APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GENERATING A SOFTWARE DEPENDENCY MAP

• US 20080201705A1
• Filed: 09/27/2007
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Wookey, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US11/862,987
• Publication Number:
  US 20080201705A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/175
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

A system and method for generating a software installation map, also referred to as a dependency map, that involves receiving a first software package comprising at least a first software file and a second software file. The first software file is dependent on the second software file. The method further involves generating a first software element representing the first software file and generating a second software element representing the second software file. The method involves generating a first dependency pointer representing the dependency between the first software file and the second software file. Finally, the software elements are provided in an installation map, and the process repeats for each software file in the first software package.

Claims

1. A method for altering an existing configuration of a first software functionality on a client device to install a second software functionality comprising:

receiving a request to install a second software functionality on a client device;

receiving a software manifest describing a plurality of software files residing on the client device;

accessing a software installation map comprising a plurality of software elements representing at least the plurality of software files described in the software manifest, a plurality of software files for installing the second software functionality, and a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between the software files;

analyzing the software installation map to determine a first software installation route for installing the second software functionality, the software installation route comprising;

the plurality of software files for installing the second software functionality, the plurality of software files including at least one existing software file associated with the first software functionality to be altered for installation of the second software functionality, and

an installation order for installing the plurality of software files; and

providing the first software installation route to the client device to alter the first software functionality and install the second software functionality.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a first installation criteria for installing the second software functionality.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first installation criteria is at least one of the following:

a) an installation with an optimized number of required software files;

b) an installation with an optimized amount of disk space required;

c) an installation with a least number of errors reported against it; and

d) and installation with a latest security update.

4. The method of claim 3 where the operation of determining the first software installation route is a function of the first installation criteria and wherein the installation route and software installation map include features indicative of at least one of:

a number of software files to related to the installation route, an amount of disk space required to install the files identified in the installation route, a number of errors associated with the installation route, and a security status of the installation route.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the at least one software file associated with the first software functionality to be altered involves one of:

removing the at least one software file, replacing the at least one software file with a newer version of the at least one software file, and replacing the at least one software file with an older version of the at least one software file.

6. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving a rejection of the first software installation route due to a requirement to not alter the at least one existing software file.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

providing a second optimized software installation route describing at least one existing software file associated with the first software functionality to be altered to optimize the performance of the second software functionality.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the operation of determining a first software installation route comprises the operations of:

determining a start point within a software installation map, wherein the start point is a collection of the software files described in the software manifest;

determining an end point within the software installation map, wherein the end point is a collection of some or all of the software files described in the software manifest and the files needed for installing the second software functionality; and

determining a collection of software files for installing the second software functionality wherein the collection of software files for installing the second software functionality is a function of a difference in files between the end point and the start point.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing at least the plurality of software files described in the software manifest and the plurality of software files for installing the second software functionality; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between the software files.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first software installation route is associated with a confidence factor representing an estimate that the first software installation route provides for a successful installation.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the operation of receiving a software installation route is from a software installation map comprising a plurality of software elements representing at least the plurality of software files described in the software manifest and the plurality of software files for installing the second software functionality;

and

each software element including at least one dependency pointers representing a dependency with at least one other software files.

11. A method for receiving instructions for installing a second software functionality on a client device with an existing first software functionality comprising:

providing an installation request for a second software functionality wherein a first software functionality currently resides on a client device;

providing a software manifest describing a plurality of software files residing on the client device and associated with at least the first software functionality; and

receiving a software installation route comprising;

a plurality of software files for installing the second software functionality, the plurality of software files including at least one software file associated with the first software functionality to be altered for installation of the second software functionality; and

an installation order for installing the plurality of software files.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

providing a first installation criteria for installing the second software functionality, the first installation criteria for generating the software installation route.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first installation criteria is one of the following:

a) an installation with an optimized number of required software files;

b) an installation with an optimized amount of disk space required;

c) an installation with a least number of errors reported against it; and

d) and installation with a latest security update.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the at least one software file associated with the first software functionality to be altered involves one of:

removing the at least one software file, replacing the at least one software file with a newer version of the at least one software file, and replacing the at least one software file with an older version of the at least one software file.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the installation route is a function of the first installation criteria and wherein the installation route and software installation map include features indicative of at least one of:

a number of software files to related to the installation route, an amount of disk space required to install the files identified in the installation route, a number of errors associated with the installation route, and a security status of the installation route.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

providing for determining whether alteration of the at least one software file is acceptable;

providing a refusal to alter the at least one software file; and

receiving a second installation route for installing the second software functionality describing at least one second software file associated with the first software functionality to be altered for installation of the second software functionality.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

altering the at least one second software file at the client device.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

installing the plurality of software files as described in the second software installation route.

20. A software management system for managing a plurality of software installation maps, comprising:

a first module configured for hosting a first software installation map, the first software installation map comprising;

a first plurality of software elements representing a first plurality of software files;

a first plurality of dependency pointers representing a plurality of dependencies between the first plurality of software files;

a second module configured for hosting a second software installation map, the second software installation map configured to communicate with the first software installation map to collectively define a virtual software installation map, the second software installation map comprising;

a second plurality of software elements representing a second plurality of software files; and

a second plurality of dependency pointers representing a plurality of dependencies between the second plurality of software files.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the first software installation map further comprises:

at least a first map reference pointer configured to reference a third map reference pointer from a third software installation map.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the first software installation map further comprises a first map reference pointer to a second map reference pointer of the second software installation map.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the first map reference pointer comprises:

a confidence factor being an estimate that the first map reference pointer is a valid reference to the third software installation map.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the first map reference pointer further comprises:

a class definition of a class of software of the first map reference pointer wherein the second map reference pointer from the second additional software installation map has a dependency on the class of software of the first map reference pointer.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the first map reference pointer comprises a reference version defining a version of a software application associated with the first map reference pointer wherein a version of a reference pointer from the at least additional software installation map is of the same version.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein the first software installation map comprises software associated with a first software vendor and the second software installation map comprises software associated with a second software vendor.

