Dynamic script driven installer

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mark2015
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:41 pm

Dynamic script driven installer

Postby mark2015 » Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:52 pm

I have been looking through the forum for an idea on whether or not we can implement a script driven installer using Installaware. What we are wanting to do is have an installer that we can have our technicians "edit" in the field via xml file. Ideally we could setup the installer to be generic enough to accept whatever was placed in the file. For instance: we have pre-requisites, custom executables, potentially sql server installation and IIS websites. If there was a need for a technician to add or remove an element at a client site we would like them to be able to do that by editing the text (xml) file and not having to rebuild the installation project. My question is does Installaware have this capability? If so what mechanism should we look at for this functionality? I appreciate your advice.

FrancescoT
Site Admin
Posts: 5360
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2010 4:28 am

Re: Dynamic script driven installer

Postby FrancescoT » Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:15 pm

Dear Mark,

you could create an installer that executes a series of pre-defined tasks conditionally at installation runtime.
You can use custom variables at this purpose and of course, you might use an external file to pass such variables.
Obviously in this case, you also need to define all the necessary script code to handle your external file.

Alternatively, you could also specify any custom variable from command line.

Anyway you must consider that with the above approach, you will be able to control installation Runtime tasks only.
This means that your installer must already include any necessary file or component, that you may need to install or to remove at client site.

Hope this helps you.

Regards
Francesco Toscano
InstallAware Software

White Papers (HowTos) - http://www.installaware.com/publication ... papers.htm
Publications - http://www.installaware.com/publications-review.htm
InstallAware Help -F1 anywhere in the InstallAware IDE

mark2015
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:41 pm

Re: Dynamic script driven installer

Postby mark2015 » Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:33 pm

That is partly the question. For the majority of the installation it will be the predetermined case. however, there have been times when the technicians have needed to improvise at a client location and work around certain areas of the installation process. The point is we don't know what those issues are until they happen. I was looking to see if there was a way to get some type of functionality similar to the dotNetInstaller project (which is primarily a bootstrapper). However, it is driven by a configuration xml file. If you remove or add items to the xml then that is what the installer runs. We were just trying to find out if this was a feasible option or if the installation process is really a design time event. I appreciate you taking the time to help understand my convoluted question.

FrancescoT
Site Admin
Posts: 5360
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2010 4:28 am

Re: Dynamic script driven installer

Postby FrancescoT » Wed Feb 11, 2015 2:33 pm

Dear Mark,

a boostrapper doesn't replace deployment tools and vice-versa.

Unfortunately, with an installer package you have to define its components at build time and consequently, any component you want to install or to remove, have to be already part of the built package.

InstallAware also ships with an automation interface that can be used to programmatically emit and build complete setup projects. The automation interface is available as both a standard Win32 DLL, callable from any Windows application, and as a COM object, for use in ASP scripts on a web server (see IA documentation for more details).

But honestly, I don't know if our automation interface is a feasible approach in your case.

Regards
Francesco Toscano
InstallAware Software

White Papers (HowTos) - http://www.installaware.com/publication ... papers.htm
Publications - http://www.installaware.com/publications-review.htm
InstallAware Help -F1 anywhere in the InstallAware IDE


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