Software installation checker

• US 7,913,249 B1
• Filed: 03/07/2006
• Issued: 03/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Reid, Andrew James, MacIntyre, Ewan Edwin
• Primary Examiner(s): Sough; Hyung S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yun; Carina
• Application Number:
  US11/368,806
• Time in Patent Office: 1,841 Days
• Field of Search: 717174-178, 709220-222, 709/223, 709/224, 709/226, 714/37, 714/38, 713 1- 2, 713/100
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/28 by checking the correct order of processing G06F11/08 - G06F11/26 take precedence; monitoring patterns of pulse trains H03K5/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

A software installation checker is disclosed. A small stub application is put inside a desktop package, and is run at certain points during a software installation. The stub contacts a server and fetches a library which comprises a class with a method. The stub runs the method on the class, passing to the class the information as well as the server. The class unpacks an engine and passes control to the engine. The engine runs a check with tasks received from a collector of the server. Data is uploaded to the server, and can be examined via a web interface.

Claims

1. A process for checking and monitoring, by a network server, whether a software application is properly installed in a networked computer, comprising:

(a) pre-installing, in the networked computer, a stub as a part of an infrastructure which is used to support software applications, said stub being an executable application;

(b) activating the stub, by a system administrator of the server, on the networked computer on which an installation of a software application will be checked;

(c) making a request for checking the installation of the software application, by the stub, to a known uniform resource location (URL) with parameters which define the check on the designated software application;

(d) fetching a library from the URL by the stub, said library comprising a class with a method, and said class being an executable application;

(e) running the method, by the stub, and passing arguments to the class, wherein the arguments comprise an identification, a version, and an operation of the designated software application and of the server from which the library was fetched;

(f) unpacking an engine in the library, by the class, into a temporary folder created in an user'"'"'s local profile, and passing control to the engine, said engine being an executable application to perform the check on the designated software application;

(g) calling a collector of the server, by the engine, to receive instructions from the collector about what tasks will be run by the engine;

(h) running the instructed tasks, collecting data arising from the check, sending the data to the collector, and storing the data in a database of the server, by the checker; and

(i) presenting the checking results using predefined rules, via a user interface, by the system administrator, for finding and fixing installation errors.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein said parameters comprise the identification, the version, and the operation, of the software application which will be tested.

3. A process for checking and monitoring, by a network server, whether a software application is properly installed in a networked computer, comprising:

(a) including a stub in the installer of an individual software application which is installed in the networked computer, said stub being an executable application;

(b) activating the stub by a user of the computer on which the installed software will be checked;

(c) making a request for checking the installation of the software application, by the stub, to a know uniform resource location (URL) with parameters which define the check on the designated software application;

(d) fetching a library from the URL by the stub, said library comprising a class with a method, and said class being an executable application;

(e) running the method, by the stub, and passing arguments to the class, wherein the arguments comprise an identification, a version, and an operation of the designated software application and of the server from which the library was fetched;

(f) unpacking an engine in the library, by the class, into a temporary folder created in the user'"'"'s local profile, and passing control to the engine, said engine being an executable application to perform the check on the designated software application;

(g) calling a collector of the server, by the engine, to receive instructions from the collector about what tasks will be run by the engine;

(h) running the instructed tasks, collecting data arising from the check, sending the data to the collector, and storing the data in a database of the server, by the checker; and

(i) presenting the checking results using predefined rules, via a user interface, by a system administrator, for finding and fixing installation errors.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein said parameters comprise the identification, the version, and the operation of the software application which will be tested.

5. A software installation checker for checking and monitoring, by a software server, whether a software application is properly installed in a networked computer, comprising:

(a) an executable stub, in the form of an application tangibly disposed on the networked computer, pre-installed as a part of an infrastructure package which is used to support software applications in the networked computer or included in the installer of an individual software application which is installed in the networked computer, activated by a system administrator of the server, and making a request to a known uniform resource location (URL) with parameters which define the check on the designated software application;

(b) an executable class, existing in a library which is fetched by said stub from the URL, receiving arguments via running a method existing in the library;

(c) an executable engine which is included in the library, unpacked by the class into a temporary folder created in the user'"'"'s local profile, receiving control from the class, and running the check on the designated software application;

(d) a collector, being a component of the server, and instructing the engine about what tasks will be run by the executable engine;

(e) a database, storing the data collected from the check; and

(f) an user interface, presenting the checking results using predefined rules by the system administrator for finding and fixing installation errors.

6. The software installation checker of claim 5, wherein said parameters comprise an identification, a version, and an operation of the software application which will be checked.

7. The software installation checker of claim 5, wherein said arguments comprise the identification, the version, and the operation of the software application which will be tested, and of the server from which the library was fetched.