Method and system for provisioning software

• US 8,271,975 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2012
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: DeHaan, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phillip H
• Application Number:
  US13/399,998
• Publication Number:
  US 20120151470A1
• Time in Patent Office: 214 Days
• Field of Search: 717/171, 717/172, 717/176, 717/177
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

The present invention provides a unified provisioning environment, which comprehensively manages the tasks related to software provisioning. In particular, the present invention manages software provisioning using a hierarchy of commands. The lowest level in the hierarchy comprises distribution commands, which primarily handle base operating system specific tasks of provisioning. The second level comprises profile commands, which associate a configuration file, such as a Linux kickstart file, with a distribution and optionally allow for customization. The third level comprises system commands, which associate remote systems that are involved with the provisioning of the software. The fourth level comprises repository commands, which address configurations and tasks related to updating the software, remote installation procedures, and optionally customizing the software.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

retrieving, by a provisioning server hosted by a boot server machine, at least one software distribution;

identifying, by the provisioning server, one or more resources associated with a target machine;

determining, by the provisioning server, a function to be performed by the target machine based on the identified one or more resources associated with the target machine;

generating, by the provisioning server, a profile for the at least one software distribution, wherein the profile associates the at least one software distribution with the function to be performed by target machines utilizing the at least one software distribution and wherein the profile links a configuration file to the at least one software distribution;

receiving, by the provisioning server, update information for the at least one software distribution; and

automatically installing, by the provisioning server, the at least one software distribution and the update information on the target machine based on the profile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises at least one of retrieving a Linux distribution, retrieving a distribution having a specified kernel, retrieving a distribution having a specified initrd, specifying parameters in the configuration file that are to be substituted, or retrieving a parameter that sets an architecture for a preboot execution environment (PXE) bootloader that will be used in installation of the at least one software distribution.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile specifies at least one of a virtualization disk image size or an amount of random access memory (RAM) that may be consumed on the target machine.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information indicating a system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine; and

installing the at least one software distribution and update information on the target machine with the assistance of the remote system.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining when the target machine last requested a file; and

determining a status of installing the at least one software distribution based on when the target machine last requested the file.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating the configuration file based on identifying one or more installation templates to use for provisioning the software to the target machine and combining the one or more installation templates with a set of installation configurations.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

customizing the provisioning of the software based on one or more plugins.

8. A system comprising:

a boot server machine, connected to at least one repository of software distributions, that hosts a provisioning server, wherein the provisioning server is configured to;

retrieve at least one software distribution;

identify one or more resources associated with a target machine;

determine a function to be performed by the target machine based on the identified one or more resources associated with the target machine;

generate a profile for the at least one software distribution, wherein the profile associates the at least one software distribution with the function to be performed by target machines utilizing the at least one software distribution and wherein the profile links a configuration file to the at least one software distribution;

receive update information for the at least one software distribution; and

install, automatically, the at least one software distribution and the update information on the target machine based on the profile.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises at least one of retrieving a Linux distribution, retrieving a distribution having a specified kernel, retrieving a distribution having a specified initrd, specifying parameters in the configuration file that are to be substituted, or retrieving a parameter that sets an architecture for a preboot execution environment (PXE) bootloader that will be used in installation of the at least one software distribution.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the profile specifies at least one of a virtualization disk image size or an amount of random access memory (RAM) that may be consumed on the target machine.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the provisioning server is further configured to:

receive information indicating a system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine; and

install the at least one software distribution and update information on the target machine with the assistance of the remote system.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the provisioning server is further configured to:

determine when the target machine last requested a file; and

determine a status of installing the at least one software distribution based on when the target machine last requested the file.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the provisioning server is further configured to:

generate the configuration file based on identifying one or more installation templates to use for provisioning the software to the target machine and combining the one or more installation templates with a set of installation configurations.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a boot server machine, cause the boot server machine to perform a method comprising:

retrieving, by the boot server machine, at least one software distribution;

identifying, by the boot server machine, one or more resources associated with a target machine;

determining, by the boot server machine, a function to be performed by the target machine based on the identified one or more resources associated with the target machine;

generating, by the boot server machine, a profile for the at least one software distribution, wherein the profile associates the at least one software distribution with the function to be performed by target machines utilizing the at least one software distribution and wherein the profile links a configuration file to the at least one software distribution;

receiving update information for the at least one software distribution; and

automatically installing the at least one software distribution and the update information on the target machine based on the profile.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein retrieving the at least one software distribution comprises at least one of retrieving a Linux distribution, retrieving a distribution having a specified kernel, retrieving a distribution having a specified initrd, specifying parameters in the configuration file that are to be substituted, or retrieving a parameter that sets an architecture for a preboot execution environment (PXE) bootloader that will be used in installation of the at least one software distribution.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the profile specifies at least one of a virtualization disk image size in to the configuration file or an amount of random access memory (RAM) that may be consumed on the target machine.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, the method further comprising:

receiving information indicating a system remote from the target machine that will assist in installing the at least one software distribution on the target machine; and

installing the at least one software distribution and update information on the target machine with the assistance of the remote system.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, the method further comprising:

determining when the target machine last requested a file; and

determining a status of installing the at least one software distribution based on when the target machine last requested the file.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, the method further comprising:

generating the configuration file based on identifying one or more installation templates to use for provisioning the software to the target machine and combining the one or more installation templates with a set of installation configurations.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, the method further comprising:

customizing the provisioning of the software based on one or more plugins.