System and method for a packaging and deployment mechanism for Web service applications

A method for installing on a first target environment a first Web service application created on a source environment, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of

• using deployment archive, DAR, tools to create a DAR file for the first Web service application created on the source environment;
• obtaining a configuration set about the first target environment and the first Web service application;
• and
• using the DAR tools with the configuration set to deploy the first Web service application on the first target environment.

A method for creating deployment archive, DAR, tools to install on a first target environment a first Web service application created on a source environment, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of

• creating a packaging utility by
• assembling installation data about the first Web service application, the installation data comprising information about
• the first Web service application,
• at least one Web service used by the first Web service application, portlets,
• executable programs used by the first Web service application and portlets to provide functionality, and
• metadata entries comprising further information about the location and features of the first Web service application, and
• packaging the installation data about the first Web service application into a DAR file;
• and
• creating an unpackaging utility by
• creating a utility to read the DAR file into a memory,
• creating a utility to read a configuration set into the memory, and
• creating a utility to write the contents of the DAR file according to a configuration set of the first target environment.

An automatic method for installing on a target environment a first Web service application and a second Web service application created on a source environment, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of

• creating deployment archive, DAR, tools by
• creating a packaging utility, and
• creating an unpackaging utility;
• using the DAR tools to create a first DAR file for the first Web service application created on the source environment;
• obtaining a configuration set about the first target environment and the first Web service application;
• using the DAR tools with the configuration set to deploy the first Web service application on the first target environment;
• using the DAR tools to create a second DAR file for a second Web service application created on the source environment;
• obtaining a configuration set about a target environment and the second Web service application;
• and
• using the DAR tools with the configuration set to deploy the second Web service application on the target environment.

An automatic method for installing a plurality of Web service applications on a plurality of target environments, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of

• creating deployment archive, DAR, tools by
• creating a packaging utility, and
• creating an unpackaging utility;
• using the DAR tools to create a first DAR file for a first Web service application;
• obtaining a first configuration set about a first target environment and the first Web service application;
• using the DAR tools with the configuration set to deploy the first Web service application on the first target environment;
• obtaining a second configuration set about a second target environment and a second Web service application;
• and
• using the DAR tools to deploy the second Web service application on the second target environment according to the second configuration set.

An automatic method for installing, on a first target environment, a first Web service application created on a source environment, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of

• creating deployment archive, DAR, tools by
• creating a packaging utility by
• assembling installation data about the first Web service application, the
• installation data comprising information about
• the first Web service application;
• at least one Web service used by the first Web service application;
• portlets,
• executable programs used by the first Web service application and portlets to provide functionality, and
• metadata entries comprising further information about the location and features of the first Web service application, and
• packages the installation data about the first Web service application into a DAR file,
• creating an unpackaging utility by
• creating a utility to read the DAR file into a memory,
• creating a utility to read a configuration set into the memory, and
• creating a utility to write the contents of the DAR file according to a configuration set;
• using the DAR tools to create the DAR file for the first Web service application created on the source environment;
• obtaining the configuration set about the first target environment and the first Web service application;
• and
• using the DAR tools with the configuration set to deploy the first Web service application on the first target environment by
• reading the DAR file into the memory,
• reading the configuration set about the first target
• environment into the memory, and
• writing the contents of the DAR file to the first target environment according to the configuration set.

Deployment archive, DAR, tools comprising

• a packaging utility that assembles installation data about a Web service application and
• packages that installation data for deployment on a target environment;
• and
• an unpackaging utility comprising
• a utility to read a DAR file into a memory;
• a utility to read a configuration set into the memory;
• and
• a utility to write the contents of a DAR file according to a configuration set.

A DAR file for installation data about a Web service application packaged for deployment on a target environment, the DAR file comprising installation data about

• the first Web service application;
• at least one Web service used by the first Web service application;
• portlets,
• executable programs used by the first Web service application and portlets to provide functionality, and
• metadata entries comprising further information about the location and features of the first Web service application.

A configuration set to facilitate installing, on a target environment, a Web service application associated with a web service, the configuration set comprising

• instructions for placing portal pages for the Web service application on the target environment;
• instructions for placing executable programs for the Web service application on the target environment;
• instructions for placing metadata entries for the Web service application in metadata storage on the target environment;
• and
• instructions for placing programs for the Web service on the target environment.

A system for installing a first Web service application on a target environment and, the system comprising

• a first Web service application;
• a target environment server;
• a configuration set about the target environment;
• a Web service application server comprising
• a memory,
• deployment archive, DAR, tools comprising a packaging utility and an
• unpackaging utility, and
• a first DAR file for the first Web service application, such that the DAR tools facilitate reading the first DAR file into the memory, and facilitate reading the configuration set into the memory, and facilitate writing the contents of the first DAR file according to the configuration set to the target environment server;
• and
• a network interface between the target environment server and the Web service application server.