APS Packages

Suppose you have a web application and would like to know how to deliver it to Plesk customers. The best way would be to put the app into the APS Catalog. For this, you should create an APS package from your app and have it certified for the APS Catalog.

About creation of APS packages

Creating an APS package, in technical terms, is the same as creating a ZIP archive that contains the content of your app and metadata. Plesk uses this metadata to install and manage instances of the app. The metadata consists of the following:

• Application requirements - the technologies that the app will use; for example, PHP 5.3, Apache, MS SQL database, etc., and the way to use them (such as permissions to read or write to a particular directory).
• Application settings that a customer or the administrator can specify upon installation and configuration.
• Deployment and maintenance scripts that are invoked during application service provisioning, canceling, updating and reconfiguration.
• Miscellaneous information for proper presentation in Plesk (such as the license agreement, icon, description, screen shots, category, etc.)

When designing app metadata, you only need to specify the required information, so it should not take much time to prepare an APS package from a typical web app.

For guidelines on how to prepare APS packages, refer to http://doc.apsstandard.org/_downloads/package-format-specification-12.pdf.

How to succeed in APS certification

Once you have prepared a package, the application must pass the certification procedure to appear in the APS Catalog. Obtaining certification requires these steps to be completed:

• Test your APS package with an APS-compliant product.
• Get access credentials to the APS Certification System.
• Upload the APS package for certification procedure.
• Resolve APS package issues if any have been found during certification.
• After receiving a certification level and passing all tests, request publication of the application.

For more information about certification, refer to http://doc.apsstandard.org/cert/.