Snapshots are Gold

Ever installed an application into an environment only to find it hacked to bits? The problem is generally gathering enough information on what has changed to point the finger at anyone. This is where snapshots come in. The basic component types have snapshot's built in, and assuming that the installPath is the actual install path for the component, then all works well. Otherwise there is the need to define your own snapshots and place them AFTER the everything is installed. Sample to come another time, but it's not rocket science.

The key thing is calling createSnapshot from an install block for system component types work off of the installPath. If your install does some other magic, like deploy a web application, then you will need to define a custom <snapshot> and use <addFile ... > to obtain a true snapshot of what has been installed.