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Installer command-line options

The IDA installer can be used in a standard, interactive mode. It can also be run in an unattended mode (e.g., for automatic, non-interactive installation).

Available options

To get the list of available options, launch the installer with the --help argument. For example, here's the output on linux:

root@jfndilt2# ./ida-pro_93_x64linux.run --help
IDA Professional 9.3
Usage:

 --help                                      Display the list of valid options

 --version                                   Display product information

 --unattendedmodeui <unattendedmodeui>       Unattended Mode UI
                                             Default: none
                                             Allowed: none minimal minimalWithDialogs

 --optionfile <optionfile>                   Installation option file
                                             Default:

 --debuglevel <debuglevel>                   Debug information level of verbosity
                                             Default: 2
                                             Allowed: 0 1 2 3 4

 --mode <mode>                               Installation mode
                                             Default: gtk
                                             Allowed: gtk xwindow text unattended

 --debugtrace <debugtrace>                   Debug filename
                                             Default:

 --installer-language <installer-language>   Language selection
                                             Default: en
                                             Allowed: sq ar es_AR az eu pt_BR bg ca hr cs da nl en et fi fr de el he hu id it ja kk ko lv lt no fa pl pt ro ru sr zh_CN sk sl es sv th zh_TW tr tk uk va vi cy

 --prefix <prefix>                           Installation Directory
                                             Default: /opt/ida-pro-9.3

 --errortrace <errortrace>                   Error trace filename
                                             Default:

To run the installer in text (console) instead of GUI mode specify --mode text.

On Windows, the set of options is slightly different (and is shown in a GUI dialog instead of console):

In particular, --install_python option allows to enable the installation of the bundled Python3 (useful for machines without Python preinstalled). On Linux and Mac, the system-wide Python is presumed to be available.

After installing IDA (by any method), set up a Python virtual environment for IDAPython and plugins. A virtual environment avoids permission errors and package conflicts with the system Python.

Using the option file

Especially for unattended mode, you may need to specify multiple options (install path, Python version, installation password, etc.). Instead of passing them all on the command line, you can use the option file:

  1. Create a simple text file with a list of option=value lines. The option names are those from the usage screen without the leading --.

  2. Pass the filename to the installer using the --optionfile <filename> switch. For example, here’s a file for unattended install for Python 3:

Running Mac installer from the command line

Because the Mac installer is not a single binary but an app bundle, you need to pass arguments to the executable inside the bundle, for example:

Uninstaller options

The uninstaller options can be displayed with uninstall --help.

Linux uninstaller options are:

And for Windows:

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