Question for creating and patching a custom distribution?

[Paul Spencer <pa...@intekon.com>]

I am creating a custom distribution of Karaf that include many features using the Karaf 3.0.2 new style Maven Assembly [1].  The distribution will include features from Karaf, CXF, PAX, and others in addition to features I develop.  

1)  What is the suggested way to distribute features, both initially and as patches, that I develop?

2)  What is the suggested way to update Karaf that was installed using a custom distribution and has been configured on a server?
      As an example:  A distribution is built with Karaf 3.0.2 and features.  The distribution is installed on 10 server, with each server having its own 
      database, logging, and application configuration.  Now Karaf 3.0.3 is released.  What is the procedure to update the 10 servers
      while preserving each server’s configuration?

Although a very details answer is would be great, realistically I am looking for a more general suggestions.

Paul Spencer
 

[1] http://karaf.apache.org/manual/latest/developers-guide/custom-distribution.html