DYNAMICALLY GENERATE AND EXECUTE A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC PATCH INSTALLATION PROCEDURE ON A COMPUTING SYSTEM

• US 20140237463A1
• Filed: 02/21/2013
• Published: 08/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Balachandran, Girish K., Misner, Timothy C., Sriram, Vijay N., Ningombam, Mack S., Liu, Weishi
• Granted Patent: US 9,489,189 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/172
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A patch installation procedure may be generated and executed that is specific both to the patch and the configuration of the target computing system. Configuration data may be received that indicates the configuration of the target computing system. Installation metadata for the patch, describing the operations to be performed for installing the patch may also be received. A patch installation procedure may be generated that is based on both the configuration data and the installation metadata. This patch installation procedure may then be executed to automatically install the patch on the target computing system. In at least some embodiments, the target computing system may a distributed computing system including multiple nodes.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a patch installation procedure generator, configured to;

receive configuration data for a computing system that is a target for installation of a patch;

receive installation metadata for the patch to be installed on the computing system, wherein said installation metadata describes operations to be performed for installing the patch;

based on both the configuration data and the installation metadata, generate a patch installation procedure for automatically installing the patch on the computing system, wherein the patch installation procedure is specific to the patch and the configuration of the computing system indicated by the configuration data;

a patch installation module, configured to;

receive as input the patch installation procedure; and

executing the patch installation procedure to automatically install the patch on the computing system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is a distributed computing system comprising a plurality of nodes.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the configuration data comprises a configuration model that indicates a configuration of the plurality of nodes of the distributed computing system, and wherein the system further comprises:

a configuration model generator, configured to;

access configuration data for each of the plurality of nodes; and

generate the configuration model based on the accessed configuration data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein, to generate the patch installation procedure for automatically installing the patch on the computing system, the patch installation procedure generator is further configured to:

based on the installation metadata, generate a plurality of installation instructions for the patch specific to the configuration of the computing system as indicated by the configuration data;

access a patch mapping data store to obtain automation mapping data for the plurality of installation instructions; and

based, at least in part, on the automation mapping data, build the patch installation procedure from the plurality of installation instructions.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one or more of the plurality of installation instructions is an abstract instruction type, and wherein, to build the patch installation procedure from the plurality of installation instructions, the patch installation procedure generator is further configured to:

for the one or more installation instructions of the abstract installation type, generate one or more directly executable installation instructions to be performed in place of the one or more installation instructions.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the patch installation module is further configured to:

receive an indication of an installation option; and

modify the patch installation procedure for execution in accordance with the installation option.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the installation option is one of a plurality of different installation options, and wherein the plurality of different installation options comprise at least one of:

in-place patch installation;

out-of-place patch installation;

rolling patch installation;

or

parallel patch installation.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said patch is one of a set of patches, and wherein the patch installation procedure generator is configured to repeat said receiving installation metadata and said generating a patch installation procedure for each other patch of the set of patches, and wherein the patch installation module is configured to repeat said executing the patch installation procedure to install each other patch of the set of patches.

9. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions that when executed by one or more computing devices implement:

a patch installation procedure generator, configured to;

receive configuration data for a computing system that is a target for installation of a patch;

receive installation metadata for the patch to be installed on the computing system, wherein said installation metadata describes operations to be performed for installing the patch;

based on both the configuration data and the installation metadata, generate a patch installation procedure for automatically installing the patch on the computing system, wherein the patch installation procedure is specific to the patch and a configuration of the computing system indicated by the configuration data;

a patch installation module, configured to;

receive as input the patch installation procedure; and

executing the patch installation procedure to automatically install the patch on the computing system.

10. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the computing system is a distributed computing system comprising a plurality of nodes.

11. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the configuration data comprises a configuration model that indicates a configuration of the plurality of nodes of the distributed computing system, and wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more computing devices further implement:

a configuration model generator, configured to;

access configuration data for each of the plurality of nodes; and

generate the configuration model based on the accessed configuration data.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein, to generate the patch installation procedure for automatically installing the patch on the computing system, the patch installation procedure generator is further configured to:

based on the installation metadata, generate a plurality of installation instructions for the patch specific to the configuration of the computing system as indicated by the configuration data;

access a patch mapping data store to obtain automation mapping data for the plurality of installation instructions; and

based, at least in part, on the automation mapping data, build the patch installation procedure from the plurality of installation instructions.

13. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein at least one or more of the plurality of installation instructions is an abstract instruction type, and wherein, to build the patch installation procedure from the plurality of installation instructions, the patch installation procedure generator is further configured to:

for the one or more installation instructions of the abstract installation type, generate one or more directly executable installation instructions to be performed in place of the one or more installation instructions.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the patch installation module is further configured to:

receive an indication of an installation option; and

modify the patch installation procedure for execution in accordance with the installation option.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the installation option is one of a plurality of different installation options, and wherein the plurality of different installation options comprise at least one of:

in-place patch installation;

out-of-place patch installation;

rolling patch installation;

or

parallel patch installation.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein a different target computing system is the target of the same patch, and wherein the patch installation procedure generator is configured to perform said receiving the configuration data, said receiving installation metadata, and said generating a patch installation procedure for the different target computing system, and wherein the patch installation procedure generated for the different target computing system is different than the patch installation procedure generated for the computing system.

17. A method, comprising:

performing, by one or more computing devices;

receiving configuration data for a computing system that is a target for installation of a patch;

receiving installation metadata for the patch to be installed on the computing system, wherein said installation metadata describes operations to be performed for installing the patch;

based on both the configuration data and the installation metadata, generating a patch installation procedure for automatically installing the patch on the computing system, wherein the patch installation procedure is specific to the patch and a configuration of the computing system indicated by the configuration data; and

executing the patch installation procedure to automatically install the patch on the computing system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said generating a patch installation procedure specific to the configuration of the plurality of nodes of the distributed computing system as indicated by the configuration model comprises:

based on the installation metadata, generating a plurality of installation instructions for the patch specific to the configuration of the computing system as indicated by the configuration data;

accessing a patch mapping data store to obtain automation mapping data for the plurality of installation instructions; and

based, at least in part, on the automation mapping data, building the patch installation procedure from the plurality of installation instructions.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving an indication of an installation option; and

modifying the patch installation procedure for execution in accordance with the installation option.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the computing system is a distributed computing system comprising a plurality of nodes, and wherein the configuration data comprises a configuration model that indicates a configuration of the plurality of nodes of the distributed computing system.