NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a small, efficient, capable, and professional open-source system for creating Windows installers. Engineered for maximum flexibility and a minimal footprint, this framework enables efficient and reliable software deployment over the internet.
A well-designed and dependable software installer is a cornerstone of successful software, providing users with a smooth, error-free installation every time. With NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System), you can create robust and customizable installers that perform all necessary steps to set up your software successfully.
NSIS is script-based, allowing you to implement custom logic to handle even the most complex installation tasks. A wide variety of plug-ins and scripts are already available, and the system enables you to create web installers, interact with Windows and other software components, and effortlessly install or update shared components, along with many additional tools.
NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) Features:
- Generates self-contained executable installers
- Support for ZLib, BZip2, and LZMA data compression
- Uninstall support (installer can generate an uninstaller)
- Customizable user interface (dialogs, fonts, backgrounds, icons, text, checkmarks, images, etc.)
- Classic and modern Wizard interface
- Enjoy full multilingual support within a single installer, including right-to-left (RTL) language compatibility. With over 40 built-in translations available, you can easily create and add custom language files tailored to your unique needs.
- Page system. You can add standard wizard pages or custom pages
- User selection of installation components, tree for component selection
- Multiple install configurations (usually Minimal, Typical, Full), and a custom configuration
- Installer self-verification using a CRC32 checksum
- Small overhead over compressed data size (34 KB with default options)
- Ability to display a license agreement in text or RTF format
- Ability to detect the destination directory from the registry
- Easy-to-use plug-in system. Many included plug-ins allow you to create custom dialogs, manage internet connections, perform HTTP downloads, patch files, execute Win32 API calls, and perform more advanced operations.
- Installers can be as large as 2GB
- An optional silent mode for automated installations
- A preprocessor with support for defined symbols, macros, conditional compilation, and standard predefines
- A delightful coding experience combining PHP scripting and assembly programming for efficient development. Includes user variables, a stack, real flow control, etc.
Installers have their VMs that let you write code that can support:
- File extraction (with configurable overwrite parameters)
- File/directory copying, renaming, deletion, searching
- Plug-in DLL calling
- DLL/ActiveX control registration/unregistration
- Executable execution (shell execute and wait for options)
- Shortcut creation
- Registry key reading/setting/enumerating/deleting
- INI file reading/writing
- Generic text file reading/writing
- Powerful string and integer manipulation
- Window finding based on class name or title
- User interface manipulation (font/text setting)
- Window message sending
- User interaction with message boxes or custom pages
- Branching, comparisons, etc.
- Error checking
- Reboot support, including delete or rename on reboot
- Installer behavior commands (such as show/hide/wait/etc.)
- User functions in the script
- Callback functions for user actions
