Abstract: A method and apparatus for discovering applications having components distributed over a plurality of nodes in a network is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of obtaining information associated with at least one application, said information providing first and second instructions, executing processing associated with the first instructions, determining a tentative identification of at least one application based on responses associated with the processing of the first instructions, executing processing associated with the second instructions based on each of the tentatively identified applications, and confirming an identification of at least one application based on responses associated with the processing of the second instructions. In one aspect of the invention, the method further comprises the step of storing the application identification and characteristics in a representation of the application.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for specifying the identification and classification of at least one application having components distributed over selected nodes of a network system is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of creating a first section containing at least one directive for specifying information or initiating at least one external process for discovering characteristics of the application, creating a second section containing at least one directive for specifying information or initiating at least one external process for storing the discovered characteristics, and creating a third section containing at least one directive for specifying information or initiating at least one external process for testing the discovered characteristics.