InstallAware 2025 Sources Published

0. Governing License ====================

Please refer to LICENSE-BSL.txt found in the root of this distribution.

InstallAware Software has attempted to preserve the original licenses of third party files found in this distribution, where applicable.

Any error in doing so does not imply intent on part of InstallAware Software to attempt to override such licenses, whereby such original licenses would still govern the third party files as if the mistake had not been made by the automated source code formatting and preparation software used herewith.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, all first party contributions made by InstallAware Software are governed entirely by LICENSE-BSL.txt found in the root of this distribution, without exception.

1. Software Requirements ========================

InstallAware for Windows Installer is built using Delphi, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to open source - due to the large number of third party components which are closed source, not to mention Delphi itself of course.

InstallAware Multi Platform has been built from the ground up in Lazarus, the latter of which is an open source IDE built using the open source Free Pascal compiler; which presents the possibility to open source the entire InstallAware Multi Platform stack.

You will need Lazarus, which often contains the Free Pascal compiler, to build this software. The current state of the distribution does not contain any non-Pascal code, which would have required additional environments to build.

InstallAware currently uses the following Lazarus/Free Pascal versions to build this source code. While this forms a recommendation, you may find that you are able to transcend the suggestions below, either by changing this source code, or by adding support for new platforms where Lazarus/Free Pascal are available (such as Amiga).

We recommend you install this combination using FPCUPDELUXE: https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/fpcupdeluxe/releases

You will also need to install Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS. Xcode itself is not required.

Versions of Xcode Command Line Tools newer than 16.2 are not currently recommended due to compatibility issues with Lazarus/Free Pascal.

A virtualized macOS environment running macOS 12.x or 13.x is recommended. There are problems with macOS 14.x and 15.x in supporting Dark Mode on macOS when Lazarus compiles against the default SDKs included with those versions.

There are additional compatibility problems on Apple Silicon macOS with the required version of Lazarus, which are resolved through the application of a patch as described in the build instructions following this section.

For aarch64 Linux on GTK2, InstallAware Software uses Lazarus 3.99 paired with Free Pascal 3.3.1, as installed by FPCUPDELUXE. The build environment runs Debian 11.3.

For aarch64 Linux on Qt5, InstallAware Software uses Lazarus 2.3.0 paired with Free Pascal 3.3.1, as installed by FPCUPDELUXE. This build environment runs Kali 2022.2.

For x86_64 Linux on GTK2, InstallAware Software uses Lazarus 3.99 paired with Free Pascal 3.3.1, as installed by FPCUPDELUXE. This build environment runs Mint 20.3 Xfce.

For x86_64 Linux on Qt5, InstallAware Software uses Lazarus 3.6 paired with Free Pascal 3.2.2, as installed by the operating system application manager. This build environment runs Manjaro (rolling release).

You may install this recommended combination using FPCUPDELUXE.

Please note that InstallAware Software only builds and maintains an x86 version of InstallAware Multi Platform on Windows.

The scripting environment and the setup engine are already able to deploy to AMD64 and aarch64 Windows platforms using the x86 build of the software, through the use of setup commands such as "Set 64 Bit Mode".

You may however build native AMD64 versions of the installer should you so desire. Please be advised this would lose compatibility with any x86 operating systems for no practical gain from either a performance, or a functionality standpoint.

Please note that a similar level of compatibility is achievable on Apple platforms by building the Intel version of this software.

2. Preparing Your Build Environment ===================================

You must install the following packages in the Lazarus IDE before you may build InstallAware Multi Platform:

a. miap.lpk: The custom script editor and file label controls.

b. GreatisRuntimeFusion/FormDes/Source/gfstd.lpk: The form editor.

c. GreatisRuntimeFusion/ObjInsp/Source/oipkg7.lpk: The object inspector.

d. GreatisRuntimeFusion/RunFus/Source/rfpkg.lpk: The merged runtime designers.

No additional packages are required to be installed in the Lazarus IDE.

3. Building InstallAware Multi Platform =======================================

The following build scripts perform builds on each supported platform. You may need to enable executable attributes on the scripts in your project folder by running the command "chmod 777 *.sh" in your favorite shell before you are able to run the named build scripts.

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via FPCUPDELUXE inside the following folder: ~/fpcupdeluxe/

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via FPCUPDELUXE inside the following folder: ~/fpcupdeluxe/ This script additionally deletes the following files to resolve some problems with capturing file download progress on the Apple Silicon version of Lazarus/Free Pascal that is used to build InstallAware Multi Platform: ~/fpcupdeluxe/fpc/units/aarch64-darwin/openssl/* ~/fpcupdeluxe/fpc/units/aarch64-darwin/fcl-net/* This script then replaces these files with their patched versions from: patch/*

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via FPCUPDELUXE inside the following folder: c:\fpcupdeluxe\

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via FPCUPDELUXE inside the following folder: ~/fpcupdeluxe/

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via FPCUPDELUXE inside the following folder: ~/Downloads/fpcupdeluxe/

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via FPCUPDELUXE inside the following folder: ~/fpcupdeluxe/

This script assumes you have installed Lazarus and Free Pascal via the operating system application manager, and Lazarus binaries are in your path.

To first build InstallAware Multi Platform, run the build script matching the platform you are working on. This will apply any necessary platform specific patches as described above. You may then load and edit the following projects inside of the Lazarus IDE:

i. miamp.lpr: The InstallAware Multi Platform IDE. ii. miauix.lpr: The InstallAware Dialog Editor. iii. miaxbuild.lpr: The command line build tool. iv. miaxstub.lpr: The InstallAware setup engine. v. mpax.lpr: The Setup Capture tool. vi. trans/mtranslator.lpr: The localization tool.