27. The system of claim 22 wherein the first and second map reference pointers associate the first and second software installation maps into the virtual software installation map.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the virtual software installation map is configured to receive a software installation request for software functionality from both the first and second software installation maps.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein at least a portion of the virtual software installation map may reside in a memory of a software agent of a client device.

30. A method for managing a plurality of software installation maps:

receiving a request for installing a first software functionality on a client device wherein the first software functionality comprises a first software file referenced in a first software installation map and a second software file referenced in a second software installation map;

combining the first installation map and the second installation map into a virtual software installation map;

generating a software installation route from the virtual software installation map, wherein the software installation route includes the first software file from the first installation map and the second file from the second software installation map; and

providing the software installation route to the client device.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the operation of combining the first installation map and the second software installation map further comprises:

associating a first map reference pointer of the first software installation map with a second map reference pointer of the second software installation map to establish the virtual installation map.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein each of the first and second installation maps comprise:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing a plurality of dependencies between the plurality of software files.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the first map reference pointer comprises:

a confidence factor that the first map reference pointer is a valid reference point to the second map reference pointer.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the first map reference pointer further comprises:

a class definition of a class of software of the first map reference pointer.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the class definition expresses a dependency of a class of the second reference pointer.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the first map reference pointer further comprises:

a reference version defining a version of a software application associated with the first map reference pointer.

37. The method of claim 30 wherein the first software installation map comprises software associated with a first software vendor and the second software installation map comprises software associated with a second software vendor.

38. The method of claim 30 wherein at least a portion of the virtual software installation map may reside in a memory of a software agent of the client device.

39. The method of claim 30 wherein the software installation route comprises:

a confidence factor that the software installation route provides for a valid installation of the first software functionality.

40. A system for substantially duplicating a software configuration from a first computing system to at least a second computing system comprising:

a software installation map configured to receive a source software manifest reflecting a source software configuration describing a plurality of source software files residing on a source client;

the software installation map further configured to generate a first software installation route describing a plurality of software files and associated dependencies, the first software installation route being a function of the source software manifest; and

the software installation map further configured to provide the first software installation route to a target client, the first route providing an identification of software files to substantially duplicate the source software configuration of the source client on the target client.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein the source client has a source software load, the source client further having a source software agent running on the source client, the source software agent configured to track changes to the source software manifest.

42. The system of claim 40 wherein the target client has a target software load, the target client further having a target software agent running on the target client, the target software agent configured to receive the first software installation route to substantially duplicate the source software manifest.

43. The system of claim 40 wherein the system is further configured to provide a bare metal provision to the target client.

44. The system of claim 41 wherein the software agent of the source client is configured to perform the operations comprising:

comparing the software files described in the first software installation route against the source software manifest; and

communicating with the software installation map to obtain software files identified on the first software installation route but not present in the source software manifest.

45. The system of claim 44 where the software agent of the source client is configured to perform the operations of:

identifying any removal software files that exist on the source client but are not described in the first software installation route;

removing the removal software files from the source client;

identifying any additional software files that are described in the first software installation route but do not exist on the source client; and

installing the additional software files on the source client.

46. The system of claim 42 wherein the target software agent of the target client is configured to perform the operations comprising:

receiving the first software installation route;

analyzing the target software load and identifying any software files that exist in the target software load but are not described in the first software installation route;

creating a first de-installation list of at least one software file that is not part of the first software installation route;

analyzing a file manifest of each software file in the first de-installation list and performing a file-level dependency check on each software file in the first de-installation list to identify additional files that are created at runtime but are not under the control of the target software manifest;

creating a second de-installation list describing any additional files created at run-time but are not under the control of the target software manifest; and

deleting the software files described in the first and second de-installation lists.

47. The system of claim 40 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between the plurality of software files.

48. The system of claim 43 wherein the operation of providing a bare metal provision to the target client further comprises providing a target software agent for installation on the target client.

49. A method for substantially duplicating a software configuration from a first computing system to at least a second computing system comprising:

receiving a request for duplicating a software configuration from a source client to a target client, the source client having a source software manifest listing the source software files residing on the source client and the target client having a target software load listing the target software files residing on the target client;

receiving the source software manifest;

generating a first software installation route based on the source software manifest, the first software installation route generated from a software installation map; and

providing the first software installation route to the target client.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the source client further performs the operations comprising:

comparing the plurality of software files described in the first software installation route against the source software load; and

altering the source software load to substantially equal the plurality of files described in the first software installation route.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between each of the plurality of software files.

52. The method of claim 50 wherein the target client further performs the operations comprising:

receiving the first software installation route;

analyzing the target software load and identifying any software files that exist in the target software load but are not described in the first software installation route;

creating a first de-installation list of the software files that are not part of the first software installation route;

analyzing a file manifest of each software file in the first de-installation list and performing a file-level dependency check on each software file in the first de-installation list to identify additional files that are created at runtime but are not under the control of the target software manifest;

creating a second de-installation list describing any additional files created at run-time but are not under the control of the target software manifest; and

deleting the software files described in the first and second de-installation lists.

