Image install of a network appliance

• US 20090300603A1
• Filed: 05/29/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Schneider, James P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,418,164 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/178
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/63 Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/64 Retargetable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A method and apparatus for installing a network appliance. In one embodiment, the method includes copying an install image pertaining to the network appliance to an install staging area in a memory device of the network appliance, obtaining current installation object data from a server, and saving an up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area using the installation object data received from the server. The method may further include marking the install staging area as bootable, rebooting the network appliance, and installing from the install staging area onto the network appliance.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for a network appliance, comprising:

copying an install image pertaining to the network appliance to an install staging area in a memory device of the network appliance;

obtaining current installation object data from a server;

saving an up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area using the installation object data received from the server;

marking the install staging area as bootable;

rebooting the network appliance; and

installing from the install staging area onto the network appliance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of installation objects comprises software packages and data in a preinstalled form.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the current installation object data from the server comprises:

assembling a list of fingerprints of currently available installation objects;

sending the assembled list to the server; and

receiving the installation object data from the server, the installation object data identifying outdated installation objects from the assembled list, and new installation objects not included in the assembled list.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein saving the up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area comprises:

deleting the outdated installation objects from the install staging area; and

adding the new installation objects to the install staging area.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the current installation object data from the server comprises:

creating an empty list of installation object fingerprints;

sending the empty list of installation object fingerprints to a server; and

receiving a current list of installation objects from the server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reserving the install staging area in the memory device of the network appliance.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the current installation object data comprises a set of zero or more installation objects in a serialized form.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the serialized form comprises one or more of:

an XML document;

a CDATA section of an XML document; and

a multipart MIME encoded document.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein notifying the network appliance of the outdated and new installation objects comprises:

providing a set of zero or more installation objects in a serialized form.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the serialized form comprises one or more of:

an XML document;

a CDATA section of an XML document;

a multipart MIME encoded document.

9. A computer-implemented method for a server, comprising:

maintaining a set of current installation objects pertaining to a network appliance;

receiving a list of installation object fingerprints from the network appliance;

comparing the received list of installation object fingerprints with the maintained set of installation objects;

determining whether the received list of installation object fingerprints identifies any outdated installation objects that are not included in the maintained list of installation objects;

determining whether the received list of installation object fingerprints lacks fingerprints of any new installation objects that are included in the maintained list of installation objects; and

notifying the network appliance of the outdated and new installation objects.

12. A computer-readable storage medium that, when executed by a first machine, causes the first machine to perform a method comprising:

copying an install image pertaining to the network appliance to an install staging area in a memory device of the network appliance;

obtaining current installation object data from a server;

saving an up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area using the installation object data received from the server;

marking the install staging area as bootable;

rebooting the network appliance; and

installing from the install staging area onto the network appliance.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the plurality of installation objects comprises software packages and data in a preinstalled form.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein obtaining the current installation object data from the server comprises:

assembling a list of fingerprints of currently available installation objects;

sending the assembled list to the server; and

receiving the installation object data from the server, the installation object data identifying outdated installation objects from the assembled list, and new installation objects not included in the assembled list.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein saving the up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area comprises:

deleting the outdated installation objects from the install staging area; and

adding the new installation objects to the install staging area.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein obtaining the current installation object data from the server comprises:

creating an empty list of installation object fingerprints;

sending the empty list of installation object fingerprints to a server; and

receiving a current list of installation objects from the server.

17. A network appliance apparatus, comprising:

a memory device having an install staging area to store an install image pertaining to a network appliance; and

an installer, coupled to the memory device, to obtain current installation object data from a server, to save an up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area using the installation object data received from the server, to perform installation from the install staging area onto the network appliance.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the installer is to obtain the current installation object data from the server by:

assembling a list of fingerprints of currently available installation objects;

sending the assembled list to the server; and

receiving the installation object data from the server, the installation object data identifying outdated installation objects from the assembled list, and new installation objects not included in the assembled list.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the installer is to save the up-to-date set of installation objects in the install staging area by:

deleting the outdated installation objects from the install staging area; and

adding the new installation objects to the install staging area.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the installer is to obtain the current installation object data from the server by:

creating an empty list of installation object fingerprints;

sending the empty list of installation object fingerprints to a server; and

receiving a current list of installation objects from the server.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

an install server, coupled to the installer over a network, to maintain a set of current installation objects pertaining to the network appliance, to receive a list of installation object fingerprints from the network appliance, to compare the received list of installation object fingerprints with fingerprints of the maintained set of installation objects, to determine whether the received list of installation object fingerprints identifies any outdated installation objects that are not included in the maintained list of installation objects, to determine whether the received list of installation object fingerprints lacks fingerprints of any new installation objects that are included in the maintained list of installation objects, and to notify the network appliance of the outdated and new installation objects.