METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATICALLY LOCATING A PROVISIONING SERVER

• US 20100057930A1
• Filed: 08/26/2008
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: DeHaan, Michael Paul
• Granted Patent: US 8,838,827 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

A provisioning client can be configured to automatically locate a provisioning server in a provisioning environment in order to perform software provisioning. The provisioning client can locate the provisioning server by detecting the location of the provisioning server or by selecting the appropriate provisioning server from a record of available provisioning servers. Once located, the provisioning client can be configured to establish a connection with the provisioning server and to request or receive software provisioning.

Claims

1. A method of provisioning software in a software provisioning environment, comprising:

instantiating a provisioning client on a target machine;

locating, by the provisioning client, a provisioning server in a network to assist the software provisioning;

establishing a connection with the provisioning server; and

receiving at least one software provisioning action based on at least one of a set of software distributions, a set of installation templates, or a set of installation profiles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein locating the provisioning server comprises:

detecting network information broadcast in the network, the network information comprising at least one of a network location of the provisioning server, a network identity of provisioning server, or a configuration of the provisioning server; and

establishing the connection based on the network information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein locating the provisioning server comprises:

maintaining, in the provisioning client, a record of available provisioning servers, wherein the record comprises at least one of a network location of each available provisioning server, a network identity of each available provisioning server, a configuration of each available provisioning server, or a priority of each available provisioning server;

selecting one of the available provisioning servers as the provisioning server; and

establishing the connection with the selected one of the available provisioning servers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting the one of the available provisioning servers comprises selecting based on the priority value of each provisioning server.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting a second of the available provisioning servers if the connection cannot be established with the selected one of the available provisioning servers.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

updating the record.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the record is a domain name system (DNS) service record.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein locating, by the provisioning client, the provisioning server comprises:

searching for the provisioning server based on a common identification.

9. The method of claim 1, where establishing the connection with the provisioning server comprises providing authentication information to the provisioning server.

10. A provisioning client, the provisioning client being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising instructions for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

locating a provisioning server in a network to assist with software provisioning;

establishing a connection with the provisioning server; and

receiving at least one software provisioning action based on at least one of a set of software distributions, a set of installation templates, or a set of installation profiles.

11. The provisioning client of claim 10, wherein locating the provisioning server comprises:

detecting network information broadcast in the network, the network information comprising at least one of a network location of the provisioning server, a network identity of provisioning server, or a configuration of the provisioning server; and

establishing the connection based on the network information.

12. The provisioning client of claim 10, wherein locating the provisioning server comprises:

maintaining a record of available provisioning servers, wherein the record comprises at least one of a network location of each available provisioning server, a network identity of each available provisioning server, a configuration of each available provisioning server, or a priority of each available provisioning server;

selecting one of the available provisioning servers as the provisioning server; and

establishing the connection with the selected one of the available provisioning servers.

13. The provisioning client of claim 12, wherein selecting the one of the available provisioning servers comprises selecting based on the priority value of each provisioning server.

14. The provisioning client of claim 12, the method further comprising:

selecting a second of the available provisioning servers if the connection cannot be established with the selected one of the available provisioning servers.

15. The provisioning client of claim 12, the method further comprising:

updating the record.

16. The provisioning client of claim 10, where establishing the connection with the provisioning server comprises providing authentication information to the provisioning server.

17. A method of provisioning software in a software provisioning environment, comprising:

broadcasting network information for a provisioning server in a network, the network information comprising at least one of a network location of the provisioning server, a network identity of provisioning server, or a configuration of the provisioning server;

receiving a request from a provisioning client to establish a connection to the provisioning server to assist with software provisioning; and

providing at least one software provisioning action to the provisioning client based at least one of a set of software distributions, a set of installation templates, or a set of installation profiles.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

authenticating the provisioning client prior to providing the at least one software provisioning action.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining a second provisioning server to provide the at least one software provisioning action; and

providing network information of the second provisioning server to the provisioning client.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the broadcast of the network information comprises a multicast domain name system (DNS) broadcast.

21. A system for providing software provisioning in a software provisioning environment, comprising:

a network interface to a network comprises at least one new system; and

a provisioning server, communicating with the network interface, the provisioning server being configured to—

broadcast network information for the provisioning server, the network information comprising at least one of a network location of the provisioning server, a network identity of provisioning server, or a configuration of the provisioning server;

receive a request from a provisioning client to establish a connection to the provisioning server to assist with software provisioning; and

provide at least one software provisioning action to the provisioning client based at least one of a set of software distributions, a set of installation templates, or a set of installation profiles.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the provisioning server is further comprising:

authenticating the provisioning client prior to providing the at least one software provisioning action.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the provisioning server is further comprising:

determining a second provisioning server to provide the at least one software provisioning action; and

providing network information of the second provisioning server to the provisioning client.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the broadcast of the network information comprises a multicast domain name system (DNS) broadcast.