- IzPack
Infobox_Software
name = IzPack
caption = IzPack
operating_system =Cross-platform
genre =Software development tools
license =Apache License
website = [http://izpack.org http://izpack.org]IzPack is an
open source software installer generator that targets the Java platform.It generates installers that fit in single JAR archives. As such, IzPack-generated installers are
cross-platform : the same installer works on anyoperating system that has a workingJava Runtime Environment .IzPack is released under the terms of the Apache License version 2.0.
History
IzPack was started in 2001 by Julien Ponge. A community started to appear around the project, and the development began to be made using a CVS server hosted by Tuxfamily.
The project moved in January 2004 to
BerliOS . It later opted for Subversion instead of CVS.In February 2008, the project moved to
Codehaus [Codehaus move announcement: http://jpz-log.info/archives/2008/02/06/izpack-is-a-codehaus-project/]Features
Although primarily meant to create cross-platform installers ["IzPack: Cross-Platform Installer Not Just For Java", InfoQ article: http://www.infoq.com/news/2008/05/izpack_40] , IzPack allows for some operating system dependent customizations. For example, it is able to create shortcuts on
Microsoft Windows systems andfreedesktop.org -compliant desktop / window managers.IzPack installers can be greatly customized. Each step of an installation is materialized by a "panel". A wide range of panels is available for packagers to use: it is possible to freely choose and order them. Shall the choice be too limited, custom panels can be created by application developers.
The installer builder is available as a command-line tool. It can be invoked from
Apache Ant automated build as well.Finally, IzPack provides a set of utilities:
* a native application launcher that can be used to first check for a Java Runtime Environment, then launch the installers
* a tool that wraps installers inside self-extracting Windows executables (based on7-Zip )
* a tool that wraps installers insideMac OS X application bundles.References
External references
* [http://izpack.org The project website]
* [http://izpack.org/downloads/ The project downloads page]
* [http://xircles.codehaus.org/projects/izpack/ The project page at Codehaus]See also
*
List of installation software
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