InstallBuilder is one of the classical tools that act as installers, deploying applications to Mac, Windows, and Linux, providing one of the easiest ways to create installer packages. For example, you can package your application into an executable (.exe) file that installs via a set of .ini files during the installation process. When using this method, you don’t have to worry about error handling or complex command-line options that might be required by other tools.
It offers three powerful automation features that let you easily customize your software updates, such as creating API apps that can be executed at any time, managing API scripts that automate release and update events, creating web service apps that can be called by other tools and many others. You can also automate updates to your applications and server software based on business rules by using the optional Automation Pack, which is not present in any traditional software.
EMCO MSI Package Builder is an installation authoring tool designed to help administrators to create, maintain and distribute Windows Installer packages. It has a GUI-based interface that will allow users to create end-user self-installing packages without requiring any knowledge of the syntax involved in doing so. The software also has features such as migration, conversion, and distribution capabilities that make it easy for its user base to share software across the enterprise network.
EMCO MSI Package Builder architecture consists of two independent parts that run on separate processes. The first part is the MSI package compiler, which takes care of creating optimized installation packages. The second part is the administration console, which offers a GUI to create and edit projects. The administration console is an Addon for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 SP1 containing four extenders, two controls, and one class library project. EMCO MSI Package Builder requires Visual Studio .NET 2002 SP2 to be installed in order to compile Win32 applications using the Windows Installer technology.
NSIS is a tool that allows programmers to create such installers for Windows. It creates installers that are capable of installing, uninstalling, setting system settings, extracting files, etc. You can even add your own scripting to perform whatever tasks you want. It’s similar to the popular Inno Setup installer in functionality and form factor.
The main advantage of this platform includes it resolve the problem that is usually a complex mess of unintuitive buttons and hidden files, takes way too long to install, and results in multiple prompts from the system asking for permission. It offers three powerful automation features that let you easily customize your software updates, such as creating API apps that can be executed at any time, managing API scripts that automate release and update events, creating web service apps that can be called by other tools and many others.
Advanced Installer is a Windows installer authoring tool for installing, updating, and configuring your products safely, securely, and reliably. It can be used to create installers from scratch or from an existing .msi file. On top of that, it allows you to create an upgrade installer that upgrades the previous installation. This makes it easy to upgrade your software without breaking your enterprise’s configuration settings or other changes.
In addition, Advanced Installer features a number of other features such as creating side-by-side installers with its own update mechanism for distributing fixes and updates throughout the installation process as well as customizing installations by including/excluding files based on different users needs. Users are also able to modify existing MSI files to perform custom installations; however, these modifications should be verified after installation by double-clicking on the. MSI file.
IzPack is one of the highly recommended software that is widely used for packaging applications on the Java platform as cross-platform installers. You can view desktop screens, edit registry keys or files, start processes, shut down computers remotely, and much more. It uses the Windows Installer database to store information about each install; this allows for completely silent installs, which can be monitored from a remote server.
The Installer allows developers to add, remove, and change files and registry entries on a user’s computer. Afterward, the developer can pack it all up into an executable file or a set of files. It is used by many independent software vendors to create installers and software packages. It is also used by Microsoft as a tool for installing Windows updates on their own computers, as well as for bundling system components such as .NET Framework and Windows Media Player.
InstallForge is a very easy-to-use, free, and flexible tool for creating fast setup packages for Windows. With the help of this work package creation platform, you can easily create installation packages with all required components, and their settings preconfigured, so you don’t have to waste hours configuring your system manually.
InstallForge can even include optional installations that will be installed automatically if they’re needed by default or otherwise requested during installation by the end-user. It creates installers that are capable of installing, uninstalling, setting system settings, extracting files, etc. You can even add your own scripting to perform whatever tasks you want. You can also automate updates to your applications and server software based on business rules by using the optional Automation Pack, which is not present in any traditional software.
DeployMaster is an award-winning application for controlling the deployment of files to target machines. It offers several solutions for deploying your files in different contexts, for example, in a roaming installation environment, on a network drive, or over the internet.
On the left side, you can see how DeployMaster can be installed on your machine with no need for any other applications. On the right side, you will see options to share your files with others, install them on remote computers, and select network targets for deployment. The middle part is the control panel, which contains all functionality enabling you to deploy to your preferred target machines. The bottom part lists all deployed packages and their associated information.
Debreate is a utility to aid in creating installable Debian packages (.deb). The goal behind the project is to make developing for Debian-based Linux distributions more appealing, with an easy-to-use interface for packaging applications, artwork, media, themes, etc. With this platform, you can not only package your application or theme into a single Debian package but also create meta-data files that help with the installation and configuration of this package.
There are different modules such as Arts, Binary, Compiler, Development, Docs, File System, Fonts libs and Classes, KDE and Gnome Integration, Libraries and Frameworks, Media, Networking tools and services, Servers and Services. One of the most useful features of Debreate is its ability to create Debian meta-packages. These can be used as building blocks for creating more complex or larger applications. Metapackages are basically a Debian package that contains other Debian packages as dependencies.
