Processing, modification, distribution of installation packages

Abstract

According to example configurations, a customization engine receives a default installation package. The installation package supports installation of a respective application to a computing device. The customization engine further receives a set of rules indicating at least one alteration to be applied to the received installation package to transform the received installation package into a customized installation package. The customization engine further receives a set of data to be applied according to the rules. The customization engine modifies the received default installation package in accordance with the set of rules and supplied data to produce the customized installation package.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving an installation package, the installation package being executable to install a respective application onto a computing device;   receiving a set of rules indicating at least one alteration to be applied to non-compiled configuration information in the received installation package to transform the received installation package into a customized installation package, the non-compiled configuration information specifying how to customize the respective application during installation; and   modifying the received installation package in accordance with the set of rules to convert the received installation package into the customized installation package.   
     
     
         2 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the installation package includes: a set of compiled instructions to execute the respective application; and
 wherein modifying the received installation package includes:
 retrieving the set of compiled instructions from the received installation package; 
 including an unmodified version of the set of compiled instructions in the customized installation package; 
 modifying the non-compiled configuration information in a manner as specified by the set of rules; and 
 including the modified non-compiled configuration information in the customized installation package to create the customized installation package. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the customized installation package is executable to perform a custom installation of the respective application on the computing device on behalf of a user of the computing device. 
     
     
         4 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein modifying the received installation package comprises:
 modifying the received installation package to include a new software resource, the customized installation package executable to perform installation of the new software resource during installation of the respective application.   
     
     
         5 . The method as in  claim 4 , wherein modifying the received installation package in accordance with the rule includes:
 identifying a location in the received installation package, the location specified by a rule; and   in accordance with the rule, including the new software resource in the received installation package to produce the customized installation package.   
     
     
         6 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein modifying the received installation package in accordance with the set of rules includes:
 obtaining an instruction from the set of rules, the instruction indicating how to modify a specified portion of the received installation package;   executing the instruction to modify the specified portion; and   including the modified portion of the received installation package in the customized application.   
     
     
         7 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the received installation package includes multiple portions, at least one of the multiple portions in the received installation package being original signature information derived from selected portions in the received installation package, the original signature information assigned to and included in the received installation package, the method further comprising:
 deriving new signature information based on portions in the customized installation package; and   signing the customized installation package with the new signature information.   
     
     
         8 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein modifying the received installation package includes:
 altering at least a portion of the received installation package to configure the customized installation package to provide unique display functionality upon execution of the respective application.   
     
     
         9 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the received installation package includes compiled executable code derived from source code and software resources used by the compiled executable code;
 wherein modifying the received installation package includes:
 modifying the software resources in accordance with the set of rules to include a new software resource; and 
 including the compiled executable code and the new software resource in the customized installation package. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method as in  claim 1  further comprising:
 analyzing the received installation package to identify compiled executable code and software resources in the received installation package; 
 providing notification to an administrator of the software resources in the received installation package, the notification indicating portions of the software resources that can be modified; and 
 receiving the set of rules from the administrator. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the customized installation package is executable on the computing device to provide custom installation of the respective application on the computing device in a manner as specified by the set of rules. 
     
     
         12 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein forwarding the customized installation package includes:
 initiating transmission of the customized installation package to the computing device for execution, execution of customized installation package providing custom installation of the respective application on the computing device in a manner as specified by the set of rules.   
     
     
         14 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the operation of modifying the received installation package occurs prior to transmission and execution of the customized installation package on the computing device to install the respective application. 
     
     
         15 . The method as in  claim 2 , wherein modifying the non-compiled configuration information in a manner as specified by the set of rules includes: as specified by the set of rules, modifying the non-compiled configuration information to include custom configuration settings for the user. 
     
     
         16 . The method as in  claim 15 , wherein the modified non-compiled configuration information represents configuration settings generated for the user indicating how to customize the respective application on behalf of the user. 
     
     
         17 . The method as in  claim 15 , wherein the modified non-compiled configuration information represents configuration settings generated for the user indicating how to customize the respective application upon installation of the respective application on the computing device via execution of the customized installation package. 
     
     
         18 . A computer hardware system comprising:
 at least one processor device;   a hardware repository that stores instructions associated with an application executed by the at least one processor; and   an interconnect coupling the processor and the hardware repository, the interconnect causing the at least one application to execute the application and perform operations of:
 receiving an installation package, the installation package executable to install a respective application onto a computing device; 
 receiving a set of rules indicating at least one alteration to be applied to non-compiled configuration information in the received installation package to transform the received installation package into a customized installation package, the non-compiled configuration information specifying how to customize the respective application during installation; and 
 modifying the received installation package in accordance with the set of rules to produce the customized installation package, the customized installation package executable to perform a custom installation of the respective application on the computing device on behalf of a user of the computing device. 
   
     
     
         19 . The computer hardware system as in  claim 18 , wherein the installation package includes a set of compiled instructions to execute the respective application. 
     
     
         20 . The computer hardware system as in  claim 19 , wherein the at least one alteration specified by the set of rules indicates to include a new software resource in the customized installation package, the customized installation package executable to perform installation of the new software resource during installation of the respective application. 
     
     
         21 . A computer-readable hardware storage medium having instructions stored thereon for processing data information, such that the instructions, when carried out by at least one processing device, cause the at least one processing device to perform operations of:
 receiving an installation package, the installation package being executable to install a respective application onto a computing device;   receiving a set of rules indicating at least one alteration to be applied to non-compiled configuration information in the received installation package to transform the received installation package into a customized installation package, the non-compiled configuration information specifying how to customize the respective application during installation; and   modifying the received installation package in accordance with the set of rules to convert the received installation package into the customized installation package.