Question

I am looking for the simplest way to get notified when successful installation of a program takes place somewhere. My application is Java based and has Java installer, I could easily put up a client to do any http call with any parameters, this is not an issue. My problem is on the other side – I’ve got hosted web site and I want direct all traffic there, but I’m not familiar with that part of the programming world 🙂 It would be nice if each successful installation would dump a records in the database (I’ve got MySql integrated on site). Another options is to send me an email, or at least tail into a log file. The simpler the better. Either would be fine. Can anybody suggest an approach? I know a little bit of PHP and perhaps would be able to do some simple stuff, but without an example or starting point, it’s very easy to get lost in today’s web technologies maze 🙂

Answer 1

Does your web site have logging already? If so, you’ve already got a log file which you could grep for the appropriate URL. No programming required 🙂 Just don’t link to that URL from anywhere else, and you shouldn’t end up with any false positives.