Build Targets Subtab

InstallAnywhere 2017 » Advanced Designer » Build » Build Installers » Build Configurations

Edition • The ability to create different build targets for each platform that your product supports is available in the Premier edition of InstallAnywhere. In a Professional edition project, only one prebuilt build target is available for each platform; it is not possible to define additional build targets. The Professional edition does not include the Add button, the Delete Build Target button, or the Platform list.

The Build Targets subtab defines which target platforms the installer will be built for. Installers may be created either with a developer-selected Java virtual machine bundled with it, or without a Java VM. To build for a set of platforms, enable the combination of platforms desired, and specify VM Search Instructions and JVM Search Settings for that platform.

The Build Targets subtab lists available build targets in a collapsible list. When you expand a build target for one of the platforms, a customizer for that platform opens.

Mac OS X Build Target Customizer
Windows and UNIX Platform Build Targets Customizer
Other Java-Enabled Platforms Build Target Customizer

Mac OS X Build Target Customizer

The Mac OS X build target customizer includes controls to define a macOS or OS X-based build target.

The Mac OS X build target customizer includes the following controls:

Mac OS X Build Target Customizer

Control

Description

Target Name/Output Folder

Enter the name for the build target with a description (typically the platform name) that distinguishes it from other installers that the project builds.

Each build target label must have a unique name.

If you have two build targets for the same platform with the same label, InstallAnywhere appends _1 to the label of the duplicate build target.

Platform Type

The platform type is automatically selected for each of the listed build targets, but if you are adding a new build target, you can select a different platform in the list.

Note • If you change the value of this setting to another type, the controls that InstallAnywhere displays on the customizer change.

Without VM

If you do not want to include a Java virtual machine with this build target, select this check box. The installer searches for Oracle JRE 7 or later. If it is not found on the target system, the installer exits.

With VM

If you want to include a Java virtual machine with this build target, select this check box. If you select this check box, you also need to select the VM that you want to bundle with your installer. If multiple required versions of JRE are present, the installer uses the one that is set by the JRE_HOME environment variable.

Delete

Delete this build target from the project.

Windows and UNIX Platform Build Targets Customizer

The build target customizer for Windows and UNIX platforms includes controls that you can use to specify VM Search Instructions and JVM Search Settings.

The Windows and UNIX platforms build target customizer includes the following controls:

Windows and UNIX Platforms Build Target Customizer

Control

Description

Target Name/Output Folder

Enter the name for the build target with a description (typically the platform name) that distinguishes it from other installers the project builds.

Each build target label must have a unique name.
If you have two build targets for the same platform with the same label, InstallAnywhere appends _1 to the label of the duplicate build target.

Platform Type

The platform type is automatically selected for each of the listed build targets, but if you are adding a new build target, you can select a different platform from the list.

Without VM

If you do not want to include a Java virtual machine with this build target, select this check box. If you select this check box, you also need to select one of the following options to specify how the installer will find the VM it will use:

Search for VM; if not found, exit—Select this option to instruct the installer to search the target machine for a VM. If one is not found, the installer will exit. The search will be performed using the JVM spec file(s) listed in the in JVM Search Settings list.
Search for VM; if not found, download from URL—Select this option to instruct the installer to search the target machine for a VM. If one is not found, the installer will download a VM from the URL specified in the text box. The search will be performed using the JVM spec file(s) listed in the in JVM Search Settings list.

Optionally, you can also select the Verify downloaded VM with MD5 hash and enter the MD5 hash (in lowercase letters) in the text box. After the installer is built and run, you will then be able to check the integrity of the downloaded VM.

Don’t search for VM; download from URL—Select this option to instruct the installer to always download a VM from the URL specified in the text box.

Optionally, you can also select the Verify downloaded VM with MD5 hash and enter the MD5 hash (in lowercase letters) in the text box. After the installer is built and run, you will then be able to check the integrity of the downloaded VM.

Important • You can obtain VM packs by downloading them from the Flexera Software Web site (from the page that opens when you select Download Additional VM Packs from the Help menu). However, these VM packs are provided for your convenience only and should not be referenced by your installation project.

Therefore, if you select the Search for VM; if not found, download from URL or Don’t search for VM; download from URL options, do not specify a URL pointing to one of the VM packs on the http://www.flexerasoftware.com Web site. If you do, the build will fail. Instead, you should host the VM pack on your own file server or FTP server and specify the URL to that location.

With VM

If you want to include a Java virtual machine with this build target, select this check box. If you select this check box, you also need to select one of the following options to specify whether the installer should use the bundled VM if a VM is found on the target machine.

Search for VM; if not found, use bundled VM—Select this option to instruct the installer to search the target machine for a VM. If one is not found, the installer will use the bundled VM. The search will be performed using the JVM spec file(s) listed in the in JVM Search Settings list.
Don’t search for VM; use bundled VM—Select this option to instruct the installer to always use the bundled VM, even if a VM exists on the target machine.

VM to Bundle with Installer

If you select the With VM check box, select a bundled VM in this list.

JVM Search Settings

If the installer searches for a VM, it uses the JVM search instruction files that are specified in this list.

Add—Click to open the Choose JVM Spec dialog box, where you are prompted to select a JVM spec from the list.
Remove—Click to remove the selected JVM spec from the list.
Up and Down—If more than one JVM spec is listed, use these buttons to list the specs in order of preference.

Note • InstallAnywhere provides several pre-written JVM Specs, which are listed on the Choose JVM Spec dialog box. You can also write you own JVM spec. For more information, see JVM Spec Files.

Windows Installer Launcher Type

(Windows only) Identify the type of launcher you want to use. Choose from Graphical Launcher and Console Launcher.

Note • InstallAnywhere supports Arabic and Hebrew locales in GUI mode only. Console mode installers will not run under those locales.

Delete

Click to delete the build target.

Important • If you are building an installer that is targeting the 32-bit and 64-bit portions of a 64-bit Windows system, you do not need to select the 64-bit Java VM. The 32-bit Java VM targets both portions of the registry.

Note • The download functionality is supported only for simple FTP and HTTP protocols. If any other protocol is used, the build fails.

Other Java-Enabled Platforms Build Target Customizer

The Other Java-Enabled Platforms build target customizer includes controls to define a Java-enabled platform build target.

The Other Java-Enabled Platforms build target customizer includes the following controls:

Other Java-Enabled Platforms Build Target Customizer

Control

Description

Target Name/Output Folder

Enter the name for the build target with a description (typically the platform name) that distinguishes it from other installers that the project builds.

Each build target label must have a unique name.

If you have two build targets for the same platform with the same label, InstallAnywhere appends _1 to the label of the duplicate build target.

Platform Type

The platform type is automatically selected for each of the listed build targets, but if you are adding a new build target, you can select a different platform in the list.

Note • If you change the value of this setting to another type, the controls that InstallAnywhere displays on the customizer change.

Without VM

If you do not want to include a Java virtual machine with this build target, select this check box.

Delete

Delete this build target from the project.

See Also