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Papercut-SMTP

Papercut SMTP -- The Simple Desktop Email Server

Papercut SMTP - Installation Guide

Quick Start

Interactive Installation

Simply double-click the Setup.exe file to start the interactive installer.

Command-Line Installation

The Setup.exe supports command-line parameters for automated/silent installations.

Installation Parameters

Parameter Short Description
--silent -s Run installation silently without prompts
--verbose -v Enable verbose logging output
--log <file> -l Write installation logs to specified file
--installto <dir> -t Specify custom installation directory
--help -h Display help information

Examples

Silent Installation

.\PapercutSMTP-win-x64-stable-Setup.exe --silent

Install to Custom Directory

.\PapercutSMTP-win-x64-stable-Setup.exe --installto "C:\Apps\PapercutSMTP"

Silent Install with Logging

.\PapercutSMTP-win-x64-stable-Setup.exe --silent --log "install.log"

View Help in PowerShell

Since Setup.exe is a GUI application, the help output won’t display directly in PowerShell/cmd. Use the --log parameter to save help output to a file:

.\PapercutSMTP-win-x64-stable-Setup.exe --help --log help.txt
type help.txt

Or use the included PowerShell helper script:

.\Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 -Help

Using the PowerShell Helper Script

A Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 script is included for easier installation from PowerShell:

# Show help
.\Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 -Help

# Interactive installation
.\Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1

# Silent installation
.\Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 -Silent

# Custom directory
.\Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 -InstallTo "C:\Apps\PapercutSMTP"

# Silent with logging
.\Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 -Silent -Log "install.log"

Unattended Installation (CI/CD)

For automated deployment scenarios:

# Download and install silently
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/ChangemakerStudios/Papercut-SMTP/releases/latest/download/PapercutSMTP-win-x64-stable-Setup.exe" -OutFile "Setup.exe"
.\Setup.exe --silent --log "install.log"

# Verify installation
if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
    Write-Host "Installation successful"
    type install.log
} else {
    Write-Error "Installation failed with exit code $LASTEXITCODE"
    type install.log
    exit $LASTEXITCODE
}

Troubleshooting

Help doesn’t show in console

This is expected behavior. Setup.exe is a GUI application that doesn’t attach to the console.

Solutions:

  1. Use --log parameter to save output to a file
  2. Use the Install-PapercutSMTP.ps1 PowerShell script
  3. Run from Git Bash or WSL where console attachment works differently

Installation fails silently

Enable logging to diagnose issues:

.\Setup.exe --silent --verbose --log "debug.log"

More Information

System Requirements