Summary This article discusses how to cast the $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ InstallAnywhere variable to a string or boolean data type for use in Custom Code. Synopsis This article discusses how to cast the $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ InstallAnywhere variable to a string or boolean data type for use in Custom Code. The $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ InstallAnywhere variable determines whether the uninstaller will run actions in the Uninstall Sequence (for more information, see below in the Discussion section). Discussion Here is more information about the $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ variable: Tells the uninstaller whether to perform the uninstall step. To cause the uninstaller to skip the uninstall step, set $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ to true . To allow the uninstall step to occur, set $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ to false . ( $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ is false by default.) If the installer skips the uninstall step, it sets $UNINSTALL_SUCCESS$ to SKIPPED. Note: The Uninstall Complete panel tests the value of $UNINSTALL_SUCCESS$ variable and provides controls for you to customize the message the panel shows in the event that the uninstall step was intentionally skipped. As for casting the variable to a different data type, namely to a string or boolean, here is sample custom code for a custom code action: package com.zerog.ia.cca; import javax.swing.JOptionPane; import com.zerog.ia.api.pub.CustomCodeAction; import com.zerog.ia.api.pub.InstallException; import com.zerog.ia.api.pub.InstallerProxy; import com.zerog.ia.api.pub.UninstallerProxy; public class SkipUninstallTest extends CustomCodeAction { @Override public void install(InstallerProxy ip) throws InstallException { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } @Override public void uninstall(UninstallerProxy up) throws InstallException { String sSkipUninstall = up.substitute("$SKIP_UNINSTALL$"); boolean bSkipUninstall = false; bSkipUninstall = Boolean.valueOf(sSkipUninstall); if(bSkipUninstall==true) { JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "$SKIP_UNINSTALL$=" + sSkipUninstall); } else if(bSkipUninstall==false) { JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "$SKIP_UNINSTALL is false"); } } @Override public String getInstallStatusMessage() { // TODO Auto-generated method stub return null; } @Override public String getUninstallStatusMessage() { // TODO Auto-generated method stub return null; } } Additional Information For more information about the $SKIP_UNINSTALL$ variable and other standard InstallAnywhere variables, click here. For more information about including Custom Code Actions in your project using an Execute Custom Code Action, click here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses how to handle a InstallAnywhere 2014 and later build failure with build error Unknown error creating Mac OS X Web installer when bundling Java 6. Symptoms The build process fails with the following build error: <Platforms> <MacOSVM output="MacOSX" status="FAILURE">Unknown error creating Mac OS X Web installer.</MacOSVM> </Platforms> Cause InstallAnywhere 2014 and later does not support using Java 6 to target OS X. Resolution Oracle Java 7 or 8 must be used to target OS X with InstallAnywhere 2014 and later. For example, here are the requirements for targeting OS X with InstallAnywhere 2017: macOS Sierra (10.12) with Oracle Java 7 or 8 OS X El Capitan (10.11) with Oracle Java 7 or 8 OS X Yosemite (10.10) with Oracle Java 7 or 8 OS X Mavericks (10.9.2) with Oracle Java 7 or 8 OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) with Oracle Java 7 or 8 OS X Lion (10.7.3) with Oracle Java 7 The latest InstallAnywhere system requirements can be found here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses a limitation of the Execute Target File Action. Synopsis This article discusses a limitation of the Execute Target File Action. In this case, the Execute Script/Batch file Action should be used instead. Discussion When executing a command with parameters and redirecting the command output to a text file, the Execute Target File Action executes a command that fails. For example: $USER_INSTALL_DIR$$/$lmhostid.exe -ether >> hostid.txt The limitation of the Execute Target File Action is that lmhostid.exe is the executed command and the rest of the line (-ether >> hostid.txt) is treated as parameters. However, only -ether is intended as the parameter for the lmhostid.exe command. >> hostid.txt is intended to redirect the output of the lmhostid.exe -ether command to a text file. As a result, the Execute Target File Action fails to execute the command properly. Hence, the user should use an Execute Script/Batch File Action instead, because the Execute Script/Batch File Action runs the Script as a Linux shell script or Windows batch file, which results in the correct execution of the lmhostid.exe command with the -ether parameter with the separate redirection to the hostid.txt text file. In other words, the Execute Script/Batch File Action does not treat the entire line as a single command; the action executes the command as though the user ran the command from the command-line. Additional Information For more information about the Execute Target File Action, click here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses a build error that is generated when building an InstallAnywhere project through a 3rd-party application, like Visual Studio, that does not have digital signing configured. Symptoms This article discusses a build error that is generated when building an InstallAnywhere project through a 3rd-party application, like Visual Studio, with the command-line builder when digital signing is not configured. The command-line builder returns a -1 exit code, which is interpreted as a build failure by Visual Studio, and generates this build error message in the verbose build log: <Warning>Code signing failed with following error: Unable to sign</Warning> Cause Digital signing is not configured in the InstallAnywhere project. Steps To Reproduce Create a project. Make sure not to configure digital signing. Enable verbose build logging. Build the project using the command-line builder. Resolution This issue has been accepted by the Engineering Team as a valid Bug for tracking with Issue# IOJ-1830666. There is no estimated timeframe for the resolution of this issue but addressing the issue is being considered for a future release. Workaround Configure digital signing in the project. Write a wrapper script to handle the -1 exit code from the command-line builder so that this specific case does not get interpreted as a build failure by the 3rd-party application, such as Visual Studio. Redirect the verbose build log output to a log file so the build error is not captured by the 3rd-party application, such as Visual Studio. Additional Information For more information about generating a verbose build log when building on Windows and Linux, click here. For more information about generating a verbose build log when building on Mac OS X and macOS, click here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses a known issue in which the custom icon for the built installer executable for Windows is incorrect when building with the command-line builder not the InstallAnywhere IDE. Symptoms This article discusses a known issue in which the custom icon for the built installer executable for Windows is incorrect when building with the command-line builder, not the InstallAnywhere IDE. An example scenario when this issue would occur would be building a project, on Windows, with a custom icon for the built installer executable for Windows using the InstallAnywhere IDE. When building a different project with the command-line builder, not the InstallAnywhere IDE, the built installer executable displays the custom icon for the first project and not the second project. For InstallAnywhere 2012, this is the installer executable icon specified under Installer UI > Look & Feel > Installer Icon. For InstallAnywhere 2013 and higher versions, this is the installer executable icon specified under Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings > Installer Icon > Executable Icon Path. Cause This issue is due to the executables in the: <IA_HOME>\resource\self_extractors\windows directory, where <IA_HOME> is the InstallAnywhere installation directory, where InstallAnywhere itself is installed. The issue occurs because those executables retain the icon from building the project in the InstallAnywhere IDE rather than the command-line builder updating the icon, which the command-line builder should but does not do. Steps To Reproduce Steps To Reproduce: Create a project, Project A, with the InstallAnywhere IDE. Specify a custom icon for the installer executable for Windows. For InstallAnywhere 2012, this is the installer executable icon specified under Installer UI > Look & Feel > Installer Icon. For InstallAnywhere 2013 and higher versions, this is the installer executable icon specified under Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings > Installer Icon > Executable Icon Path. Build the project with the InstallAnywhere IDE. Create another project, Project B, with the InstallAnywhere IDE. Specify a custom icon for the installer executable for Windows. Build the project with the InstallAnywhere IDE. Build Project A with the InstallAnywhere IDE. Build Project B with the command-line builder. Expected Results: The built installer executable for Windows for Project B should have the custom icon for Project B, not Project A. Actual Results: The built installer executable for Windows for Project B has the custom icon for Project A, not Project B. Workaround Workaround: Open Project A in the InstallAnywhere IDE. Select the custom icon for Project A for the installer executable for Windows. Save the project. Build the project. Make a copy of the <IA_HOME>\resource\self_extractors\windows directory. Open Project B in the InstallAnywhere IDE. Select the custom icon for Project B for the installer executable for Windows. Save the project. Build the project. Make a copy of the <IA_HOME>\resource\self_extractors\windows directory. Before using the command-line builder to build Project A, first overwrite the <IA_HOME>\resource\self_extractors\windows directory with the custom icons for Project A. Before using the command-line builder to build Project B, first overwrite the <IA_HOME>\resource\self_extractors\windows directory with the custom icons for Project B. Additional Information For more information about the command-line builder, click here and here. This problem is a known issue being tracked under Issue# IOA-000067127 ... View more

