We describe here the main configuration file: the ".vai" file.
It is a basic Java properties file. Each property will be explained
one by one.
Please refer to "examples/hello/hello.vai".
vainstall.archive.archivingMethod=
Archiving method. Can be "append" or "include".
This should be left to "append".
It is kept for historical reasons. There were in earlier versions
two methods for building the package: appending the file archive to the
executable Java class, or including it inside as a String,
using a home-made ASCII coding.
Only the first method is now supported, since the second is neither
efficient nor fast.
vainstall.archive.installClassName=
Name of install class. This is the name of the output files
(without extension).
It is also the name of the class when the Java target is selected.
IMPORTANT:
only letters, underscores and numbers ("A" to "Z", "a" to "z" ,
"_" and "0" to "9") are allowed for this name, since it is a Java
class name. Numbers can not be the first character.
vainstall.archive.filelist=
Path of file listing files to include in the archive.
Points to the filelist described in the next section.
vainstall.destination.targets=
The output package formats.
You can put only one, or all formats if you wish (separated with a comma ','),
the corresponding packages will all be generated at a time.
The possible formats are:
- "java" : executable Java class
- "jar" : executable Jar file (with 'java -jar' or double-click on
windows)
- "jnlp" : JavaWebStart Jnlp file. This forces "jar" output because
jar is needed for JavaWebStart.
- "unix" : executable shell script on Unix/Linux platforms
- "win95" : Windows executable
- "linux-i386" : native Linux-i386/glibc2 executable (you should prefer the
"unix" target to this one)
All output files have the name specified in the
"vainstall.archive.installClassName" property, followed by an extention
depending on the target format.
vainstall.destination.ui=
User interface the installer will use on the Destination host.
Can be one of:
- "graphic" : Classic "Swing" user interface
- "xtra" : Original home-made user interface. Try it!
- "text" : Simple text user interface. Used by default on console-only hosts.
- "ansi" : Coloured text. Only supported on ansi-capable console, such as the
Linux console.
Whatever ui the packager chooses, the end-user can force the "text" ui on the
command line.
vainstall.destination.language=
Language the installer will use on the Destination host. Can be one of:
- "default": The keyword alone.
If VAInstall supports the language
that is installed on the machine then
use that. Otherwise it uses english language.
- "choose" : The keyword alone.
The user wil be presented for a language dialog.
In this dialog the user can choose between all the supported
languages by VAInstall.
The choosen language wil be remembered if the user later
uninstall the package.
The dialog detects the locale and switch to a
supported language if available. If not supported the dialog
defaults to english.
- "choose" : The keyword with language keywords.
Does the same as 'choose' but restricts the languages the
user can choose between.
F.ex. 'choose,english,french'.
- "english" : English language
- "french" : French language
- "danish" : Danish language
- "japanese" : Japanese language
vainstall.destination.ui.bluescreen=
Should a bluescreen be displayed on the root of the destination host?
Answer with "yes" or "no".
A bluescreen is a fullscreen coloured panel showing the name of the package.
As it may block the installer on Windows platform, due to a yet unidentified
bug, you should test it carefully before shipping a package with the
bluescreen selected.
However, the end-user can force the bluescreen property to "no" on the
command-line.
vainstall.destination.ui.bluescreen.colour=
Bluescreen colour. If the bluescreen should be showed, this property
specifies its colour, in hexadecimal format: RRGGBB.
For example, FF0000 is red.
In fact, the bluescreen will show a colour gradient based on this colour.
vainstall.destination.ui.image=
Banner image. If a graphic installation mode is chosen, this is the path to
the image which should be drawed on the install panel.
Use any gif or jpeg image.
In graphic mode, the image will be reshaped to 200x400 pixels, in xtra mode,
the image will be shown as is. If you don't specify a file here, a default
banner will be used.
vainstall.destination.defaultPath=
Default destination directory. This path will be proposed to the end-user
during the install process. The user will have the ability to change it.