53. The method of claim 52 further comprising installing a software agent on the target client.

54. The method of claim 50 further comprising installing a software agent on the source client.

55. The method of claim 49 further comprising:

providing a bare metal provision to the target client.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein the operation of providing a bare metal provision to the target client comprises an installation for a minimal operating system for installation on the target client wherein the minimal operating system is a same operating system existing on the source client.

57. The system of claim 56 wherein the operation of providing a bare metal provision to the target client further comprises providing a target software agent for installation on the target client.

58. A system for managing software installation errors comprising:

a service provider module for hosting a software installation map, the software installation map comprising;

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files;

a plurality of dependency pointers representing a plurality of dependencies between the plurality of software files;

at least one software installation route describing a subset of the plurality of software files combinable to represent at least one software functionality;

the service provider configured to provide the installation route to a client device to install the subset of the plurality of software files; and

an error analysis module in communication with the service provider module, the error analysis module configured to analyze an error message received from the client device in association with installation of the subset the plurality of software files.

59. The system of claim 58 wherein the error analysis module is configured to perform the operations of:

analyzing the error message to determine a source of the error message;

associating the received error and a timestamp of when the error occurred with at least one of the plurality of software elements responsible for the error; and

associating the received error with the software installation route used for installing the software functionality.

60. The system of claim 59 wherein the error analysis module is configured to perform the operations of:

analyzing the error message to identify files installed on the client device prior to the installation of the subset of the plurality of software files.

61. The system of claim 59 wherein the at least one software installation route has a confidence factor representing an estimate of whether the at least one software installation route will provide for a successful installation of the software functionality.

62. The system of claim 61 wherein the operation of associating the received error with the software installation route used for installing the software functionality further comprises:

associating information about the received error with the software installation route; and

reducing the confidence factor associated with the software installation route.

63. The system of claim 62 where the operation of reducing the confidence factor associated with the software installation route is determined by dividing a number of installations based on the software installation route by a number of successful installations based on the software installation route.

64. A method for managing software installation errors comprising:

providing a software installation route to a client device for installing a software functionality;

receiving an error string associated with the software installation route;

parsing the error string to determine a cause of the error;

associating the received error with a software element associated with the error; and

associating the received error with the software installation route used for installing the software functionality.

65. The method of claim 64 further comprising:

parsing the error string to further determine a time of the error; and

associating the received error and the time of the error with the software element associated with the error.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein the operation of parsing the error string further comprises:

identifying references to any files that may have already been installed on the client device prior to the installation; and

identifying references to any known installation problems.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein the software installation route has a confidence factor representing an estimate that the at least one software installation route will provide for a successful installation.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein the operation of associating the received error with the software installation route used for installing the software functionality further comprises:

attaching information about the received error to the software installation route; and

reducing the confidence factor associated with the software installation route as a function of the received error.

69. The method of claim 68 where the operation of reducing the confidence factor associated with the software installation route involves dividing a number of uses of the software installation route by a number of successful installations provided by the software installation route.

70. The method of claim 68 wherein the operation of associating information about the received error to the software installation route further comprises:

associating the software module responsible for the error with the software installation route;

associating the error string with the software installation route; and

associating a cause of the error with the software installation route.

71. The method of claim 65 wherein the error string is transmitted by a software agent installed on the client device.

72. The method of claim 64 further comprising:

providing details of the parsed error string to the client device.

73. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

revising the software installation route to avoid the cause of the error.

74. The method of claim 73, further comprising:

providing a revised software installation route to the client device.

75. A method for transmitting software installation errors, comprising:

upon a request for installing a software functionality, receiving a software installation route from a service provider module, the software installation route providing at least one software file for installing the software functionality;

installing the at least one software file based on the software installation route on a client device;

receiving an installation error during installation of the software installation route; and

transmitting the installation error to the service provider module.

76. The method of claim 75 further comprising providing a software agent on the client device to perform the operations of claim 75.

77. The method of claim 75, further comprising:

receiving a revised software installation route.

78. A method for returning a software configuration on a computing device to a previous state comprising:

receiving a request for returning a client device software configuration to a previous state;

comparing a previous state software manifest comprising a list of a plurality of software files residing on the client device during the previous state with a software installation map to identify software elements within the map associated with the list of the plurality of software files residing on the client device during the previous state;

generating a previous state installation route describing at least a portion of the software elements within the map and associated software files for returning the client device to the previous state; and

providing the previous state installation route to the computing device.

79. The method of claim 78 further comprising:

comparing the previous state software manifest to a current client software manifest;

receiving a indication of at least one difference in software files between the current client software manifest and the previous state software manifest; and

using the difference in software files, generating a previous state installation route describing software files to install or de-install from the client device to return the computing device to the previous state.

80. The method of claim 79 wherein the previous software manifest further comprises:

a list of root software files residing on the client device, the root software files not having a dependency on any other software files.

81. The method of claim 78 wherein the operation of comparing the previous software manifest with a software installation map further comprises:

matching each software file in the software manifest against a software element representing each software file from the software installation map, each software file being matched based on a version of the software file.

82. The method of claim 78 wherein a software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between each of the plurality of software files.

83. The method of claim 78 further comprising receiving the previous state software manifest from the computing device, the computing device storing a plurality of previous software manifests, each software manifest represented by a date that the manifest was created.

84. The method of claim 81 wherein the previous state software manifest provides an order in which the software files described in the previous state manifest were installed on the computing device.

85. The method of claim 78 wherein the previous state installation route describes an installation route for installing software files to the computing device and removing existing software files from the computing device.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein the previous state installation route further includes an installation ordering for installing and removing the software files, wherein the installation ordering lists the order in which each software file should be installed or un-installed from the client device.

