The InstallTool package
The InstallTool package contains the root of your CD location and two files, InstallPlan.xml and InputParameters.xml.
- The root of your CD location
- It is a folder on your file system that uses the Content Manager official structure containing the raw data.
- InstallPlan.xml
-
The InstallPlan is generated by Content Manager or an integrator. It describes the installation. That is, it describes every install action such as the source and target folder for every file, Virtual Directories, Registry structures, Services and so on.
An install plan is built from two types of building blocks:
- file elements (from-to copy statements)
- webapp/registry/serviceapp (system change statements)
These building blocks are in the following three groups:- Standard (the out-of-the-box components for the project/environment).
- Customer Specific (your customized/project files overwriting the Standard/DITA files).
Note that if you add files to the CD, you must regenerate the install plan, otherwise it does not contain extra file elements.
- InputParameters.xml
-
This file contains a list of variables that require a value assignment from the system administrator. The main goal is to centrally define global settings such as
AppPath,WebPath,DataPath,ProjectName, DesignatedOSUser, databaseConnectString, and so on.The file contains the prompts displayed in a graphical user interface of an install program. All these values are inserted in the necessary places during the installation.
The
InputParametersfile needs to assign a value for ALL variables used somewhere in the InstallPlan.xml or in files which use variables on the CD.