CreateInstall is one of the efficient Installers for those who want to completely control the installation process. It can be compared to unzipping a file, moving the files into place, and then running it. The main advantage of this utility is that you can tell it what goes where and how it all should be installed. This way, products are in logical places for your system, uninstallation becomes trivial, and everything looks tidy in the end.
It’s up to you what kind of script you want to write and how you want to use it. You can use your imagination for creating your own custom install scripts, or you can use a scripting language, which is not available in any other traditional installer. Other function of this platform includes it contains user-controlled installation process, logical, tidy structure after installation, clean uninstallation, and many others.
ClickTeam Install Creator is a program by Clickteam that lets you make installers for any project. It stores information about the project, like game data, images, and sounds. The program also has tools to encrypt game data, compress files and create an installer’s database file, all with just one click. There are tons of other features; you can use Install Creator to make full-fledged installers for your games for Windows or Linux systems, take screenshots at any time with different resolutions, generate video tutorials with different screen sizes and even demo videos.
You can set up your own website or forum site to provide support for your games, create installer databases that are compatible with Mac OS X machines and make an installer for Mac OS X. It supports the following formats: EXE, DLL, CAB, ZIP, 7Z, RAR, GZIP, BZIP2, LZMA2, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2 and MP3 and can even convert your projects from one format to another
Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows programs that can be used as a system-wide launcher or as a standalone. It can create an executable file (.exe) and set up a script (.issx) from any source code. The highlighted functions of this platform are generates setup files (.issx) from standard .ini, .exe, .scr or other file types, generates setup scripts (.issx) from PowerPack (.p2p), PowerPack Registry (.prr), or PowerPack API (.prx), progress bar during the loading process for unattended installations, and many others.
Inno Setup facilitates you with multiple window modes to change window layout, dockable windows, auto-hide windows, tabs in the active window, and support for custom installers containing Security Warning dialogs or install scripts that must be run before any setup scripts. Other function of this platform includes It is fully compatible with mouse clicks, mouse-overs, tooltips, double-clicking on files in directories or registry information, and selecting files with the left mouse button.
InstallShield is a proprietary software tool for creating installers or software packages. In the simplest sense, an installer creates an executable program that runs on a computer and installs a new product. The InstallShield Wizard Editor is used to create scripts for automating installation, configuration, and removal of an application on a Windows computer. These scripts are then compiled into the InstallShield EXE file format with SAP CopyProtect encryption.
The application can be placed on a CD or DVD, USB memory stick, or other removable media, but it will only run on computers that have the same CPU architecture as the computer that compiled the Installer. Once an InstallShield EXE application has been created, Windows will not allow it to be installed more than once. It is used by many independent software vendors to create installers and software packages. It is also used by Microsoft as a tool for installing Windows updates on their own computers, as well as for bundling system components such as .NET Framework and Windows Media Player.
CyberInstaller Suite is the best in class packetization and installation software that is orientated to any kind of developer, enabling them to perform flawless development without any disturbance. With this suite, developers can quickly and easily manage the whole installation process for their apps. It has several functionalities that help developers with any stage of developing an app, like creating the app itself or creating an installer for it.
The whole development process can be broken down into sub-processes, each sub-process having its own steps with sub-steps. The Installer allows developers to add, remove, and change files and registry entries on a user’s computer. Afterward, the developer can pack it all up into an executable file or a set of files. They can then deploy it using any other source, including adding more than one file type such as .exe, .msi, or .appx files, and many others.
Setup Factory is a rock-solid, reliable install creator for Windows applications that provides more installation options than any other installer, making it easy to create fully installable packages (.MSI) for your Windows applications. It simplifies the CMMI development process by adding a set of powerful installation features such as custom actions, silent installations, and in-depth logging.
Setup Factory’s installation wizards and visual project editors make setup package creation fast and easy. Its built-in compilers let you compile execute Java, C++, or VC++ code in any action with user input validation added automatically to the script. Another function of this platform includes it comes with the option to generate an MSI package from a native EXE application, which is often used with button bar controls found in most MDI and tabbed MDI applications. It uses the Windows Installer database to store information about each install; this allows for completely silent installs, which can be monitored from a remote server. Using the Setup Factory command-line utility MSpatch.exe you can customize a standard .wsp file in order to customize it for your installation requirements.
InstallAware is a Windows Server technology that allows you to push an Active Directory-based computer account, patch, package, set up, or customize settings from one machine to many others with a single click. It is an active directory replicator that pushes your product to many machines all at once or on a schedule. InstallAware allows you to replicate computers across Active Directory forests with a single click, which can minimize change requests for your companies, reduce IT headaches, increase your business’s efficiency, and save you money by eliminating the need for frequent patches or upgrades.
It will help you to easily replicate settings across machines without touching Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC). It enables you to remotely control any machine running InstallAware. You can view desktop screens, edit registry keys or files, start processes, shut down computers remotely, and much more. The remote control automation allows you to record your actions on the remote machine so that they can be repeated automatically by other machines.