Delivering a set of pre-packaged installers

[jon.m]

I have a set of pre-packaged installers (some are .exe, some are .msi and one of those has a Setup.exe file) I need to deliver and install using a single installation package. I'll want to apply verify some pre-conditions on the target machines.

Not being an installer builder of the Windows flavor, I'm hoping I can use InstallAware to pull this off.

What would be the best starting point using InstallAware?

So far, I've downloaded the trial version and generated a package placing just one of the installers within.

The scripting looks fairly intuitive.

My guess is that I need to "install the installers" and then "run" them from where they are placed. Should I just dig into the scripting? Or is there an out-of-the box solution for this?

Thanks, Jon

[CandiceJones]

That's a great question.

There's no need to install the installers. Yo can either add them as support files and access them from $SUPPORTDIR$, or use the File Bag plug-in to access them at runtime. Either way, the files will only be copied to the system while your master InstallAware setup is running, and they will be removed later on automatically, preventing the consumption of unnecessary disk space on the target system.

You can check for requirements using the various script commands, or the visal portions of the IDE. The visual IDE just emits script commands for you anyways, so you can review and customize and mimick as necessary

Finally, to run the setups, you can use the Run Program, Run Program As, and (Un)Install MSI Setup commands. You can use Read Registry, Is MSI Setup Installed to test if some setups have already been installed.

That should get you started!

[jon.m]

Some of the installers I'm bringing in include folders with additional files, though I'm not sure they're needed. While I'm checking on that, maybe you can tell me if there's a way to bring a folder and its contents as a Support File.


I've tried the File Bag plug-in and traced the folder variable to see if the files are present during a test run, but the folder identified by the variable isn't present, thus the files aren't there either.

Thanks for your help! Jon

[jon.m]

I see the "Extract 7Zip Archives" command...

I will try to 7Zip the files from these folders and add them to the Support Files, then Extract the files from there.

[CandiceJones]

Actually, the proper way is by using the File Bag command, if you have files and folders you wish to pack.

Be sure you define the variable that File Bag uses before the line that calls File Bag, and the files will be present in the folder pointed at by that variable at runtime. Note that the folder pointed to at runtime may change between each different build/run.

[jon.m]

The File Bag plug-in seems the answer since the files are cleaned up afterward.

Here's where I am:

Code: Select all

Set Variable WVLOC to

Define File Bag : D:\\....\\foldername\\*, include files recursively, get runtime location of files into variable WVLOC

(later on)

Code: Select all

Run Program $WVLOC$\\installer.exe

which hangs up during debug.

The WVLOC variable has the value (and I know this will change from run to run):

Code: Select all

C:\\Program Files\\InstallAware 6\\Plug-Ins\\File Bag\\bag

(Which I noticed was a read-only folder on my system -- changing the permissions had no effect).

Thanks much, Jon

[CandiceJones]

Hi Jon,

Just use the File Bag plug-in outside of a debug run (use it with a non-debug build). The plug-in will then work.

[jon.m]

That was the trick.

Now, if I can only get the originators of the original installers to tell me how I can turn off the "reboot" prompt (which I want to save to the end of the process).

Thanks, Jon