CEI has two main software installers for EnSight; 1) the Network Installer and 2) an Alternative Installer for the major platforms of Macintosh, Linux, and Windows.  The Network Installer is recommended for organizations that have a mix of computer platforms.  The installer works for all platforms that EnSight runs on including Windows, Unix, Macintosh and Linux and provides cross-platform installation.  The Alternative Installer is better suited to the individual user who is installing EnSight on a single computer and wants the smallest possible download and simplest process.

Below are some of the benefits of CEI's installers:

User Friendly

• Typical look and feel of a wizard based installer
• Present installation options in plain language
• Keeps the user apprised of the current operation

Cross platform

• Runs on every platform supported by EnSight 8.2
• Consistent look and feel across platforms -- Mac/Windows/Unix

Installs for multiple target architectures

• Allows users to do a single installation to a network drive serving other Mac/Windows/Linux machines
• Reduces administration costs for heterogeneous networks

Network installation/upgrade

• Run the installer on your machine and have it only pull down the necessary files for your machine
• During an upgrade, the installer will only download new files, reducing bandwidth costs
• Compatible with web proxies, including authentication and/or SSL encryption

• Fully unattended installation mode
• Does not require graphics
• Scriptable
• Installable remotely over terminal (SSH/TELNET) connections

• Large installations can download the DVD image and run their own install server
• Reduce bandwidth and installation time by installing many client machines from a local server
• Provide installation server features on private (secure) networks

With the latest EnSight 8.2.2c release, the new Windows-only and the RPMs for Linux Alternative Installers were published live online.

The Windows-only version Alternative Installer offers several benefits for users.  The download is smaller at only 180 MB for everything, including Abaqus.  The installer is a self-extracting executable that requires no extra tools.  (Previously, Windows users needed extra tools to deal with an iso or tarball.)  The installer itself is now typical of the standard Windows experience.  Finally, there is an uninstaller available, appearing in both the Start Menu group and the Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs area.  This should work very well for simple desktop installs, especially for new users.

The RPMs for Linux Alternative Installer works in a similar fashion.  The download requirement is much smaller, 300MB for a typical install versus 700MB with the previous iso method.  Abaqus is a separate 130 MB download.  The RPM format is a more familiar distribution mechanism for a lot of users and administrators.  The RPM tool can do uninstalls as well.  Since RPM is on virtually every Linux machine, it avoids the unpleasant situation where the network installer won't run due to a 'special' system on the other end.  Another efficient RPM trick is that the manager understands URLs.  On the RPM download page, there is a command a user can cut and paste into his terminal window that will download and install EnSight, EnLiten, Reveal and other utilities in one shot.

There is also a Macintosh Alternative Installer that we have had for quite a while. The Macintosh installer for EnSight provides the user with a full installation source in a smaller package.  This DMG disk image file will automatically mount when downloaded with most Macintosh web browsers.  Once the user double clicks the familiar installer package icon, the OS X installer guides them through a simplified installation process of only a few clicks.  Afterwards, icons for the CEI products appear in the Applications folders ready to go.  By providing a standard installer package for the Macintosh, we allow administrators to take advantage of tools like Apple Remote Desktop to install and update the EnSight suite on cluster installations as easily as on the desktop.

The Windows installer and the RPM downloads join the Macintosh installer in the Alternative Downloads category under the EnSight 8.2 downloads here www.ensight.com/downloads/cat_view-9.html.

More Information
RPM Package Manager (originally Red Hat Package Manager, abbreviated RPM) is a package management system. The name RPM refers to two things: a software package file format, and a free software tool which installs, updates, uninstalls, verifies and queries software packaged in this format. RPM was intended primarily for Linux distributions; the file format RPM is the baseline package format of the Linux Standard Base. For more information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPM_Package_Manager.