The build scripts previously mentioned in this section build some of the above projects multiple times with different conditional defines, to realize effects such as building the console (text mode only) setup engine from the same sources that are used to build the GUI version of the setup engine.

Only on macOS, you must also load miaxstub.lpr in the Lazarus IDE, and complete the following additional steps: Choose Project | Project Options from the main menu. Choose the top level Project Options parent displayed in the tree view. Click the "Clear Icon" button. Choose OK, and save your project normally.

Failure to complete the steps above results in the macOS Dock ignoring any custom icon you associate with your built setups, whereby the Dock displays the standard icon as seen in the Project Options window of the Lazarus IDE instead. This is despite the correct custom icon being added to the application bundle on macOS. This additional step is not necessary on Windows or Linux.

Feed the saved project miaxstub.lpr once again to the build scripts mentioned in 3a and 3b above to complete your changes. This step is required on both macOS Intel and macOS Apple Silicon.

Once all binaries have been built successfully, the following files start the process of packaging the installers for InstallAware Multi Platform:

Builds the InstallAware Multi Platform setup on macOS (platform agnostic).

Builds the InstallAware Multi Platform setup in Windows.

Builds the InstallAware Multi Platform setup on Linux (platform agnostic).

4. Excluded Dependencies ========================

This collection of source files does not include the following (non-exhaustive) list of items that are be required for the build scripts above to succeed:

o 7-Zip: Used to compress/extract files. Typically named miax.lib. Available in multiple platform and architecture specific instances which run natively.

o Self-Extractors: Used to package compressed and web based setups. Typically named dependentx(.exe) for the GUI version and dependenty for the console version. Not required for macOS, which does not make use of any self-extractor but creates DMG files with Apple native compression instead, while retaining single file and web build capabilities as on other platforms.

o Setup Project for InstallAware Multi Platform: Used to package the product itself.

o Creative Assets: Setup themes, sample projects, template installations, etc.

o Code Signing Certificates: macOS Notarization and Windows Authenticode.

The Quick Start Wizard in the IDE will successfully create a fully fleshed out setup project for you, even in the absence of (the sources of) the above materials.

Please be advised that this document does not grant you any usage rights over any and all material that you do not already have rights over, which rights may all be reserved.

5. Extending InstallAware Multi Platform ========================================

A good place to start is by implementing the stubbed "Check Process" command in mScriptExec.pas.

Once you have implemented this command, you may explore adding new commands to the IDE and setup engine by editing uGui.pas and mScriptExec.pas.

Native script commands to query/add/remove PKG/DEB/RPM packages on Mac/Linux would make valuable additions to the language - especially if native (un)installation progress can be captured live, and any error conditions handled interactively (whilst not sacrificing silent installation capability).

If you are interested in adding plug-in support to the Multi Platform IDE and setup engines, the current Windows-only plug-in specification is already public on the main InstallAware for Windows Installer website and embedded documentation.

The InstallAware Multi Platform IDE still lacks docking functionality, and the corresponding IDE Layouts feature - although it is currently possible to perform rudimentary docking of the current Project Manager and (Variable) Watches windows.

While the About boxes of the IDE (uAbout.) and the Dialog Editor (About.) are rendered translucently on macOS (uMacGlass.pas), Glass/Aero/Acrylic/Mica support is not impemented on Windows (or macOS); and could be formally implemented as a component corresponding to the VistaGlass component on InstallAware for Windows Installer.

The Setup Capture tool would benefit from platform-specific, snap-shot free methods to interrogate changes being made to a live system, just like InstallAware for Windows Installer which can perform direct captures.

Direct importers for PKG/DEB/RPM packages - converting them into script code - would provide upstream entry points into the InstallAware environment.

On platforms which support containers, built-in script commands which spawn new instances, and direct all subsequent script commands to directly operate on those instances, would facilitate efficient container orchestration.

While InstallAware Multi Platform can directy import projects from InstallAware for Windows Installer, it cannot yet export its projects into InstallAware for Windows Installer downstream.

The visual designer of the InstallAware Multi Platform IDE lacks views for Application Runtimes, and multi-platform specific commands like Create Link; both of which would make excellent starting points to extend the graphical IDE.

Just as InstallAware for Windows Installer directly exports its projects into a variety of package formats such as MSIX, APPX, App-V, etc. - downstream support in InstallAware Multi Platform to generate package formats such as PGK/DEB/RPM, as well as vendor-specific Application Store exports (along with integrated submissions), is achievable by "flattening" the conditionally executing script.

InstallAware for Windows Installer features a programmatic Automation Interface which emits entire setup scripts and projects from your Win32 applications. While non-trivial, a multi-platform counterpart to this functionality would empower server and programmatic integrations for InstallAware Multi Platform.

Although planned, cross-platform builds were never actually implemented for InstallAware Multi Platform. Building from any platform for any platform would be convenient and trivial, considering that the build stack already accommodates for this possibility; once the challenges of non-platform-native code signing and notarization have been addressed. There's already several open source projects which perform Authenticode signing on non-Windows platforms and macOS Notarization on non-Apple platforms.

Last but not least, the best new features of InstallAware Multi Platform are going to be those of which we have not even though of yet - that you invent!

InstallAware (Multi Platform) 2025 Copyright (C) 1996-2025 InstallAware Software