Program product for modular, parallel, remote software installation with repeatable, externally-invocable steps

• US 6,460,175 B1
• Filed: 07/18/1997
• Issued: 10/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ferri, Richard, Russell, Richard C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Morse, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAS, CHAMELI
• Application Number:
  US08/896,923
• Time in Patent Office: 1,901 Days
• Field of Search: 395/712, 395/200.51, 717/11, 717/100, 717/103, 717/101, 717/124, 717/129
• US Class Current: 717/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

A program product recorded on a computer readable medium in which the program product includes a method of performing a software operation on a target of one or more processors in a distributed processing system wherein another processor is designated as a server. The method includes running a configuration program on the server to condition the server to serve on the target, the software operation which includes resource creation and object definitions; testing entry conditions in the configuration program for determining if entry conditions are met to serve the software operation on the target; if the entry conditions are met, serving the software operation on the target; at the completion of the software operation, testing exit conditions in the configuration program for determining if the software operation on the target completed successfully; if the exit conditions are met, exiting the software operation; returning to the configuration program to serve a second software operation on the target; and repeating until all software operations are served on the target.

Claims

1. A program product on a computer readable medium for use in a distributed processing system having multiple processors, one processor being designated a server and one or more other processors being designated a target, the program product containing a method for performing software operations by the server on the target comprising the steps of:

a) running a configuration program on the server to condition the server to serve on the target a software operation on said target, said software operation including resource creation and object definitions;

b) testing entry conditions in said configuration program for determining if entry conditions are met to serve said software operation on said target;

c) in the event said entry conditions are met, serving said software operation on said target;

d) at the completion of said software operation, testing exit conditions in said configuration program for determining if said software operation on said target completed successfully;

e) in the event said exit conditions are met, exiting said software operation;

f) returning to said configuration program to serve a second software operation on said target; and

g) repeating steps b-f until all software operations set for said target are completed.

2. The program product of claim 1 wherein step a) of the method contained thereon includes selecting said software operation from one of installing software on said target, migrating software from said server to said target, booting said target from a disk, or diagnosing said target.

3. The program product of claim 1 wherein the method contained thereon further comprises after step b), in the event said entry conditions are not met, the steps of issuing an error message to said server, and exiting from said software operation with an error return code indicating the software operation has become a failed software operation and has ceased due to an error.

4. The program product of claim 3 wherein the method contained thereon further comprises after step d), in the event said exit conditions are not met, the steps of undoing any partial resource creation or object definition performed during said software operation, issuing an error message to said server, and exiting from said software operation with an error return code indicating the software operation has become a failed software operation which has ceased due to an error.