PROGRAM EXECUTION SERVICE WINDOWS

• US 20140165051A1
• Filed: 07/22/2013
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Kyle, Maziak, Adrian, Milton, Djana, Rajpure, Dattatraya, Dhawan, Gaurav, Khan, Shafqat, Drake, Roxana, Iqbal, Khuzaima
• Granted Patent: US 9,195,450 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system

Abstract

Techniques for guaranteeing that a software program is executed on a machine only during designated periods of time are provided. Service windows define time periods during which software programs targeted to execute on a machine are allowed to execute on the machine. On the machine, the service windows work in conjunction with a client process that is executing on the machine to guarantee execution of the software programs by the client process only during available service windows.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system for guaranteeing execution of a content image, the method comprising:

under the control of an update client executing on the computer system,

obtaining the content image and its associated content image policy for execution on the computer system, the content image policy specifying an approximate execution time for the content image;

determining whether a service window is available for executing the content image by comparing a present time, a start time and an end time of the service window, and the approximate execution time for the content image; and

upon determining that the service window is available, executing the content image on the computer system.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, upon determining that no service windows are available, requesting to be notified when a service window becomes available.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a service window becomes available when a present time is between a start time and an end time of the service window.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein an impact level is used in determining whether a service window is available for executing the content image.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a priority level is used in determining whether a service window is available for executing the content image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the content image policy further specifies an indication as to whether or not to obey a service window policy, and further wherein the indication as to whether or not to obey the service window policy is used in determining whether a service window is available for executing the content image.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, upon determining that the content image is executing beyond the end time of the available service window, prohibiting the content image from rebooting the computer system.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, upon determining that the content image is executing beyond the end time of the available service window, allowing the content image to execute until a predetermined maximum runtime is reached.

9. One or more data signals that collectively convey a service window policy comprising at least one service window, each service window specifying a start time, an end time, and a days of the week indicator,

such that the service window policy is downloaded to a machine, and the start time, end time, and days of the week indicator are used by an update client executing on the machine to determine whether a service window is available for executing a program on the machine.

10. The data signals of claim 9, wherein the at least one service window further specifies an impact level, such that only programs at or lower than the specified impact level are allowed to execute in the at least one service window.

11. The data signals of claim 9, wherein the at least one service window further specifies a priority level, such that only programs at or higher than the specified priority level are allowed to execute in the at least one service window.

12. The data signals of claim 9, wherein the at least one service window further specifies an indication of whether or not to enable the at least one service window.

13. The data signals of claim 9, wherein the service window policy is downloaded from a remote server.

14. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to:

obtain a content image and its associated content image policy for execution on the computer system, the content image policy specifying an approximate execution time for the content image;

determine that a service window is available for executing the content image by comparing a present time, a start time and an end time of the service window, and the approximate execution time for the content image; and

execute the content image on the computer system during the service window.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further comprising contents that cause the computer system to, upon determining that no service windows are available, request to be notified when a service window becomes available.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein an impact level is specified in the service window, and further wherein the impact level is used to determine that the service window is available for executing the content image.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein an enable/disable flag is specified in the service window, and further wherein the enable/disable flag is used to determine that the service window is available for executing the content image.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein a priority level is specified in the service window, and further wherein the priority level is used to determine that the service window is available for executing the content image.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further comprising contents that cause the computer system to, upon determining that the content image is executing beyond the end time of the available service window, prohibit the content image from rebooting the computer system.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further comprising contents that cause the computer system to, upon determining that the content image is executing beyond the end time of the available service window, allow the content image to execute until a predetermined maximum runtime is reached.