Installation by using the Eclipse Installer

You can install TPF Toolkit by using the Eclipse Installer, which is a stand-alone application and powered by Oomph. Oomph is a standard Eclipse project that is developed specifically for automating the installation and update of Eclipse applications. If you choose this installation method, you must download the Eclipse Installer from a public website and customize it for your organization.

Automatic updates with the Oomph Updater

The Oomph Updater, which is installed into TPF Toolkit by the Eclipse Installer, can be configured by using the TPF Toolkit product catalog to automatically install TPF Toolkit updates or prompt your users to install updates. If the user instances of TPF Toolkit were installed by using the Eclipse Installer, when those instances start, the Oomph Updater checks for updates in the TPF Toolkit product catalog and the P2 repositories that the TPF Toolkit product catalog references. If updates are available, the Oomph Updater automatically installs the updates or prompts your users to install the updates as configured. For more information, see Deploying updates and customizations.

TPF Toolkit product catalog

The Eclipse Installer installs TPF Toolkit and its updates based on Oomph tasks that are defined in the TPF Toolkit product catalog. If you choose to install TPF Toolkit by using the Eclipse Installer, you must import the TPF Toolkit product catalog into the administrator instance of TPF Toolkit. For more information, see Eclipse Installer only: Importing the TPF Toolkit product catalog project.

Pros and cons

Pros:
  • Automatic updates. You can configure Oomph Updater to automatically install updates or prompt your users to install updates during TPF Toolkit startup.
  • More flexibility in distributing TPF Toolkit customizations to your user instances such as setting default preferences and custom startup behaviors.
  • Easy control over installation and update of custom or third-party features for your user instances of TPF Toolkit.
Cons:
  • The administrator must have internet access to download the Eclipse Installer from a public website.
  • The administrator must create a customized Eclipse Installer for the organization.
  • The administrator must manage a TPF Toolkit product catalog.

Consider this method if you need a robust method of automatically pushing updates and customizations to ensure that your users are running TPF Toolkit at the most recent fix pack level.