Deployment of applications in a multitier compute infrastructure

• US 20060184926A1
• Filed: 03/04/2003
• Published: 08/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Or, Yan, Koper, John, Bellur, Umesh, Casier, Johan, Sundaresan, Vinu, Garimella, Krishna, Joshi, Shashank
• Granted Patent: US 7,210,143 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

An application model automates deployment of an application. In one embodiment, the application model includes a static description of the application and a run-time description of the application. Deployment phases, such as installation, configuration and activation of the application are executed according to the application model.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for deploying an application comprising:

accessing an application model of the application, the application model including a static description of the application and a run-time description of the application; and

executing at least one of the following three phases;

installing packages on target devices to produce installations according to the static description;

configuring the installations to produce configurations according to the run-time description; and

activating the configurations according to the run-time description.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of executing at least one phase comprises:

installing packages on target devices to produce installations according to the static description; and

configuring the installations to produce configurations according to the run-time description.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of executing at least one phase comprises:

configuring the installations to produce configurations according to the run-time description; and

activating the configurations according to the run-time description.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of executing at least one phase comprises:

installing packages on target devices to produce installations according to the static description, the step of installing packages including;

checking-in packages, and

installing checked-in packages;

configuring the installations to produce configurations according to the run-time description; and

activating the configurations according to the run-time description.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the static description is capable of including static installation dependencies;

the run-time description is capable of including run-time installation dependencies, configuration dependencies and activation dependencies; and

the steps of installing checked-in packages, configuring the installations and activating the configurations are executed according to static installation dependencies, run-time installation dependencies, configuration dependencies and activation dependencies included in the application model.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of installing checked-in packages comprises:

pre-installing checked-in packages; and

completing installation of the pre-installed packages post-cutover.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein at least one of the configurations is based on a software component architecture.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the application model further includes a dependency affecting the executed phase; and

the step of executing the phase further comprises;

verifying the dependency before executing the phase.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the dependency includes one of the following:

a static installation dependency if the executed phase includes installing packages;

or

a run-time installation dependency if the executed phase includes configuring the installations;

or

a configuration dependency if the executed phase includes configuring the installations.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the application model further includes a dependency affecting the executed phase; and

the step of executing the phase comprises;

executing the phase in an order according to the dependency.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the dependency includes one of the following:

a configuration dependency if the executed phase includes configuring the installations;

an activation dependency if the executed phase includes activating the configurations.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the deployment of the application is an update of a previous deployment.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the deployment of the application is a roll back to a previous version of the deployment.

14. A computer-implemented method for installing an application comprising:

determining, from an application model of the application, the packages for the application, the installations of the packages, and the target devices for the installations; and

installing the packages on the target devices according to the application model.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the application model comprises a static description of the application, including identification of the packages and of the installations for the application.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the application model further comprises a static installation dependency for at least one package; and

the method further comprises verifying the static installation dependency before installing the at least one package.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

checking-in packages, wherein the step of installing the packages comprises installing checked-in packages.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of checking-in packages includes version control of the packages.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

responsive to a check-in of an update of a package that was previously distributed, distributing the updated package as a replacement for the previously distributed package.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of installing the packages comprises:

pre-installing at least one package; and

completing installation of the pre-installed package post-cutover.

21. The method of claim 14 wherein:

the application model comprises a static description of the application, including at least one static installation dependency and identification of the packages and of the installations; and

the method further comprises;

checking-in at least one package;

pre-installing the checked-in package;

verifying the static installation dependency before pre-installing the checked-in package; and

completing installation of the pre-installed package post-cutover.

22. A computer-implemented method for configuring an application comprising:

determining, from an application model of the application, the managed services for the application, the configurations of the managed services, and the installations on which the configurations are based; and

configuring the installations according to the application model.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the application model comprises a run-time description of the application, including identification of the managed services and of the configurations for the application.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein:

the application model further comprises a run-time installation dependency for at least one configuration; and

the method further comprises verifying the run-time installation dependency before configuring the installations for the at least one configuration.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein:

the application model further comprises a configuration dependency for at least one configuration; and

the method further comprises verifying the configuration dependency before configuring the installations for the at least one configuration.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein:

the application model further comprises a configuration dependency; and

the step of configuring the installations comprises configuring the installations in an order according to the configuration dependency.

27. The method of claim 23 wherein at least one configuration is based on software containers and process pools.

28. The method of claim 22 wherein at least one of the configurations is based on a software component architecture.

29. A computer apparatus for deploying an application comprising:

a port for accessing an application model of the application, the application model including a static description of the application and a run-time description of the application; and

at least one of the following three modules;

an installation module for installing packages on target devices to produce installations according to the static description;

a configuration module for configuring the installations to produce configurations according to the run-time description; and

an activation module for activating the configurations according to the run-time description.

30. The computer apparatus of claim 29 comprising at least both the installation module and the configuration module.

31. The computer apparatus of claim 29 comprising at least both the configuration module and the activation module.

32. The computer apparatus of claim 29 comprising:

the installation module, wherein the installation module installs packages by;

checking-in packages, and

installing checked-in packages;

the configuration module; and

the activation module.

33. The computer apparatus of claim 32 wherein:

the static description is capable of including static installation dependencies;

the run-time description is capable of including run-time installation dependencies, configuration dependencies and activation dependencies; and

the installation module, the configuration module and the activation module operate according to static installation dependencies, run-time installation dependencies, configuration dependencies and activation dependencies included in the application model.

34. The computer apparatus of claim 32 wherein the installation module installs checked-in packages by:

pre-installing checked-in packages; and

completing installation of the pre-installed packages post-cutover.

35. The computer apparatus of claim 32 wherein at least one of the configurations is based on a software component architecture.

36. The computer apparatus of claim 29 wherein the application model further includes a dependency affecting operation of at least one module, and the affected module verifies the dependency.

37. The computer apparatus of claim 36 wherein the dependency includes one of the following:

a static installation dependency if the affected module is the installation module;

or

a run-time installation dependency if the affected module is the configuration module;

or

a configuration dependency if the affected module is the configuration module.

38. The computer apparatus of claim 29 wherein the application model further includes a dependency affecting an order of operation of at least one module.

39. The computer apparatus of claim 38 wherein the dependency includes one of the following:

a configuration dependency if the affected module is the configuration module;

an activation dependency if affected module is the activation module.

40. The computer apparatus of claim 29 wherein the deployment of the application is an update of a previous deployment.

41. The computer apparatus of claim 29 wherein the deployment of the application is a roll back to a previous version of the deployment.