Deployment of a driver or an application on a client device having a write-filter

• US 8,612,516 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2011
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Marketing Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wyse Technology Incorporated (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Mallur, Muralidhara, Bandakka, Jyothi, Tukol, Sanmati
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN GILLES, JUDE
• Application Number:
  US13/305,582
• Publication Number:
  US 20130138718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 750 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/223, 709/220, 709/221, 709/227, 709/235, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting

Abstract

The deployment of a driver or an application on a client device having a write-filter is described. A deployment configuration file is obtained, wherein the deployment configuration file includes a plurality of deployment entries each having information for deployment of one of a driver and an application. A first deployment entry is retrieved from the deployment configuration file, and the deployment configuration file is modified to remove the first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file. The modified deployment configuration file is stored in a location of a memory of the client device that is exempt from a write-filter restriction, wherein the write-filter restriction prohibits a file stored on the client device with the write-filter enabled from persisting across a reboot of the client device. The one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry is then deployed on the client device while the write-filter is disabled.

Claims

1. A method for deploying a driver or an application on a client device having a write-filter, the method comprising:

facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file, wherein the deployment configuration file includes a plurality of deployment entries each having information for deployment of one of a driver and an application;

retrieving a first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

modifying the deployment configuration file to remove the first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file in a location of a memory of the client device that is exempt from a write-filter restriction, wherein the write-filter restriction prohibits a file stored on the client device with the write-filter enabled from persisting across a reboot of the client device; and

facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to facilitating storing the modified deployment configuration file, the method comprises:

facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in the location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction;

facilitating disabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

following the disabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein following the reboot of the client device, the method comprises:

facilitating determining whether a modified deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device;

upon determining that no modified deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating determining whether a deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device; and

upon determining that the deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating retrieving the deployment configuration file from the memory of the client device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, the method comprises:

facilitating enabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

following the enabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application, the method comprises:

facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, such that the stored deployment configuration file includes all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first deployment entry;

following the storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file, facilitating storing as the modified deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device a configuration file including all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first and a second deployment entries; and

facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the second deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry comprises:

determining one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether a hardware platform associated with the client device is included among the one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

determining an amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether an amount of storage space available in the memory of the client device is larger than the amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

determining a version of the one of the driver and the application identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether a version of the one of the driver and the application is installed on the client device;

if the first deployment entry has information for deployment of a driver, uninstalling the version of the driver installed on the client device if a version installed on the client device is lower than the version identified in the first deployment entry;

retrieving a list of argument values included in the first deployment entry; and

facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry on the client device using the list of argument values retrieved from the first deployment entry.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry is an application, the method further comprising:

facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

retrieving an identifier for a type of installation package used for the deployment of the application from the first deployment entry,

wherein the facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application comprises facilitating deploying the application on the client device using the list of argument values and the identifier for the type of installation package retrieved from the first deployment entry.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file comprises:

facilitating determination of whether a deployment configuration file exists in a configuration repository server;

retrieving the deployment configuration file from the configuration repository server, upon determining that the deployment configuration file exists in the configuration repository server; and

storing the retrieved deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

upon storing the received deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, facilitating copying the received deployment configuration file to an archive file in the memory of the client device;

following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, renaming the archive file to a last successful deployment file in the memory of the client device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in a location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction if the deployment configuration file is determined to correspond to a new deployment.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the deployment configuration file is an extensible markup language (XML) configuration file.

12. A machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by one or more processors to perform one or more operations for deploying a driver or an application on a client device having a write-filter, the one or more operations comprising:

facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file, wherein the deployment configuration file includes a plurality of deployment entries each having information for deployment of one of a driver and an application;

retrieving a first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

modifying the deployment configuration file to remove the first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file in a location of a memory of the client device that is exempt from a write-filter restriction, wherein the write-filter restriction prohibits a file stored on the client device with the write-filter enabled from persisting across a reboot of the client device; and

facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein prior to facilitating storing the modified deployment configuration file, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in the location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction;

facilitating disabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

following the disabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein following the reboot of the client device, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating determining whether a modified deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device;

