Co-resident plug-ins of third party software
Downloadable pluggable services and methods of distributing the same are described. The downloadable pluggable services may correspond to third party-developed communication services that can be downloaded to upgrade a communication system. The downloadable pluggable services may include a number of component parts that can be distributed among various servers in the communication system being upgraded along with instructions that enable the component parts to instruct each server in the communication system to operate in a coordinated fashion so as to provide the downloaded service.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving a request from a customer to obtain a downloadable pluggable service for a communication system of the customer, wherein the downloadable pluggable service is created from third-party software;
in response to receiving the request, preparing the downloadable pluggable service, wherein preparing the downloadable pluggable service includes:
converting the third-party software into first and second sub-components executable in an environment of the communication system;
obtaining a first and second sub-component that are packaged into a single object, wherein the first sub-component includes instructions for operating a first server of the customer's communication system, and wherein the second sub-component includes instructions for operating a second server of the customer's communication system; and
transmitting the single object to the customer, wherein the first sub-component is installed on the first server of the customer's communication system based on the instructions for operating the first server of the customer's communication system and the second sub-component is installed on the second server of the customer's communication system based on the instructions for operating the second server of the customer's communication system, and wherein the first and second sub-components are loaded and executed in response to installing the first and second sub-components on the first and second servers.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the downloadable pluggable service further includes deployment instructions that provide instructions for installing the first and second sub-component on the first and second servers of the customer's communication system, respectively.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein preparing the downloadable pluggable service further comprises preparing a license that identifies an appropriate use of the downloadable pluggable service at the customer's communication system.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the customer's communication system has a first user and a second user, wherein the license indicates that the first user of the customer's communication system is allowed to use the downloadable pluggable service and wherein the license does not indicate that the second user of the customer's communication system is allowed to use the downloadable pluggable service.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the license is included in a license file which is packaged into the downloadable pluggable service as a file in the single object.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the license indicates that the first user is allowed to use a first version of the downloadable pluggable service and the second user is allowed to use a second version of the downloadable pluggable service at the same time.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first user of the downloadable pluggable service is using an older version of the downloadable pluggable service when the downloadable pluggable service is executed and wherein the first user is allowed to use the older version of the downloadable pluggable service until the first user ends of the older version of the downloadable pluggable service.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein running the script includes one or more of:
verifying a license associated with the third-party software;
installing the converted contents;
modifying a configuration file;
opening a firewall; and/or
starting the converted contents.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second server each comprise at least one of an application container, an applet container, a web container, and an Application Programming Interface (API).
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the downloadable pluggable service further includes installation scripts for the third-party software that instructs how to convert code components of the third-party software, and wherein the downloadable pluggable service further includes configuration scripts for the third-party software that instructs how to configure the converted code components of the third-party software.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein converting the third-party software into the first and second sub-components comprises customizing the first and second sub-components to accommodate specific versions of first server of the customer's communication system and the second server of the customer's communication system.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions, the instructions comprising:
an object generator that:
receives a request from a customer to obtain a downloadable pluggable service for a communication system of the customer, wherein the downloadable pluggable service is associated with third-party software, and wherein the third-party software is un-executable in the environment;
in response to receiving the request, prepares the downloadable pluggable service, wherein preparing the downloadable pluggable service includes:
converts the third-party software into first and second sub-components executable in the environment of the communication system; and
obtains the first and second sub-component that are packaged into a single object, wherein the first sub-component includes instructions for operating a first server of the customer's communication system so that the downloadable pluggable service is performed, and wherein the second sub-component includes instructions for operating a second server of the customer's communication system such that the downloadable pluggable service is performed; and
an object delivery interface that transmits the single object to the customer via a communication network, wherein the first sub-component is installed on the first server of the customer's communication system based on the instructions for operating the first server of the customer's communication system and the second sub-component is installed on the second server of the customer's communication system based on the instructions for operating the second server of the customer's communication system, and wherein the first and second sub-components are loaded and executed in response to installing the first and second sub-components on the first and second servers.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein converting the third-party software comprises;
opening a SVAR package associated with the third-party software;
extracting third-party contents in the SVAR package; and
running a script to convert the contents.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein preparing the downloadable pluggable service further comprises preparing a license that identifies an appropriate use of the downloadable pluggable service at the customer's communication system, wherein the license indicates that a first user of the customer's communication system is allowed to use the downloadable pluggable service and wherein the license does not indicate that a second user of the customer's communication system is allowed to use the downloadable pluggable service.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the third-party software is retrieved from a service warehouse, wherein the service warehouse enables the customer to browse a plurality of downloadable pluggable services and potential sub-components thereof via a web interface.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the first server corresponds to an application server and wherein the second server corresponds to at least one of a user portal server and a system manager server.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein running the script includes one or more of:
verifying a license associated with the third-party software;
installing the converted contents;
modifying a configuration file;
opening a firewall; and/or
starting the converted contents.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the downloadable pluggable service further includes installation scripts for the third-party software that instructs how to convert code components of the third-party software, and wherein the downloadable pluggable service further includes configuration scripts for the third-party software that instructs how to configure the converted code components of the third-party software.
19. A communication system, comprising:
a communication server including a processor and memory, the memory including instructions to be executed by the processor, the instructions including:
instructions to execute an object unpacker, wherein the object unpacker:
receives a single object from a service warehouse, the single object comprising a plurality of sub-components that, when distributed among servers in the communication system, cause the communication system to provide a service to users of the communication system, wherein the plurality of sub-components include a first and second sub-component that are packaged into the single object, wherein the downloadable pluggable service is associated with third-party software, and wherein the third-party software is un-executable in an environment of the communication system; and
instructions to execute an object distributor, wherein the object distributor:
converts the third-party software into first and second sub-components executable in the environment of the communication system; and
distributes and installs the first sub-component and the second sub-component to different servers in the communication system in accordance with deployment instructions contained in the single object and wherein the first sub-component and the second sub-component are loaded and executed in response to installing the first sub-component and the second sub-component on the different servers.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein converting the third-party software comprises;
opening a SVAR package associated with the third-party software;
extracting third-party contents in the SVAR package;
running a script to convert the contents, wherein running the script includes one or more of:
verifying a license associated with the third-party software;
installing the converted contents;
modifying a configuration file;
opening a firewall; and/or
starting the converted contents.