Error Handling

## Error Handling |

### 1. Damaged JREs

If the JRE search sequence of the installer selects a damaged JRE, the installer might fail to start up correctly. The next time the installer is executed, the installer will ask the user whether the automatic search should be performed again or if a JRE should be manually located or downloaded.

If the user chooses manual location or download, the same dialog will be displayed as for in the failure to find a JRE.

The download option is only available if a JRE has been dynamically bundled in the Bundled JRE step of the media file wizard. A JRE that has been located or downloaded in this way will also be used by your installed application.

### 2. Error logs

On Windows, when an installer is executed it always generates a log file in the temp directory that contains information about the JRE search sequence and can be used for debugging purposes. The name of the log file starts with `i4j_nlog_`. If you have a problem with JRE detection or the installer startup, please send this log file along with your support request.

It is also possible to generate this log for the JRE detection of the generated Windows launchers. In order to switch on logging, please define the environment variable `INSTALL4J_LOG=yes` and look for the newest text file whose name starts with `i4j_nlog_` in the temp directory.

If an exception is thrown in the installer, it prepares an error log and informs the user about its location

You can force the installer to print exceptions to stderr for debugging purposes with the `-Dinstall4j.debug=true` command line option.

### 3. Installation log

Additionally, all installers and uninstaller generate an installation log that can be used for debugging purposes. After a successful installation it is located in `[installation dir]/.install4j/installation.log`. For uninstallation or if the end of the installation cannot be reached, you can find it in your temp directory if you pass `-Dinstall4j.keepLog=true` to the installer or uninstaller. The file is prefixed `i4j_log`. If you would like the installer to log to stderr as well, you can pass `-Dinstall4j.logToStderr=true` to the installer. Both arguments can also be useful for debug installers and uninstallers, where they have to be passed as VM parameters.

### 4. Error handling of Actions

You can define the error handling for every installation or uninstallation action separately. Please find more information in the Screens and Actions help topic.

### 5. Return values

The process of an installer returns `0` if the installation was completed successfully, `1` if the installation fails and `83` if the installer could not find a suitable JVM to run. These exit codes are especially useful to check the result of an unattended installer run.