Registration process for determining compatibility with 32-bit or 64-bit software

• US 20090064132A1
• Filed: 08/28/2007
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Zazrivec, Milan, Suchy, Miroslav
• Granted Patent: US 8,832,679 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/64 Retargetable

Abstract

A registration process for computers as part of a provisioning system that automatically determines the appropriate components to install in each computer system. The registration process ensures that the configuration information necessary for provisioning of software components that are appropriate to each system are collected. The registration process can identify support for 64-bit components. The registration process checks a field in the processor to determine longword, that is 64-bit support, or checks an entry in a file maintained by an operating system to determine 64-bit support.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving a registration request from a system;

requesting an architecture bit-size support indicator of the system; and

recording the architecture bit-size support indicator in a configuration profile for the system.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the architecture bit-size support indicator is based on a flag of a processor of the system

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the architecture bit-size support indicator is based on a configuration file of an operating system of the system.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a response from the system includes a value indicating whether a longword flag is set in a processor of the system or a value indicating whether an operating system configuration file of the system includes a longword support indicator.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting a virtual machine extension support indicator.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting a manufacturer identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording any one of a virtual machine extension support or a manufacturer identifier in the configuration profile.

8. A machine readable medium, having instructions stored therein, which when executed, cause a machine to perform a set of instructions comprising:

receiving a registration request from a system;

requesting an architecture bit-size support indicator of the system; and

recording the architecture bit-size support indicator in a configuration profile for the system.

9. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the architecture bit-size support indicator is based on a flag of a processor of the system

10. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the architecture bit-size support indicator is based on a configuration file of an operating system of the system.

11. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein a response from the system includes a value indicating whether a longword flag is set in a processor of the system or a value indicating whether an operating system configuration file of the system includes a longword support indicator.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

requesting a virtual machine extension support indicator.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

requesting a manufacturer identifier.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

recording any one of a virtual machine extension support or a manufacturer identifier in the configuration profile.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a provisioning configuration module to store a configuration profile for a computer; and

a registration manager coupled to the provisioning configuration module, the registration manager to service a registration request from the computer and record an architecture bit-size support indicator from the computer in the configuration profile.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the registration manager queries a flag of a processor of the computer to obtain the architecture bit-size support indicator.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the registration manager queries am operating system configuration file of the computer for the architecture bit-size support indicator.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the registration manager is a component of a provisioning manager.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the provisioning manager designates software components as available for download based on the configuration profile collected by the registration manager.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a component tracking module coupled to the provisioning manager, the component tracking module to store compatibility data for a plurality of software components.