Create an installer application for Windows environments

[mcoles]

Setting up and configuring VizAlerts is currently a pain point. Python and several packages must be installed, the config file can be intimidating and is easy to get wrong, and there are several Tableau Server changes that need to be made. To whatever degree feasible, it'd be great to have an installer perform the work. Ideally it should:

• Copy files to a user-designated folder
• Install Python
• Collect Tableau Server information
  • Ideally, configure and test trusted tickets
• Collect / obtain Tableau Server PostgreSQL repository info
  • Ideally, test database connection
• Collect mail server information & email addresses
  • Ideally, test mail server
• Create the Scheduled Task (or Service, in the future?)
• Simple test to ensure things are working
• Ideally, publish datasources and workbooks
• Instruct user as to next steps & further customization (schedule creation, manuals, config file, help forums, etc)

All that's a lot of work, and it tends to assume that the installer is running from the Tableau Server machine.

This Issue is also related to @jdrummey 's #62

[mcoles]

Hoped to have a single standalone EXE file for VizAlerts, but unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out how to get Py2Exe to include the phonenumbers package properly--no matter what, it seems, I try to put in setup.py. If anyone has experience freezing libraries like that, and wants to help, I'd appreciate it!

[AirCooledNut]

As Matt knows, my biggest pain point is getting the necessary Python files. Getting everything Python wrapped in its own install package would be a big help.

[mcoles]

"Freezing" everything to a distributable binary exe was implemented by John Buscher during a hackathon we had last week, using PyInstaller. So while it's not the full InstallShield experience, we will at least have a solution for people who don't want to/can't install Python and all the modules.