87. The method of claim 78, further comprising:

receiving an indication of success from the computing device, the indication of success representing a successful installation of the previous state installation route, returning the computing device to the previous state.

88. The method of claim 78, further comprising:

receiving an indication of failure from the computing device, the indication of failure representing a failed installation of the previous state installation route, the indication of failure further comprising;

a listing of software files and their versions installed to the computing device before a failure occurred;

a listing of software files and their versions removed from the computing device before the failure occurred;

a reason for the failure of the previous state installation route; and

a listing of one of more software files responsible for the failure.

89. A method for returning a software configuration of a computing device to a previous state comprising;

requesting a rollback of a computing device software configuration to a configuration as described in a previous software manifest;

providing the previous software manifest to a software installation map, the previous software manifest describing a listing of each software file and associated version residing on the computing device at the time of the previous software manifest;

comparing the previous software manifest with a current software manifest of the computing device to generate a list of differences between the previous software manifest and the current software manifest;

providing the list of differences to the software installation map;

receiving a previous state installation route describing software files and an associated version for returning the computing device to the previous software configuration at the time of the previous state; and

installing the software files on the computing device.

90. The method of claim 89 further comprising:

generating the current software manifest describing a current listing of each software file and associated version residing on the computing device.

91. The method of claim 89 wherein the previous software manifest further comprises:

a list of root software modules residing on the client device, root software modules not having a dependency on any other software modules.

92. The method of claim 89 further comprising receiving a software agent at the computing device, the software agent providing communication with the software installation map.

93. The method of claim 89 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between each of the plurality of software files.

94. The method of claim 89, wherein the previous state installation route further includes an order for installing software files onto the computing device and removing existing software files from the client device.

95. The method of claim 89, further comprising:

transmitting an indication of success from the client device, the indication of success representing a successful installation of the previous state installation route returning the computing device to the configuration described in the previous software manifest.

96. The method of claim 89, further comprising:

transmitting an indication of failure from the client device, the indication of failure representing a failed installation of the previous installation routed intended to return the computing device to the configuration described in the previous software manifest.

97. The method of claim 89, further comprising:

wherein the indication of failure comprises;

a listing of software files and their versions installed to the computing device before a failure occurred;

a listing of software files and their versions removed from the computing device before the failure occurred;

a reason for the failure of the previous state installation route; and

a listing of one of more software files responsible for the failure.

98. A method for installing software on a computing device comprising:

receiving a first software installation request to install a first software functionality;

accessing a software installation map comprising;

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files, a subset of the plurality of software elements associated with the first software functionality;

a plurality of dependency pointers identifying functional dependencies between the plurality of software files;

determining at least one installation route for installing the first software functionality, the at least one installation route identifying the subset of the plurality of software elements; and

providing the installation route to a computing device.

99. The method of claim 98 further comprising:

transmitting the at least one installation route to the computing device over a communication network.

100. The method of claim 98 wherein the operation of receiving a first software installation request further comprises:

receiving a first installation criteria for installing the first software functionality.

101. The method of claim 100 wherein the software installation map includes indicators representative of operating speed of the software functionality, error rate of the software functionality, and version of the software functionality and wherein the first installation criteria is a function of at least one of the following factors:

operating speed of the software functionality, stability of the software functionality, and version of the software functionality.

102. The method of claim 98 wherein the software installation map further comprises:

a first installation route including at least a first subset of the plurality of software elements to install the first software functionality; and

a second installation route including at least a second subset of the plurality of software elements, the second subset differing from the first subset by at least one software element, the second subset of software elements to install the first software functionality.

103. The method of claim 102 wherein the operation of determining the at least one install route further comprises:

selecting a preferred installation route from at least the first and second installation route.

104. The method of claim 103 wherein the operation of selecting a preferred installation route is a function of a first installation criteria.

105. The method of claim 102 wherein the first installation route has a first confidence factor being a function of a historical record of previous installations based on the first installation route and the second installation route has a second confidence factor being a function of a historical record of previous installations based on the second installation route.

106. The method of claim 105 wherein the first and second confidence factors represent an estimate of whether the first and second installation routes, respectively, will result in a successful installation of the first software functionality on the computing device.

107. The method of claim 103 wherein the operation of selecting a preferred installation route is a function of at least the first and second confidence factors.

108. The method of claim 98 further comprising:

providing the software files to the computing device, the software files associated with each software element identified in the installation route.

109. The method of claim 98 wherein each of the plurality of dependency pointers represents a functional dependency between two software files, each of the plurality of dependency pointers having a dependency confidence factor being a function of the dependency between the two software files and a historical record of installations involving the dependency between the two software files.

110. The method of claim 109 wherein the dependency confidence factor represents an estimate that the dependency between the two software files is accurate.

111. The method of claim 98 further comprising:

obtaining a location pointer from each of the subset of software elements, the location pointer identifying a memory location of the software file associated with the corresponding software element.

112. The method of claim 98 further comprising:

obtaining each of the software files from the memory location of a relational database.

113. The method of claim 98 wherein each of the plurality of software files comprises one of the following types of software files:

a) an executable file;

b) a shared library file;

c) a configuration file; and

d) a script file.

114. The method of claim 98 wherein each of the plurality of dependency pointers is associated with at least one of the first and second software elements creating the dependency.

115. A method for installing software on a computing device comprising:

transmitting a software installation request for installing a first software functionality;

receiving at least one installation route from a software installation map, the installation route identifying;

a plurality of software elements for installing the first software functionality, each software element having an associated software file;

an installation order for installing the software files;

a confidence factor associated with the installation route, the confidence factor representing an estimate of whether the installation route will provide for a successful installation;

receiving the software files for installing the first software functionality, the plurality of software files associated with the at least one installation route; and

installing the software files to obtain the first software functionality.

