Multi-platform network-based software distribution

• US 9,268,548 B1
• Filed: 08/06/2013
• Issued: 02/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Bos, Aaron D., McQuarrie, Michael S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao, Thuy
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Ben C
• Application Number:
  US13/960,399
• Time in Patent Office: 931 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/656 while running
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for automatically installing software applications on multiple target computers having different computing platforms from a central location. The methods and systems provide an infrastructure comprising a centralized repository and server and a plurality of remote target computers. The centralized repository stores platform-specific installation files for each software application and computing platform of interest, and one or more non-platform-specific deploy jobs for installing the software applications. The non-platform-specific deploy jobs allows a user to automatically install one or more software applications on any target computer regardless of computing platform, and to reuse any installation logic that may have been custom-developed for the software applications. A common command syntax is created that may be used to define and execute the deploy jobs across the multiple computing platforms.

Claims

1. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon executable by a processor to:

determine an operating system type for each of a plurality of remote target computing devices;

access a deploy depository containing a plurality of deploy tasks comprising at least one of an installation package, a deploy job, and a deploy program;

provide a scheduler module to allow a user to choose a time and date for executing the deploy tasks;

search the deploy repository for execution objects to execute using a descending level of version specificity associated with the execution objects;

execute one or more of the plurality of deploy tasks on each of the plurality of remote target computing devices using the operating system type for each target computing device; and

generating with a mapper module a representation showing connections between the at least one of an installation package, a deploy job and a deploy program.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein each deploy job includes one or more of the following functions:

run a script file, run an executable file, change a directory, run an installation file, and override an installation error.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions include instructions executable by a processor to pass the operating system type as an argument to one or more of the installation tasks.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the plurality of installation tasks are combined into one or more files and the executing of the one or more of the plurality of installation tasks comprises executing the one or more files.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of installation tasks comprise custom-defined functions written using a scripting language.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the custom-defined functions have a command syntax that is substantially the same as a command syntax for built-in functions.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the representation is textual or graphical.