Using task sequences to manage devices

• US 20040267716A1
• Filed: 06/25/2003
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sutton, Paul C., Steeb, Curt A., Xu, Zeyong, Holladay, Martin L., Prabu, Munisamy, Pedrizetti, Raymond D., Gallop, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,814,126 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

Task sequences are used to manage devices. According to one aspect, a user-defined or user-selected task sequence is received. The task sequence is converted into an ordered series of steps, and the series of steps are performed, in accordance with their order, in managing a device over a network. In certain implementations, the ordered series of steps are steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the device.

Claims

1. A method, implemented in a device, the method comprising:

obtaining a task sequence that describes a set of one or more steps to be carried out in managing another device;

generating a job tree representing the set of one or more steps; and

carrying out the set of one or more steps in accordance with the job tree.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of one or more steps includes steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the other device.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein carrying out the set of one or more steps comprises:

carrying out a first step of the set of one or more steps; and

carrying out the remaining steps of the set of one or more steps only if the first step is completed successfully.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein carrying out the set of one or more steps causes the device to have firmware on the other device configured and an operating system to be deployed on the other device.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the task sequence is part of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the steps comprises another task sequence.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the steps comprises an operation to be performed.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the job tree comprises a parent node corresponding to the job and one or more child nodes, wherein each child node corresponds to one of the one or more steps.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of one or more steps described in the task sequence are to be carried out in managing a plurality of other devices concurrently.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the task sequence comprises a user-defined task sequence.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the task sequence comprises a user-selected task sequence.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising recording the set of one or more steps in a log.

13. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

receive a user-defined task sequence;

convert the user-defined task sequence into an ordered series of steps; and

perform the series of steps in managing a device over a network in accordance with their order.

14. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the user-defined task sequence is received in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format.

15. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the steps includes steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the device.

16. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to perform the series of steps comprise instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

carry out a first step of the series of steps; and

carry out the remaining steps of the series of steps only if the first step is completed successfully.

17. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the task sequence includes another task sequence.

18. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the task sequence includes one or more operations to be performed.

19. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the series of steps are to be performed in managing the device and one or more other devices concurrently.

20. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to convert the user-defined task sequence into an ordered series of steps comprises instructions that cause the one or more processors to convert the user-defined task sequence into a tree having a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the steps is represented by one of the plurality of nodes.

21. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the plurality of instructions further causes the one or more processors to log the series of steps as having been performed on the device.

22. A method, implemented in a device, the method comprising:

obtaining a user-defined task sequence that describes an action to be carried out in managing another device;

converting the user-defined task sequence to a set of one or more steps of a job to be carried out in managing the other device; and

carrying out the one or more steps of the job.

23. A method as recited in claim 22, wherein the set of one or more steps comprises steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the other device.

24. A method as recited in claim 22, wherein carrying out the set of one or more steps comprises:

carrying out a first step of the set of one or more steps; and

carrying out the remaining steps of the set of one or more steps only if the first step is completed successfully.

25. A method as recited in claim 22, wherein the task sequence further describes actions to be carried out in managing one or more of a plurality of additional devices concurrently.

26. A method as recited in claim 22, wherein the converting comprises converting the user-defined task sequence to a tree having a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the one or more steps is represented by one of the plurality of nodes.

27. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

obtain a user-selected task sequence;

convert the user-selected task sequence into an ordered series of steps; and

perform the series of steps in managing a device over a network in accordance with their order.

28. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the user-selected task sequence is a user-defined task sequence.

29. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the job representation comprises a tree having a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the one or more elements for each step is represented by one of the plurality of nodes.

30. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 29, wherein the job representation includes a one to one corresponding of elements to steps.

31. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the steps includes steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the device.

32. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to perform the series of steps comprise instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

carry out a first step of the series of steps; and

carry out the remaining steps of the series of steps only if the first step is completed successfully.

33. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the task sequence includes another task sequence.

34. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the task sequence includes one or more operations to be performed.

35. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the series of steps are to be performed in managing the device and one or more other devices concurrently.

36. A system comprising:

means for obtaining a task sequence that describes a set of one or more steps to be carried out in managing a device;

means for generating a job representation of the set of one or more steps; and

means for carrying out the set of one or more steps in accordance with the job representation.

37. A system as recited in claim 36, wherein the set of one or more steps includes steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the device.

38. A system as recited in claim 36, wherein the set of one or more steps described in the task sequence are to be carried out in managing the device and one or more additional devices concurrently.

39. A system comprising:

a controller to obtain a task sequence that describes one or more steps to be performed on a remote device, and to generate a job representation of the one or more steps; and

a network boot service to detect when the remote device is coupled to a network that the system is also coupled to, and to communicate with the controller to determine which of the steps of the job representation are to be carried out in response to the detection.

40. A system as recited in claim 39, wherein the one or more steps includes steps for automatically deploying an operating system on the remote device.

41. A system as recited in claim 39, wherein one of the steps comprises another task sequence.

42. A system as recited in claim 39, wherein one of the steps comprises an operation to be performed on the remote device.

43. A system as recited in claim 39, wherein the job representation comprises a tree having a plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the one or more steps is represented by one of the plurality of nodes.