Class archive software packages

• US 6,401,241 B1
• Filed: 10/06/1995
• Issued: 06/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Taylor, Julian Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Courtenay, III, St. John
• Assistant Examiner(s): BULLOCK JR, LEWIS ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US08/539,995
• Time in Patent Office: 2,433 Days
• Field of Search: 395/680, 395/681, 395/682, 395/683, 769/300, 769/301, 769/302, 705/27, 717/11, 717/174, 717/175, 717/176, 717/177, 717/178
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

SYSTEM V utilities enable software developers to provide delivery of complex packages onto a UNIX operating system. An enhancement to the UNIX System V ABI format called class archive format enables sets of files to be combined into archives, these files being compressed or encrypted. The compressed/encrypted ABI package install with behavior defined in System V ABI. The class archive format allows a manufacturer to combine files from the ABI format reloc directory and root directory, into an archive directory. Class action format adds a directory called archive to the ABI format. Any class of files that are intended for archive is combined into a single file, and each file is then placed into the archive directory as class1, class2, etc. All files that are archived in this manner are removed from the standard ABI reloc directory and root directory, and an install class action script is placed into the scripts portion of the standard ABI install directory. Three interfaces are provided in the form of three keywords. These three keywords are (1) PKG_SRC_NOVERIFY, (2) PKG_DST_QKVERIFY, and (3) PKG_CAS_PASSRELATIVE. These keywords are used to designate classes of the archive directory that require special treatment. The format of each keyword statement is “keyword=class1 [class2 class 3 etc.]”. Each class action script contains Bourne shell commands that are executed by pkgadd to install the files from the archive directory.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating the installation of software onto a computer system having an operating system that performs a validation check on said software and aborts installation of said software when said validation check fails, the method comprising:

providing said software in the form of one or more special-feature classes that would cause said validation check to fail were said validation check to occur; and

providing one or more scripts that relate to said special-feature classes and whose execution enables the installation of said special-feature classes onto said computer system in a manner that skips said validation check of said special-feature classes.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing a validation check on said special-feature classes after installation thereof onto said computer system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of providing said software in the form of one or more special-feature classes includes at least one of encrypting and compressing said software.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising performing a validation check on said special-feature classes after installation thereof onto said computer system.

5. A method of providing an extension to the UNIX System V ABI format, the method comprising:

providing software for installation on a UNIX computer system;

archiving said software so as to generate one or more special-feature classes that would fail a validation check by said UNIX computer system during installation if such validation check were to occur;

providing one or more scripts whose execution enables installation of said special-feature classes onto said UNIX computer system in a manner that skips said validation check of said special-feature classes; and

organizing files in said special-feature classes into a list that enables said files to be installed onto said UNIX computer system by operation of said scripts.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising identifying the presence of said special-feature classes by the use of a keyword PKG_SRC_NOVERIFY.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising providing for the extraction of said special-feature classes by the use of a keyword PKG_CAS_PASSRELATIVE.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing for a verification check of special-feature classes after installation by use of a keyword PKG_DST_QKVERIFY.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said act of archiving said software includes at least one of encrypting and compressing said software.

10. A method of providing an extension to the UNIX System V ABI format, the method comprising:

providing an archive directory containing a software class having data that has been compressed and/or encrypted;

providing an install directory containing for said software class a corresponding install-class-action script that provides for the installation of said software class from said archive directory in a manner that skips a validation check of said software class during installation;

executing said install-class-action script;

providing a first keyword identifying the presence of said software class within said archive directory;

sensing the presence of said software class via said first keyword, and in response thereto organizing files of said software class into a first list comprised of an archive locator and a list of destinations, said first list enabling said software class to be installed from said archive directory by operation of said install-class-action script; and

performing a validation check of said software class after installation.

11. A system extension to a computer operating system, the system extension comprising:

a software package archive directory capable of containing one or more special-feature classes each containing one or more files, said special-feature classes having characteristics which would cause a validation check performed thereon to fail;

an install directory containing one or more install-class-action scripts that relate to said special-feature classes and whose execution by said operating system enables installation of said special-feature classes from said archive directory in a manner that skips a validation check of said special-feature classes; and

a mechanism configured to organize the files in said special-feature classes into a list that enables said files to be installed from said archive directory by operation of said related install-class-action scripts.

12. The system extension of claim 11 further comprising a mechanism configured to perform a validation check on said special-feature classes after said installation.

13. A method of preparing software for installation on a computer system having an operating system capable of performing a validation check on the software prior to installation, the method comprising:

archiving the software into a special-feature class that would fail a validation check by the operating system were one to be performed thereon; and

providing a script for installing the software by skipping a pre-installation validation check of the special-feature class and extracting the software from the special-feature class onto the computer system.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the act of archiving the software into a special-feature class includes at least one of encrypting and compressing the software into a special-feature class.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the act of archiving the software into a special-feature class that would fail a validation check by the operating system includes archiving the software into a special-feature class that would fail a checksum test by the operating system.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the software includes a plurality of files, wherein the act of archiving the software into a special-feature class includes archiving the plurality of files into a single file, and wherein the act of providing a script includes providing a script for extracting the plurality of files from the single file onto the computer system.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the act of providing a script further includes providing a script for performing a validation check on the software after extracting the software onto the computer system.

18. A method for installing software onto a computer system having an operating system capable of performing a validation check on the software prior to installation, the method comprising:

providing the software in the form of a special-feature class that would fail a validation check by the operating system were one to be performed thereon;

skipping a pre-installation validation check of the special-feature class; and

extracting the software from the special-feature class onto the computer system.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising generating the special-feature class by at least one of encrypting and compressing the software into the special-feature class.

20. A computer-readable medium having computer code embodied therein comprising:

a special-feature class archived from software that is to be installed on a computer system having an operating system capable of performing a validation check on the software prior to installation, the special-feature class being of the type that would fail a validation check by the operating system were one to be performed thereon; and

a script for installing the software by skipping a pre-installation validation check of the special-feature class and extracting the software from the special-feature class onto the computer system.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the special-feature class includes at least one of encrypted and compressed data.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the computer-readable medium comprises a computer-readable storage medium.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the computer-readable medium comprises a data signal.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the script includes Bourne shell commands.