What’s New in InstallAnywhere 2015
InstallAnywhere 2021
New Features
InstallAnywhere includes the following new features.
Ability to Build Docker Images from InstallAnywhere Projects
InstallAnywhere Premier Edition with Virtualization and Cloud enables you use your existing InstallAnywhere projects to configure and build Docker images along with your traditional multiplatform installers. You can use the Docker support to prepare your on-premises Web applications for deployment to the cloud and to data centers.
Docker is a platform that enables developers and system administrators to build, distribute, and run applications on physical machines, data center virtual machines, or the cloud; it enables you to separate your applications from your infrastructure. A Docker image is a read-only template that InstallAnywhere can build from your project. A Docker container is launched from a Docker image. A Docker container consists of a complete file system that includes everything that is needed to run—code, system tools, system libraries, and more; it is the run component of the Docker platform.
To enable, configure, and build Docker images, use the new Build Containers view on the Build page in the InstallAnywhere Advanced Designer.
The Build Containers view also enables you to search public and private Docker registries for base images—such as those for Ubuntu, CentOS, Java, and MySQL—and pull them into your Docker images. You can also specify installers that you want to be run on your Docker images.
To customize or further fine-tune the creation of Docker images, advanced users have the ability to edit the Dockerfile—the set of commands that tells the Docker engine how to generate a Docker image—that InstallAnywhere creates as you configure Docker settings in your project; this capability is in the Build Containers view.
A new -dockerContainerMode command-line build parameter is available for building Docker containers.
To learn more, see:
| • | Creating Docker Containers |
| • | Requirements for Docker Support |
| • | About Docker |
| • | Components of the Docker Platform |
| • | Advantages of Using Docker Containers |
| • | Enabling Docker Support |
| • | Working with Docker Container Configurations |
| • | Configuring Docker Engine Settings |
| • | Selecting the Base Image for Your Docker Container |
| • | Selecting the Installers that You Want to Include in Your Docker Container |
| • | Editing the Dockerfile Directly |
| • | Building a Docker Container |
| • | Build Containers View |
| • | Build Command-Line Arguments |
Support for Deploying Web Applications to Local or Remote IBM WebSphere Servers
InstallAnywhere Premier Edition offers improvements for deploying Web applications (.ear or .war) to IBM WebSphere servers.
Enabling End Users to Specify Connection Information for WebSphere Servers
Now you can add to your projects run-time panels or consoles that enable end users to specify settings for WebSphere servers before deploying Web applications to these servers. For example, you can let end users specify information such as the local or remote WebSphere server host where they want to deploy the Web application.
To add the new run-time panels to a project, add the WebSphere Runtime Deployment panel or console actions. These actions are available for the Pre-Install view on the Sequence page in the InstallAnywhere Advanced Designer.
By default, these new run-time panels and consoles use variables such as $WEBSPHERE_DEPLOYMENT_OPTION$ and $WEBSPHERE_HOSTNAME$ for storing the values that end users enter.
To learn more, see:
| • | Specifying Which Deployment Options to Support for IBM WebSphere Servers |
| • | Deploying Web Applications (WAR and EAR Archives) to Servers |
| • | Enabling End Users to Specify IBM WebSphere Server Information |
| • | Deploy WAR/EAR Archive Action |
| • | WebSphere Runtime Deployment Panel Action |
| • | WebSphere Runtime Deployment Console Action |
IBM WebSphere 7, 8, and 8.5 Support
InstallAnywhere now has support for deploying Web applications to WebSphere 7, 8, and 8.5 servers.
Expanded Support for Connecting to IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and PostgreSQL Databases and Running SQL Scripts
InstallAnywhere Premier Edition offers several improvements for connecting to IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and PostgreSQL databases and running SQL scripts.
Enabling End Users to Specify Connection Information for Local and Remote Servers
Now you can add to your projects run-time panels or consoles that enable end users to specify connection information such as the name of the local or remote server, as well as the credentials that should be used to connect to the server through server authentication. In addition, you can optionally enable end users to test the connection information that they entered.
To add the new run-time panels and consoles to a project, add the Choose Database Connection panel or console actions. These actions are available for the Pre-Install view on the Sequence page in the InstallAnywhere Advanced Designer.
