# Configuring Actions

Actions are configured on the [Installer->Screens & Actions step](screensAndActions.md). An action performs a configurable unit of work in the installer application.

![](../images/ui/beans_action.png)

Actions are attached to [screens](screens.md) or they are part of the "Startup sequence" that allows you to perform actions before the installer or uninstaller is displayed. If any one of these actions fails and has a "Quit on failure" failure strategy, the installer application will not be shown.

Most often, actions are added to the "Installation" or "Uninstallation" screens. The advantage of those screens is that they have a progress bar and a status display that is utilized by actions. If a screen does not expose a progress interface, the status and progress messages of attached actions are lost. This is no problem for near-instantaneous actions such as setting an environment variable, but for time-consuming operations the user should be informed about progress, even if it is only an indeterminate progress bar. As an alternative to the "Installation" or "Uninstallation" screens, you can use "Display progress" screens to create additional installation phases.

Some actions have an "affinity" to a particular screen and will suggest to add themselves to that screen, such as the actions in the "Final options" category which would like to go to the "Finish" screen. However, this is only a suggestion to guide you for the most common use cases.

Some actions have an associated screen that allows the user to modify the behavior of the action. For example, the "Install a service" action has a corresponding "Services" screen where the user can decide whether the service should be installed and started when booting. If such a relationship exists, a corresponding notification is displayed after adding an action.

### Properties of actions

Common properties of actions are:

_See `reference/beans/` for the bean catalog._

### Available actions

The following standard actions are available in install4j:

_See `reference/beans/` for the bean catalog._
