Universal Mod Installer

Overview

Welcome to the ReadMe for the Universal Mod Installer. Before using this script for the first time, please be sure to read through the following document.

What is it?

The Universal Mod Installer is a script designed to let you quickly and easily install or uninstall any mods that are designed to be compatible with it. Using this script, you can have one secure place to perform (nearly) all of the steps involved in adding or removing modifications to your v2.2.x Invision Power Board.

What can it do?

The script reads the XML file that will come with the mods you want to install and use this information to build a task list of steps that it must perform. This task list will be dynamically generated based on the content of the XML, and it will use that same info to construct a list of uninstallation tasks if you ever want to uninstall a mod using the script. The following is a list of what things the script is capable of doing/creating:

ACP Setting Groups
ACP Settings
Components
Language Strings
Skin Templates
Tasks
Help Files
Database Tables
Database Columns
Database Rows
Database Updates
Custom Scripts (mod makers can write PHP files with custom mod installation instructions not covered above)
Rebuild IPB Caches (Rebuilds the Components, Forums, Groups & Settings caches)
Rebuild Skin Caches

What can't it do?

The script is very powerful, but it won't do all of the work for all mod installations. It cannot perform file edits (with the exception of the Language and Skin files), those will still need to be done manually. The only other limitation I am currently aware of is that the code to allow Database Tables to be created is certified to be supported in MySQL only. Support for MSSQL has been introduced in this version, but at this time I have not verified that all works well as I do not have access to a MSSQL system to test this on. Support for creating tables in Oracle is not yet implemented. MySQL is far and away the most commonly used database driver, though, so this should not be a problem for most users. And of course it is only going to work with mods designed to use this script; mod makers would need to create their XMLs in a very specific structure to take advantage of this.

Benefits

So what exactly are some of the benefits to using this script?

Security - This script is now fully integrated into the IPB Admin CP, meaning that someone would have to find a way to log in to your Admin CP before they could access this script; it adds no additional security risk to your board.
Convenience - There's no need to remember or bookmark any URL to an installer script anymore, as long as you can reach your Admin CP you can install, uninstall, or upgrade any compatible mods. No more worrying about whether or not you typed in the correct URL to the installer, and no more asking the mod maker for uninstallation instructions.
Thoroughness - The feature set of this mod is second to none, it can perform a wide variety of different tasks, and the ability to add custom PHP scripts into it just increases the flexibility of potential uses of this script.
Staying up to date - The Admin CP menu for this component will keep you updated of new versions for the mods you have installed using this script, as well as keeping you updated on the script itself.

Installation and Use

So now you've read all about it, let's install the script and get it up and running.

Upload - Upload the contents of the /mod_install and /sources directories to your forum's root directory, being sure to keep the directory structure intact. This should put a file called index.html in your forum's /mod_install directory, and a file called umi.php in your forum's /sources/components_acp directory.
Delete - Check and see if you have a file named index.php, or a folder called /images in your forum's /mod_install directory. These could be left over from previous versions of this script. If either of these exist on your site, delete them. In addition, any XML and PHP files in this /mod_install directory from a previous IPB version can be safely deleted as well.
CHMOD - Ensure that the CHMOD on your /mod_install folder is set to 755. Any files contained in this folders can be CHMOD 644.
Install - Log in to your board's Admin CP, and on the Admin tab, click the Components -> Manage Components menu link. At the bottom of this page will be a box labeled 'Import XML Component File'. Use the first option there to browse to the ipd_components.xml file included in this folder and click the Import button.
Settings - Go to the Components tab and look for the Manage Settings link in the (FYS22) Universal Mod Installer section. From here you can adjust a few settings for this mod. You may need to turn some features off from here if features in the installer cause problems.
Install your mods! - These steps have added the script as a new component on your board, and it shows up on the Components tab. Now, for each of your mods that use this installer, you can use this component to install the mods (the individual mods explain this process in more depth).

Support

If you have any questions about using this script, be sure to post in its support topic at IPSBeyond, or Invision Modding. Please try to keep those support questions limited to use of this script only, and not necessarily questions about specific mod installation problems. Questions about specific mods should be made in those mods' support topics only. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy using this script!