Method and apparatus for maintaining data consistency in a virtualized application during software update installation

1. A method for maintaining data consistency during a software update installation for a virtualized application, comprising:

processing software update data associated with a software update installation for a virtualized application, wherein the virtualized application comprises at least one of read-only data and read-write data; and

coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data, wherein data comprising the virtual application is stored in a plurality of sub-layers, wherein higher-level sub-layers override data in lower-level sub-layers, wherein the at least one of read-only data and read-write data is stored in a lower-level sub-layer, wherein the software update data is stored in a higher-level sub-layer, thereby overriding the at least one of read-only data and read-write data, wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data comprises creating a software update sub-layer for capturing the software update data and configuring a read-write sub-layer to be read-only by temporarily converting the read-write sub-layer to a temporary read-only sub-layer, wherein the read-write sub-layer comprises the read-write data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprises modifying the at least one of read-only data and read-write data to install a software update.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprises applying at least one application virtualization operation to the at least one of read-only data and read-write data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprises overwriting a previous version of a file of the software update data in the at least one of read-only data and read-write data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprises merging a portion of the software update data with the read-only data for a commit operation.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprises storing a file of the software update data in the read-only data.

7. The method of claim 1 , coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprising:

identifying a previous version of a file of the software update data in the at least one of read-only data and read-write data; and

deleting the previous version of the file.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprises deleting a portion of the software update data for a rollback operation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprising:

identifying a rollback operation associated with a file; and

deleting the file from the software update data.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data further comprising:

applying at least one application virtualization operation on the software update sub-layer.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising restoring read-write permissions for the read-write sub-layer.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising deleting the software update sub-layer.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein applying at least one application virtualization operation further comprises coupling a file of the software update sub-layer with an original read-only sub-layer.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein applying at least one application virtualization operation further comprises deleting a previous version of the file in the read-write sub-layer.

15. An apparatus for maintaining data consistency during a software update installation for a virtualized application, comprising:

at least one computer processor configured to access software update data associated with a software update installation for a virtualized application, wherein the virtualized application comprises at least one of read-only data and read-write data and couple the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data, wherein data comprising the virtual application is stored in a plurality of sub-layers, wherein higher-level sub-layers override data in lower-level sub-layers, wherein the at least one of read-only data and read-write data is stored in a lower-level sub-layer, wherein the software update data is stored in a higher-level sub-layer, thereby overriding the at least one of read-only data and read-write, wherein coupling the software update data with the at least one of read-only data and read-write data comprises creating a software update sub-layer for capturing the software update data and configuring a read-write sub-layer to be read-only by temporarily converting the read-write sub-layer to a temporary read-only sub-layer, wherein the read-write sub-layer comprises the read-write data.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to install the software update on the virtualized application through a virtualization interface provided by virtualization software.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the read-write sub-layer applies at least one application virtualization operation on the software update sub-layer.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to couple a file of the software update sub-layer with an original read-only sub-layer.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to delete a previous version of the file in the read-write sub-layer.

20. A system for maintaining data consistency during a software update installation for a virtualized application, comprising:

a storage, comprising software update data associated with a software update installation; and

a computer coupled to the storage, comprising:

a virtualized application comprising a read-write sub-layer and a read-only sub-layer; and

an installation module for creating a software update sub-layer for capturing the software update data, configuring the read-write sub-layer to be read-only by temporarily converting the read-write sub-layer to a temporary read-only sub-layer, wherein the read-write sub-layer comprises read-write data, applying at least one application virtualization operation on the software update sub-layer, and coupling the software update data with the read-only sub-layer, wherein data comprising the virtual application is stored in a plurality of sub-layers, wherein higher-level sub-layers override data in lower-level sub-layers, wherein the at least one of read-only data and read-write data is stored in a lower-level sub-layer, and wherein the software update data is stored in a higher-level sub-layer, thereby overriding previous versions of the software update data.