HP OpenView Software Distributor Technical Data
  Welcome to HP OpenView
HP OpenView is a complete family of products providing integrated
network and system management (INSM) solutions for multivendor
distributed computing environments.  The HP OpenView solution consists
of a family of management platforms, a complete set of INSM application
development tools, an impressive portfolio of management applications,
and a unifying architecture.

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The New Way of Managing Software Distribution
HP OpenView Software Distributor, one of the HP OpenView management
applications, is a full set of sophisticated tools that perform
distributed management of software across the network.  Software
Distributor provides a central management organization, an
industry-standard capability for single-point software distribution and
management that reduces costs, improves service levels, and remains
flexible enough to support unique software management policies.
Software Distributor provides administrators the ability to "push"
software to distributed systems.  Users of those systems can "pull"
software from any number of networked or local software "depots."
  When included as part of the HP OpenView management solution,
administrators can use Software Distributor to successfully manage the
complete distributed environment.

Features and Benefits
o Industry Standard - HP OpenView Software Distributor was selected as
  the basis for the electronic Software Distribution Services (SDS) for
  OSF's Distributed Management Environment (DME).
IEEE Posix 1003.7.2 Software Administration Standardization efforts has
also selected HP OpenView Software Distributor.  HP has built upon these
capabilities to provide a safe investment that will meet your needs
today and continue to perform for years.  Software Distributor follows
these common interface and data format standards, providing common
software packaging and management processes between different platforms.

o Application and Data Integrity - Automation of software distribution
  from a central location provides end users with the most recent
  application revision and accurate data sooner and at a much lower
  cost.  Productivity is improved when everyone is working with the same
  software revision and same data set.  In a client/server environment,
  it is absolutely essential that application revision changes at both
  ends are synchronized.

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o Cost and Time Savings - Software distribution currently costs
  companies millions of dollars every year in media, travel costs, and
  time spent by skilled personnel.  Software Distributor focuses on
  improving system administrators' productivity by eliminating or
  automating time-consuming software installation and update activities.
  Software Distributor assists administrators in managing every aspect
  of software  configuration, verification, and removal, greatly
  reducing costs in media duplication, travel, and time.

o Flexibility - Software Distributor is highly flexible, fitting into
  any network environment.  Companies can customize Software Distributor
  to satisfy their unique software management policies.  A robust
  command line interface allows Software Distributor to be integrated
  into other network and system management environments.  Software
  Distributor also will aid administrators in conforming with  licensing
  agreements by providing lists of software installed on each node.

Software Distribution Overview
Software Distributor supports a variety of distributed and standalone
environments.  This flexibility allows administrators and users to
improve the overall process of software distribution and installation.
(See figure 1.)
  Systems can fill four roles in this model - developer system, depot,
target system, and controller system.  The role a system plays can
change at any time to support a new policy or process.
  After software is developed, it is packaged for distribution by the
developer.  The packaged software can be placed in a depot for
distribution over a network or can be placed on a CD or serial media for
distribution to non-networked systems.
  One or more distribution depots contain software that is available for
installation to other systems, called target systems, in the network.
Multiple versions of a software product (for example, the same product
with different revisions or target system attributes) can reside on a
depot.
  The controller system is any system using Software Distributor to
manage the software distribution process.  It also is used to manage
software installed on the depots and the target systems.  When the
administrator chooses a Software Distributor command to perform a
distribution task, the controller initiates the task, providing the
necessary information to one or more target systems.
  Software Distributor is flexible and can adjust to a company's
different software distribution policies.  Any system may play a
combination of roles, allowing Software Distributor to support the
following typical distribution models: push, pull, and standalone.

Push - The "push" distribution model allows administrators to initiate a
distribution and installation of software from a depot to one or more
target systems.  A central server plays the depot's role.  The
administrator's station becomes the controller when the administrator
chooses a Software Distributor command.  The systems receiving the
"pushed" software become the target systems.

Pull - The "pull" distribution model allows end users to initiate
software distribution and installation to their systems.  The end user's
desktop system becomes the controller, and by being the final
destination of the software, it also plays the role of the target
system.  A central location or server continues to play the role of the
depot.

Standalone - The "tandalone" distribution model allows end users to
initiate a software distribution and installation from local media (tape
or CD-ROM).  The end user's desktop system becomes the controller of an
installation task, the target system, and the depot with the source
being the local tape or CD-ROM.

Designed to Meet Your Needs
Software Distributor, a complete software management product, focuses on
improving administrators' productivity by automating time-consuming
installation and update tasks.  An administrator can install multiple
copies of software on multiple target platforms from a single console.
Following are steps that each software package goes through to be
distributed to the network and, ultimately, to the target system.

Software Packaging
Software Distributor's packaging tools allow developers to easily
package their solutions into distributable forms through a flexible
keyword specification model.

Distribution Depots and Media
Software can be packaged for distribution in the following forms:
o a serial tape (such as DDS, QIC, or nine-track) containing a
  distribution in a tar archive
o a CD-ROM containing a distribution depot
o a distribution depot located on the network

Hierarchical Product Structure
Software Distributor supports products that are organized into products,
subproducts, and filesets (collections of files).  This hierarchical
organization allows the administrator to specify installation of a
product without inspecting the individual files within the product.  It
also provides flexibility when disk space is limited, to specify partial
product installation through the selection of subproducts or filesets.

