Unified management of heterogeneous applications

1. A method of executing applications on a computing device, the method comprising:

receiving, by an app store interface;

a first distribution package from an app store, the first distribution package comprising a first virtual disk file comprising an application, and

a second distribution package from the app store, the second distribution package comprising a second virtual disk file comprising additional data not included in the first virtual disk file, wherein the additional data is configured to enable the application of the first virtual disk file to execute a function;

opening, by an application agent, the first virtual disk file based on a file type association (FTA) between the first virtual disk file and the application agent;

storing, by the application agent, the application in a third virtual disk file;

merging, by the application agent, the additional data into the third virtual disk file after storing the application of the first virtual disk file in the third virtual disk file;

mounting the third virtual disk file at the computing device; and

executing the application stored on the mounted third virtual disk file.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application agent is configured to generate the FTA between the first virtual disk file and the application agent.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package, wherein the unpacking is configured to extract data corresponding to the application from the first distribution package.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package within a container environment configured to isolate app store interface processes from a process outside of the container environment, wherein the FTA causes the app store interface to call the process outside of the container environment to open the unpacked first virtual disk file.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first distribution package further comprises an installer file configured to install the application agent on the computing device, and wherein the method further comprises:

unpacking, by the app store interface, the installer file from the first distribution package;

calling, by the app store interface, an operating system of the computing device to install the application agent utilizing the installer file; and

unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package after calling the operating system to install the application agent.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first distribution package further comprises a fourth virtual disk file, the fourth virtual disk file comprising supplemental data not included in the first virtual disk file or the second virtual disk file, wherein the supplemental data is configured to enable the application of the first virtual disk file to execute another function.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

opening, by the application agent, the fourth virtual disk file after storing the application in the third virtual disk file; and

merging, by the application agent, the supplemental data of the fourth virtual disk file into the third virtual disk file to enable the application to execute the other function.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first distribution package is configured to control an order in which the app store interface receives the first virtual disk file and the fourth virtual disk file.

9. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein merging the additional data comprises one or more of:

a merged view of the additional data in the third virtual disk file, or

a physical copy of the additional data in the third virtual disk file.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed in a computing device, perform a method of executing applications on a computing device, the method comprising:

receiving, by an app store interface;

a first distribution package from an app store, the first distribution package comprising a first virtual disk file comprising an application, and

a second distribution package from the app store, the second distribution package comprising a second virtual disk file comprising additional data not included in the first virtual disk file, wherein the additional data is configured to enable the application of the first virtual disk file to execute a function;

opening, by an application agent, the first virtual disk file based on a file type association (FTA) between the first virtual disk file and the application agent;

storing, by the application agent, the application in a third virtual disk file;

merging, by the application agent, the additional data into the third virtual disk file after storing the application of the first virtual disk file in the third virtual disk file;

mounting the third virtual disk file at the computing device; and

executing the application stored on the mounted third virtual disk file.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the application agent is configured to generate the FTA between the first virtual disk file and the application agent.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package, wherein the unpacking is configured to extract data corresponding to the application from the first distribution package.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package within a container environment configured to isolate app store interface processes from a process outside of the container environment, wherein the FTA causes the app store interface to call the process outside of the container environment to open the unpacked first virtual disk file.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the first distribution package further comprises an installer file configured to install the application agent on the computing device, and wherein the method further comprises:

unpacking, by the app store interface, the installer file from the first distribution package;

calling, by the app store interface, an operating system of the computing device to install the application agent utilizing the installer file; and

unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package after calling the operating system to install the application agent.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the first distribution package further comprises a fourth virtual disk file, the fourth virtual disk file comprising supplemental data not included in the first virtual disk file or the second virtual disk file, wherein the supplemental data is configured to enable the application of the first virtual disk file to execute another function.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

opening, by the application agent, the fourth virtual disk file after storing the application in the third virtual disk file; and

merging, by the application agent, the supplemental data of the fourth virtual disk file into the third virtual disk file to enable the application to execute the other function.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first distribution package is configured to control an order in which the app store interface receives the first virtual disk file and the fourth virtual disk file.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 ,

wherein merging the additional data comprises one or more of:

a merged view of the additional data in the second virtual disk file, or

a physical copy of the additional data in the second virtual disk file.

19. A computing device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes a program executable in the processor to perform a method for executing an application, the method comprising:

receiving, by an app store interface;

a first distribution package from an app store, the first distribution package comprising a first virtual disk file comprising an application, and

a second distribution package from the app store, the second distribution package comprising a second virtual disk file comprising additional data not included in the first virtual disk file, wherein the additional data is configured to enable the application of the first virtual disk file to execute a function;

opening, by an application agent, the first virtual disk file based on a file type association (FTA) between the first virtual disk file and the application agent;

storing, by the application agent, the application in a third virtual disk file;

merging, by the application agent, the additional data into the third virtual disk file after storing the application of the first virtual disk file in the third virtual disk file;

mounting the third virtual disk file at the computing device; and

executing the application stored on the mounted third virtual disk file.

20. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises unpacking, by the app store interface, the first virtual disk file from the first distribution package, wherein the unpacking is configured to extract data corresponding to the application from the first distribution package.