Applying Constraint Solving to the Management of Distributed Applications

Abstract. We present our approach for deploying and managing dis-tributed component-based applications. A Desired State Description (DSD), written in a high-level declarative language, specifies requirements for a distributed application. Our infrastructure accepts a DSD as input, and from it automatically configures and deploys the distributed appli-cation. Subsequent violations of the original requirements are detected and, where possible, automatically rectified by reconfiguration and rede-ployment of the necessary application components. A constraint solving tool is used to plan deployments that meet the application requirements.