Autonomic Computing Toolkit

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Solution installation and deployment technologies enable software solutions to be deployed and supported with reduced human interaction. A common infrastructure ensures a simpler deployment experience. Common packaging minimizes the number of software instances installed within an enterprise. Common deployment descriptors describe the installation capabilities and dependency requirements for a given software package. Common tools reduce the cost and complexity of building, deploying, and maintaining software solutions. Common dependency-checking technologies address the major configuration and change management concerns that customers experience. Using this IBM Self-Managing Technology component can help you consistently plan for and deploy IBM and non-IBM solutions in less time with fewer resources.

The Solution Installation and Deployment architecture is demonstrated using a set of scenarios targeting the self-configuring aspect of self-managing autonomic technology. This table summarizes the scenarios that focus on different aspects and implementations of the architecture (The download file names might change in future releases of the Autonomic Computing Toolkit.)

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The Samples scenario is a teaching tool, introducing the core components that make up the Solution Installation and Deployment architecture, and then relating them together to illustrate the benefits of the architecture. It also identifies how installation behavior is defined and carried out, and allows the user to verify each step of the installation by viewing the repository of installed components.

These samples show you specific features of the solution installation technology.

All the samples are managed and controlled using an Integrated Solutions Console component plug-in. The same plug-in is used to control the Problem Determination scenario, which is also available in the Autonomic Computing Toolkit. The samples scenario contains the following samples:

• Java Custom Action Sample to show how installation specific actions can be performed using Java methods to accommodate a variety of installation needs
• Family Lifecycle Sample to demonstrate a series of Solution Installation and Deployment operations to illustrate a typical software product life cycle

These samples show how the Solution Installation and Deployment technology can be used in realistic situations to achieve self-configuration as defined by the autonomic computing architecture.

	Solution installation and deployment technologies downloads and prerequisites page

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As with the InstallAnywhere scenario, the FLEXnet Publisher Installation Module (FNPIM) scenario operates slightly different from the Samples scenario in that the installation of the package is the actual scenario. This scenario is an example of a real packaging and installation implementation. The scenario installs three IUs, each one containing a single file. The installation bundle is in the form of a "Solution Installation and Deployment Solution module" bundle. The bundle contains the solution module descriptor XML file (packagedIU.xml) and the files that are to be installed. The installation executable file contains the solution installation and deployment run time. First, the installation logic checks for the existence of the solution installation and deployment run time. If it is not present on the system, the solution installation and deployment runtime is automatically loaded.

Then the installation logic prompts for the location of the bundle file and passes it to the solution installation and deployment run time. The solution installation and deployment run time reads the XML descriptor and checks the dependencies that are specified in the descriptor. The installation logic, for the purposes of this demo, echoes the dependency results to a panel so the results can be observed. If a dependency fails, the user is notified and corrective action can be taken. After checking dependencies, the installation logic reads the XML descriptor to find out what directories must be created and what files are to be installed. The files are then extracted from the bundle and copied to the file system. The installation logic then displays a completion page, indicating that the installation process has finished.

	Solution installation and deployment scenario using FNPIM downloads and prerequisites page

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In contrast to the Sample scenario, the InstallAnywhere and FLEXnet Publisher Installation Module (FNPIM) scenarios show you how Solution Installation and Deployment provides true end-to-end packaging and installation services. Both scenarios perform the same installation, but use different install engines from IBM partner, Macrovision.

The ZeroG InstallAnywhere scenario operates slightly different from the Samples scenario in that the installation of the package is the actual scenario. This scenario is an example of a real packaging and installation implementation. The scenario installs three IUs, each one containing a single file. The installation bundle is in the form of a "Solution Installation and Deployment Solution module" bundle. The bundle contains the solution module descriptor XML file (packagedIU.xml) and the files that are to be installed. The installation executable file contains the solution installation and deployment run time. First, the installation logic checks for the existence of the solution installation and deployment run time. If it is not present on the system, the solution installation and deployment runtime is automatically loaded.

Then the installation logic prompts for the location of the bundle file and passes it to the solution installation and deployment run time. The solution installation and deployment run time reads the XML descriptor and checks the dependencies that are specified in the descriptor. The installation logic, for the purposes of this demo, echoes the dependency results to a panel so the results can be observed. If a dependency fails, the user is notified and corrective action can be taken. After checking dependencies, the installation logic reads the XML descriptor to find out what directories must be created and what files are to be installed. The files are then extracted from the bundle and copied to the file system. The installation logic then displays a completion page, indicating that the installation process has finished.

	Solution installation and deployment scenario using InstallAnywhere downloads and prerequisites page

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