PARTIAL INSTALLATION BASED ON AVAILABLE PRIVILEGES

• US 20100077475A1
• Filed: 09/22/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Deschenes, Rusty, Duplessis, Jean-Pierre
• Application Number:
  US12/234,807
• Publication Number:
  US 20100077475A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/21
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/62 Uninstallation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files

Abstract

Component identifications in a package identify components to be installed and/or components to be uninstalled. Each component has one or more install-uninstall-privilege requirements, namely, credentials that must be available to an installer-uninstaller in order to install-uninstall that component. Individual components and component sets are installed and/or uninstalled based on the privilege requirement(s) and the privilege(s) available to a current user of a target system. If required privilege(s) are not available, notice is given and additional privileges are requested. A user may receive partial functionality from a partially completed installation, and additional components may be installed later as more privileges become available.

Claims

1. A process for transforming a first machine into a second machine by modifying functionality of the first machine to form the second machine, each machine having a respective processor and a respective memory configured by respective component data, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining a plurality of component identifications identifying respective components, each component having at least one respective install-uninstall-privilege requirement;

(b) for a given component, automatically identifying at least one privilege that is required to install-uninstall the component;

(c) automatically confirming that the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall the component is available to the current user on the first machine; and

(d) installing-uninstalling the component on the first machine, thereby transforming the first machine into the second machine by modifying functionality of the first machine to form the second machine.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the process automatically identifies at least two different privileges respectively required to install-uninstall two different components.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the process automatically installs-uninstalls less than all of the identified components, and a functionality of the second machine which was unavailable prior to the installs-uninstalls and is available without further installs-uninstalls is exercised on behalf of a user.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the process automatically installs-uninstalls all of the identified components.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein privileges required to install-uninstall identified components are organized in privilege levels.

6. A computer system comprising:

a memory which contains component data generated by the following method;

(a) obtaining a plurality of component identifications identifying respective components, each component having at least one respective install-uninstall-privilege requirement, at least two of the components having different respective install-uninstall-privilege requirements;

(b) for a given component, automatically identifying at least one privilege that is required to install-uninstall the component;

(c) ascertaining whether the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall the component is available to the current user on the computer system; and

(d) installing-uninstalling the component in the computer system memory if the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall the component is available to the current user on the computer system; and

a processor in operable communication with the memory to facilitate the method.

7. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the method obtains a component identification identifying at least one of the following:

an executable code component, an interpreted code component, a natural language text component, a source code component, a markup language component, a database record component, an application program component, an operating system component, a file component.

8. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the method further includes requesting that the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall a component be made available to a user on the computer system.

9. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the method automatically installs-uninstalls less than all of the identified components, and a functionality on the computer system which was unavailable prior to the installs-uninstalls and is available without further installs-uninstalls is exercised on behalf of a user.

10. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the method installs-uninstalls all of the identified components.

11. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the method automatically installs-uninstalls less than all of the identified components;

then notifies a user that complete install-uninstall was not achieved due to a lack of necessary privilege(s); and

later automatically discovers that a necessary privilege has become available.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein after automatically discovering that a necessary privilege has become available, the method automatically exercises that privilege to install-uninstall a component.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein after automatically discovering that a necessary privilege has become available, the method automatically requests permission from a user to exercise that privilege to install-uninstall a component.

14. A storage medium configured with computer code for a method of partially installing a set of components based on privileges that are available to a user on a computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining a plurality of component identifications identifying respective components, each component having at least one respective install-uninstall-privilege requirement, at least two of the components having different respective install-uninstall-privilege requirements;

(b) for a given component, automatically identifying at least one privilege that is required to install-uninstall the component;

(c) automatically ascertaining whether the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall the component is available to the current user on the computer system;

(d) automatically installing-uninstalling the component in the computer system memory if the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall the component is available to the current user on the computer system; and

(e) repeating at least steps (b) through (d) until multiple components identified during step (a) have been installed-uninstalled on the computer system.

15. The configured medium of claim 14, wherein the ascertaining step ascertains that the at least one privilege required to install-uninstall the component is not available to the current user on the computer system, and the method further comprises:

sending a list of components that can be installed-uninstalled at this time based on install-uninstall privilege requirements and privileges currently available to the user on the computer system; and

receiving an indication of which components should be installed-uninstalled at this time.

16. The configured medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises automatically notifying an administrator if a privilege required to install-uninstall a component is not available to the current user on the computer system.

17. The configured medium of claim 14, wherein the ascertaining step ascertains that a privilege required to install-uninstall a component is not available to the current user on the computer system, and the method further comprises attempting to have the privilege made available.

18. The configured medium of claim 14, wherein the method automatically installs-uninstalls less than all of the identified components, and a functionality of the computer system which was unavailable prior to the installs-uninstalls and is available without further installs-uninstalls is exercised on behalf of a user.

19. The configured medium of claim 14, wherein the method obtains a component identification identifying at least one of the following:

an executable code component, an interpreted code component, a source code component, a markup language component, a database record component.

20. The configured medium of claim 14, wherein the method automatically installs-uninstalls less than all of the identified components;

then notifies a user that complete install-uninstall was not achieved due to a lack of necessary privilege(s); and

later automatically discovers that a necessary privilege has become available and then installs-uninstalls another of the identified components.