Instance Management Settings

InstallAnywhere 2020 SP1 » Advanced Designer » Project » Advanced

The Instance Management area in the Advanced View contains the following settings:

Setting

Description

Enable Instance Management

Select this option to enable the Instance Management options: Do Not Limit Instances, Restrict to a Single Instance, and Restrict to Number of Instances.

Note • This check box is enabled if the Enable Maintenance Mode support check box is selected.

Do not Limit Instances

Select this option to enable end users to install an unlimited number of instances of this product on a machine.

End users may want to install multiple instances on the same machine if they want to configure each instance differently (each with different features, configuration settings, environments) and want to launch each instance independently (such as launching multiple instances on WebSphere/Tomcat using different JVM versions).

If an installer was created with the Do not limit instances option selected, the following occurs:

•

When an end user attempts to install a second instance of that product, the Manage Instances dialog box opens, prompting the user to specify that they want to install a new instance (rather than Modify an Existing Instance).

•

When an end user has installed multiple instances of a product on a machine and then launches Maintenance Mode, the Manage Instances dialog box opens, prompting the user to select the instance that they want to modify.

For more information, see Run-Time Behavior for Maintenance Mode.

Restrict to a Single Instance

Select this option to restrict end users to be able to install only one instance of the product on a machine.

By selecting the Restrict to a Single Instance option, you are preventing the end user from being able to do either of the following:

•

Installing additional instances of the product on the same machine.

•

Overwriting an existing instance of the product.

If an installer was created with the Restrict to a Single Instance option selected, when an end user attempts to install a second instance of that product, the Manage Instances dialog box opens, prompting the user to modify the existing instance, rather than to install a new instance.

Restrict to Number of Instances

Select this option and enter a number in the text box to restrict end users to be able to install only a specified number of instances of the product on a machine.

Identify Instance Using

Select one of the following options to specify how to identify an instance of an application:

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Installation Location Only—Identify an instance by examining the installation location. No filters are applied to the detected instances.

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Installation Location and Version—Identify an instance by examining the installation location and the application version of the installed application. When this option is selected, the Version Field Level That Identifies New Instance option is enabled, which enables you to identify what level of version change constitutes a new version.

Version Field Level That Identifies New Instance

When you select Installation Location and Version from the Identify Instance Using option, this option is enabled. You are prompted to specify what level of version change constitutes a new version by selecting one of the following options:

•

Major

•

Minor

•

Revision

•

Subrevision

Note • Versions are conventionally represented in the following format: [Major].[Minor].[Revision].[Subrevision], such as: 1.0.2.1047.

For more information, see Specifying Instance Management Behavior.

Note • Reinstalling an application to the same location as an existing application would result in only one instance, irrespective of the version.

Note • If you choose the Installation Location and Version option from the Identify Instance Using list, the installation does not recognize those instances which are from a more recent version, because an installer of a previous version might not be able to successfully manage an instance of the installer of a more recent version. For example, a Version 2.0.0.0 installer will not consider Version 3.x instances, but will consider all Version 1.x instances and Version 2.0.0.0 instances.

Enable Instance Overwrite Warning

To warn end users when they are about to overwrite an existing instance of an application and specify whether they will be permitted to overwrite the instance, select this check box. After you select this check box, select one of the following options:

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Allow user to continue with overwrite—Permit end user to overwrite an existing instance of an application.

•

Do not allow user to overwrite—Do not permit end user to overwrite an existing instance of an application. Instead, prompt end user to change the installation location in order to continue with the installation.

Note • If this check box is selected, you are required to include a Panel: Choose Install Folder action in the Pre-Install sequence.

Instance Management Settings

InstallAnywhere 2020 SP1 Help Library

January 2020