Programmatic Creation Of Task Sequences From Manifests

• US 20110113421A1
• Filed: 03/25/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: McCurdy, Daniel, McGraw, William Harrison IV, Ewington, Craig Leslie
• Application Number:
  US12/731,592
• Publication Number:
  US 20110113421A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and systems are described for receiving, by a computer, data representing a first manifest and a second manifest, the first manifest identifying at least some of a plurality of software components and the second manifest identifying at least some of the plurality of software components; determining a first one of the software components that is identified by the second manifest and not identified by the first manifest; generating, by the computer, a task sequence comprising instructions for creating a software stack from an image of the software stack, and for installing the first one of the software components to the created software stack; and recording, by the computer, data representing the task sequence to a computer-readable medium.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer, data representing a first manifest and a second manifest, the first manifest identifying at least some of a plurality of software components and the second manifest identifying at least some of the plurality of software components;

determining a first one of the software components that is identified by the second manifest and not identified by the first manifest;

generating, by the computer, a task sequence comprising instructions for creating a software stack from an image of the software stack, and for installing the first one of the software components to the created software stack; and

recording, by the computer, data representing the task sequence to a computer-readable medium.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a second one of the software components that is identified by the first manifest and not identified by the second manifest, wherein generating comprises generating the task sequence to further comprise instructions for de-installing the second software component from the created software stack.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second manifests each identify a version of a second one of the software components, and wherein the method further comprises:

comparing the version identified by the first manifest and the version identified by the second manifest; and

responsive to determining based on the comparing that the version identified by the second manifest is higher than the version identified by the first manifest, generating the task sequence so as to comprise instructions for de-installing from the created software stack the second one of the software components and installing to the created software stack the version of the second one of the software components identified by the second manifest.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second manifests each identify a version of a second one of the software components, and wherein the method further comprises:

comparing the version identified by the first manifest and the version identified by the second manifest; and

responsive to determining based on the comparing that the version identified by the second manifest is different from the version identified by the first manifest, generating the task sequence so as to comprise instructions for de-installing from the created software stack the second one of the software components and installing to the created software stack the version of the second one of the software components identified by the second manifest.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the data representing the task sequence over a network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the software components are installer components.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the task sequence comprises generating the task sequence to further comprise instructions for removing a pre-existing software stack prior to creating the software stack.

8. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer, data representing a first manifest and a second manifest, the first manifest identifying at least some of a plurality of software components and the second manifest identifying at least some of the plurality of software components, wherein the first and second manifests each identify a version of a first one of the software components;

comparing the version identified by the first manifest and the version identified by the second manifest;

responsive to determining based on the comparing that the version identified by the second manifest is different from the version identified by the first manifest, generating a task sequence comprising instructions for creating a software stack from an image of the software stack, de-installing from the created software stack the first one of the software components, and installing to the created software stack the version of the first one of the software components identified by the second manifest; and

recording, by the computer, data representing the task sequence to a computer-readable medium.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a second one of the software components that is identified by the first manifest and not identified by the second manifest, wherein generating comprises generating the task sequence to further comprise instructions for de-installing the second software component from the created software stack.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein comparing comprises determining whether the version identified by the second manifest is higher than the version identified by the first manifest, and wherein generating the task sequence so as to comprise instructions for de-installing from the created software stack the first one of the software components and installing to the created software stack the version of the first one of the software components identified by the second manifest, is performed responsive to determining that the version identified by the second manifest is higher than the version identified by the first manifest.

11. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer, data representing a first manifest and a second manifest, the first manifest identifying at least some of a plurality of software components and the second manifest identifying at least some of the plurality of software components;

determining a first one of the software components that is identified by the second manifest and not identified by the first manifest; and

generating, by the computer, a task sequence comprising instructions for creating a software stack from an image of the software stack, and for installing the first one of the software components to the created software stack.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises determining a second one of the software components that is identified by the first manifest and not identified by the second manifest, wherein generating comprises generating the task sequence to further comprise instructions for de-installing the second software component from the created software stack.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first and second manifests each identify a version of a second one of the software components, and wherein the method further comprises:

comparing the version identified by the first manifest and the version identified by the second manifest; and

responsive to determining based on the comparing that the version identified by the second manifest is higher than the version identified by the first manifest, generating the task sequence so as to comprise instructions for de-installing from the created software stack the second one of the software components and installing to the created software stack the version of the second one of the software components identified by the second manifest.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first and second manifests each identify a version of a second one of the software components, and wherein the method further comprises:

comparing the version identified by the first manifest and the version identified by the second manifest; and

responsive to determining based on the comparing that the version identified by the second manifest is different from the version identified by the first manifest, generating the task sequence so as to comprise instructions for de-installing from the created software stack the second one of the software components and installing to the created software stack the version of the second one of the software components identified by the second manifest.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises sending the data representing the task sequence over a network.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the software components are installer components.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein generating the task sequence comprises generating the task sequence to further comprise instructions for removing a pre-existing software stack prior to creating the software stack.

18. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer, data representing a first manifest and a second manifest, the first manifest identifying at least some of a plurality of software components and the second manifest identifying at least some of the plurality of software components, wherein the first and second manifests each identify a version of a first one of the software components;

comparing the version identified by the first manifest and the version identified by the second manifest; and

responsive to determining based on the comparing that the version identified by the second manifest is different from the version identified by the first manifest, generating a task sequence comprising instructions for creating a software stack from an image of the software stack, de-installing from the created software stack the first one of the software components, and installing to the created software stack the version of the first one of the software components identified by the second manifest.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises determining a second one of the software components that is identified by the first manifest and not identified by the second manifest, wherein generating comprises generating the task sequence to further comprise instructions for de-installing the second software component from the created software stack.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein comparing comprises determining whether the version identified by the second manifest is higher than the version identified by the first manifest, and wherein generating the task sequence so as to comprise instructions for de-installing from the created software stack the first one of the software components and installing to the created software stack the version of the first one of the software components identified by the second manifest, is performed responsive to determining that the version identified by the second manifest is higher than the version identified by the first manifest.