InstallBuilder

BitRock Installbuilder provides you easy to use cross platform installers for Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Windows and Mac OS X. BitRock installers are native binaries that can run on Windows ME, 2000, XP, 2003, Solaris, Mac OS X and on any Linux distribution. The new InstallBuilder debugger makes it easier to identify and correct issues during the installer development process. It allows you to view and interactively edit installer variables at runtime, provides step-by-step execution to test that specific parts of the installer are functioning properly, allows recovering from unexpected errors during the installation process and more.

Features

Bitrock InstallBuilder is a powerful but easy to use tool for building crossplatform installers with a native look and feel on all supported platforms. Unlike Java-based installers, it does not require a Java(tm) runtime, so generated installers are significantly smaller than those created with Java-based tools. InstallBuilder also offers two types of compression (zip and lzma) to further reduce the size of generated installers. In addition, InstallBuilder installers do not require a self-extraction step, so installers are faster and require less memory than those created with other tools.

Create Multiplatform Installers and Native Packages

Multiplatform Support: InstallBuilder installers are native binaries that can run on Windows ME, 2000, XP, 2003, 2008, Vista, 7, 8, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris (Intel & Sparc), AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, and Linux (Intel x86/x64, Itanium, s390 & PPC)
RPM Integration: BitRock installers can register your software with the RPM package database, combining ease of use with the powerful RPM package management system
Crossplatform Build Support: The installer builder tool can run on Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, IRIX, and Linux (Intel x86/x64, Itanium, s390, PPC) and generate installers for all target platforms from a single project file. Create all your installers from a single build environment!

Reduce Development Time

Easy to Use: InstallBuilder includes an easy to learn, easy to use GUI development environment. Design, build and test installers with the click of a button
Time Saving Functionality: For advanced users, a friendly XML project format supports source control integration, collaborative development and customizing projects both by hand and using external scripts. A command line interface allows you to automate and integrate the building process. QuickBuild functionality allows you to update installers in a few seconds, without having to repack the entire application
Built-in Actions: Built-in actions make it easy to implement commonly required installation functionality in a crossplatform manner. Add actions to your installer for autodetecting a Java® Runtime, changing file permissions and ownership, substituting text in a file, adding environment variables, adding directories to the path, creating symbolic links, changing the Windows registry, launching external scripts and so on in just a few clicks
Debugger: A built-in debugger makes it easy to identify and correct issues during the development process. It allows viewing and interactively editing installer variables at runtime, provides step-by-step execution to test that specific parts of the installer are functioning properly, allows recovering from unexpected errors during the installation process and more

Keep Users Running the Latest Version of your Software

Auto-Update Functionality: InstallBuilder includes an automatic update feature that enables you to deliver updates directly to your users. By providing regular updates to users, you'll keep them running your best available version, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and reduced support costs

Produce Smaller, Faster Installers

Optimized: BitRock installers are optimized in size and speed and do not require a self-extraction step. This reduces download, startup and installation time. Built-in LZMA support provides great compression ratios to further reduce the size of installers
Downloadable Components: Rather than bundling all available components in installers, make them downloadable so they are only downloaded during the installation process if the user has selected to install them
No External Dependencies: BitRock multiplatform installers are single-file, self-contained, native executables with no external dependencies and minimal overhead. Unlike competing products, all BitRock installers are truly native code and do not require bundling a Java Runtime Environment

Deploy in Any Environment

Multiple Installation Modes: BitRock installers provide: several GUI modes with native look-and-feel for installation in a variety of desktop environments, a text-based installation mode for console-based and remote installations, and a silent/unattended install mode which can be used for integration in shell scripts for automated deployment
Language and Platform Independent: BitRock installers can install applications written in any language, including: Java, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, C/C++ and .NET/Mono
Support for Java Launchers: BitRock installers can create Java launchers, which are binaries that allow running Java-based applications as if they were native. They work by locating an installed JRE in the target machine or using one provided to launch a Java application with the right options

Offer Native Integration on All Platforms

Desktop Integration: BitRock installers provide native look and feel and desktop integration for Windows, KDE and Gnome
RPM and DEB generation: In addition to creating native executables that can register with the RPM subsystem, InstallBuilder can generate RPM and Debian packages that can be installed using native package management tools.

Provide a Reliable, Professional Installation Experience

Include Your Branding: Present a professional image by re-branding InstallBuilder with your own graphics and custom screens
Component and Sub-component Support: Robust component functionality allows you to offer a choice of components and sub-components for users to install. Built-in logic will automatically grey out sub-components if the parent is deselected. Support for downloadable components means that users only download the components they need
Advanced Configuration Options: Ask the user for multiple inputs on one screen to streamline the installation process
Rollback Functionality: By default, BitRock installers perform a backup of all the files overwritten during installation, so if an error occurs, the system can be automatically recovered to its previous state
Uninstall Functionality: An uninstall program is created as part of every installation, allowing users to easily uninstall the software. As with the installer, it can be run in a variety of modes. On Windows, uninstall functionality can also be accessed from the Add/Remove Programs entry in the Control Panel
Multiple Language Support: BitRock installers support a variety of installation languages, including English, German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Hebrew, Greek, Dutch, Polish, Valencian, Catalan, Estonian, Slovenian, Romanian, Hungarian, Russian and Welsh. You can specify a default language or let the user decide
Support for Qt® GUI Frontend: The InstallBuilder for Qt family of products provides a new GUI installation mode using the Qt crossplatform toolkit, enhancing the end-user experience
Dynamic Parameter Support
Expanded Documentation