What is NSIS ?

NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution.

NSIS is script-based and allows you to create the logic to handle even the most complex installation tasks. Many plug-ins and scripts are already available: you can create web installers, communicate with Windows and other software components, install or update shared components and more.

Features of NSIS Script:

  • Generates self-contained executable installers
  • Support for ZLib, BZip2 and LZMA data compression (files can be compressed individually or together)
  • Uninstall support (installer can generate an uninstaller)
  • Customizable user interface (dialogs, fonts, backgrounds, icons, text, checkmarks, images etc.)
  • Classic and Modern wizard interface
  • Fully multilingual, support for multiple languages (including RTL languages) in one installer. More than 40 translations are already available, but you can also create your own.
  • 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 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 destination directory from the registry
  • Easy to use plug-in system (lots of plug-ins for creation of custom dialogs, internet connections, HTTP downloading, file patching, Win32 API calls, etc. are included)
  • Installers can be as large as 2GB
  • Optional silent mode for automated installations
  • A preprocessor with support for defined symbols, macros, conditional compilation, standard predefines
  • A lovely coding experience with elements of PHP and assembly (includes user variables, a stack, real flow control, etc.)

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