Software Installation Method, Apparatus and Program Product

摘要

A software preload arrangement uses a central server to store the software repository(ries) for various computer instruction files offered for preload into a system being manufactured. To execute the preload, a client workstation is used to execute the actual preload steps for a system under test (SUT). When the SUT needs a given piece of the software release, data is moved down to the client from the server and cached there for delivery to the system under test. In accordance with an important characteristic of this invention, the caching is predictive. That is, data is held in or moved to the client workstation based upon recent activity, so that the time needed to prepare a preload for a system under test is shortened.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
parsing a computer instruction file to be installed on a system under test into segments of selected size and storing the segments accessibly to a computer network having a repository server computer system and a plurality of client workstation computer systems; determining by interaction between a client workstation and a connected system under test computer system whether the parsed computer instruction file is to be installed on the system under test; responding to a determination that the parsed computer instructions are to be installed on the system under test by delivering the segments through the client workstation to the system under test; and maintaining in the client workstation a cache of segments predictive of the segments to be delivered to a next successive system under test connected to the client workstation.