By default, these new run-time panels and consoles use variables such as $DB_NAME_VARIABLE$ and $DB_SERVERHOST_VARIABLE$ for storing the values that end users enter.
To learn more, see:
| • | Enabling End Users to Specify Database Connection Information |
| • | Choose Database Connection Panel Action |
| • | Choose Database Connection Console Action |
Support for Creating Databases on Target Systems
The Run SQL Script action now optionally supports the creation of Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL databases on target systems. The Properties Customizer that is displayed when you select this action in the Install view on the Sequence page has a Create Database check box that you can use to indicate whether to create the database at run time.
For more information, see the following:
| • | Running a SQL Script |
| • | Run SQL Script Action |
| • | Hosts View |
| • | Database Server Host Settings |
IBM DB2 10.1 and 10.5 Support
InstallAnywhere now has support for managing IBM DB2 10.1 and 10.5 databases, as well as IBM DB2 9.0 and 9.7 databases.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2014 Support
InstallAnywhere now has support for managing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2014 databases.
Support for SHA-2 Digital Certificates
InstallAnywhere now enables you to use digital certificates that use the SHA-2 hashing algorithm for signing your Windows-based installers (the installer .exe file, as well as the installer launcher and the uninstaller launcher) at build time.
SHA-256 is favored over SHA-1, which is being deprecated because of the potential for security vulnerabilities. Microsoft announced that Windows will stop trusting items that were signed and timestamped with SHA-1 certificates after January 1, 2016. In addition, certification authorities-the organizations that issue certificates-are phasing out the creation of SHA-1 certificates. Thus, it is recommended that you replace any SHA-1 certificates in your InstallAnywhere projects with SHA-2 certificates. For the latest information and more specific details, check with your certification authority.
If your project is configured to sign with a SHA-2 certificate, InstallAnywhere uses a SHA-2 hash in the signature of the files that it signs at build time. If your project is configured to sign with a SHA-1 certificate, InstallAnywhere generates a build error: either 813 (a SHA-1 certificate is configured in the project) or 814 (a SHA-1 certificate is configured in the project and a timestamp server is not being used for signing).
To learn more, see Digitally Signing Windows-Based Installers.
Support for the Latest Platforms
InstallAnywhere now supports the following platforms for running installer run-time environment, as well as for the InstallAnywhere the authoring environment:
| • | Windows 10 (x86 and x64) |
| • | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1 (desktop edition; x64) |
| • | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (zSeries) |
| • | OpenSUSE Linux 13.2 (desktop edition; x64) |
| • | SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 (server edition; x64) |
| • | Ubuntu 15.04 (desktop and server editions; x64) |
| • | Ubuntu 14.10 (desktop and server editions; x64) |
| • | Fedora 20 (desktop edition; x64) |
Enhancements
Support for Transparent Backgrounds on UI Panels
InstallAnywhere now enables you to make the main body area of each panel in the user interface of your installer transparent. Previously, this area behind the main UI text was always white.
To specify that you want the main body area to be transparent, select the new No Color option in the Inner Panel Background Color setting. To access this setting, on the Installer UI page, click the Look & Feel Settings view. Then, in the General UI Settings area, under the Installer Frame setting, the Inner Panel Background Color setting is available with the new option.
For more information, see Look & Feel Settings View.
Ability to Change the Text Color of the Installer Steps That the Installer UI Shows for Progress
InstallAnywhere now enables you to customize the font color that is used to display the text of the installer steps that is included on the left side of the installer user interface.
To specify the color, use the Look & Feel Settings view on the Installer UI page. In the List of Labels for Installer Steps setting, click the Installer Step Label settings button; the Installer Steps dialog box opens. On this dialog box, click the Icons and Fonts button. The Choose Label Settings dialog box opens. To change the font color of the text for the installer steps, click the Font Color button.
To learn more, see the following:
| • | Choose Label Settings Dialog Box |
| • | Look & Feel Settings View |
Enhanced Show Message Dialog Action
The Show Message Dialog action has been enhanced. One of the new settings that you can configure for this Pre-Install action is a check box called Cancel and Exit on ESC or X. If you want the installer to cancel and exit the installation if the end user presses the Escape button or clicks the Close button (X) on the message dialog, select this check box.
This check box is cleared by default.
For more information, see Show Message Dialog Action.
See Also