upon determining that no modified deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating determining whether a deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device; and

upon determining that the deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating retrieving the deployment configuration file from the memory of the client device.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating enabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

following the enabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, such that the stored deployment configuration file includes all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first deployment entry;

following the storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file, facilitating storing as the modified deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device a configuration file including all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first and a second deployment entries; and

facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the second deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the operation of facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry comprises:

determining one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether a hardware platform associated with the client device is included among the one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

determining an amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether an amount of storage space available in the memory of the client device is larger than the amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

determining a version of the one of the driver and the application identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether a version of the one of the driver and the application is installed on the client device;

if the first deployment entry has information for deployment of a driver, uninstalling the version of the driver installed on the client device if a version installed on the client device is lower than the version identified in the first deployment entry;

retrieving a list of argument values included in the first deployment entry; and

facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry on the client device using the list of argument values retrieved from the first deployment entry.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry is an application, and wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

retrieving an identifier for a type of installation package used for the deployment of the application from the first deployment entry,

wherein the operation of facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application comprises facilitating deploying the application on the client device using the list of argument values and the identifier for the type of installation package retrieved from the first deployment entry.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the operation of facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file comprises:

facilitating determination of whether a deployment configuration file exists in a configuration repository server;

retrieving the deployment configuration file from the configuration repository server, upon determining that the deployment configuration file exists in the configuration repository server; and

storing the retrieved deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

upon storing the received deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, facilitating copying the received deployment configuration file to an archive file in the memory of the client device; and

following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, renaming the archive file to a last successful deployment file in the memory of the client device.

21. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in a location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction if the deployment configuration file is determined to correspond to a new deployment.

22. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the deployment configuration file is an extensible markup language (XML) configuration file.

23. A hardware apparatus for deploying a driver or an application on a client device having a write-filter, the hardware apparatus comprising:

one or more modules configured to perform one or more operations comprising;

facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file, wherein the deployment configuration file includes a plurality of deployment entries each having information for deployment of one of a driver and an application;

retrieving a first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

modifying the deployment configuration file to remove the first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file in a location of a memory of the client device that is exempt from a write-filter restriction, wherein the write-filter restriction prohibits a file stored on the client device with the write-filter enabled from persisting across a reboot of the client device; and

facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

24. The hardware apparatus of claim 23, wherein prior to facilitating storing the modified deployment configuration file, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in the location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction;

facilitating disabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

following the disabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

25. The hardware apparatus of claim 24, wherein following the reboot of the client device the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating determining whether a modified deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device;

upon determining that no modified deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating determining whether a deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device; and

upon determining that the deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating retrieving the deployment configuration file from the memory of the client device.

26. The hardware apparatus of claim 24, wherein following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating enabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

following the enabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

27. The hardware apparatus of claim 23, wherein following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application, the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, such that the stored deployment configuration file includes all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first deployment entry;

following the storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file, facilitating storing as the modified deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device a configuration file including all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first and a second deployment entries; and

facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the second deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

28. The hardware apparatus of claim 23, wherein the operation of facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry comprises:

determining one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether a hardware platform associated with the client device is included among the one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

determining an amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether an amount of storage space available in the memory of the client device is larger than the amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

determining a version of the one of the driver and the application identified in the first deployment entry;

determining whether a version of the one of the driver and the application is installed on the client device;

if the first deployment entry has information for deployment of a driver, uninstalling the version of the driver installed on the client device if a version installed on the client device is lower than the version identified in the first deployment entry;

retrieving a list of argument values included in the first deployment entry; and

facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry on the client device using the list of argument values retrieved from the first deployment entry.

29. The hardware apparatus of claim 28, wherein the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry is an application, and wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

retrieving an identifier for a type of installation package used for the deployment of the application from the first deployment entry,

wherein the facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application comprises facilitating deploying the application on the client device using the list of argument values and the identifier for the type of installation package retrieved from the first deployment entry.

