Repository including exclusion list

Abstract

Systems and methods of executing and/or provisioning an application in an application specific runtime environment or general runtime environment are disclosed. The application specific runtime environment or general runtime environment are optionally defined by an application environment specification to include a minimal or reduced set of software resources required for execution of the application. These software resources are optionally stored in a resource repository that includes resources associated with a plurality of operating systems and/or executable applications. Various embodiments of the invention include the development of hierarchical resource metadata configured to characterize the various files, packages and file families included in the resource repository. In some embodiments this metadata is used to select between files when provisioning an application specific runtime environment. Various embodiments of the invention include use of an exclusion list to manage conflicts between same named files.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a computing device;   a repository configured to store a plurality of resources and repository metadata, the repository metadata being configured to characterize at least one file family and a plurality of files included within the file family, the repository metadata including an exclusion list comprising identifiers of packages within the at least one file family that include members of the plurality of files having same names; and   a provisioning server configured to select files from among the plurality of files using the exclusion list and to provision an executable application or an operating system on the computing device by providing the selected files to the computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a virtual machine and the provisioning server is configured to provision the executable application or the operating system on the virtual machine. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is one of a plurality of computing devices and the provisioning server is configured to provision the executable application or operating system on the plurality of computing devices. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the repository metadata further comprises package metadata. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of resources are configured for provisioning of a plurality of different executable applications or operating systems. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the provisioning server is configured to select the files based on an application environment specification. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the provisioning server is configured to select the files from among the plurality of resources by comparing the repository metadata with provisioning metadata. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the repository metadata includes more than one exclusion list each being associated with a different file family. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an installation specific conflict list including identification of a package that includes a file that conflicts with a file selected for inclusion in the specific installation. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the provisioning server is further configured to rebuild the exclusion list when additional resources are added to the repository. 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 receiving file information including a file identifier;   using the file identifier to identifying a plurality of files within a resource repository, the plurality of files having a same file names;   selecting a first of the plurality of files;   reading repository metadata associated with the selected file, the read repository metadata including an identity of a file package of which the selected file is a member;   identifying a file package of the selected file;   determining if the identified file package is on an installation specific conflict list;   if the identified file package is on the installation specific conflict list, then selecting another of the plurality of files and repeating the steps of identifying a file package of the selected file and determining if the identified file package is on the installation specific conflict list;   using an exclusion list to identify any file packages that conflict with the file package of the selected file, the exclusion list including identifiers of file packages within a file family having same file names; and   adding any packages identified using the exclusion list to the installation specific conflict list.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the exclusion list is associated with a particular file family. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the exclusion list includes identifiers of file packages having same file names and different content. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further including adding the selected file to an application specific runtime environment or a general runtime environment. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising receiving provisioning metadata, and comparing the repository metadata to the provisioning metadata. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising generating the exclusion list using a metadata generator. 
     
     
         17 . A system comprising:
 metadata generator configured to generate an exclusion list by identifying packages within a first file family that include files having same file names, the exclusion list comprising identifiers of the packages;   metadata storage configured to store the exclusion list in association with the first file family and to store metadata associating the packages with the files; and   a repository configured to store files included in the first file family and files included in a second file family.   
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 receiving a file family;   identifying any files having the same name in the file family;   identifying packages in which the identified files are included;   adding the identified packages to an exclusion list; and   storing the exclusion list in association with the file family.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further including adding the files to a resource repository configured to store files of several file families. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further including repeating the steps of identifying any files, identifying packages and adding the identified packages, when additional files are added to a resource repository.