GuidesDifferent Types of Software Installation

Different Types of Software Installation

ServerWatch content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.




Christopher Rice

    I have recently been doing a bit of
consulting on the side creating software installations.  What this has
brought to my attention is that there are a whole slew of different ways to get
your software onto a target computer.

I have recently been doing a bit of consulting on the side creating software installations. What this has brought to my attention is that there are a whole slew of different ways to get your software onto a target computer.

    Just to clarify, I am not talking about
repackaging software for deployment into your network, which can be a monster of
a job in and of itslef, I am talking about the creation of the initial
installation.

    So, I want to review some of the different
options that you have for installing software:

 

    Media based software installation – This is
the most common type of installation.  It will take all of the files that
make up your software and place them onto a span of disks.  This will also
include some type of a file that explains where all of the components of your
software belong and what system settings and edits need to take place.  It
will contain some form of an executable to call the process as well.

    Web based software installation – This is a
pretty cool way to deploy software that has been picking up popularity as the
web and connections to it get faster.  Basically, you would create a small
stub executable which will place an http or FTP call to a server which contains
all of the files needed to run your software.  It will do an integrity
check and only download the files that your system needs.  This saves you
time in download.  The problems with this type of installation come up when
you introduce firewalls and strict security.

    Single exe installation – This is one that
most of us are familiar with, the install is a self compressed exe file that you
run which will extract itself and contains all of the files needed to run your
installation as well as the explanation file which tells the software where to
load and what changes to make.  This is popular for repackaging
applications as it is very portable.

    Windows Installer installation – With the
introduction of Windows 2000 into our lives came the introduction of the Windows
Installer service, which resides on a client machine and runs your installations
for you given that you provide the correct information.  Although most of
us huffed and puffed when this first came out, it’s logic is quite
appealing.  This type of installation is based on the MSI and MST
files.  It is the new challenge in our field.

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

Latest Posts

Related Stories