Build Command-Line Arguments

InstallAnywhere 2020 SP2

You can invoke InstallAnywhere’s installer builder by calling build.exe from the command line and specifying the project that you want to build. For example:

build.exe C:\my_setups\MyProduct.iap_xml

When building using the command line, you have several options regarding specifying which build configurations to build.

Information about build.exe command-line arguments is organized into the following sections:

Build-Related Arguments
Platform-Related Arguments
Distribution-Related Arguments
License-Related Arguments

Note:For Windows-based development systems, InstallAnywhere provides two versions of the command-line build tool: build.exe and build-as-invoker.exe. Using build-as-invoker.exe is recommended for users who do not have administrative privileges on their Windows-based build system.

Build-Related Arguments

The command-line build supports the following build-related arguments.

Build-Related Command-Line Arguments

Option

Description

+

Add platform to build. (See Platform Arguments, below.) For example, to build for Windows, no VM, use:

build.exe C:\my_setups\MyProduct.iap_xml +W

Using this option activates all build targets in your InstallAnywhere project for the specified platform/VM combination.

Note:You can use the + and - options for the entire project (without specifying the -all option), as well as for platform targets and distribution options for individual configurations.

-

Remove platform from build. (See Platform Arguments, below.) For example, to suppress the build of OS or OS X, use:

build.exe C:\my_setups\MyProduct.iap_xml -X

Using this option deactivates all build targets in your InstallAnywhere project for the specified platform/VM combination.

Note:You can use the + and - options for the entire project (without specifying the -all option), as well as for platform targets and distribution options for individual configurations.

-all

To build all of a project’s build configurations, even those that do not have the Add to project build check box selected, use the -all option.

Using the build.exe command without this -all option builds only the build configurations that have been added to the project (those that have the Add to project build check box selected).

-applianceMode

Build virtual appliances along with your installers as part of the build.

build <IA_Project_File> -applianceMode [<Appliance_Configuration_Name>] [-all]

-d

Use the specified working directory (relative or full path) for the build. This is the directory that build.exe uses to store all temporary files: the build log, locales directory, and others.

build.exe MyProduct.iap_xml -d ..\mydir

The default value for the working directory is the InstallAnywhere project file directory.

Relative paths are relative to the location of the project file.

Tip:The same result can be achieved by passing a build properties file with the working directory set by a BuildWorkdirLocation setting.

-dockerContainerMode

Build Docker containers.

build <IA_Project_File> -dockerContainerMode [<Container_Configuration_Name>] [-all]

-encrypt

Generate an encrypted hexadecimal value that can be directly copied and pasted into a response file as an encrypted variable value.

build -encrypt <product-code> <text-to-encrypt>

The resulting encrypted hexadecimal value can then be used later. For example, you could update the master response file with an encrypted value generated from a password without needing to first run the entire installation to only generate this value.

-?

Display help information on the build.exe command options.

-i

Use the specified login credentials to access System i (i5/OS) machine. Some System i (i5/OS) installers must bundle resources from an i5/OS machine at build time. Provide the address, user ID, and password for the i5/OS machine:

build.exe MyProduct.iap_xml -i 172.17.1.110/PN113/PASS123

Note:Address, user ID, and password values are separated by a slash character (/).

-p

As an alternative to specifying arguments to the build executable file on the command line, you can store the settings in a build properties file, and use the -p switch to point to the desired build-properties file. For example:

build.exe SampleApp.iap_xml -p BuildProperties.xml

-v

Print the InstallAnywhere product version.

build.exe -v

-productVersion=[version]

Use to set product version during build.

-btv [path_of_file]

Use to specify a build time variables properties file.

-unregister

Use to delete licensing information and to unregister InstallAnywhere.

Note:You can use several different methods to set the project version at build time. For more information, see Setting Project Version at Build Time.

Platform-Related Arguments

The following arguments—in conjunction with the plus (+) and minus (-) parameters—add and remove platform-related options:

Platform-Related Arguments

Argument

Description

a, A

AIX without VM option

av, AV

AIX with VM option

h, H

HP-UX without VM option

hv, HV

HP-UX with VM option

j, J, o, O

Pure Java option

l, L

Linux without VM option

lv, LV

Linux with VM option

s, S

Solaris without VM option

sv, SV

Solaris with VM option

u, U

Generic UNIX without VM option

n, N

Named UNIX without VM option

nv, NV

Named UNIX with VM option

w, W

Windows without VM option

wv, WV

Windows with VM option

wc, WC

Windows without VM option and with console launcher option

wg, WG

Windows without VM option and with graphical launcher option

wvc, WVC

Windows with VM option and with console launcher option

wvg, WVG

Windows with VM option and with graphical launcher option

w64, W64

Pure 64-bit Windows without VM option

w64v, W64V

Pure 64-bit Windows with VM option

w64c, W64C

Pure 64-bit Windows without VM option and with console launcher option

w64g, W64G

Pure 64-bit Windows without VM option and with graphical launcher option

w64vc, W64VC

Pure 64-bit Windows with VM option and with console launcher option

w64vg, W64VG

Pure 64-bit Windows with VM option and with graphical launcher option

x, X

Apple OS or OS X without VM option

x7, X7

Apple OS or OS X without VM and search for Oracle JRE 7 option

xv, XV

Apple OS or OS X with VM option

Distribution-Related Arguments

The following arguments—in conjunction with the plus (+) and minus (-) parameters—add and remove distribution-related options:

Distribution-Related Arguments

Argument

Description

cd

Build CD-ROM installers

merge

Build Merge modules

opt

Optimize by platform

web

Build Web installers

License-Related Arguments

The command-line build supports the following license-related arguments.

License-Related Command-Line Arguments

Option

Description

-generateHostID

Obtain the host ID for the machine. The host ID is used for configuring the license for InstallAnywhere.

Note:If the machine is not connected to a network, the -generateHostID argument fails to obtain the host ID. For more information and an alternative method for obtaining the Host ID, see Using build.exe to Build Installers from the Command Line.

-ls

Connect the command-line build to the specified license server. This option is available for users who purchase concurrent licenses of InstallAnywhere. Provide the location (IP address or host name) and port (optional) for the license server. For example, if the license server was operating on port 8888 of localhost, you might use:

build.exe -ls 127.0.0.1:8888

Note:It is possible for the build to fail if the build’s license lease expires, if insufficient licenses are available, or if the license server is inaccessible at build time.

-registerNodeLocked [path_of_license_file]

Use to specify a node-locked license file.

See Also