Silent Installers
Silent mode, which enables an installer to run without any user interaction, is fully supported on all UNIX platforms. A near-Silent mode is possible on Windows, and Mac OS X. InstallAnywhere and end-user-defined variables may be set through command-line parameters or a properties file.
To trigger a silent installer from the command line, type the following command:
installername –i silent
You may also call a properties file from the command line as follows:
installername -f <properties file>
You may use the direct or the relative path to the properties file.
NOTE
InstallAnywhere variables may be incorporated into these values, and they will be resolved at install time.
Using Response Files and Silent Installers
Silent mode is an InstallAnywhere UI mode useful for enterprise class systems. In Silent mode, InstallAnywhere has no end-user interaction and runs either on the defaults provided by the developer or by providing a response file from which the installer retrieves the values for various InstallAnywhere variables used to control the install.
The installer automatically checks the directory in which it resides for a file called installer.properties or <installername>.properties. You can also indicate a properties file for the installer to use by specifying the following command-line switch:
–f /path/to/properties file
This file utilizes a simple key=value format.
For example, the console installer we've previously built has effectively one real option—the installation directory. The properties file might look as follows:
INSTALLER_UI=silent USER_INSTALL_DIR=<select directory>
The INSTALLER_UI variable allows you to specify the installer mode in the properties file, negating the need to use the –i silent command-line switch.