InstallCore
# InstallCore

InstallCore (stylized as installCore) was an installation and content distribution platform created by ironSource, including a software development kit (SDK) for Windows and Mac OS X. The program allowed those using it for distribution to include monetization by advertisements or charging for installation, and made its installations invisible to the user and its anti-virus software.

The platform and its programs have been rated potentially unwanted programs (PUP) or potentially unwanted applications (PUA) by anti-malware product vendors since 2014, and by Windows Defender Antivirus since 2015.

The platform was primarily designed for efficient web-based deployment of various types of application software. As of August 2012, InstallCore was managing 100 million installations every month, offering services for paid, unpaid, and free software by using the SDK version. InstallCore was a product of ironSource, which is headquartered in Tel Aviv with offices in San Francisco, California, and Beijing, China.

InstallCore was discontinued as part of a company flotation in late 2020.

## History

The InstallCore team introduced the first version of the SDK at the beginning of 2011. The SDK was a fork of the FoxTab installer and had only basic Installation features.

The first version only includes three files: system.js, application.js, and packages.js, which support over-the-web software packages delivery and basic system modifications. The second version introduced debug capabilities, support for the different Windows versions, and web forms support; it also enabled the integration of JQuery and CSS 2.1 for better UI design.

## Features

InstallCore's software development kit (SDK) is based on JavaScript and HTML 5.0.

### JavaScript and HTML based user interface

Version 2.1 introduced a fully customizable design interface based on HTML, CSS, and a JavaScript SDK.

Since InstallCore version 4.10, the SDK integrated 12 fully pre-designed templates and a customization tool to create a WYSIWYG design.

### Compiler make script

The InstallCore compiler program HtmlUiMaker uses a make script, shown below, in order to compile a JavaScript and HTML skin into executable installation programs.

## Criticism and malware classification

InstallCore and its software packages have been classified as potentially unwanted programs (PUP) or potentially unwanted applications (PUA), by anti-malware product vendors and Windows Defender Antivirus from 2014–2015 onwards, with many stating that it installs adware and other additional PUPs. Malwarebytes identified the program as "a family of bundlers that installs more than one application on the user's computer". It has been described as "crossing the line into full-blown malware" and a "nasty Trojan".

## Generated installer

The generated installer is a Portable Executable which contains the installation script. The installer can be configured to function as full installer or a bootstrap installer. As the installation script is compiled, it cannot be obtained from the delivered executable without reverse-engineering the binary.

## Multilingual support

As of version 3.1, InstallCore fully supported both Unicode and RTL, but depended on Windows 2000 with SP 4 as a minimum requirement to accurately present the UI.

