Deploy your software with IzPack

In terms of free software packagers there are two contenders for me NSIS and IzPack. NSIS is restricted to Windows, so on its own isn't suitable for my needs. IzPack is Java-based, so instantly suitable for every major platform. Granted it is ideal for Java software, but it is not at all restricted to it. Obviously you need a Java runtime environment (JRE) installed to run, but that is common enough nowadays.

A run down of the features:

• Open source
• Cross-platform
• Fully customisable
• Native integration (Shortcuts for Windows and Linux)
• Ant integration
• Uninstaller
• Unattended mode
• User input
• Translations

Just like ant all your settings are stored in a XML file and parsed to create your customised package.

One of the advantages of IzPack being Java-based means you can add it directly to our continuous integration environment, using the Ant integration. That of course runs using CruiseControl, as the final step after compiling and testing our code (courtesy of JUnit), IzPack can step into package my software. So for each build I can take away an ready-to-deploy package.