Commands Reference, Volume 2

geninstall Command

Purpose

A generic installer that installs software products of various packaging formats. For example, installp, RPM, and ISMP.

Syntax

geninstall -d Media [ -I installpFlags ] [ -E ResponseFileRecord | -T ResponseFileTemplate | -R ResponseFile ] [-e LogFile] [ -p ] [ -F ] [ -Y ] [ -Z ] { -f File | Install_List ] | all}

geninstall -u [-e LogFile] [ -E ResponseFileRecord | -T ResponseFileTemplate | -R ResponseFile ] {-f File | Uninstall_List...}

geninstall -L -d Media [-e LogFile]

Description

Accepts all current installp flags and passes them on to installp. Some flags (for example, -L) are overloaded to mean list all products on the media. Flags that don't make sense for ISMP packaged products are ignored. This allows programs (like NIM) to continue to always send in installp flags to geninstall, but only the flags that make sense are used.

A summary of the geninstall command's install activity is kept at /var/adm/sw/geninstall.summary. This file contains colon-separated lists of filesets installed by installp and components installed by ISMP. This is used mainly to provide summary information for silent installs.

Note

Refer to the README.ISMP file in the /usr/lpp/bos directory to learn more about ISMP-packaged installations and using reponse files.

Flags

-d Device or Directory	Specifies the device or directory containing the images to install.
-e LogFile	Enables event logging. The -e flag enables the user to append certain parts of the geninstall command output to the file specified by the LogFile variable. The LogFile variable must specify an existing, writable file, and the file system in which the file resides must have enough space to store the log. The log file does not wrap.
-E ResponseFileRecord	Creates an ISMP response file recording in the file specified by ResponseFileRecord variable. This option requires running the ISMP installation or uninstallation interactively and completely. The resulting response file can be used directly with the -R flag to select the same options on future installations or uninstallations of the same product. Creation of the response file recording will also result in installation or uninstallation of the product.
-f File	Specifies the file containing a list of entries to install. ISMP packaged products must contain a J: followed by the products installer or subdirectory. This information is given in the geninstall -L output (for example, J:product_directory or installer or J:WebSphere).
-F	Allows the user to reinstall a package that is already installed, or to install a package that is older than the currently installed version.
-I installpFlags	Specifies the installp flags to use when calling the installp command. The flags that are used during an install operation for installp are the a, b, c, D, e, E, F, g, I, J, M, N, O, p, Q, q, S, t, v, V, w, and X flags. The installp flags that are not used during install are the C, i, r , S, z, A, and l flags. The installp command should be called directly to perform these functions. The -u, -d, -L, and -f flags should be given outside the -I flag.
-L	Lists the contents of the media. The output format is the same as the installp -Lc format, with additional fields at the end for ISMP and RPM formatted products.
-N	Invokes the ISMP installer in no-op or preview mode for ISMP installs.
-p	Performs a preview of an action by running all preinstallation checks for the specified action.
-R ResponseFile	Provides predetermined responses to configurable options by passing the ResponseFile variable to the ISMP installer for the specified ISMP-packaged product .
-T ResponseFileTemplate	Creates an ISMP response file template in the file specified by ResponseFileTemplate variable. The resulting template can be used to create a reponse file for future installations or uninstallations of the same product with the desired options. Creation of the response file template will not result in installation or uninstallation of the product.
-u	Performs an uninstall of the specified software. For ISMP products, the uninstaller listed in the vendor database is called, prefixed by a "J:".
-Y	Agrees to required software license agreements for software to be installed. This flag is also accepted as an installp flag with the -I option.
-Z	Tells geninstall to invoke the installation in silent mode.

Example

To install all the products on a CD media that is in drive cd0, type:

geninstall -d /dev/cd0 all

If ISMP images are present on the media, a graphical interface is presented. Any installp or RPM images are installed without prompting, unless the installp images are spread out over multiple CDs.

Files

/usr/sbin/geninstall

Related Information

The installp command, install_wizard command.