SAP SE
Unified Installer

Abstract:

A unified installer reduces system down time attributable to product installation, by eliminating redundant activities. An engine receives a request to install a first software product and a second software product. The engine references respective seed files of the first and second products to confirm their membership in a same family, and also to confirm compatibility between the product versions. The engine first performs a logical merger to create a merged seed file identifying components (e.g., deployment units, prerequisites, properties, features) that are duplicated between the products. Next, the engine performs a second, physical merger of the products to create a unified installer which avoids redundant components. The unified installer is passed by the engine to the installation procedure, which installs the components only once, thereby promoting efficiency and reducing system down time incurred by product installation.