Any file in the filelist which has a relative path will be copied in this
default or user-changed directory.
Format:
This path can be relative or absolute. You can use driver letters
(for Windows targets), but you must put them into brackets. Exemple:
"[C:]Temp/example/path". On other platforms, the drive letters are ignored
and replaced by the filesystem root: "/".
You can also use generic variables which are mapped conveniently on each target
platform. Variables must be put into brackets.
- "$HOME" means the root directory on Windows (often "C:\"), and the
user's home directory on other platforms. Example:
"[$HOME]example/path" will be mapped on "C:\example\path" on win95
platforms, and "$HOME/example/path" on Linux/Unix platforms.
- "$PROGRAM" means the program directory on Windows
(often "C:\Program Files"), and "/usr/local" on Unix platforms.
Example: "[$PROGRAM]example/path" will be mapped on
"C:\Program Files\example\path" on Windows platforms, and
"/usr/local/example/path" on Linux/Unix platforms.
vainstall.destination.installMode=
"install", "update" or "module" mode.
If you choose "update", vainstall.destination.defaultPath will be
forced to the directory of previous installations of this package
on the destination machine. If there is none, the installer will exit.
"update" mode is useful for differential update, or when a previous version
HAS to have been installed before.
"module" is specially tuned for module/plugin installation.
"module" is similar to update but it enforces that the version be equal
to the one of the installed software on the dest host.
Normal (default) mode is "install".
vainstall.destination.appName=
Name of the application (or data source) to package. This name will appear
as a title during the installation process, and in the Windows registry.
vainstall.destination.appVersion=
Version of the application (or the data source). This version number will
appear next to the app name during the installation process, and in the
Windows registry.
vainstall.destination.linkSectionName=
Link section (sub-menu) name (default="Applications"). Name of the sub-menu
the application's link (shortcut) should go into.
Note: shortcuts are currently only available for
Debian/Gnome desktops.
vainstall.destination.linkSectionIcon=
Link section (sub-menu) icon (default=none). Icon for the sub-menu.
vainstall.destination.linkEntryName=
Link entry (shortcut) name (default=appName). Name of the shortcut.
vainstall.destination.linkEntryIcon=
Link entry (shortcut) icon (default=none). Shortcut's icon.
vainstall.archive.license=
Path of license file. Path where the license file for the app resides on the
packager's machine. The license file will be displayed to the end-user in
the second stage of the install process.
vainstall.archive.license.encoding=
This is an optional property the packager can use if the license file
has another encoding than the default system encoding. Just put the name
of the encoding here, for example "UTF-8". You should test the installation
before you release your packaged app to check that the license file is
correctly shown.
vainstall.archive.readme=
Path of readme file. Path where the readme file for the app resides on the
packager's machine. The readme file will be displayed to the end-user in
the third stage of the install process.
vainstall.archive.readme.encoding=
This is an optional property the packager can use if the readme file
has another encoding than the default system encoding.You should test the installation
before you release your packaged app to check that the readme file is
correctly shown.
vainstall.jarsigner.alias=
This is an optional property that defines the name of the signer of the jar
target. If you don't specified a jar target or don't want to sign it, you
can skip this property.
vainstall.jarsigner.passphrase=
This is an optional property that defines the passphrase used to sign the jar
target. If you don't specified a jar target or don't want to sign it, you
can skip this property.
vainstall.jnlp.codebase=
If you asked for a jnlp target, this property sets the codebase needed for the
jnlp file. Please refer to jnlp documentation for more info on this.
vainstall.jnlp.homepage=
If you asked for a jnlp target, this property sets the homepage needed for the
jnlp file. Please refer to jnlp documentation for more info on this.
vainstall.jnlp.vendor=
If you asked for a jnlp target, this property sets the vendor needed for the
jnlp file. Please refer to jnlp documentation for more info on this.