116. The method of claim 115 further comprising:

obtaining a first installation route including at least a first subset of the plurality of software elements to install the first software functionality;

a second installation route including at least a second subset of the plurality of software elements, the second subset differing from the first subset by at least one software element, the second subset of software elements to install the first software functionality; and

determining a preferred installation route between the first and second installation routes.

117. The method of claim 115 further comprising:

transmitting a success rate to the software installation map, wherein the success rate is a function of the success of installing the software functionality.

118. The method of claim 115 further comprising:

transmitting at least one installation criteria for installing the first software functionality, the at lest one installation criteria represent at least one of the following types of requirements for installing the first software functionality;

operating speed of the software functionality, stability of the software functionality, version of the software functionality, and compatibility of the software functionality with other software functionality.

119. The method of claim 118 where the operation of receiving the at least one installation route is a function of the transmission of the at least one installation criteria.

120. A method for generating dependencies within a software installation map comprising:

creating a first software element in a software installation map, wherein the first software element represents a first software file;

creating a second software element in the software installation map, wherein the second software element represents a second software file;

analyzing a first software package being the source of the first software file and the second software file to identify a dependency between the first software file and the second software file; and

defining a first dependency pointer within the software installation map, the first dependency pointer representing the dependency from the first software file to the second software file.

121. The method of claim 120 wherein the operation of analyzing includes extracting a declared dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

122. The method of claim 120 wherein the operation of analyzing includes analyzing shared libraries to identify a declared dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

123. The method of claim 120 wherein the operation of analyzing includes analyzing configuration files to identify a declared dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

124. The method of claim 120 further comprising analyzing a symbol file of at least one executable file of the first software package to identify dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

125. The method of claim 120 further comprising executing at least one executable file of the first software package to identify the dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

126. The method of claim 120 further comprising:

assigning a confidence factor to the first dependency pointer; and

assigning a timestamp to the first dependency pointer, the timestamp storing a date the dependency was generated in the software installation map.

127. The method of claim 126 further comprising:

receiving a success indication based on an installation of a software functionality on a client device involving the first software file and the second software file; and

adjusting the confidence factor of the first dependency pointer as a function of the success indication.

128. The method of claim 121 wherein the declared dependency is located in one of the following types of software files residing within the first software package:

a) a shared library file;

b) a configuration file;

c) an executable file; and

d) a symbol table.

129. The method of claim 120 further comprising:

extracting a plurality of software files from the first software package, the plurality of files comprising at least the first software file and the second software file.

130. An apparatus for generating dependencies within a software installation map configured for performing the operations of:

creating a first software element in a software installation map, wherein the first software element represents a first software file;

creating a second software element in the software installation map, wherein the second software element represents a second software file;

analyzing a first software package being the source of the first software file and the second software file to identify a dependency between the first software file and the second software file; and

defining a first dependency pointer within the software installation map, the first dependency pointer representing the dependency from the first software file to the second software file.

131. The apparatus of claim 130 wherein the operation of analyzing includes extracting a declared dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

132. The apparatus of claim 131 wherein the operation of analyzing includes analyzing shared libraries to identify a declared dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

133. The apparatus of claim 132 wherein the operation of analyzing includes analyzing configuration files to identify a declared dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

134. The apparatus of claim 130 further configured to perform the operation of analyzing a symbol file of at least one executable file of the first software package to identify dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

135. The apparatus of claim 130 further configured to perform the operation of executing at least one executable file of the first software package to identify dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

136. The apparatus of claim 130 further configured to perform the operations of:

assigning a confidence factor to the first dependency pointer; and

assigning a timestamp to the first dependency pointer, the timestamp storing a date the dependency was generated in the software installation map.

137. The apparatus of claim 130 further configured to perform the operations of:

receiving a success indication based on an installation of a software functionality on a client device involving the first software file and the second software file; and

adjusting the confidence factor of the first dependency pointer as a function of the success indication.

138. The apparatus of claim 131 wherein the declared dependency is located in one of the following types of software files residing within the first software package:

a) a shared library file;

b) a configuration file;

c) an executable file; and

d) a symbol table.

139. The apparatus of claim 138 further configured to perform the operation of extracting a plurality of software files from the first software package, the plurality of files comprising at least the first software file and the second software file.

140. A method for automating software installations accounting for an installation policy, the method comprising:

defining a client installation policy for a client device;

transmitting a software installation request for installing a first software functionality;

receiving a software installation route from a software installation map, the software installation route describes a plurality of software files for installing the first software functionality, the software installation route comprising;

a confidence factor representing an indication of previous installation success based on the software installation route;

a route installation policy; and

installing the first software functionality based on a combination of the client installation policy and the route installation policy.

141. The method of claim 140 wherein the client installation policy defines a level of manual interaction suggested for installing software functionalities on the client device.

142. The method of claim 141 wherein the route installation policy defines a level of manual interaction suggested for installing the first software functionality.

143. The method of claim 142 further comprising:

overriding the route installation policy to install the first software functionality based on the client installation policy.

144. The method of claim 142 further comprising:

overriding the client installation policy to install the first software functionality based on the route installation policy.

145. The method of claim 142 wherein the route installation policy is a function of the confidence factor associated with the software installation route.

146. The method of claim 140 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between each of the plurality of software files.

147. The method of claim 140 wherein the client installation policy automatically changes over time based on a historical record of successful installations performed on the client device.

148. The method of claim 147 wherein the client installation policy changes to suggest less manual interaction if the first software functionality installs successfully.

