How is installing software on a TeamForge Lab Management system different from installing on my own machine?

Installing software inside the TeamForge Lab Management environment is mostly the same as when installing locally.

Tip: It is generally considered poor etiquette to install software on a machine not allocated to you, except with prior permission of the user to whom the machine is allocated. This is especially true if you are using your project role as root or Administrator to install software as a superuser.

Installing Software on Red Hat Linux Systems in TeamForge Lab Management

On TeamForge Lab Management systems that run Red Hat Linux, software is usually distributed using the RPM package format. Use standard RPM commands for the installation, uninstallation, and upgrading of software on Red Hat Linux systems in the TeamForge Lab Management environment. If you are not sure how to use the rpm command, please see the online manual or the HTML documentation at the RPM website, or refer to the documentation that came with the software that you are trying to install.

Installing Software on Windows Systems in TeamForge Lab Management

On TeamForge Lab Management's Windows systems, software is usually distributed as a package with an installer. For example, there is often a binary named setup.exe, which you will run to install the package, but installers vary widely across software. For installation instructions, consult the documentation for the software you are installing.

Accessing Software for Installation

Regardless of your operating system, you will need a place to store and retrieve your packages. TeamForge Lab Management gives you several choices of places to put software, each with its own advantages.

Subversion repository inside of CollabNet TeamForge (CEE) or CollabNet TeamForge (SFEE): This is fast and reliable, can be securely shared, but is inefficient for the storage of large binaries. Files in Subversion are under revision control, so they can never be truly deleted, and all previous versions are always available.
TeamForge Lab Management Project Build Library (PBL): This is fast, reliable, can be securely shared, and offers efficient storage of large binaries. But the PBL is not a version control system, so files may be permanently deleted, and previous versions of files are unavailable.
Your TeamForge Lab Management home directory: This is also fast and reliable, but your home directory cannot easily be shared with others - nor is it advised that you do so. Installing software from your home directory for personal use is fine, but it is not a good solution if you want to share your work. If you want to share your work, use one of the other solutions presented here.

Allowed Software

Because TeamForge Lab Management is specifically designed as an environment for software development and testing, we do not place any procedural restrictions on the software that you can install. We do, however, have the following basic restrictions in place to protect ourselves and the users in the environment:

Software installed in the TeamForge Lab Management environment must not contain viruses, "malware," "spyware," "trojan horses," "root kits," or any other software installed for the express purpose of breaching the security of TeamForge Lab Management systems or the privacy of their users.
Individuals installing software on machines in TeamForge Lab Management are responsible for ensuring that the software installed is properly licensed by their organization.

Failure to abide by these rules may result in the offending system being shut down and the offending user's access revoked.