System for managing boot-up of target computers
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- configuring a first computer, wherein said configuring comprises;
discovering configuration information of the first computer, wherein said discovering comprises discovering Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) information for the first computer;
transmitting the configuration information of the first computer, whereinsaid transmitting transmits the configuration information to a second computer and comprises formatting the configuration information into scoped attribute-value pairs; and
receiving a provisioning agent from said second computer, whereinthe provisioning agent is configured to execute on the first computer to install selected software, andthe selected software is selected using the configuration information.
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Abstract
A system for managing boot-up of target machines. In a preferred embodiment, a server computer acts as a managing computer. A target machine notifies the server that the target machine has been powered-up. The server allocates an IP address and sends a response to the target machine. The target machine download boot-up software from the server computer. The target machine then downloads discovery software from the server computer for purposes of determining information about the configuration and resources of the target machine. Standard protocols and mechanisms such as DHCP, BOOTP, TFTP and others can be used. The system works with different types of manufacturers'"'"' processors and platforms.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
configuring a first computer, wherein said configuring comprises; discovering configuration information of the first computer, wherein said discovering comprises discovering Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) information for the first computer; transmitting the configuration information of the first computer, wherein said transmitting transmits the configuration information to a second computer and comprises formatting the configuration information into scoped attribute-value pairs; and receiving a provisioning agent from said second computer, wherein the provisioning agent is configured to execute on the first computer to install selected software, and the selected software is selected using the configuration information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system comprising:
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a processor; a memory coupled to said processor and configured to store instructions executable on the processor for configuring the system, wherein the instructions comprise; a first set of instructions for discovering configuration information of the system, wherein said discovering comprises discovering Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) information for the first computer; a second set of instructions for forming a datastream comprising the configuration information of the system, wherein the configuration information is formatted into scoped attribute-value pairs; and a third set of instructions for installing selected software on the system, wherein the selected software is selected using the configuration information of the system; and a network line card coupled to the processor and configured to; transmit the datastream comprising the configuration information to a second computer, and receive the third set of instructions from the second computer.
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15. An apparatus comprising:
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means for configuring a first computer, wherein said means for configuring comprises; means for discovering configuration information of the first computer, wherein said discovering comprises discovering Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) information for the first computer; and means for forming a datastream comprising the configuration information, wherein the configuration information is formatted into scoped attribute-value pairs; and means for transmitting the datastream comprising the configuration information of the first computer, wherein said means for transmitting the configuration information to a second computer; and means for installing selected software on the first computer, wherein said means for installing are received from the first computer, and the selected software is selected using the configuration information.
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Specification