Patent ID: 7000228

Claim:
A method of upgrading software in a object oriented computing environment, said method comprising: loading an online upgrade module, said online upgrade module including a first container based software component, an online upgrade listener and an online upgrade specification, wherein said first container based software component is an upgrade of a second container based software component which is capable of operating in said object oriented computing environment; notifying an online-upgrade controller to initiate an online upgrade process; performing by the online-upgrade controller a plurality of operations to facilitate online upgrade of said second container based software component to said first container based software component; wherein said plurality of operations are performed in multiple stages comprising: an upgrade prepare stage; a pre-upgrade stage comprising: loading one or more listener classes associated with said online upgrade listener, instantiating said one or more listeners associated with said on-line upgrade listener, and performing one or more callbacks via said on-line upgrade listener; one or more upgrade operations; a post-upgrade stage, and a commit stage which comprises: assuring successful draining of said second container based software component, performing one or more callbacks, unloading said second container based software component; and conveying information about said assuring, performing, or unloading to a management entity.