INSTALLING
There are several ways to deploy Notes® client features and plug-ins to users, including a customized add-on installer, a deployment widget and source widget catalog, and a customized Notes install kit. For all methods, the feature or plug-in to be deployed should be properly signed before deployment.
After you have created or obtained a new third-party or custom Eclipse-based feature and set of plug-ins, there are several ways to install it for your Notes users.
You can customize the supplied Notes install kit to add your own features and plug-ins to the install manifest and update site folder. This is ideal if the new feature is available when you are ready to install a Notes release and you want to install it when you install or upgrade to Notes.
See the topic Customizing Notes install for features and plug-ins on Windows and Mac.
This is the feature and plug-in deployment method of choice and should be used in place of the traditional Eclipse update manager method mentioned in earlier Notes and Domino® release documentation and still referenced in this guide.
This method is available for deploying new features and plug-ins to an existing Notes install and also to an Expeditor client that may not be running Notes.
This method is not available for updating Notes features that were installed as part of the Notes installation program, specifically the install kit's install manifest or update site.
See the topic Deploying client plug-ins with widgets and the widget catalog.
This method has been superseded by the widgets and the widget catalog method.
As an alternative to the widgets client deployment method, you can create an add-on installer.
See the topic Creating a customized add-on installer.
You can create an NSF-based update site using the supplied updatesite.nsf template.
See the topic Creating and using an NSF-based update site.
You can use composite applications alone or with an NSF-based update site to install or update custom or third-party features.
See the topic Configuring component update for composite applications.
You create an install manifest and update site folder containing the feature and plug-in JAR files for the new feature and site.xml. You can distribute the installer to deployers or users to perform their own installation, or you can install the new features for users who already have Notes installed.
See the topic Creating a traditional third-party installer.
You can determine which update sites a user can obtain features from using a variety of options including a server managed update site list, which can optionally be specified as the only site list from which the user can obtain updates.
For information, see the topics Limiting feature install and update and Specifying available update sites.
Creating features and plug-ins
Regardless of how you make third-party or custom features and plug-ins available for Notes installation or update, you must first create or obtain the feature, create an install manifest to describe what is to be installed and place the new features and plug-in JAR files correctly in an update site directory along with a site index. Tools such as theHCL Expeditor integrated development environment (IDE) help automate the Eclipse feature development process for you.
You should also specify feature and plug-in security settings for signing, and can specify additional information such as a list of valid sites from which to obtain install and update information, and some security settings, using a plugin_customization.ini file.
For information, see the topic Managing client plug-in deployment.
Signing features and plug-ins
Prior to making a new third-party or custom Eclipse-based feature available for Notes installation or update, you must correctly sign the feature. Once signed, you must also include signing information in the plugin_customization.ini file that accompanies the install manifest.
For information, see Signing custom or third-party features and plug-ins for install and update.
Parent topic: Managing client plug-in deployment
Related concepts Client feature deployment Customizing Notes using plugin_customization.ini Managing client plug-in deployment Creating a new feature Installing a new feature using the Notes install kit Specifying available update sites Limiting feature install and update with update sites Configuring component update for composite applications Creating and using a traditional third-party installer
Related tasks Customizing Notes install for features and plug-ins on Windows and Mac Deploying client plug-ins with widgets and the widget catalog Adding new features to the Notes install kit using addToKit (Macintosh) Signing custom or third-party features and plug-ins for install and update Creating a customized add-on installer