System for automated generation of config to order software stacks

• US 20040268342A1
• Filed: 06/30/2003
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Barajas, Gaston M., Smith, Gavin T., Vrhel, Thomas Jr., Hyden, William P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,360,211 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers

Abstract

A method for automatically generating a software stack in an information handling system. The information handling system includes a software process partition. The method includes generating a manifest identifying software stack contents, creating a target partition within the information handling system, installing the specified software stack components into the target partition, configuring the target partition as active and bootable and the software process partition as hidden, booting into the target partition, setting up and configuring the software components within the target partition, and configuring the software process partition as active and bootable and the target partition as inactive. The generated software stack optionally may be captured for later use.

Claims

1. A method for automatically generating a software stack in an information handling system, the information handling system including a software process partition, the method comprising:

generating a manifest identifying software stack contents;

creating a target partition within the information handling system;

installing the specified software stack contents into the target partition;

configuring the target partition as active and bootable and the software process partition as hidden;

booting into the target partition setting up and configuring the software stack components within the target partition; and

,

configuring the software process partition as active and bootable and the target partition as inactive.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the manifest is generated based upon identification of unique orders.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the installing includes reading target operating system information from the manifest and executing target operating system scripts based upon the target operating system information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the installing further includes rebooting the information handling system after executing the operating system scripts, entering a setup portion of the operating system and performing an install of the operating system.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the installing further includes performing an application install and rebooting the information handling system as needed for the application install.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the installing further includes determining whether additional application installs are present based upon the manifest and if so, performing the additional application installs and rebooting the information handling system as needed for the additional application installs.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the installing further includes performing a device driver install and rebooting the information handling system as needed for the device driver install.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the installing further includes determining whether additional device driver installs are present based upon the manifest and if so, performing the additional device driver installs and rebooting the information handling system as needed for the additional device driver installs.

9. An apparatus for automatically generating a software stack in an information handling system, the information handling system including a software process partition, the apparatus comprising:

means for generating a manifest identifying software stack contents;

means for creating a target partition within the information handling system;

means for installing the specified software stack components into the target partition;

means for configuring the target partition as active and bootable and the software process partition as hidden;

means for booting into the target partition;

means for setting up and configuring the software stack components within the target partition; and

,

means for configuring the software process partition as active and bootable and the target partition as inactive.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

the manifest is generated based upon identification of unique orders.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the means for installing includes means for reading target operating system information from the manifest and means for executing target operating system scripts based upon the target operating system information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the means for installing further includes means for rebooting the information handling system after executing the operating system scripts, means for entering a setup portion of the operating system and means for performing an install of the operating system.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the means for installing further includes means for performing an application install and means for rebooting the information handling system as needed for the application install.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:

the means for installing further includes means for determining whether additional application installs are present based upon the manifest and means for performing the additional application installs and rebooting the information handling system as needed for the additional application installs.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the means for installing further includes means for performing a device driver install and means for rebooting the information handling system as needed for the device driver install.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

the means for installing further includes means for determining whether additional device driver installs are present based upon the manifest, means for performing the additional device driver installs and means for rebooting the information handling system as needed for the additional device driver installs.

17. A system for automatically generating a software stack in an information handling system, the information handling system including a software process partition, the system comprising:

a generating module, the generating module generating a manifest identifying software stack contents;

a creating module, the creating module creating a target partition within the information handling system;

a installing module, the installing module installing the software stack onto the target partition; and

a target configuring module, the target configuring module configuring the target partition as active and bootable and the software process partition as hidden;

a booting module, the booting module booting into the target partition;

a setup and configuring module, the setup and configuring module setting up and configuring the software stack components within the target partition;

a software stack configuring module, the software stack configuring module configuring the software process partition as active and bootable and the target partition as inactive.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

the manifest is generated based upon identification of unique orders.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein:

the installing module reads target operating system information from the manifest and executes target operating system scripts based upon the target operating system information.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein:

the installing module reboots the information handling system after executing the operating system scripts, enters a setup portion of the operating system and performs an install of the operating system.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the installing module performs an application install and reboots the information handling system as needed for the application install.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein:

the installing module determines whether additional application installs are present based upon the manifest, performs the additional application installs and reboots the information handling system as needed for the additional application installs.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the installing module performs a device driver install and reboots the information handling system as needed for the device driver install.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein:

the installing module determines whether additional device driver installs are present based upon the manifest, performs the additional device driver installs and reboots the information handling system as needed for the additional device driver installs.

25. A information handling system comprising for automatically generating a software stack, the information handling system including, the system comprising:

a processor;

memory coupled to the processor, the memory including a software process partition and a target partition;

a generating module, the generating module generating a manifest identifying software stack contents;

a installing module, the installing module installing the software stack components into the target partition;

a target configuring module, the target configuring module configuring the target partition as active and bootable and the software process partition as hidden;

a booting module, the booting module booting into the target partition;

a setup and configuring module, the setup and configuring module setting up and configuring the software stack components within the target partition; and

,

a software stack configuring module, the software stack configuring module configuring the software process partition as active and bootable and the target partition as hidden.