install4j comes in two editions, the Professional
Edition and the Enterprise Edition. To check the
differences between the two editions please see the
edition comparison. Features that are available in the
enterprise edition only are marked as such in the the
following list.
install4j offers the following features:
construction of a distribution tree
install4j's GUI allows you to
freely define your distribution tree
In each directory of the distribution tree you can
include the contents of entire directories or single
files from arbitrary directories on your disk. The
definition view and the results view give you full
control over the files that will be distributed by
your installers.
handle platform-specific differences
install4j offers convenient include/exclude mechanisms
that let you tailor your distributions in a platform
specific manner.
define file rights for Unix, Linux and Mac OS X
For each element of the distribution tree, you can
define custom access rights for installation on
Unix-like platforms.
define a fine-grained uninstallation policy
For each element of the distribution tree, you can
determine whether you want the uninstaller to remove
it or not.
define the overwrite policy
For each element of the distribution tree, you can set
a different overwrite police that determines what
install4j will do when it has to overwrite files
during an installation.
define installation components
You can define groups of files and directories that
constitute separate installation components. You can
offer the user to select only certain components for
installation.
compilation of native launchers
install4j launchers have the following features:
Customized JRE/JDK detection
The executable can detect appropriate Java JREs and
JDKs on the target system. You can also distribute
your own JRE on demand (see below). The search
sequence, error handling and supported JRE/JDK
versions are fully customizable.
Flexible classpath construction
The classpath for your Java application can be fully
customized to scan directories for JAR files, include
specific directories and archives as well as insert
environment variables. Customizable error handling
allows you to interrupt the startup sequence with a
specific error message instead of obscure
NoClassDefFound exceptions later on.
GUI, console applications
install4j lets you compile GUI applications or console
applications with an associated terminal window.
Service launchers (enterprise edition only)
Services (or daemons) are fully supported by install4j
(enterprise edition only). For services, install4j
generates service executables on Windows, startup
items on Mac OS X and start/stop scripts on Unix/Linux
platforms.
Custom working directory
If required you can adjust the working directory to a
specific directory relative to the executable. This is
especially helpful for console applications which can
be invoked from arbitrary directories. This way, you
don't need to define fragile environment variables
like MYAPP_HOME.
VM parameters file
For every executable, you can create a user editable
VM parameters file. In this way, users can adjust VM
properties like the maximum heap size.
Windows version info resource
install4j can generate a version info resource entry
in Windows executable. This version info is displayed
for example in the property dialog of the Windows
explorer. If you wish to obtain the "Designed for
Windows" logo, this is an important requirement.
Splash screen
For GUI applications, a splash screen gives the users
of your application an optimum feedback about
application startup. Textual status information about
application startup and version information can be
freely placed on the splash screen. From within your
Java code, this status information can be easily
updated with one simple call. With install4j's
"auto-off" mode activated, the splash screen is
hidden, as soon as your application displays a window.
Redirection of stderr and stdout
The standard output and error streams can be
redirected to customized files. This gives you access
to valuable information like an exception stack trace
on stderr that would otherwise be lost for a Java GUI
application.
Startup failure detection
No more flashing terminal windows and GUI applications
that hang without displaying anything. install4j
executables can monitor a stderr output file and
display a dialog with helpful information to inform
about startup failures.
Custom icon
Install4j uses two image files to create the icon for
your launcher. install4j creates Windows icons that
are optimized for Windows XP and also have optimal
display properties on older versions of Windows. You
can also specify your own Windows icon file.
Custom process name and taskbar grouping on Windows XP
On Microsoft Windows, install4j launches your Java
application in such a way, that the install4j
executable and not java.exe or javaw.exe will appear
in the task manager. In Windows XP, the task bar
grouping will display the name of your executable and
the associated icon, instead of the non-descript
terminal icon and the string "javaw".
Application bundle on Mac OS X
On Mac OS X, install4j executables are part of a
proper application bundle. You can specify a Mac icon
for your application.
Window manager integration for KDE/Gnome
install4j generates a .desktop file that allows your
users to easily place a shortcut on their desktops and
desktop menus.
creation of installers
install4j produces installers with the following
features:
GUI installers on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Unix
install4j generates professional-looking installers
that handle:
Directory selection
Displaying a license agreement and asking the user to
accept it
Selection of installation components
Program group selection
Creation of start menu entries for all users or a
single user only
Nested start menu entries
File associations with generated launchers
Selection and installation of services (enterprise
edition only)
Selection of standard tasks: creation of shortcuts on
the desktop and in the quick launch bar
Selection of custom tasks to be used by custom actions
Displaying pre-install and post-install information
files in text or HTML format
Full rollback if the installation is canceled or fails
Option to start launcher immediately from the
installer
Reboot option on Windows
Creation of uninstallers
Listing in the "Software" control panel on Windows
Customizable images and size (enterprise edition only)
Multiple languages
Supported languages for the installer wizard are:
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Linux RPM files
An RPM file lets your Java application be part of the
most widely used package management system used on
Redhat, SuSe, Mandrake and many other distributions.
Full Mac OS X support
The GUI installer installs your application as a
proper application bundle on Mac OS X. Also available
is a folder-type installation, that supports
application bundles for each launcher.
Unix Archives
As a fallback for arbitrary Unix platforms, gzipped
TAR archives can be created that contain your
application.
custom screens and custom actions
install4j's GUI installers can be customized with
custom actions
If your installation has to perform tasks that are not
covered by install4j's standard features, you can
always create a pre-installation and a
post-installation custom action to add your own
installation code to the installer.
custom screens (enterprise edition only)
Especially for server installations, freely layouted
custom screens in the installation wizard are a
need-to-have. With custom screens, you can query your
users for business domain-specific installation
parameters. Even a complex screen flow can be realized
with install4j's custom screens.
When developing custom actions and custom screens, you
can use the installer API. It enables you to interact
with the installation process and offers rich services
for accessing the Windows API.
JRE bundling and on-demand download of JREs
With install4j, you can
dynamically bundle a JRE
In this way the size of the installer is not increased
by the inclusion of a JRE. On the target system, if no
suitable JRE can be found, the user is prompted
whether to download the JRE bundle from your site.
statically bundle a JRE
When defining a media file in install4j, you just
select a JRE for bundling and it will be distributed
by the installer and used by all the generated
launchers. The JRE download wizard in install4j makes
it very easy to download suitable JRE bundles from
ej-technologies' JRE server.
User variables
Most text fields in install4j support user variables.
With user variables you can override and
internationalize settings for each media file as well
as change settings from the command line or ant task.
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