Purpose
  • Produce all the software required to install and uninstall the product quickly, easily and safely without affecting other applications or system characteristics.
Role:  Implementer 
Frequency: As required, starting in Elaboration iterations and continuing through Construction and Transition.
Input Artifacts:    Resulting Artifacts:   
Tool Mentors:   

Workflow Details:   

In developing installation artifacts the Implementer has to consider how the product is to be packaged, customized and installed.

A typical set of installation artifacts includes:

  • Installation scripts
  • Setup files
  • Installation instructions

Installation artifacts should be developed with the same rigor and process followed to develop any other artifact. Typically there would be requirement for a separate set of installation artifacts for each platform onto which the product is to be installed.

The simplest installation scenario is where the individual user installs the software on a single personal computer (node). However, in larger development shops it is typically the responsibility of a single role (network administrator) for overall enterprise-level software management tasks. In this case, there is great benefit from being able to install and update software on all the workstations quickly and easily from one location. The price for this convenience is paid in the complexity of installation software required to distribute software and customize workstations from a single server or across the enterprise. 

The developer may want to use some commercially available packages that provide templates and pre-built interface objects to make it easy to package the software for installation. These packages can be tailored to display product images and corporate logos.



Rational Unified Process   2003.06.13