METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVISIONING SOFTWARE

• US 20080288939A1
• Filed: 06/14/2007
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: DeHaan, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,132,166 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

The present invention provides a unified provisioning environment, which comprehensively manages the tasks related to software provisioning. In particular, the present invention manages software provisioning using a hierarchy of commands. The lowest level in the hierarchy comprises distribution commands, which primarily handle base operating system specific tasks of provisioning. The second level comprises profile commands, which associate a configuration file, such as a Linux kickstart file, with a distribution and optionally allow for customization. The third level comprises system commands, which associate remote systems that are involved with the provisioning of the software. The fourth level comprises repository commands, which address configurations and tasks related to updating the software, remote installation procedures, and optionally customizing the software.

Claims

1. A system for provisioning software to a target machine, said system comprising:

at least one repository of software distributions; and

a provisioning server installed on a boot server and configured to link to the at least one repository, host templates of configuration files and plugins, and support a set of commands for retrieving at least one software distribution, linking a configuration file to the at least one distribution, receiving information indicating a system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine, receiving update information for the at least one software distribution, and installing, automatically, the at least one software distribution and update information on the target machine based on the configuration file and with the assistance of the remote system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises support retrieving a Linux distribution.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises support for retrieving a distribution having a specified kernel.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises support for retrieving a distribution having a specified initrd.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises support for specifying parameters in the configuration that are to be substituted.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises support for retrieving a parameter that sets an architecture for a PXE bootloader that will be used in installation of the at least one distribution.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for linking the configuration file to the at least one distribution comprises support for linking a kickstart file to the at least one distribution.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for linking the configuration file to the at least one distribution comprises support for linking a AutoYAST file to the at least one distribution.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for linking the configuration file to the at least one distribution comprises support for specifying a virtualization disk image size in to the configuration file.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for linking the configuration file to the at least one distribution comprises support for specifying an amount of RAM that may be consumed on the target machine in to the configuration file.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for receiving information indicating the system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine comprises support for receiving an IP address of the remote system.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for receiving information indicating the system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine comprises support for receiving a hostname of the remote system.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for receiving information indicating the system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine comprises support for receiving a MAC address of the remote system.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for receiving update information for the at least one software distribution comprises support for receiving information indicating a repository mirror for the at least one software distribution.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a command that checks on a status of installing the at least one distribution based on when the target machine last requested a file from the server.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the provisioning server is configured to install, automatically, the at least one software distribution via PXE on the target machine.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the provisioning server is configured to install, automatically, the at least one software distribution on a virtual machine on the target machine.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising a client application running on the target machine that when invoked requests profile information from the provisioning server.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising a client application running on the target machine that creates new virtualized guests on the target machine in accordance with commands received from the provisioning server.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising a client application running on the target machine that reprovisions the target machine by deleting any current data and replacing it with a network install of the at least one software distribution from the provisioning server.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the provisioning server is configured to retrieve a configuration file that has already been defined and apply it to the target machine, wherein the target machine does not have any helper client installed.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for receiving update information for the at least one software distribution comprises support for optional packages to be included with the at least one software distribution package.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands for receiving update information for the at least one software distribution comprises support for configuring the target machine to retrieve third party content and updates for the at least one software distribution being installed on the target machine.