METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR DISTRIBUTING SOFTWARE BASED ON AN E-MAIL SERVICE
First Claim
1. A method for distributing software products in a data processing system including a plurality of target entities reachable through at least one electronic mail server, said method comprising:
- providing a software package adapted to enforce a set of predefined target states of a software product;
delivering a service electronic mail message through said at least one mail server to a set of target entities, said service message including said software package and an indication of a selected target state of said corresponding software product;
an agent extracting said software package and said indication of said selected target state from said service message on each target entity; and
applying said software package on each target entity to enforce said selected target state of said software product on said target entity.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A solution for distributing software products is proposed. Typically, a software distribution infrastructure controls the deployment of software packages to selected endpoints; each software package includes commands and resource images, which are used to install a corresponding software product. For this purpose, an e-mail service is exploited. Particularly, a new e-mail message is created for each software package to be deployed; the software package is embedded into the e-mail message as an attachment and tags for controlling the software distribution process (such as a desired target state of the software package) are inserted into its body section. A plug-in of a mail client on each endpoint receives that e-mail message; the software package is then extracted and passed to an application engine, which controls its application according to the target state indicated by the corresponding control tag.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for distributing software products in a data processing system including a plurality of target entities reachable through at least one electronic mail server, said method comprising:
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providing a software package adapted to enforce a set of predefined target states of a software product; delivering a service electronic mail message through said at least one mail server to a set of target entities, said service message including said software package and an indication of a selected target state of said corresponding software product; an agent extracting said software package and said indication of said selected target state from said service message on each target entity; and applying said software package on each target entity to enforce said selected target state of said software product on said target entity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. The method of claim 9 wherein said feedback information includes configuration information of said target entity.
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10. A system for distributing software products in a data-processing environment including a plurality of target entities reachable through at least one electronic mail server, said system comprising:
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a processor; a data bus coupled to said processor; and a computer-usable medium embodying computer code, said computer-usable medium being coupled to said data bus, said computer program code comprising instructions executable by said processor and configured for; providing a software package adapted to enforce a set of predefined target states of a software product; delivering a service electronic mail message through said at least one mail server to a set of target entities, said service message including said software package and an indication of a selected target state of said corresponding software product; an agent extracting said software package and said indication of said selected target state from said service message on each target entity; and applying said software package on each target entity to enforce said selected target state of said software product on said target entity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-usable medium embodying computer program code for distributing software products in a data processing system including a plurality of target entities reachable through at least one electronic mail server, said computer program code comprising computer executable instructions configured for:
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providing a software package adapted to enforce a set of predefined target states of a software product; delivering a service electronic mail message through said at least one mail server to a set of target entities, said service message including said software package and an indication of a selected target state of said corresponding software product; an agent extracting said software package and said indication of said selected target state from said service message on each target entity; and applying said software package on each target entity to enforce said selected target state of said software product on said target entity. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification