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Flexera InstallAnywhere 2015 Supports Docker

By Michael Guta, TMCnet Contributing Writer

Docker containers let you package applications with all of its dependencies into a standard unit for software development. It wraps up a piece of software and a complete filesystem containing everything it needs to run. This ensures no matter what the environment is, it will always run the same. The Flexera InstallAnywhere has the same concept in that it is a multiplatform installation development solution to deliver a professional and consistent cross installation experience for physical, virtual and cloud environments. The company announced the 2015 InstallAnywhere is the first multiplatform installation solution to support Docker.

With InstallAnywhere, developers can be assured their applications will be installed reliably for on premises platform such as Windows, Linux, Apple, Solaris, AIX , HP-UX, and IBM (News - Alert), and also lets you take new and existing application to cloud and virtual infrastructures and create Docker containers from a single InstallAnywhere project.

"Software vendors want to lead their markets by supporting new technologies like Docker, but they realize that many customers still require traditional installers. So, they want to support both without duplicating effort for installation development," said Maureen Polte, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software. "InstallAnywhere 2015 is the first installation development solution that supports Docker. And it allows application producers to support both traditional multiplatform installations and Docker images from the same project."

Some of the new features include:

• Windows 10 Support – Save time by creating a single installation project to build installations for each supported platform including Windows 10 in addition to the previously mentioned platforms.
• Microsoft (News - Alert) SHA-256 Support –After January 1, 2016, installations will need to be signed with SHA-256 digital certificates in order to be trusted by Windows. InstallAnywhere 2015 supports SHA-256 certificates and digests, enabling companies to start adopting SHA-256 certificates before the January deadline.
• Multiplatform Development Environment Support – Increase efficiency by creating installers from the same platform on which Java or multiplatform applications are coded, such as Windows 10, OS X 10.10 and popular Linux distributions.
• Tomcat and WebSphere Web App Installations – It streamlines the time and effort connecting to a web server to create or update a web app, allowing developers to create installers that can securely deploy WAR and EAR files to Apache Tomcat and IBM WebSphere with just a few clicks.
• Installs Connecting to IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL, and MySQL – It simplifies installations to easily connect to the leading database servers such as IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL, and MySQL. Built-in panels give users the ability to easily connect installations to their preferred database server.

As more devices become part of the overall IT ecosystem, interoperability and compatibility issues have to be eliminated in order to ensure the successful adoption of new products and services. The support of Docker and InstallAnywhere 2015 will give developers more environments in which they can create and install their applications without having to worry about these issues.