149. The method of claim 147 wherein the client installation policy changes to suggest more manual interaction if the first software functionality installs unsuccessfully.

150. A method for providing a software installation accounting for an installation policy comprising:

maintaining a software installation map comprising;

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files;

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between each of the plurality of software files;

at least one software installation route for installing a first software functionality, the installation route including a subset of the plurality of software elements and having a route installation policy defining a level of manual interaction suggested for installing the software functionality;

receiving a request for installing the first software functionality from a client device; and

providing the first software installation route to the client device.

151. The method of claim 150 wherein the first software installation route comprises:

a confidence factor representing an estimate of whether the first software installation route will provide for a successful installation.

152. The method of claim 151 wherein the route installation policy is a function of the confidence factor.

153. The method of claim 152 further comprising:

receiving an indication of success from the installation of the first software functionality, wherein the indication of success describes whether the installation resulted in one or more errors.

154. The method of claim 153 further comprising:

altering the route installation policy based on the indication of success.

155. The method of claim 154 wherein the operation of altering the route installation policy increases a suggested level of manual interaction if the indication of success returned one or more installation errors.

156. The method of claim 154 wherein the operation of altering the route installation policy decreases the suggested level of manual interaction if the indication of success returned no installation errors.

157. The method of claim 151 wherein the route installation policy suggests a decreased level of manual interaction if the confidence factor of the software installation route is increased.

158. The method of claim 151 wherein the route installation policy suggests a increased level of manual interaction if the confidence factor of the software installation route is reduced.

159. The method of claim 151 wherein the route installation policy is a function of a number of installations performed based on the first software installation route.

160. A software run-time error detection system comprising:

an error receiving module residing on a server device, the error receiving module to receive run-time error messages from a software monitoring agent residing on a client device, the software monitoring agent configured to detect run-time errors associated with at least one software functionality installed on the client device; and

a route manager residing on the server device, the route manager in communication with the error receiving module, the route manager further configured to modify a confidence factor associate with at least one software installation route defined in a software installation map, the software installation route defining a plurality of software elements associated with the software functionality installed on the client device.

161. The system of claim 160 wherein the software monitoring agent further comprises:

a first software error detection module configured to detect run-time errors in the first software functionality.

162. The system of claim 161 wherein the first software error detection module further comprises:

a first event detector configured to detect run-time errors events in the first software functionality; and

a first log file watcher configured to monitor at least one error log associated with the first software functionality.

163. The system of claim 162 wherein the first event detector is further configured to accept instructions on which types of run-time error events to detect.

164. The system of claim 162 wherein the first log file watcher is further configured to accept instructions on which types of error entries to monitor in the at least one error log.

165. The system of claim 164 wherein the at least one error log is one of at least a system error log and an application specific error log.

166. The system of claim 163 further comprising an event detector configured to perform at least one of the following:

a) simple network management protocol (“

SNMP”

) sniffing;

b) core image dumps;

c) memory image dumps;

d) java stack detections; and

e) kernel level system interrupts.

167. The system of claim 160 wherein the software monitoring agent is configured to accept instructions on which types of run-time errors are to be flagged and provided to the route manager.

168. The system of claim 160 wherein the route manager is configured to receive, by way of the error receiving module, run-time error messages and software manifests from the software monitoring agent.

169. The system of claim 168 wherein the route manager is further configured for:

determining at least one software installation route associated with at least one error message;

associating the at least one error message with the at least one software installation route; and

updating a confidence factor of the at least one software installation route, the confidence factor being a function of the at least one error message.

170. A method for monitoring software run-time errors on a client device comprising:

receiving a software monitoring agent on the client device;

configuring the software agent to detect at least one type of run-time error occurring on the client device;

monitoring the client device for an occurrence of the at least one type of run-time error; and

providing at least one error message and a software manifest to a route manager, the software manifest listing a plurality of software files residing on the client device.

171. The method of claim 170 further comprising:

receiving a confirmation from the route manager that at least one software installation route associated with the at least one error message has been updated to reflect the occurrence of the run-time error on the client device.

172. The method of claim 170 wherein the operation of monitoring the client device further comprises monitoring at least one error log file residing on the client device.

173. The method of claim 172 wherein the software agent is configured to conduct at least one of the following a) simple network management protocol (“

SNMP”

) sniffing;

b) core image dumps;

c) memory image dumps;

d) java stack detections; and

e) kernel level system interrupts.

174. The method of claim 172 wherein the at least one error log is one of at least a system error log and an application specific error log.

175. The method of claim 170 wherein the operation of providing at least one error message to a route manager is performed by the software monitoring agent.

176. The method of claim 170 wherein the operation of configuring the software agent to detect at least one type of run-time error further comprises:

configuring a first software error detection module to detect run-time errors associated with a first software functionality residing on the client device.

177. The method of claim 176 wherein the operation of configuring the software agent to detect at least one type of run-time error further comprises:

configuring the first software error detection module to detect run-time errors associated with a second software functionality residing on the client device.

178. The method of claim 176 wherein the operation of configuring the software agent to detect at least one type of run-time error further comprises:

configuring a second software error detection module to detect run-time errors associated with a second software functionality residing on the client device.

179. The method of claim 170 wherein the operation of configuring the software agent to detect at least one type of run-time error occurring on the client device is performed by a system administrator.

180. A method for providing information to assess a contemplated software installation comprising:

receiving a request for assessing a contemplated installation of a first software functionality on a client device;

receiving a software manifest comprising a plurality of software files residing on the client device;

accessing an existing software installation map to determine a plurality of installation files for assessing the installation and to identify a plurality of dependencies between the plurality of installation files;

generating at least one new software installation route describing the plurality of installation files and their dependencies for assessing the installation;

comparing the at least one new software installation route against at least one existing and substantially similar software installation route residing in the software installation map to provide a new confidence factor associated with the at least one new software installation route based on an existing confidence factor of the at least one existing software installation routes.

