How to modify the silent installation file

Customizing installation on Windows systems : Creating a silent installation : How to modify the silent installation file

The following procedure uses a text editor to modify the acinstallinput.xml file for BIRT iHub as an example. The modifications create a partially silent custom installation. Modify the acinstallinput.xml file for other products in a similar way.

1 Download the iHub distribution package from an FTP software distribution site. Using WinZip or other archiving utility, extract the contents of the self-extracting executable file, ActuateBIRTiHub.exe, to a directory on the local machine, such as C:\Actuate\iHub.

2 Save a copy of acinstallinput.xml as orig_acinstallinput.xml so that you have a copy of the original silent installation input file.

3 Using a text editor that can handle UTF-8 encoding, open acinstallinput.xml.

4 Search for WelcomeDlg. Change its Visible value to True, as shown in the following example:

This causes the Welcome dialog box to appear during the installation. Because all dialog boxes have their Visible element set to False by default, only the Welcome dialog box appears during the installation.

5 Search for SetupTypeCtl. Change its value to Custom, as shown in the following example:

<SetupTypeCtl>Custom</SetupTypeCtl>

This change specifies a custom installation. The XML Schema Document, acinstallinput.xsd, requires either Typical and Custom as the only valid values for SetupTypeCtl.

6 Search for ComponentsDlg. Change the value of the Examples element to False, as shown in the following example:

<Examples>false</Examples>

This change means that the installation does not install the Example files.

7 Search for ProgramFolderCtl. Change Actuate 11 to Actuate 11 iHub, as shown in the following example:

<ProgramFolderCtl>Actuate 11 iHub </ProgramFolderCtl>

This change places iHub in the Start menu as Start➛Programs➛Actuate 11 iHub.

8 Save and close acinstallinput.xml.

9 Perform the steps in “How to use acinstallinput.xml to perform a silent installation,” later in this chapter, to test the modified acinstallinput.xml file.

During the installation, the only dialog box that appears is the Welcome dialog box. After the installation, use Windows Explorer to view the contents of C:\Program Files\Actuate\iHub. There is no Examples subdirectory. Also verify that the Start➛Programs➛Actuate 11 iHub menu item exists.