[wpkg-users] Will WPKG uninstall software it did not install?

[Rainer Meier]

Hi Tomas,

> Someone did mention a /noremove switch though. I presume this makes WPKG
> not remove stuff, ever. Since I'm unlikely to want to remove stuff using
> wpkg, how can I use this switch or an equivalent configuration option?

I do not recommend to use this switch in production. Mainly due to the reason
that if you use this switch, then WPKG will also not remove software if this is
your intention. For example you might replace mail client X by mail client Y so
you remove mail client X from the profile and add mail client Y instead. If you
use the /noremove switch then WPKG will skip the uninstall commands for mail
client X and will therefore not remove it. This is especially a problem if mail
client Y conflicts with mail client X.

You might just use this option in a test environment first and have a look at
your event log or WPKG logs to check if WPKG "would" have executed any remove
instructions. If you are confident that it will not (and I promise it will not)
then remove the /noremove switch again.

The switch can either be attached to the command line instruction when wpkg.js
is invoked (typically by WPKG client) or set in config.xml.

I strongly recommend to set it in config.xml so you can switch off the noremove
option later without having to re-deploy new settings to your clients because
the switch is then only set on server side in config.xml and not stored on each
client.

br,
Rainer