Customizing the Notes® install manifest for supplied Eclipse features

You can edit the supplied Notes® install manifest (install.xml) to control which features are available for installation and what the user sees on the feature installation panel.

Only features containing the installfeature property required="false" in the Notes® install kit's install manifest (install.xml) are available for removal or other install options. These include the Composite Applications Editor, Connections (Activities), Feed Reader, embedded IBM® Sametime®, and (for single user install) Domino® Designer and Domino® Administrator clients. All other supplied features must remain as supplied in the install kit.

Note: Domino® Designer and Domino® Administrator require the additional step of using the MSI tuner to create a transform file (.mst) that disables their install completely. This transform file must be used during install or upgrade.

For Notes® installation of supplied Eclipse features, you can do any of the following:

  • Display a feature name and enable the user to select or deselect the option. The feature name appears on the feature installation panel as selected, and the user can select or deselect it.
  • Display a feature name and force its installation. The feature name appears on the feature installation panel and user cannot deselect it.
  • Prevent a feature name from appearing on the features installation panel. Depending on how attributes are set in the install manifest this can either force the feature to be installed or prevent the feature from being installed.
  • Remove a supplied feature from install consideration. You can comment or even delete an installfeature block.

When customizing the install.xml file for supplied features, focus only on the installfeature element, not the sub-level "feature" element.

When you open the Notes® install.xml file in a Web browser or XML editor, it opens in expanded form and the hierarchy is apparent. To simplify display, collapse the feature hierarchy so that only the installfeature elements are visible. Each installfeature element represents an installable feature.

You can edit the install manifest using an XML editor or text editor but be sure to validate the XML before moving to the next step in the customization process.

The following sample is an install.xml snippet (specifically an installfeature element). For supplied features such as the Composite Application Editor, the attributes you can edit are "default," "required," and "show" which are seen in the installfeature element snippet:
+ <installfeature default="false" description="%Editors.description"id="Editors" name="%Editors.name" required="false" show="true"version="8.5.3.20121115.0230">
Note: Do not edit any installfeature element whose "required" attribute is set to "true."
  • default -- Specifies whether the installfeature name is shown selected for installation. If set to true, the installfeature name is selected on the feature installation panel. If set to false, the installfeature name is not selected on the feature installation panel.
    Note: The "default" attribute is ignored when re-running the installer and is ignored on upgrade unless the installfeature did not exist in the previously installed offering. This allows the installer to display the state (installed or not installed) of the installfeature that was available in the previous installer offering.
  • required -- Specifies whether the installfeature must be installed. If set to true, the installfeature is installed. If set to false, and show is set to true, the installfeature name appears on the Notes® feature installation panel and the user can select the option.

    The "required" attribute overrides the "default" attribute.

  • show -- Specifies whether the installfeature appears on the Notes® feature installation panel. If set to true, the installfeature name is visible. If set to false, the installfeature name is not visible.

See the related topics for information on provisioning.

Example: Display a feature on the features installation panel and enable the user to select or deselect the feature

To display an installfeature name and enable the user to select or deselect it during Notes® install, set the following values:

  • default -- false
  • required -- false
  • show -- true

Example: Display a feature on the features installation panel and force its installation

To display an installfeature name and force its installation, set the following values:

  • default -- true
  • required -- true
  • show -- true

Example: Prevent a feature from appearing on the features installation panel and install

To prevent an installfeature name from appearing on the features installation panel and force its installation, set the following values:

  • default -- true
  • required -- true
  • show -- false

Example: Prevent a feature from appearing on the features installation panel and do not install

To prevent an installfeature name from appearing on the features installation panel and prevent its installation, either delete that feature block, comment its installfeature element in the install.xml file, or set the following values:

  • default -- false
  • required -- false
  • show -- false