installer(8) BSD System Manager's Manual installer(8)
NAME
installer -- system software and package installer tool.
SYNOPSIS
installer [-volinfo] [-pkginfo] [-query -<flag>] [-allow] [-dumplog]
[-help] [-verbose | -verboseR] [-vers] [-config] [-plist]
[-file <pathToFile>] [-lang <ISOLanguageCode>] [-listiso] -pkg
<pathToPackage> -target <pathToDestinationVolume>
DESCRIPTION
The installer command is used to install Mac OS X installer packages to a
specified volume. The installer will install a single package per invo-
cation. This package can be either a single package or a metapackage. In
the case of the metapackage, all packages in the metapackage will be
installed unless disqualified by a package's check tool.
The target volume must already be mounted when the installer command is
invoked.
For system software installs, the target volume must be a different vol-
ume than the one currently running the booted system. See systemsetup
(only available on Mac OS X Server) to set the boot volume.
The installer command requires at least "admin" privileges to run. If a
package requires authentication (set in a package's .info file) the
installer must be either run as root or with the SUDO command.
The installer is not responsible for rebooting the machine after
installing. Use /sbin/reboot or /sbin/shutdown -r now to reboot the sys-
tem.
The installer displays two forms of output. The default terse output is
intended for parsing by scripting languages for automating (or scripting)
installs and verbose output providing additional information and descrip-
tive error messages.
A list of flags and their descriptions:
-volinfo
Displays a list of volumes into which the software package can be
installed. The volumes listed are the mounted volumes available
when the command is run.
-pkginfo
Displays a list of packages that can be installed onto the target
volume. If a metapackage is given as the package source, all of
its subpackages are listed.
-query flag
Queries a package for information about the metadata. See -help
for supported flags.
-allow Allows overriding (in packages which support it) installing older
versions of packages over newer installed versions.
-dumplog
Detailed log information is always sent to syslog using the
LOG_INSTALL facility. -dumplog additionally writes this log to
standard error output.
-help Displays the help screen describing the list of parameters.
-verbose
Displays more descriptive information than the default output.
Use this parameter in conjunction with -pkginfo and -volinfo
information requests to see more readable output. The default
output is formatted for scripting.
-verboseR
Displays same information as -verbose except the output is for-
matted for easy parsing.
-vers Displays the version of this command.
-config
Formats the command line installation arguments for later use.
The output is sent to StdOut, but can be redirected to a file to
create a configuration file. This configuration file can be sup-
plied as the argument to the -file parameter instead of typing a
long series of installation arguments. The config file can be
used to perform multiple identical installs.
-plist Formats the installer output into an XML file, which is sent by
default to StdOut. Use this parameter for -pkginfo and -volinfo
-file pathToFile
Specifies the path to the XML file containing parameter informa-
tion in the key/value dictionary. This file can be used instead
of the command line parameters, and supersedes any parameters on
the command line. When you type this parameter, you type the path
to the XML file. For example:
installer -file /temp/configfile.plist
-lang ISOLanguageCode
Default language of installed system (ISO format). This is only
necessary when performing a system (OS) install, otherwise is it
ignored. There is no verification done to make sure that the lan-
guage being set actually exists on the machine, however the ISO
language code is verified to ensure that it is valid.
-listiso
Display the list of valid ISO language codes the installer recog-
nizes.
ENVIRONMENT
COMMAND_LINE_INSTALL Set when performing an installation using the
installer command.
EXAMPLES
installer -volinfo -pkg InstallMe.pkg
installer -pkginfo -pkg DeveloperTools.mpkg
installer -pkg OSInstall.mpkg -target / -lang en
installer -pkg DeveloperTools.mpkg -target /
installer -pkg InstallMe.pkg -target "/Volumes/Macintosh HD2"
installer -pkg InstallMe.pkg -file /tmp/InstallConfigFile
FILES
/usr/sbin/installer Software package installer tool
SEE ALSO
softwareupdate(8) systemsetup(8) reboot(8) shutdown(8) syslog.conf(5)
Mac OS March 28, 2002 Mac OS
Mac OS X 10.4 - Generated Fri Apr 29 08:12:04 CDT 2005