CPack IFW Generator

New in version 3.1.

Configure and run the Qt Installer Framework to generate a Qt installer.

Overview

This cpack generator generates configuration and meta information for the Qt Installer Framework (QtIFW), and runs QtIFW tools to generate a Qt installer.

QtIFW provides tools and utilities to create installers for the platforms supported by Qt: Linux, Microsoft Windows, and macOS.

To make use of this generator, QtIFW needs to be installed. The CPackIFW module looks for the location of the QtIFW command-line utilities, and defines several commands to control the behavior of this generator. See Hints for Finding QtIFW.

Variables

You can use the following variables to change the behavior of the CPack IFW generator.

Debug

CPACK_IFW_VERBOSE

New in version 3.3.

Set to ON to enable addition debug output. By default is OFF.

Package

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_TITLE

Name of the installer as displayed on the title bar. If not specified, it defaults to CPACK_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION_SUMMARY.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_PUBLISHER

Publisher of the software (as shown in the Windows Control Panel). If not specified, it defaults to CPACK_PACKAGE_VENDOR.

CPACK_IFW_PRODUCT_URL

URL to a page that contains product information on your web site.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_ICON

Filename for a custom installer icon. It must be an absolute path. This should be a .icns file on macOS and a .ico file on Windows. It is ignored on other platforms.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_WINDOW_ICON

Filename for a custom window icon in PNG format for the Installer application. It must be an absolute path.

Filename for a logo image in PNG format, used as QWizard::LogoPixmap. It must be an absolute path.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_WATERMARK

New in version 3.8.

Filename for a watermark image in PNG format, used as QWizard::WatermarkPixmap. It must be an absolute path.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_BANNER

New in version 3.8.

Filename for a banner image in PNG format, used as QWizard::BannerPixmap. It must be an absolute path.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_BACKGROUND

New in version 3.8.

Filename for a background image in PNG format, used as QWizard::BackgroundPixmap (only used by MacStyle). It must be an absolute path.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_WIZARD_STYLE

New in version 3.8.

Wizard style to be used (Modern, Mac, Aero or Classic).

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_WIZARD_DEFAULT_WIDTH

New in version 3.8.

Default width of the wizard in pixels. Setting a banner image will override this.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_WIZARD_DEFAULT_HEIGHT

New in version 3.8.

Default height of the wizard in pixels. Setting a watermark image will override this.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_WIZARD_SHOW_PAGE_LIST

New in version 3.20.

Set to OFF if the widget listing installer pages on the left side of the wizard should not be shown.

It is ON by default, but will only have an effect if using QtIFW 4.0 or later.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_TITLE_COLOR

New in version 3.8.

Color of the titles and subtitles (takes an HTML color code, such as #88FF33).

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_STYLE_SHEET

New in version 3.15.

Filename for a stylesheet. It must be an absolute path.

CPACK_IFW_TARGET_DIRECTORY

Default target directory for installation. If CPACK_PACKAGE_INSTALL_DIRECTORY is set, this defaults to @ApplicationsDir@/${CPACK_PACKAGE_INSTALL_DIRECTORY}. If that variable isn't set either, the default used is @RootDir@/usr/local. Predefined variables of the form @...@ are expanded by the QtIFW scripting engine.

CPACK_IFW_ADMIN_TARGET_DIRECTORY

Default target directory for installation with administrator rights.

You can use predefined variables.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_REMOVE_TARGET_DIR

New in version 3.11.

Set to OFF if the target directory should not be deleted when uninstalling.

Is ON by default

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_GROUP

The group, which will be used to configure the root package.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_NAME

The root package name, which will be used if the configuration group is not specified.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_START_MENU_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.3.

Name of the default program group for the product in the Windows Start menu. If not specified, it defaults to CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_NAME.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_MAINTENANCE_TOOL_NAME

New in version 3.3.

Filename of the generated maintenance tool. The platform-specific executable file extension will be appended.

If not specified, QtIFW provides a default name (maintenancetool).

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_MAINTENANCE_TOOL_INI_FILE

New in version 3.3.

Filename for the configuration of the generated maintenance tool.

If not specified, QtIFW uses a default file name (maintenancetool.ini).

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_ALLOW_NON_ASCII_CHARACTERS

New in version 3.3.

Set to ON if the installation path can contain non-ASCII characters. Only supported for QtIFW 2.0 and later. Older QtIFW versions will always allow non-ASCII characters.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_ALLOW_SPACE_IN_PATH

New in version 3.3.

Set to OFF if the installation path cannot contain space characters.

Is ON for QtIFW less 2.0 tools.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_DISABLE_COMMAND_LINE_INTERFACE

New in version 3.23.

Set to ON if command line interface features should be disabled. It is OFF by default and will only have an effect if using QtIFW 4.0 or later.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_CONTROL_SCRIPT

New in version 3.3.

Filename for a custom installer control script.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RESOURCES

New in version 3.7.

List of additional resources (.qrc files) to include in the installer binary. They should be specified as absolute paths and no two resource files can have the same file name.

You can use the cpack_ifw_add_package_resources() command to resolve relative paths.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_FILE_EXTENSION

New in version 3.10.

The target binary extension.

On Linux, the name of the target binary is automatically extended with .run, if you do not specify the extension.

On Windows, the target is created as an application with the extension .exe, which is automatically added, if not supplied.

On Mac, the target is created as an DMG disk image with the extension .dmg, which is automatically added, if not supplied.

