currently using the Windows EXE installer must migrate to the MSI installer or Microsoft Store version:

Uninstall existing EXE version (if desired, optional):

%userprofile%\AppData\local\Programs\mattermost-desktop\Uninstall Mattermost.exe /currentuser /S

Install MSI version using silent installation commands above.
User data preservation: User settings and credentials are stored in %APPDATA%\Mattermost and will be preserved across the migration.

Note

The EXE installer will not receive v6.1.0 or later updates. Plan your migration accordingly.