Summary This article discusses how to configure a custom icon to display on the Windows Taskbar during installation. Synopsis This article discusses how to configure a custom icon to display on the Windows Taskbar during installation. Discussion Here are the steps to configure the custom icon to display on the Windows Taskbar during installation: Create a project in the InstallAnywhere IDE. Navigate to Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings> Installer Icon. Click the ellipsis button in the Installer Title Image field. Browse to a PNG file to be used as the custom icon. Build the project. Run the installer on Windows. Note: This custom icon will not be displayed while the installer is launching (self-extracting/unpacking/initializing). The custom icon will only be displayed after the installer is done launching. ... View more

Summary This article discusses an issue where the installer hangs, during installation, when a Standard User runs an installer that installs the log to the Program Files (x86) or Program Files directory on Windows. The installer hangs due to a lack of write permissions to that location. Symptoms The installer hangs, during installation, when a Standard User runs an installer that installs the log to the Program Files (x86) or Program Files directory on Windows. Cause The installer hangs due to a lack of write permissions to that location. Steps To Reproduce Steps To Reproduce Issue: Create a project in the InstallAnywhere IDE. Enable logging. Configure the install log to be written to the Program Files (x86) or Program Files directory. Build the project. Run the installer as a Standard User on Windows. Navigate to the Pre-Install Summary Panel. Click the Install button. Expected Results: The installation should complete without any issues. Actual Results: The installer hangs during installation. Resolution This Bug is being tracked with Issue# IOA-000124793. This issue was resolved by InstallAnywhere 2015. Please upgrade to InstallAnywhere 2015. Additional Information To download the InstallAnywhere 2015 Release Notes, click here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses how to detect whether .NET Framework 4.6 was detected and display a Show Message Dialog indicating whether .NET Framework 4.6 was detected. This can be customized to detect other .NET Framework versions. Synopsis This article discusses how to detect whether .NET Framework 4.6 was detected and display a Show Message Dialog indicating whether .NET Framework 4.6 was detected with InstallAnywhere. This can be customized to detect other .NET Framework versions. Discussion The following is an example of how to detect .NET Framework 4.6 on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 and display a Show Message Dialog indicating whether .NET Framework 4.6 was detected using InstallAnywhere 2015: Create a new project. Add a Get Windows Registry Entry Action. Configure the Windows Registry Entry Action as follows: Registry Key=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full\1033 Value Name=Release Store Value in Variable=$REG_NETFRAMEWORK_KEY$ Store Key Existence in Variable=$REG_NETFRAMEWORK_COUNT$ Add a Show Message Dialog. Configure the Show Message Dialog as follows: Title=Test Label=Test Message=.NET Framework 4.6 Detected Add a Compare InstallAnywhere Variables Rule (R1). Configure R1: $REG_NETFRAMEWORK_KEY$ equals 393295 Add a Check Platform Rule (R2). Configure R2: Remove Windows (All) from the Do Not Perform On column and add only Windows 10 to the Perform On column. Add a Compare InstallAnywhere Variables Rule (R3). Configure R3: $REG_NETFRAMEWORK_KEY$ equals 393297 Add a Check Platform Rule (R4). Configure R4: Remove Windows (All) from Do Not Perform On column and add Windows 7 and Windows 8 to the Perform On column. Configure Rule Expression: (R1 && R2) || (R3 && R4) Note: If targeting 64-bit systems, the Access specific registry view (64-bit systems) checkbox should be checked. If checking the 32-bit portion of the Windows Registry for the .NET Framework Windows Registry entry, then the 32-bit registry view radio button should be selected. If checking the 64-bit portion of the Windows Registry for .NET Framework Windows Registry entry, then the 64-bit registry view radio button should be selected. Additional Information For more information about the Get Windows Registry Entry Action, click here. For more information about the Show Message Dialog, click here. For more information about the Compare InstallAnywhere Variables Rule, click here. For more information about the Check Platform Rule, click here and here. Here is more information about the DWORD values for the Release Value Name for .NET Framework 4.5 and .NET Framework 4.6 on various Windows versions: ... View more

Summary This article discusses how to set the icon next to the Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features entry to the InstallAnywhere icon on Windows. Synopsis This article discusses how to set the icon next to the Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features entry to the InstallAnywhere icon on Windows. Discussion Create a new project. Navigate to the Sequence > Install Sequence. ? Expand the uninstaller directory node by clicking the plus + sign. ? Select the Create Uninstaller Action. ? Click the Icon > Change button. ? Click the Windows > Choose ICO File button. ? Browse to <IA_HOME>\resource\image_defaults\com\zerog\ia\installer\images where <IA_HOME> is where InstallAnywhere is installed. ? Select the Icon1.ico file. ? Click the Open button. ? Click the OK button. ? Add a Without VM or With VM Windows Build Target. Save the project. Build the project. Run the installer on Windows. Complete the installation. Navigate to the Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features entry for the installed product. The icon next to the entry should be the InstallAnywhere icon. ? Additional Information These instruction apply to InstallAnywhere 2013 and higher. For more information about configuring the installer to use custom icons, please refer to the following Knowledge Base articles: Choosing a Type of Windows Icon to Use Configure Custom Icon To Display On Windows Taskbar During Installation Setting Display Icon for Add/Remove Programs Entry Custom Icons do not appear or are not being updated ... View more