Software Dependencies
Applications usually require other software to be installed on the
target system for correct operation.  This is considered a software
dependency.  Software Distributor manages the installation of all
software required for the application to run.  This includes software
required before and after installation of the application.
  Software Distributor orders the installation of software dependencies
appropriately, leading the industry in electronic software management.

Support of Custom Control Scripts
Software Distributor allows each target system to be fully configured
and customized during each step of the installation.  Through the use of
custom control scripts provided with the package, each target system is
ready to run the software when the process is completed.

Distribution "Depots"
Distribution depots are repositories of software available for
installation, and often are used as the source of an installation task.
The depots can be configured to support the policies of the organization
as follows: from a centrally located software "warehouse," to multiple
depots arranged hierarchically, to a fully distributed solution on
servers throughout the environment.
  Software Distributor allows depots to simultaneously distribute
software packages to multiple target systems and allows depots to be
distributed on various servers.  It also allows administrators to manage
(create, populate, list, verify, and remove) distribution depots.
System administrators can control the access to each individual software
product on the depot.

Software Selection
Before installation, the system administrator must select the software
to install or update on the target machines.  Software Distributor has a
number of features to complete the task in a minimum amount of time.

Software "Catalog"
Software Distributor helps the administrator locate available depots and
retrieve detailed information on software products in the depot catalog.
This information consists of product name, revision, descriptions,
hardware, and software dependencies.

Easy-to-Understand Information Display
Software Distributor provides an easy-to-understand graphical user
interface (GUI) based on OSF/Motif(tm).  The interface provides product
navigation and information allowing the user to identify and select the
appropriate products quickly and easily.

Compatibility Checking
Software Distributor will, by default, only install compatible software
on a target system.  It checks the target operating system types,
revisions, and machine attributes to determine if the product can be
installed.

Session Management
With Software Distributor, the administrator can save policy
definitions, software selections, and target selections to named files.
The administrator can then retrieve these named session files saved in
previous sessions to further enhance productivity and streamline
redundant tasks.

Installation Analysis
Software Distributor automates the task of analyzing each target machine
by performing a Series of checks between the target machine and the
software to be installed.  The target system can be checked to ensure
all filesystems used during the installation are mounted and available.
  A detailed disk space analysis evaluates the disk space on the target
machine against the amount necessary for the software to be installed.
By default, software will not be installed on a target unless enough
disk space exists.  Additional checks also can be performed.
  Software Distributor checks the request to ensure the target system
has the authorization to install the selected software.  Requests from
unauthorized target systems are denied.

Installation and Update
Software Distributor performs the primary task of software
administration; it installs, reinstalls, or updates software from a
depot onto one or more target hosts.  Software Distributor supports both
the installation and configuration of software products.
  The user can install application software into its default location,
or map the product to another location if another version is already
installed at the default location.

Reliable Distribution
Software Distributor ensures successful distribution using reliable
connections from the source system to the target systems.  If the link
is broken between the source and target, the administrator is notified.
The administrator is able to recover from the error and resume the
software installation task.

Task Monitoring
The administrator is kept current on the progress of software
distribution tasks.  A Software Distributor task operating on multiple
targets displays progress information for each target.  The interactive
interface provides detailed information about each target's status.

File Compression
The administrator has the option to compress software files that are
transferred during installation from a depot.  Smaller files are sent,
reducing the load on the entire network.

Software Configuration
Software Distributor supports unique configuration of each target
system.  The administrator can perform this configuration as part of the
installation task or can defer the actual configuration to another time.
Multiple software versions can be supported on a single target system
through this configuration process.

Verification of Installed Products
Software Distributor provides comprehensive verifications of installed
software on each depot or target system.  From their central locations,
administrators can build processes that monitor the integrity of the
software within their networks.

Software Management
Part of managing software is knowing what applications are installed
throughout the distributed environment, which allows for better planning
of software purchases and license conformance.
  From a central location, administrators can generate reports on the
installed software within their network.  Software Distributor stores
the installed software information for each system in the Installed
Products Database (IPD).
  Each depot also has a catalog of software available for installation,
and it contains all the information provided in the product packaging.
Software Distributor can list the available products, along with their
attributes, in various formats.
  From a central location, the administrator can remove obsolete or
unnecessary software products within the network.  Software Distributor
provides removal of software, target-specific configurations created by
the product, and product files on depots or target systems.  It
understands software dependencies, and will not cause side effects on
other products unless forced to by the administrator.

For More Information
For more information, please contact your HP Sales Representative.

Ordering Instructions
To order the following products, please contact your local sales office.

J2326AA HP OpenView Distributor Licenses

J2325AA HP OpenView Distributor Media and Documentation for
Series 700/800

All registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned are the sole
property of their respective companies.

Technical information in this document is subject to change without
notice.

(c)1993 Hewlett-Packard Company

Printed in the U.S.A.  04/93
5091-7545E

From HP Networking Communications Specification Guide, 5091-3821E, 9205
  added 9307, p
Associated files:  xsd.tif, fig1.pcx, 50917545.doc
HP OpenView Software Distributor Technical Data