SEMANTICALLY RICH COMPOSABLE SOFTWARE IMAGE BUNDLES

• US 20120084769A1
• Filed: 09/30/2010
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: ADI, Asaf, BERG, Daniel C., ARNOLD, William C., EILAM, Tamar, JOSEPH, Dinakaran, KALANTAR, Michael H., KOFMAN, Alexander, KONSTANTINOU, Alexander V., ROTH, Tova, SNIBLE, Edward C., SLUIMAN, Harm, WILLENBORG, Ruth E., HOGSTROM, Matt R., ORTIZ, Jose I.
• Granted Patent: US 9,280,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/63 Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order

Abstract

A composable software bundle is created by retrieving a semantic representation of a set of software modules. A functional representation of a set of operations is retrieved. Each operation in the set of operations is to be performed on the set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle phase in a set of virtual image life-cycle phases. A set of artifacts including a set of executable instructions associated with the set of operations is identified. The semantic representation, the functional representation, and the set of artifacts, are stored in a composable software bundle.

Claims

1. A method for creating a composable software bundle, the method comprising:

retrieving a semantic representation of a set of software modules;

retrieving a functional representation of a set of operations, each operation in the set of operations is to be performed on the set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle phase in a set of virtual image life-cycle phases;

identifying a set of artifacts comprising at least one of a set of metadata and a set of executable instructions associated with the set of operations; and

storing the semantic representation, the functional representation, and the set of artifacts, in a composable software bundle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the semantic representation semantically represents a set of capabilities and a set of requirements associated with the set of software.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of executable instructions comprises at least one of:

a configuration script;

an uninstall script;

a delete file script; and

an add file script.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the composable software bundle is at least one of:

reusable with a plurality of virtual image assets; and

reusable across a plurality of computing environments.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the functional representation further comprises:

a set of operation descriptions for each operation in the set of operations.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the set of operation descriptions comprises at least one of:

a set of requirements for an operation in the set of operations;

a description of an execution container for the operation;

a description of how the operation affects the set of software modules;

a set of relationships between a set of parameters associated with the operation and a configuration of the set of software modules represented by the semantic representation; and

a set of ordering constraints associated with the set of operations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of virtual image life-cycle phases comprises at least one of:

a virtual image build life-cycle phase;

a virtual image capture life-cycle phase; and

a virtual image deploy life-cycle phase.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of executable instructions is a script that installs the set of software modules on the virtual image during at least one of the set of virtual image life-cycle phases associated with the script.

9. A computer readable storage medium for creating a composable software bundle, the computer readable storage medium comprising:

a data structure comprising a composable software bundle, the composable software bundle comprising;

a semantic representation of a set of software modules;

a functional representation of a set of operations, each operation in the set of operations is to be performed on the set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle phase in a set of virtual image life-cycle phases; and

a set of artifacts comprising at least one of a set of metadata and a set of executable instructions associated with the set of operations.

10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the semantic representation semantically represents a set of capabilities and a set of requirements associated with the set of software.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the set of executable instructions comprises at least one of:

a configuration script;

an uninstall script;

a delete file script; and

an add file script.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the composable software bundle is at least one of:

reusable with a plurality of virtual image assets; and

reusable across a plurality of computing environments.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the functional representation further comprises:

a set of operation descriptions for each operation in the set of operations.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of operation descriptions comprises at least one of:

a set of requirements for an operation in the set of operations;

a description of an execution container for the operation;

a description of how the operation affects the set of software modules;

a set of relationships between a set of parameters associated with the operation and a configuration of the set of software modules represented by the semantic representation; and

a set of ordering constraints associated with the set of operations.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the set of virtual image life-cycle phases comprises at least one of:

a virtual image build life-cycle phase;

a virtual image capture life-cycle phase; and

a virtual image deploy life-cycle phase.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the set of executable instructions is a script that installs the set of software modules on the virtual image during at least one of the set of virtual image life-cycle phases associated with the script.

17. A system for creating a composable software bundle, the system comprising:

a memory;

a processor, communicatively couple with the memory; and

a user interface, communicatively coupled with the processor and the memory, for displaying information to a user and for receiving user input from the user, the processor being adapted to perform a method comprising;

retrieving a semantic representation of a set of software modules;

retrieving a functional representation of a set of operations, each operation in the set of operations is to be performed on the set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle phase in a set of virtual image life-cycle phases;

identifying a set of artifacts comprising at least one of a set of data and a set of executable instructions associated with the set of operations; and

storing the semantic representation, the functional representation, and the set of artifacts, in a composable software bundle.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the semantic representation semantically represents a set of capabilities and a set of requirements associated with the set of software.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the functional representation further comprises:

a set of operation descriptions for each operation in the set of operations, and wherein the set of operation descriptions comprises at least one of;

a set of requirements for an operation in the set of operations;

a description of an execution container for the operation;

a description of how the operation affects the set of software modules;

a set of relationships between a set of parameters associated with the operation and a configuration of the set of software modules represented by the semantic representation; and

a set of ordering constraints associated with the set of operations.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the set of virtual image life-cycle phases comprises at least one of:

a virtual image build life-cycle phase;

a virtual image capture life-cycle phase; and

a virtual image deploy life-cycle phase.

21. A computer program product for creating a composable software bundle, the computer program product comprising:

a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising;

retrieving a semantic representation of a set of software modules;

retrieving a functional representation of a set of operations, each operation in the set of operations is to be performed on the set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle phase in a set of virtual image life-cycle phases;

identifying a set of artifacts comprising at least one of a set of data and a set of executable instructions associated with the set of operations; and

storing the semantic representation, the functional representation, and the set of artifacts, in a composable software bundle.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the semantic representation semantically represents a set of capabilities and a set of requirements associated with the set of software.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the functional representation further comprises:

a set of operation descriptions for each operation in the set of operations, and wherein the set of operation descriptions comprises at least one of;

a set of requirements for an operation in the set of operations;

a description of an execution container for the operation;

a description of how the operation affects the set of software modules;

a set of relationships between a set of parameters associated with the operation and a configuration of the set of software modules represented by the semantic representation; and

a set of ordering constraints associated with the set of operations.

24. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the set of virtual image life-cycle phases comprises at least one of:

a configuration script;

an uninstall script;

a delete file script; and

an add file script.

25. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the set of executable instructions is a script that installs the set of software modules on the virtual image during at least one of the set of virtual image life-cycle phases associated with the script.