Patent ID: 6957426

Claim:
A method for independent tool integration in a service control manager (SCM) module, comprising: creating a tool definition file that defines tools, wherein the tools provide server filesets for installation on a server, the creating step comprising: assigning the tools to roles by a trusted user via an authorization model associated with the SCM module; and assigning the roles to a plurality of users via the authorization model, wherein the plurality of users are, depending upon the roles assigned, selectively authorized to execute the tools associated with the roles on nodes in a network; delivering the tool definition file to a directory on the server; determining if a user is authorized to run the tools on each of the nodes in the network; executing a tool command against the tool definition file to integrate the tools; and delivering software product's tools to managed nodes, the delivering step comprising: copying or packaging the software product's tools into software depot directories created during software initialization; providing agent filesets for installation on the managed nodes; and using software distributor commands to automatically distribute the agent filesets to the managed nodes.