Introduction
An extension is a generic term for any kind of distinct addition to CAST AIP which can be downloaded, installed and upgraded separately. An extension usually provides support for:
- technologies/frameworks that are not supported "out-of-the-box" by CAST AIP (for example PHP or EGL)
- methods of extracting and discovering source code stored in specific repositories that are not supported "out-of-the-box" by CAST AIP (for example CVS or Git)
Notes:
- You can find a list of technologies/frameworks supported by an extension in Covered Technologies. You can also find a full set of documentation for extensions here.
- In an upgrade scenario (i.e. from upgrading from one release of CAST AIP to another) when installing the new release of CAST AIP, there is no need to re-install any extensions you were using with the previous release of CAST AIP.
Note that in CAST AIP 8.3.x, several official CAST AIP extensions are shipped with the setup and are installed by default with all new CAST AIP triplets. It is not possible to choose not to install them:
Downloading the extension
Before you can install a CAST AIP Extension with your CAST schemas, you first need to download it. CAST provides the automatic download of extensions over the internet via a tool called the CAST Extension Downloader. Please follow Download an extension which explains how to use the CAST Extension Downloader to obtain the extensions to want to install.
Installing the extension
Once you have downloaded the extension you require, you are now ready to install it. This process is detailed in the next step of the installation guide: Install CAST AIP schemas. This installation process involves installing the extension at the same time as you install your CAST schemas. Alternatively, it is possible to postpone this extension installation and action it once all other CAST installation steps have been completed (i.e. with CAST schemas that already exist) - this is explained in Install an extension.