Summary This article includes a download link to Public Hotfix A for InstallAnywhere 2017, which resolves the issues listed below. Symptoms This Hotfix addresses the following issues: Issue# Description IOJ-1807247 Certain non-English languages, such as Japanese, Arabic, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Slovenian, Czech, Russian, Korean, Greek, Thai, and Turkish, are not displayed in the Language Selection Panel. IOJ-1803443 The Language Selection Panel defaults to English instead of the non-English locale that the operating system is running under. IOJ-1804351 When using Project Automation to save and upgrade a project created with a previous InstallAnywhere version, the user receives a Java exception: java.lang.NullPointerException. IOA-000069238 For an upgrade scenario, a request for an option to specify the location where the InstallAnywhere Registry file is created or the location used for detection by the Find Component in InstallAnywhere Registry Action. IOJ-1806536 For locales, such as Arabic, for which the text is written / read from right to left, the Language Selection Panel cut off the language name in the dropdown menu. IOJ-1810071 Setting an Inner Panel background color to anything other than No Color causes increased CPU usage by installers built with InstallAnywhere 2017. Resolution Here are the direct download links for the Hotfix installers: Platform Download Link MD5 Checksum Windows https://flexerasoftware.flexnetoperations.com/control/inst/AnonymousDownload?dkey=11184857 0e873a51b9d51bbfb3366bf1f4a82bd8 Solaris SPARC https://flexerasoftware.flexnetoperations.com/control/inst/AnonymousDownload?dkey=11184867 c2e3163c055644df6f35a89c5d2755ea Apple OS X / macOS https://flexerasoftware.flexnetoperations.com/control/inst/AnonymousDownload?dkey=11184877 955b592e7360c5cdcd966e585a65d83a 32-Bit Linux https://flexerasoftware.flexnetoperations.com/control/inst/AnonymousDownload?dkey=11184887 0bf0bb78af28069abff8d6c50abccee7 64-Bit Linux https://flexerasoftware.flexnetoperations.com/control/inst/AnonymousDownload?dkey=11184897 e576957fc5bf4167771a4aa5f0d80e02 ... View more

Summary This article discusses how to configure an installer to create a Windows Registry entry with Type REG_NONE for Windows file type association. Synopsis Since there is currently no built-in functionality for configuring an installer to register Windows file type associations, it is necessary to configure the installer to create the necessary Windows Registry entries instead. To accomplish this, it may be necessary to create a Windows Registry entry of Type REG_NONE, as described in the Microsoft documentation here, specifically under the OpenWithProgIDs Section. Discussion InstallAnywhere currently does not support creating a Windows Registry entry of Type REG_NONE through the Set Windows Registry Entry Action. So this article discusses a possible workaround. Here are the steps for the possible workaround: Create a new text file in a text editor. Define the Windows Registry entry. For example: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\MyIATest\MyNewKey] "MyProgID"=hex(0): Save the text file as a Windows Registry (.reg) file. For example, test.reg without the .txt file extension. Create a project in the InstallAnywhere IDE. Add the Windows Registry file to $USER_INSTALL_DIR$ under the Install Task. Add an Execute Script/Batch file Action after this File Action. Configure the Execute Script/Batch file Action with the following Script: $WIN_WINDOWS$$/$regedit.exe /s "$USER_INSTALL_DIR$$/$test.reg" where test.reg is the name of the Windows Registry file. Build the project. Run the installer as an Administrator. Additional Information There is an Enhancement request for functionality for creating a Windows Registry entry of Type REG_NONE through a Set Windows Registry Entry Action with Issue# IOJ-1734266. For more information about the Set Windows Registry Entry Action, see this article. ... View more

Summary This article discusses how to run the installer and uninstaller in different UI Modes by default or by specifying command-line parameters. Synopsis This article discusses how to run the installer and uninstaller in different UI Modes by default or by specifying command-line parameters to the installer. These suggestions are intended for a case when support for more than one UI Mode (e.g. GUI, Console, Silent) has been enabled under Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings > General UI Settings > Allowable UI Modes. Note: This article does not apply to Java-only installers run directly by calling Java and invoking an executable JAR file. Discussion Here are two approaches for accomplishing this: Approach 1: Running the uninstaller in a different UI Mode than the installer by default Under Project > Platforms > Windows > Default Windows UI Mode > Uninstaller UI Mode, select the desired UI Mode that the project has been configured to support. The