Method and system for automatic generation of operating system boot images

• US 7,743,242 B2
• Filed: 10/16/2006
• Issued: 06/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Scalent Systems, Inc. (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Jin, Ye, Emhoff, Paul Allen, New, Joshua Alan, Oberhaus, Jared Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): BUTLER, DENNIS
• Application Number:
  US11/581,948
• Publication Number:
  US 20080091929A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for automatically generating an operating system boot image for remotely booting a target machine is provided. The operating system boot image is installed on a first machine. The first machine and the target machine are connected with each other. Further, the hardware information of the target machine is extracted. An example of the hardware information includes Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) devices present on the target machine. The operating system boot image is configured, based on the hardware information.

Claims

1. A method for remotely booting a target machine using a first machine, the first machine and the target machine being connected in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

a. extracting hardware information of all devices present on the target machine;

b. automatically configuring an operating system boot image based on the extracted hardware information, the operating system boot image being configured on the first machine; and

c. remotely booting the target machine, the target machine being booted by loading the configured operating system boot image on the target machine.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of configuring the registry, wherein the configuring of the registry comprises modifying a registry entry in the operating system boot image using the hardware information associated with a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device instance ID, wherein the PCI device instance ID is associated with a PCI device present on the target machine.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of extracting image configuration of the operating system boot image.

4. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of storing the hardware information of the target machine based on a unique machine identifier in a controller database, the controller database being connected to the network.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the hardware information comprises at least one of:

a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device instance ID, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device Identifier, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, and one or more channels, wherein the PCI device instance ID, the PCI device Identifier, the MAC address, and the one or more channels are associated with a PCI device present on the target machine.

6. The method according to claim 5 further comprising the step of identifying a channel associated with the PCI device instance identifier based on the class of the PCI device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the class comprises at least one of:

a Network Interface Card (NIC), a storage adapter and a video adapter.

8. A method for remotely booting a target machine using a first machine, the target machine and the first machine being part of a network, the network comprising boot image storage devices, the boot image storage devices storing one or more operating system boot images, the method comprising the steps of:

a. extracting image configuration of the one or more operating system boot images;

b. extracting hardware information of all devices present on the target machine;

c. allocating an operating system boot image for the target machine based on the image configuration and the hardware information;

d. creating a simulation environment, the simulation environment facilitates automatic configuration of the operating system boot image, the operating system boot image being configured on the first machine; and

e. remotely booting the target machine by loading the configured operating system boot image on the target machine.

9. A system for remotely booting a target machine using a first machine, the first machine and the target machine being connected with each other, the system comprising:

a. a controller, the controller extracting hardware information of all devices present on the target machine;

b. a boot preparation module, the boot preparation module configuring an operating system boot image, the operating system boot image being configured automatically on the first machine based on the extracted hardware information; and

c. the first machine, the first machine remotely booting the target machine by loading the configured operating system boot image on the target machine.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the controller comprises a controller database, the controller database providing storage facilities to store the hardware information.

11. The system according to claim 9 further comprising a hardware database, the hardware database storing registry information and one or more driver files associated with one or more Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device identifiers.

12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the hardware information comprises at least one of:

a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device instance ID, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device Identifier, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, and one or more channels, wherein the PCI device instance ID, the PCI device Identifier, the MAC address, and the one or more channels are associated with a PCI device present on the target machine.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the PCI device comprises at least one of:

a Network Interface Card (NIC), a storage adapter and a video adapter.

14. The system according to claim 9 further comprising a hardware detection module, the hardware detection module determining the hardware information of one or more Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) devices, the one or more PCI devices being present on the target machine, the hardware information being provided to the controller.

15. A computer program product for use with a computer the computer comprising a microprocessor for executing a set of instructions, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein for remotely booting a target machine using a first machine, the first machine and the target machine being connected in a network, the computer readable program code comprising:

a. a set of instructions for extracting hardware information of all devices present on the target machine;

b. a set of instructions for automatically configuring an operating system boot image based on the extracted hardware information the operating system image being configured on the first machine; and

c. a set of instructions for remotely booting the target machine by loading the configured operating system boot image on the target machine.