Method, system, and computer readable medium for provisioning and remote distribution

• US 8,997,092 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2011
• Issued: 03/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Gentile, Mark, Sullivan, Jim, Hanson, Mark, Wade, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Li B
• Assistant Examiner(s): WHEATON, BRADFORD F
• Application Number:
  US13/020,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20110214121A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 717/177
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0266 using meta-data, objects or commands for formatting management information, e.g. using eXtensible markup language [XML]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

The present disclosure enables remote device management. A programmatic interface is associated with each application plug-in. A web server included with the on-device agent provides access to the programmatic interfaces according to open standards such as HTML or XML. The present disclosure enables access to remote devices through existing infrastructure without the need for proprietary systems. An IT administrator or other administrator may remotely access and update software and hardware, track device data plan usage statistics, provide live support, and track current and historical device locations. An IT administrator or other user may update device settings, detect corrupt software, provide unattended installation of software, update applications while in use, and update applications sharing common files. IT administrators may employ the teachings of the present disclosure to provide customizable solutions for their own organization with features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A mobile phone device, said mobile phone device comprising:

a processor;

a memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

a remote device provisioning system, at least a portion of the remote device provisioning system being stored in the memory of the mobile phone device, the portion of the remote device provisioning system stored in the memory of the mobile phone device comprising;

a tunnel client operable to connect, via the processor, to a tunnel server, said tunnel client and said tunnel server comprising a communications link between said mobile phone device and a provisioning computer;

a service host comprising a web server interface capable of communicating, via the processor, over said communications link, wherein the web server provides a central management system access to plug-ins on the mobile phone device, and wherein the web server makes the plug-ins available as web services description language (WSDL) documents for a first computing device of the central management system and also as HTML web pages for a second computing device of the central management system,

said service host operable to download software package information from said provisioning computer,

said service host operable to compare currently installed software to said software package information,

said mobile phone device operable to execute a plurality of installation actions corresponding to said software package; and

said service host operable to verify a plurality of installation metrics.

2. The remote device provisioning system of claim 1, wherein said system is further capable of provisioning a plurality of mobile phone devices with a plurality of software packages.

3. The remote device provisioning system of claim 2, wherein said system is further capable of provisioning said plurality of mobile phone devices with distinct software packages based on collection-level assignment.

4. The remote device provisioning system of claim 3, wherein said system is further capable of provisioning said plurality of mobile phone devices with distinct software packages based on device-level assignment.

5. The remote device provisioning system of claim 1, said system further being operable to update said software package without intervention by a mobile phone device user.

6. The remote device provisioning system of claim 1, said system further being operable to accept input from a mobile phone device user and provision said software package based on said input.

7. A method of provisioning a mobile phone device with a software package, said method comprising the steps of:

accepting as input basic information about said software package;

storing an installation file for said software package on a repository server;

storing a plurality of installation actions on said repository server, said installation actions defining steps for installing said software package;

storing a plurality of installation metrics on said repository server, said installation metrics defining measurements used to detect whether said software package is correctly installed;

establishing a tunnel connection from a tunnel client encoded on said mobile phone device to a tunnel server, said mobile phone device comprising the tunnel client and a service host comprising a web server interface capable of communicating over the tunnel connection, wherein the web server provides a central management system access to plug-ins on the mobile phone device, and wherein the web server makes the plug-ins available as web services description language (WSDL) documents for a first computing device of the central management system and also as HTML web pages for a second computing device of the central management system;

transferring said installation file, said installation actions, and said installation metrics to said mobile phone device via said tunnel connection;

executing said installation actions on said mobile phone device; and

verifying said installation metrics on said mobile phone device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of storing a plurality of removal actions on said provisioning server, said removal actions defining steps for uninstalling said software package.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of transmitting an installation log from said mobile phone device via said tunnel connection, said installation log comprising status information for said installed software package.