CPACK_IFW_REPOSITORIES_ALL

The list of remote repositories.

The default value of this variable is computed by CPack and contains all repositories added with cpack_ifw_add_repository() or updated with cpack_ifw_update_repository().

CPACK_IFW_DOWNLOAD_ALL

If this is ON, all components will be downloaded. If not set, the behavior is determined by whether cpack_configure_downloads() has been called with the ALL option or not.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_PRODUCT_IMAGES

New in version 3.23.

A list of images to be shown on the PerformInstallationPage. These must be absolute paths and the images must be in PNG format.

This feature is available for QtIFW 4.0.0 and later.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM

New in version 3.23.

Command executed after the installer is finished, if the user accepts the action. Provide the full path to the application, as found when installed. This typically means the path should begin with the QtIFW predefined variable @TargetDir@.

This feature is available for QtIFW 4.0.0 and later.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM_ARGUMENTS

New in version 3.23.

List of arguments passed to the program specified in CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM.

This feature is available for QtIFW 4.0.0 and later.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM_DESCRIPTION

New in version 3.23.

Text shown next to the check box for running the program after the installation. If CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM is set but no description is provided, QtIFW will use a default message like Run <Name> now.

This feature is available for QtIFW 4.0.0 and later.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_SIGNING_IDENTITY

New in version 3.23.

Allows specifying a code signing identity to be used for signing the generated app bundle. Only available on macOS, ignored on other platforms.

CPACK_IFW_ARCHIVE_FORMAT

New in version 3.23.

Set the format used when packaging new component data archives. If you omit this option, the 7z format will be used as a default. Supported formats:

  • 7z

  • zip

  • tar.gz

  • tar.bz2

  • tar.xz

Note

If the Qt Installer Framework tools were built without libarchive support, only 7z format is supported.

This feature is available for QtIFW 4.2.0 and later.

CPACK_IFW_ARCHIVE_COMPRESSION

New in version 3.23.

Archive compression level. The allowable values are:

  • 0 (No compression)

  • 1 (Fastest compression)

  • 3 (Fast compression)

  • 5 (Normal compression)

  • 7 (Maximum compression)

  • 9 (Ultra compression)

If this variable is not set, QtIFW will use a default compression level, which will typically be 5 (Normal compression).

Note

Some formats do not support all the possible values. For example zip compression only supports values from 1 to 7.

This feature is available for QtIFW 4.2.0 and later.

Components

CPACK_IFW_RESOLVE_DUPLICATE_NAMES

Resolve duplicate names when installing components with groups.

CPACK_IFW_PACKAGES_DIRECTORIES

Additional prepared packages directories that will be used to resolve dependent components.

CPACK_IFW_REPOSITORIES_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.10.

Additional prepared repository directories that will be used to resolve and repack dependent components.

This feature is available for QtIFW 3.1 and later.

QtIFW Tools

CPACK_IFW_FRAMEWORK_VERSION

New in version 3.3.

The version of the QtIFW tools that will be used. This variable is set by the CPackIFW module.

The following variables provide the locations of the QtIFW command-line tools as discovered by the CPackIFW module. These variables are cached, and may be configured if needed.

CPACK_IFW_ARCHIVEGEN_EXECUTABLE

New in version 3.19.

The path to archivegen.

CPACK_IFW_BINARYCREATOR_EXECUTABLE

The path to binarycreator.

CPACK_IFW_REPOGEN_EXECUTABLE

The path to repogen.

CPACK_IFW_INSTALLERBASE_EXECUTABLE

The path to installerbase.

CPACK_IFW_DEVTOOL_EXECUTABLE

The path to devtool.

Hints for Finding QtIFW

Generally, the CPack IFW generator automatically finds QtIFW tools. The following (in order of precedence) can also be set to augment the locations normally searched by find_program():

CPACK_IFW_ROOT

New in version 3.9.

CMake variable

CPACK_IFW_ROOT

New in version 3.9.

Environment variable

QTIFWDIR

CMake variable

QTIFWDIR

Environment variable

Note

The specified path should not contain bin at the end (for example: D:\\DevTools\\QtIFW2.0.5).

Other Settings

Online installer

By default, this generator generates an offline installer. This means that all packaged files are fully contained in the installer executable.

In contrast, an online installer will download some or all components from a remote server.

The DOWNLOADED option in the cpack_add_component() command specifies that a component is to be downloaded. Alternatively, the ALL option in the cpack_configure_downloads() command specifies that all components are to be be downloaded.

The cpack_ifw_add_repository() command and the CPACK_IFW_DOWNLOAD_ALL variable allow for more specific configuration.

When there are online components, CPack will write them to archive files. The help page of the CPackComponent module, especially the section on the cpack_configure_downloads() function, explains how to make these files accessible from a download URL.

Internationalization

New in version 3.9.

Some variables and command arguments support internationalization via CMake script. This is an optional feature.

Installers created by QtIFW tools have built-in support for internationalization and many phrases are localized to many languages, but this does not apply to the description of your components and groups.

Localization of the description of your components and groups is useful for users of your installers.

A localized variable or argument can contain a single default value, and after that a set of pairs with the name of the locale and the localized value.

For example:

set(LOCALIZABLE_VARIABLE "Default value"
  en "English value"
  en_US "American value"
  en_GB "Great Britain value"
  )

See Also

Qt Installer Framework Manual:

Download Qt Installer Framework for your platform from Qt site:

https://download.qt.io/official_releases/qt-installer-framework