uninstaller should now run in the UI Mode selected by default. Approach 2: Running the uninstaller in a different UI Mode than the installer by specifying and passing parameters to the uninstaller from the command-line Run the uninstaller with a command like in the following examples: On Windows: uninstall.exe -i console On Linux: ./uninstall.bin -i console The uninstaller should run in the UI Mode specified by the command-line parameter passed to the uninstaller. Related KB Articles How To Change the Uninstall Default UI Mode to Silent Resolving the Installer User Interface Mode Not Supported Error Additional Information For more information about available installer/uninstaller command-line parameters, click here. For more information about the General UI Settings View, click here. For more information about the Platforms View, click here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses a way to try to resolve a mismatch between an Installer Step Label and a Panel Title during installation for users using InstallAnywhere 2013 or later. Symptoms This article discusses a way to try to resolve a mismatch between an Installer Step Label and a Panel Title during installation for users using InstallAnywhere 2013 or later. Note how the Installer Step Label highlighted in red, on the left, does not match the Panel Title highlighted in blue, on the right, for the following panels. Cause This issue is caused by unintentionally having an Installer Step Label that does not match a Panel Title or vice versa. Steps To Reproduce Scenario 1: 1. Navigate to Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings > Installer Steps > Default Installer/Uninstaller Panel Image. Click the Installer Step Labels settings button. Uncheck the Auto populate labels when saving checkbox. Click the Add Label button. Enter the Label name. Click the OK button to add the Label name. 2. Navigate to a Panel > Label Settings. Assign the new Label to the Panel. Expected Results: The Installer Step Label should match the Panel Title. Actual Results: The Installer Step Label does not match the Panel Title. Scenario 2: 1. Navigate to Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings > Installer Steps > Default Installer/Uninstaller Panel Image. Click the Installer Step Labels settings button. Uncheck the Auto populate labels when saving checkbox. 2. Under the Panel > Label Settings, select the Highlight the Same Label as the Previous Panel radio button option. Expected Results: The Installer Step Label should match the Panel Title. Actual Results: The Installer Step Label does not match the Panel Title. Resolution To resolve this issue, navigate to Installer UI > Look & Feel Settings > Installer Steps > Default Installer/Uninstaller Panel Image. Click the Installer Step Labels settings button. Check the Auto populate labels when saving checkbox. Click the Auto Populate button. Click the OK button. Result: The Installer Step Label should match the Panel Title. Additional Information Please read these Knowledge Base articles for more information: InstallAnywhere Panel Labels Appear to Revert on Build Auto Populate Labels when Saving Renaming a label ... View more

Summary This article discusses an issue where Corrupt JPEG data error messages are displayed when launching an installer with Java 6 on Linux. Symptoms This article discusses an issue where Corrupt JPEG data error messages are displayed when launching an installer with Java 6 on Linux. This results in a pixelated and distorted background image being displayed on the installer Panel. Here are the error messages: Corrupt JPEG data: premature end of data segment Corrupt JPEG data: bad Huffman code Here is the context for those error messages: Unpacking the JRE... Extracting the installation resources from the installer archive... Configuring the installer for this system's environment... Launching installer... Corrupt JPEG data: premature end of data segment Corrupt JPEG data: bad Huffman code Cause This issue is a Java issue, not an InstallAnywhere issue. This issue is due to a Bug in Java 6. Workaround To resolve this issue, use Java 7 for InstallAnywhere 2012, InstallAnywhere 2013, and later InstallAnywhere versions or Java 8 for InstallAnywhere 2014 and later InstallAnywhere versions to run the installer. Additional Information To view the documentation of the Bug in Java, click here. ... View more

Summary This article discusses receiving a STORED entry missing size, compressed size, or crc-32 message during build, in the non-verbose build debug output. Symptoms The non-verbose debug output has a STORED entry missing size, compressed size, or crc-32 message: ?<InstallResources status="FAILURE"> <action type="TestBillboard.png" name="TestBillboard.png"> <source>C:\Users\Test\Desktop\BillboardTest\IA2017SP1\BillboardTest\</source> <description>STORED entry missing size, compressed size, or crc-32</description </action> </InstallResources> Cause The build process fails to find a billboard image in the location referenced by the project. In this case, here: C:\Users\Test\Desktop\BillboardTest\IA2017SP1\BillboardTest\ Resolution Make sure to place a copy of the billboard image: <action type="TestBillboard.png" name="TestBillboard.png"> in this case: TestBillboard.png in this location: C:\Users\Test\Desktop\BillboardTest\IA2017SP1\BillboardTest\ then rebuild the project. Additional Information Generating InstallAnywhere Build Log for Windows and Linux Generating InstallAnywhere Build Log for macOS or OS X ... View more