The Software Installation Procedure

The Software Installation Procedure

The procedure in this section shows you how to perform a software installation using a particular sequence of commands from the Inst Main menu. The order in which the commands are described is somewhat arbitrary; it illustrates one of many command sequences that might be used to do an installation. As you become familiar with Inst, you can vary the command order, repeat commands, use additional keyword arguments, and enter commands from other menus during installation sessions.

Note: If you are an experienced Inst user, you might prefer to use the "Condensed Installation Instructions" instead of this procedure. This procedure partitions the installation into seven steps. Each step is explained in the subsections that follow.

Start Inst.
Specify the distribution source using the from command.
Display software information using the list commands.
Make your software selections with install, remove, and keep commands.
Launch the installation using the go command.
Resolve any conflicts (conflicts command) or errors.
Quit the installation session.

Note: Inst never installs or removes any software until you enter the go command. Figure 4-1 illustrates the steps in the installation process. Notice that Inst performs an automatic initialization sequence during the process. Initialization is triggered by the first command of a session that requires Inst to collect information about the distribution or target software. In Figure 4-1, the trigger is the from command.

Figure 4-1 : Summary of the Installation Procedure

Step 1: Invoking Inst
Step 2: Specifying the Source
Step 3: Displaying Software Information
Step 4: Making Software Selections
Step 5: Launching the Installation
Step 6: Resolving Conflicts and Other Errors
Step 7: Quitting the Installation Session