30. The hardware apparatus of claim 23, wherein the operation of facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file comprises:

facilitating determination of whether a deployment configuration file exists in a configuration repository server;

retrieving the deployment configuration file from the configuration repository server, upon determining that the deployment configuration file exists in the configuration repository server; and

storing the retrieved deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device.

31. The hardware apparatus of claim 30, wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

upon storing the received deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, facilitating copying the received deployment configuration file to an archive file in the memory of the client device; and

following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, renaming the archive file to a last successful deployment file in the memory of the client device.

32. The hardware apparatus of claim 23, wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in a location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction if the deployment configuration file is determined to correspond to a new deployment.

33. The hardware apparatus of claim 23, wherein the deployment configuration file is an extensible markup language (XML) configuration file.

34. An apparatus for deploying a driver or an application on a client device having a write-filter, the apparatus comprising:

means for facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file, wherein the deployment configuration file includes a plurality of deployment entries each having information for deployment of one of a driver and an application;

means for retrieving a first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

means for modifying the deployment configuration file to remove the first deployment entry from the deployment configuration file;

means for facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file in a location of a memory of the client device that is exempt from a write-filter restriction, wherein the write-filter restriction prohibits a file stored on the client device with the write-filter enabled from persisting across a reboot of the client device; and

means for facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising:

means for, prior to facilitating storing the modified deployment configuration file, facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in the location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction;

means for facilitating disabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

means for, following the disabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for, following the reboot of the client device, facilitating determining whether a modified deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device;

means for, upon determining that no modified deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating determining whether a deployment configuration file is stored in the memory of the client device; and

means for, upon determining that the deployment configuration file is stored in a memory of the client device, facilitating retrieving the deployment configuration file from the memory of the client device.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for, following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, facilitating enabling of the write-filter on the client device; and

means for, following the enabling of the write-filter, facilitating a reboot of the client device.

38. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising:

means for, following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application, facilitating storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, such that the stored deployment configuration file includes all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first deployment entry;

means for following the storing of the modified deployment configuration file as the deployment configuration file, facilitating storing as the modified deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device a configuration file including all deployment entries of the plurality of deployment entries except for the first and a second deployment entries; and

means for facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the second deployment entry while the write-filter is disabled.

39. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the means for facilitating deploying on the client device the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry comprise:

means for determining one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

means for determining whether a hardware platform associated with the client device is included among the one or more supported platforms identified in the first deployment entry;

means for determining an amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

means for determining whether an amount of storage space available in the memory of the client device is larger than the amount of storage space identified in the first deployment entry;

means for determining a version of the one of the driver and the application identified in the first deployment entry;

means for determining whether a version of the one of the driver and the application is installed on the client device;

means for, if the first deployment entry has information for deployment of a driver, uninstalling the version of the driver installed on the client device if a version installed on the client device is lower than the version identified in the first deployment entry;

means for retrieving a list of argument values included in the first deployment entry; and

means for facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry on the client device using the list of argument values retrieved from the first deployment entry.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry is an application, the apparatus further comprising:

means for facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

means for retrieving an identifier for a type of installation package used for the deployment of the application from the first deployment entry,

wherein the means for facilitating deploying the one of the driver and the application comprise means for facilitating deploying the application on the client device using the list of argument values and the identifier for the type of installation package retrieved from the first deployment entry.

41. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for facilitating obtaining a deployment configuration file comprise:

means for facilitating determination of whether a deployment configuration file exists in a configuration repository server;

means for retrieving the deployment configuration file from the configuration repository server, upon determining that the deployment configuration file exists in the configuration repository server; and

means for storing the retrieved deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising:

means for, upon storing the received deployment configuration file in the memory of the client device, facilitating copying the received deployment configuration file to an archive file in the memory of the client device; and

means for, following the deploying on the client device of the one of the driver and the application of the first deployment entry, renaming the archive file to a last successful deployment file in the memory of the client device.

43. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising:

means for facilitating determination of whether the deployment configuration file corresponds to a new deployment; and

means for facilitating storing of the deployment configuration file in a location of the memory of the client device that is exempt from the write-filter restriction if the deployment configuration file is determined to correspond to a new deployment.

44. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the deployment configuration file is an extensible markup language (XML) configuration file.