Creating an install for an OS.
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:25 pm
I was wondering how to create an installer for my os, similar to the one used for Windows XP. Anyone know how?
With all due respect, if you've already written an OS, the installer should be trivial ( by comparison, at least ).
How would I go about it? Well, ideally I'd make a business transaction with PartitionMagic in order to use their technology for partition sizing/management (a la the BeOS installer).
Failing that, however, I'd make sure my fdisk-ish program was rock solid. I'd make sure my HD format util was rock solid.
The install app, in my opinion, should boot directly off a disk or CD (as such, you may actually just use a self-contained version of your OS) and allow the user a choice of what partition to use, and/or allow the user to create new partitions.
Some form of simple packaging system should then be used to build a set of packages that the user can decide to install, or not to install **
Once the drive is formatted, the packages are unpacked onto the new driver.
In my opinion, the tricky part is what I've **'d above. You could use an existing dependancy based system like rpm, or make your own. Or you could simply use .zip files.
For simplicity, I would probably just use .zip files with an embedded manifest-like file (similar to a jar). The manifest would describe what is contained in the .zip file (short description and long description, etc) which would be used to generate the package listing presented to the user.
--Jeff
