PERFORMING UNATTENDED SOFTWARE INSTALLATION

• US 20140259008A1
• Filed: 03/06/2013
• Published: 09/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhattiprolu, Sukadev, Jujjuri, Venkateswararao, Myneni, Haren, Naineni, Malahal R., Pulavarty, Badari, Seetharaman, Chandra, Sharoff, Narasimha N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,575,739 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

Systems and computer program products may perform unattended software installation. The systems and computer program products may include receiving a user'"'"'s selection of one or more software installation files, and reading at least a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files. The systems and computer program products may additionally include extracting, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files, and compiling the extracted questions. The systems and computer program products may further include prompting a user to provide answers to the compiled questions, and receiving answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions prior to execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files. The systems and computer program products may additionally include storing the received answers, and providing the stored answers when requested during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. A software installation system, comprising:

a processor;

a memory; and

a program comprising a plurality of instructions stored in the memory that are executed by the processor to;

receive a user'"'"'s selection of one or more software installation files;

read at least a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

extract, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

compile the extracted questions;

prompt a user to provide answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions;

receive answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions prior to execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

store the received answers; and

provide the stored answers when requested during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files.

12. The software installation system of claim 11, further comprising:

a file server having a first processor, a first memory, and a first program; and

a client having a second processor, a second memory, and a second program,

the first program comprising a plurality of instructions stored in the first memory that are executed by the first processor to;

receive a user'"'"'s selection of one or more software installation files from the client;

read at least a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

extract, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

compile the extracted questions; and

send the compiled questions to the client.

13. The software installation system of claim 12, wherein the second program comprises a plurality of instructions stored in the second memory that are executed by the second processor to:

receive the compiled questions from the file server;

prompt a user to provide answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions;

receive answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions prior to execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

store the received answers;

download the one or more user-selected software installation files from the file server; and

provide the stored answers when requested during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files.

14. The software installation system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions that are executed by the processor to:

read a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files prior to extracting, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files; and

read the remainder of the one or more user-selected software installation files subsequent to storing the received answers.

15. The software installation system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions that are executed by the processor to:

identify a first set of questions of the extracted questions that are dependent on answers to a second set of questions of the extracted questions;

prompt a user to provide answers to the second set of questions;

select less than all questions from the first set of questions based on the answers to the second set of questions; and

prompt a user to provide at least one answer to only the less than all questions.

16. A computer program product for performing unattended software installation, the computer program product comprising:

at least one computer readable storage medium having computer readable program instructions embodied therewith, the computer readable program instructions, when read by a processor, being configured to;

receive a user'"'"'s selection of one or more software installation files;

read at least a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

extract, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

compile the extracted questions;

prompt a user to provide answers to the compiled questions;

receive answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions prior to execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

store the received answers; and

provide the stored answers when requested during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the at least one computer readable storage medium includes first and second computer readable storage media, the first computer readable storage medium having first computer readable program instructions embodied therewith and the second computer readable storage medium having second computer readable program instructions embodied therewith,

the first computer readable program instructions, when read by a processor of a file server, being configured to:

receive a user'"'"'s selection of one or more software installation files from the client,

read at least a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files,

extract, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files,

compile the extracted questions, and

send the compiled questions to the client; and

the second computer readable program instructions, when read by a processor of a client, being configured to;

receive the compiled questions from the file server;

prompt a user to provide answers to the compiled questions;

receive answers to one or more questions of the compiled questions prior to execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files;

store the received answers;

download the one or more user-selected software installation files from the file server; and

provide the stored answers when requested during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer readable program instructions, when read by a processor, are further configured to:

read a portion of the one or more user-selected software installation files prior to extracting, from the read one or more software installation files, questions that a user will be asked to answer during execution of the one or more user-selected software installation files; and

read the remainder of the one or more user-selected software installation files subsequent to storing the received answers.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer readable program instructions, when read by a processor, are further configured to:

identify redundant questions from the extracted questions;

exclude the identified redundant questions from the compiled questions; and

provide the stored answers for the excluded redundant questions when requested during execution of the one or more software installation files.