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The Next Generation Installer for IBM® Informix® products is a user-friendly, dynamic tool. The graphical installer is ideal for anyone with limited product experience, while the silent installer provides additional options, along with text-based support. This document aims to provide details to help you better understand the features and benefits of the installer.
Products evolve over time to support users’ needs. Because IBM Informix strongly believes in delivering products with superior performance, IBM Informix has improved the installer. The new installer is also more dynamic, to meet the demands required for using IBM Informix in OLTP and embedded markets.
The new installer helps IBM Informix provide the same user interface on UNIX and Linux platforms, and ensures a standard user look and feel of products in the IBM Software Group Portfolio. The installer enhances product usability and provides seamless integration with other IBM offerings such as Express Runtime and ISV (independent software vendor) product bundling. Furthermore, the installer makes accessibility conformance easier and minimizes the manual steps required of users, so they can begin using their IBM Informix products immediately.
The previous version of the IBM Informix product installer supported only text-based installation, which had very little flexibility. The new installer supports the following modes:
- Text
- Graphical
- Silent
The uninstall capability helps users remove the product from the location where it was installed.
The following products use the new Installer:
- IBM® Informix® Dynamic Server (IDS), Version 10.00.xC1
- IBM® Informix® Client SDK,Version 2.90.xC1
- IBM® Informix® Connect, Version 2.90.xC1
Complete installation instructions are documented in the following installation guides:
- IBM Informix Dynamic Server Installation Guide for UNIX and Linux, Version 10.0
- IBM Informix Client Products Installation Guide, Version 2.90
The Installer provides significant advantages over the existing script. These advantages help you quickly install products and quickly deploy the products in a remote environment.
Notable improvements include:
- Reduced product size (the JAR archive uses compression) and no manual steps.
- Fewer preparatory requirements for setup before beginning the installation; just extract the source and proceed with installation.
- Start installation from the media instead of copying files.
- The installation is performed by a single user. The entire installation is carried out as the user root, rather than as user informix and root.
- A graphical user interface to guide the user through the installation process.
- Enhanced dynamic error reporting to reduce invalid user inputs. Permission issues and space constraints are reported prior to installation.
- Intuitive features for novice and expert users.
- Zero interference. All the required information is gathered before the actual installation.
- Support for silent install.
- Support for uninstall.
- No restrictions on who can copy the product from the media. This eliminates permission errors.
- Critical steps that are now dynamic. The user can provide the critical information during the course of the installation. Environment settings are no longer required prior to installation, because users can supply them during installation.
- Features that help with backward compatibility. For example, the
-legacyoption.
An Overview of the Product installer
The installer contains the following components:
- Launcher
- Platform Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
- JAR and RPM packages.
The launcher contains installation script and a bundled JRE (in a compressed form). The product files are available as external JAR or rpm packages.
The following diagram is a schematic representation of the launcher.
Figure 1. Schematic representation of launcher
When the command line is executed, the embedded JRE is extracted into a temporary location. The Java command line is executed from this location on the corresponding JAR package of the product. This launches the installation screen and installs the respective products or components to the destination location based on user choice.
The following diagram explains the sequence of actions that occur when the launcher is invoked and installation starts.
Figure 2. Installer sequence of actions
A comparison of the old and new installers
This section provides a comparison of the old installer and the new installer.
Table 1. Comparison of installers
| Old Installer | New Installer |
|---|---|
|
× Multiple layers of product extraction (tar files must be extracted twice).
|
Extract the product files once and begin the installation.
|
|
× Prior to starting installation, the product had to be copied from the media.
|
The product installation can be started directly from the media.
|
|
x Requires a lot of disk space to perform the product copy and extraction.
|
The media size is reduced, resulting in a less bulky product.
|
|
× Supports a text interface only
|
Supports text, graphical, and silent interfaces
|
|
× User switching is required for certain installation steps.
|
Only one user is needed to complete the entire installation process.
|
|
× The installation is difficult for novice users.
|
The ease of use approach helps both novice and advanced users.
|
|
× A user must restart the installation process if a problem occurs during the installation.
|
The installer prompts the user to provide the required information.
|
|
× Critical manual steps.
|
All inputs are dynamic; preset values are not needed.
|
|
× Possible problems with extraction leading to permission issues.
|
Any user can extract the product; a single user can complete the installation.
|
Users can start installation using two different methods:
- Invoke the launcher (the preferred installation method).
- Invoke a Java command line by passing the available JAR package as an argument to it. JRE version 1.3.2 or higher must be installed and available on the target host.
When the launcher is executed (with arguments, if any), it runs a Java command line by invoking the corresponding JAR package.
The product launcher is invoked by a command on the command-line (ids_install,
installserver, installclientsdk,
or installconn). The launcher drives the installation by gathering information from the user and proceeds to deploy files to the specified destination.
Table 2. Tasks that each command performs
| Run the command | To perform the task |
|---|---|
|
launcher |
Default command. Starts a command line installer. The user answers questions to complete the installation |
|
|
Start a graphical installer. The user answers questions to complete the installation. |
|
|
Starts a silent installer. The user provides setup information in a response file prior to executing the command. |
The first and second methods are recommended, so the user can interact, provide the information, and complete the installation process.
The launcher creates a log file in /tmp/launcher.txt with launch-related information. If the product-related operation encounters any errors, the errors are logged to a file that can be found in destination directory/tmp/log.txt. These two files will help in identifying and resolving installation errors. If the installer encounters any errors in text and graphical mode, the errors are reported to the user.
The following matrix shows setup information needed for a successful product installation.
Table 3. Installation setup information
| Execution | All Methods | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
General |
Start the installation as root (privileged user) For any temporary directory location used, ensure that there is enough space for JRE extraction (approximately 60-70 MB). The default directory is /tmp. Ensure that the destination directory has the proper permissions. The recommended permissions is r+w access for all users. The destination has enough space for product deployment (300-400 MB based on the products chosen). | ||||||
|
Using Legacy Option |
Ensure that the destination has enough space for the extraction of product files. Perform the installation by running the appropriate scripts and ensure that the product works as intended for your deployment. | ||||||
|
Using Javahome Option |
Ensure that the path from where java command is started is in your path or Prefix the java path to the java command. | ||||||
|
Using Launcher |
|
New installer graphical installation screen shots
The following screen shots are intended to help you understand the flow of installation. The Welcome screen displays details about the product to be installed.
Figure 3. Welcome screen
The Software License Agreement screen displays the product specific terms.
Figure 4. License terms
The destination screen prompts for the target directory where the product is deployed.
Figure 5. Target directory
Use the Setup Type screen to specify whether you want a typical or custom installation.
Figure 6. Setup type
Another screen prompts you to provide installation-specific information.
Figure 7. Installation-specific information
The summary screen appears just before product deployment. This screen contains product details.
Figure 8. Summary
The progress bar contains details on the files being copied.
Figure 9. Installation progress
The final screen tells you that installation is complete.
Figure 10. Installation complete
This article provides detailed information about the features and benefits of the Next Generation Installer. This also helps to set future product direction with support to install desired components based on specific requirements.
- The installation guides are available on the Informix Library Web site.
Table of contents
Next steps from IBM
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