181. The method of claim 180 further comprising:

providing the at least one new software installation route and its associated confidence factor to the client device, the confidence factor of the at least one new software installation route permitting the client device to determine the likelihood of whether the new software installation route will provide for a stable installation of the first software functionality.

182. The method of claim 180 further comprising:

generating a virtual software installation map comprising a plurality of software elements representing the plurality of files described in the software manifest, and dependencies between the plurality of files.

183. The method of claim 182 wherein the operation of generating a virtual software installation map further comprises:

analyzing the existing software installation map;

based on the analysis, generating an operating system dependency route describing substantially all software elements and their dependencies to provision an operating system as configured on the client device; and

based on the analysis, generating at least one application dependency route describing substantially all the software elements and their dependencies to provision at least one existing application on the client device.

184. The method of claim 183 further comprising simulating an installation of the first software functionality by provisioning the new software installation route on the virtual software installation map.

185. The method of claim 184 further comprising:

providing a simulated confidence factor of the virtually provisioned new software installation route by assessing a confidence factor of each dependency relationship in the new installation route, the operating system dependency route, and the at least one application dependency route.

186. The method of claim 185 wherein the simulated confidence factor represents an estimate of whether the new preferred software installation route provides for a successful installation of the first software functionality.

187. The method of claim 185 further comprising identifying any dangling references in the virtually provisioned new software installation route.

188. The method of claim 180 wherein the existing software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing at least the plurality of software files set forth in the software manifest; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing dependencies between the plurality of software elements.

189. A method for validating and repairing a software installation comprising:

installing a first software file on a client device wherein the first software file is a subset of an installation of a first software functionality, the first software file further having at least one dependency on at least one dependent software file presumed to reside on the client device;

determining whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device; and

installing the at least one dependent software file.

190. The method of claim 189 wherein if the at least one dependent software file does not reside on the client device perform the operations of:

pausing the installation of the first software functionality;

removing the first software file from the client device;

requesting the at least one dependent software file from a software installation map;

receiving the at least one dependent software file from the software installation map;

installing the first software file and the at least one dependent software file on the client device; and

resuming the installation of the first software functionality.

191. The method of claim 190 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files including a first software element representing the first software file; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing a dependency between the plurality of software files.

192. The method of claim 191 further comprising:

applying a time stamp to the first software element signifying that the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device.

193. The method of claim 191 wherein each software element includes a uniform resource location (“

URL”

) reference to a memory location of the associated software file.

194. The method of claim 193 further comprising:

by way of a uniform resource locator for the at least one dependent software file, obtaining the at least one dependent software file.

195. The method of claim 189 wherein the operation of installing a first software file on a client is performed by a software agent residing on the client device.

196. The method of claim 195 further comprising providing for configuration of the software agent by a system administrator.

197. The method of claim 189 wherein the operation of determining whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device is performed by a validation thread of a software agent residing on the client device.

198. An apparatus for validating and repairing a software installation comprising:

a software agent residing on a client device, the software agent in communication with a software installation map residing on a server device;

the software agent configured to;

install a first software file on the client device received form the software installation map, the first software file is a subset of an installation of a first software functionality, the first software file further having at least one dependency on at least one dependent software file presumed to reside on the client device;

determine whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device;

request the at least one dependent software file from the software installation map; and

install the at least one dependent software file.

199. The apparatus of claim 198 wherein, upon determination that the at least one software file does not reside on the client device, the software agent is further configured to:

pause the installation of the first software functionality;

remove the first software file from the client device;

request the at least one dependent software file from the software installation map;

receive the at least one dependent software file from the software installation map;

install the first software file and the at least one dependent software file on the client device; and

resume the installation of the first software functionality.

200. The apparatus of claim 199 wherein the software agent further comprises:

a validation thread configured to determine whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device.

201. The apparatus of claim 200 wherein the software agent is configurable to alter the determination of whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device.

202. The apparatus of claim 201 wherein the software agent is configured to determine whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device by obtaining file level access permissions of the at least one dependent software file residing on the client device.

203. The apparatus of claim 202 wherein the software agent is configured to determine whether the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device by accessing at least one high level symbol table associated with the dependent software file.

204. The apparatus of claim 198 wherein the software installation map comprises:

a plurality of software elements representing a plurality of software files including a first software element representing the first software file; and

a plurality of dependency pointers representing a dependency between the plurality of software files.

205. The apparatus of claim 198 wherein the software agent is configured to provide an indication of the presence of the at least one dependent file to the software installation map so that the software installation map may apply a time stamp to the first software element signifying that the at least one dependent software file resides on the client device.

206. A method for maintaining a software repository of software files used for installing at least a first software functionality comprising:

maintaining a first software application within a primary storage facility of the software repository, the first software application comprising a plurality of software files wherein each software file is represented by a plurality of software elements maintained in a software installation map;

updating a usage factor of a first software element associated with a first software file from the plurality of software files, the usage factor being a function of a number of times the first software file is installed during a first time period; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility as a function of the usage factor.

207. The method of claim 206 further comprising:

comparing the usage factor against a threshold value; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility if the usage factor meets the threshold value.

208. The method of claim 207 wherein each software element maintained in the software installation map has at least one associated dependency and a confidence factor associated with the dependency;

the method further comprising;

updating an aging value of the first software element as a function of the confidence factor associated with the dependency.

