Programmatic application installation diagnosis and cleaning

• US 20040060045A1
• Filed: 09/19/2002
• Published: 03/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hind, John R., Zhang, Chunshan A., Li, Youngcheng
• Granted Patent: US 7,185,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2247 Verification or detection of system hardware configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/62 Uninstallation

Abstract

A plugable framework for use in the installation and uninstallation of a suite of applications. An application installer configured according to the plugable framework can include installation logic configured to copy application files to a target computing system. The installation logic also can configure the target for operation with the application. Installation diagnostic and cleanup logic can be coupled to the installation logic. The installation diagnostic logic can detect an installation failure, while the cleanup logic can remove the copied files and can reverse the configuration in response to the installation diagnostic logic detecting an installation failure. Uninstallation logic can be configured both to remove copied files from the target, and also to reverse the configuration of the target according to the terms of a specified uninstallation configuration file. In response to the detection of an uninstallation failure, cleanup logic can remove the copied files and can reverse the configuration without regard to the uninstallation configuration file.

Claims

1. An application suite installer configured to install an application suite to a target computing system, the application suite comprising a plurality of application components, the installer comprising:

installation logic configured to copy the application files to specified locations in the target computing system, and to configure the target computing system for operation with the application;

a pre-requisite check coupled to said installation logic to identify application components required for a proper installation of the application suite;

installation and functionality diagnostic logic coupled to said installation logic;

cleanup logic coupled to said installation logic,

wherein said installation logic can invoke installation procedures for each one the application components identified by said pre-requisite check;

wherein said installation and functionality diagnostic logic can detect an installation failure of the application components; and

,

wherein said cleanup logic can remove said copied application files and can revert said configuration of the target computing system in response to said installation diagnostic logic detecting an installation failure.

2. The application suite installer of claim 1, further comprising a meta-data reporter configured to report application meta-data for a selected one of the application components.

3. The application suite installer of claim 1, further comprising:

uninstallation logic configured to remove copied application files from specified locations in the target computing system, and to revert said configuration of the target computing system according to the terms of a specified uninstallation configuration file;

uninstallation diagnostic logic coupled to said uninstallation logic; and

,

cleanup logic coupled to said uninstallation logic;

wherein said uninstallation diagnostic logic can detect an uninstallation failure, and

wherein in response to said uninstallation diagnostic logic detecting an uninstallation failure, said cleanup logic can remove said copied application files and reverting said configuration of the target computing system without regard to said uninstallation configuration file.

4. The application suite installer of claim 1, wherein the application suite installer further comprises a plugable framework from which individual framework implementations of said framework can be associated with corresponding ones of the application components in the application suite.

5. A method of installing an application program to a target computing system, the method comprising the steps of:

in a first installation process;

copying applications files of the application program to specified locations in the target computing system;

configuring the target computing system as required for the operation of the application program;

in a second installation process which is separate from said first installation process;

diagnosing said copying and configuring steps to determine whether the application program has been installed successfully; and

,

if in said diagnosing step it is determined that the application program has not been installed successfully, performing a cleanup process to remove said copied application files and to reverse said configuration.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

identifying dependent applications whose installation is required for the operation of the application program; and

,

installing each identified dependent application before installing the application program.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said diagnosing step comprises the steps of:

identifying a set of application files which, for a successful installation of the application program, are to be copied to specified locations in the target computing system;

further identifying system configuration settings which are required in the target application system for the correct operation of the application program; and

,

detecting at least one of a failure to copy said set of application files to said specified location, and a failure to correctly establish said system configuration systems.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein said diagnosing step further comprises the steps of:

determining pre-requisite system conditions for the application program;

identifying system configuration data for the target computing system;

comparing said pre-requisite system conditions with said system configuration data; and

,

reporting said comparison to an end user.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

in a first uninstallation process;

uninstalling the application program, said uninstallation comprising the steps of removing said copied application files, and reversing said configuration according to a specified installation configuration file; and

,

in a second uninstallation process;

diagnosing said removing and reversing steps to determine whether the application program has been uninstalled successfully; and

,

if in said diagnosing step of said second uninstallation process it is determined that the application program has not been uninstalled successfully, performing a cleanup process to remove remaining application files and to reverse said configuration without regard to said specified installation configuration file.

10. A machine readable storage having stored thereon a computer program for installing an application program to a target computing system, the computer program comprising a routine set of instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform the steps of:

in a first installation process;

copying applications files of the application program to specified locations in the target computing system;

configuring the target computing system as required for the operation of the application program;

in a second installation process which is separate from said first installation process;

diagnosing said copying and configuring steps to determine whether the application program has been installed successfully; and

,

if in said diagnosing step it is determined that the application program has not been installed successfully, performing a cleanup process to remove said copied application files and to reverse said configuration.

11. The machine readable storage of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

identifying dependent applications whose installation is required for the operation of the application program; and

,

installing each identified dependent application before installing the application program.

12. The machine readable storage of claim 10, wherein said diagnosing step comprises the steps of:

identifying a set of application files which, for a successful installation of the application program, are to be copied to specified locations in the target computing system;

further identifying system configuration settings which are required in the target application system for the correct operation of the application program; and

,

detecting at least one of a failure to copy said set of application files to said specified location, and a failure to correctly establish said system configuration systems.

13. The machine readable storage of claim 12, wherein said diagnosing step further comprises the steps of:

determining pre-requisite system conditions for the application program;

identifying system configuration data for the target computing system;

comparing said pre-requisite system conditions with said system configuration data; and

,

reporting said comparison to an end user.

14. The machine readable storage of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

in a first uninstallation process;

uninstalling the application program, said uninstallation comprising the steps of removing said copied application files, and reversing said configuration according to a specified installation configuration file; and

,

in a second uninstallation process;

diagnosing said removing and reversing steps to determine whether the application program has been uninstalled successfully; and

,

if in said diagnosing step of said second uninstallation process it is determined that the application program has not been uninstalled successfully, performing a cleanup process to remove remaining application files and to reverse said configuration without regard to said specified installation configuration file.

15. A method of configuring application components of an application suite with a plugable framework for installing and uninstalling the application components comprising the steps of:

implementing a set of installation and uninstallation methods in a plug-in service, said set comprising a pre-requisite check, installation diagnostics, uninstallation diagnostics, functionality diagnostics, and a cleanup process; and

,

associating said implementation with at least one of the application components in the application suite.