RPM Style solution for php software?

[Andy Pieters]

 Hi all

I am a php developer and develop huge packages.  Those packages are then 
installed by my clients or clients of my resellers on a score of webservers.  
As with all applications, bugfixes, and updates are issued on an almost 
weekly bases.

I developed an application that runs on the php cli and connects to a list of 
ftp sites and is capable of performing *some* updates but all of this is 
shady at most.

What I really would like is to have an rpm style system.

So that I can have for instance

package dbfunctions-1.0-1-noarch.rpm (provides dbfunctions)
package dbadmin-1.0-1-noarch (provides dbadmin, requires dbfunctions)

I read up on the rpm command and find that it is very suitable for this kind 
of functionality.  It support scripts that are run when a package is 
installed or removed, as well as triggers that can execute scripts.  For 
instance if package dbadmin is updated, it can trigger a script in package 
dbfunctions to for example, update a configuration script.

The downside of it all is that it requires shell access which most clients do 
not have.  Furthermore, not all clients are running linux, some are running 
Mac (Unix based, but...?), or windows.  Even though rpm exists for virtually 
all platforms.

Three more requirements are not met:

1. The location of where the files in the package are installed is fixed in 
the rpm
2. Many packages require updates to the database, which means that a php cli 
with mysql support must be available on the system.
3. In case of a first install, information needs to be collected about the 
environment and user/password stuff.

Is there anyone that can provide a solution to this or suggest another 
approach to the problem?

With kind regards


x_terminat_or_3

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