209. The method of claim 208 further comprising:

comparing the aging value to a second threshold; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility if the aging value meets the second threshold value.

210. The method of claim 208 further comprising:

updating the aging value of the first software element as function of the confidence factor associated with the dependency and the usage factor of the first software element; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility as a function of the aging factor.

211. The method of claim 207 wherein each software element maintained in the software installation map has at least one associated dependency and a plurality of confidence factors associated with the dependency;

the method further comprising;

updating an aging value of the first software element as a function of the confidence factors associated with the dependency.

212. The method of claim 211 further comprising:

updating an aging value of the first software element as a function of an average of the confidence factors associated with the dependency.

213. The method of claim 212 further comprising:

comparing the aging value to a second threshold; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility if the aging value meets the second threshold value.

214. The method of claim 206 further comprising:

deleting the first software file from at least one of the primary storage facility and secondary storage facility as a function of the usage factor.

215. The method of claim 208 further comprising:

deleting the first software file from at least one of the primary storage facility and the secondary storage facility as a function of the aging factor.

216. The method of claim 214 further comprising removing the software element from the installation map.

217. A method for maintaining a software repository of software files used for installing at least a first software functionality comprising:

maintaining a first software application within a primary storage facility of the software repository, the first software application comprising a plurality of software files wherein each software file is represented by a plurality of software elements maintained in a software installation map, wherein each software element maintained in the software installation map has at least one associated dependency and a confidence factor associated with the dependency;

updating an aging factor of a first software element associated with a first software file from the plurality of software files, the aging factor being a function of at least one of a number of times the first software file is installed during a first time period and the confidence factor; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility as a function of the aging factor.

218. The method of claim 217 further comprising:

comparing the aging factor against a threshold value; and

moving the first software file from the primary storage facility of the software repository to a secondary storage facility if the aging factor meets the threshold value.

219. The method of claim 217 further comprising:

deleting the first software file from the secondary storage facility when the first software element representing the first software file is not requested from the software installation map during a predetermined period of time after updating the aging factor.

220. The method of claim 217 further comprising:

deleting the first software element from the software installation map as a function of the aging factor.

221. The method of claim 220 further comprising:

maintaining a log of deleted software files.

222. The method of claim 218 wherein the primary storage facility is a relational database.

223. The method of claim 217 wherein the secondary storage facility is a tape drive system.

224. A system for maintaining a software warehouse of software files used for installing at least a first software functionality used for installing at least a first software functionality comprising:

a first storage facility for hosting a plurality of software files wherein each of the plurality of software files are represented by a software element maintained on a software installation map, wherein each software element maintained in the software installation map has at least one associated dependency and a confidence factor associated with the dependency;

an aging module configured to monitor the plurality of software files and age a software file as function of at least one of a number of times the first software file is installed during a first time period and the confidence factor; and

a second storage facility in communication with the first storage facility, the second storage facility for receiving from the first storage facility and hosting a plurality of software files when the age of the software file meets a threshold.

225. The system of claim 224 wherein the first storage facility includes a high speed relational database and the second storage facility includes a tape drive system.

226. A method for generating a software installation map comprising:

receiving a first software package comprising at least a first software file and a second software file, the first software file being dependent on the second software file;

generating a first software element representing the first software file;

generating a second software element representing the second software file; and

generating a first dependency pointer representing the dependency between the first software file and the second software file.

227. The method of claim 226 further comprising:

extracting the first and the second software files from the first software package.

228. The method of claim 227 wherein the operation of extracting the first and second software files comprises:

uncompressing at least the first and second file of the first software package;

accessing a software installation manifest from the first software package; and

verifying that at least the first and second software files represented in the software installation manifest have been uncompressed.

229. The method of claim 228 wherein the operation of uncompressing at least the first and second files from the first software package further comprises executing a compression utility capable of uncompressing the files from the first software package.

230. The method of claim 228 wherein the software installation manifest includes a list of the first software file, the second software file, and other software files of the first software package.

231. The method of claim 226 further comprising:

creating a first location pointer associated with first software element, wherein the first location pointer identifies a physical location of the first software file.

232. The method of claim 231 wherein the physical location of the first software file is a portion of memory in a relational database.

233. The method of claim 226 wherein the dependency between the first software file and the second software file is previously declared in the first software package.

234. The method of claim 233 further comprising:

generating a first confidence factor representing a validity of the dependency of the first software file on the second software file.

235. The method of claim 234 wherein the first confidence factor is a function of the defined dependency from the first software package and a historical record of installations involving the dependency of the first software file on the second software file.

236. The method of claim 226 further comprising:

defining a first installation route within the software installation map, wherein the first installation route includes at least the first and second software elements and identifies the software elements to install a first functional aspect of the first software package on a computing system.

237. The method of claim 236 wherein the operation of defining at least one installation route is a function of one or more installation criteria.

238. The method of claim 237 wherein the installation criteria represent at least one requirement for installing a software application.

239. The method of claim 236 further comprising:

defining a second installation route within the software installation map, wherein the second installation route includes at least the first and second software elements and identifies the software elements to install a second functional aspect of the first software package on a computing system; and

selecting a preferred installation route from at least the first and second installation route achieving at least one of the first and second functional aspects of the first software package.

240. The method of claim 239 wherein each of the plurality of installation routes is based on differing installation criteria.

241. The method of claim 226 wherein the first software file comprises one of the following types of software files:

a) an executable file;

b) a shared library file;

c) a configuration file; and

d) a script file.

242. The method of claim 226 wherein the first dependency pointer is associated with at least one of the first software element and the second software element.