Environment template-driven environment provisioning in a virtual infrastructure

Abstract

A system for automated provisioning of heterogeneous virtual environments comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to receive an environment template, receive an environment configuration, and provision an environment using the environment template and the environment configuration. The environment template is built using a blueprint. The environment configuration comprises an environment endpoint, wherein the environmental endpoint comprises information to connect a system element to an external element or the external element that the system element is to connect to. The environment is for deploying an application. The memory is coupled to the processor and is configured to provide the processor with instructions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for automated provisioning of heterogeneous virtual environments, comprising:
 a processor configured to:
 receive an environment template, wherein the environment template is built using a blueprint; 
 receive an environment configuration, wherein the environment configuration comprises an environment endpoint, wherein the environmental endpoint comprises information to connect a system element to an external element or the external element that the system element is to connect to; and 
 provision an environment using the environment template and the environment configuration, wherein the environment is for deploying an application; and 
   a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.   
     
     
         2 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment configuration specifies environment is specific parameter values. 
     
     
         3 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment configuration specifies the environment template. 
     
     
         4 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment configuration configures environment-specific software values. 
     
     
         5 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment configuration configures virtual machine cluster sizes. 
     
     
         6 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment configuration configures connections from virtual machines in a virtual machine cluster to systems outside the virtual machine cluster. 
     
     
         7 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment configuration configures virtual machine accounts. 
     
     
         8 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein provisioning comprises instantiation of a content repository. 
     
     
         9 . A system as in  claim 8 , wherein instantiation of the content repository is with a unique repository identifier. 
     
     
         10 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment endpoint comprises information needed for services in a given environment to interact with systems external to the environment. 
     
     
         11 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment endpoint comprises a database. 
     
     
         12 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment endpoint comprises an email system. 
     
     
         13 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment endpoint comprises a directory server. 
     
     
         14 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment endpoint comprises a web service. 
     
     
         15 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein the environment endpoint comprises an application. 
     
     
         16 . A system as in  claim 1 , wherein a provisioning operation of provisioning the environment is logged into an installation log file. 
     
     
         17 . A system as in  claim 16 , wherein the installation log file is stored as part of a file system. 
     
     
         18 . A method for automated provisioning of heterogeneous virtual environments, comprising:
 receiving an environment template, wherein the environment template is built using a is blueprint;   receiving an environment configuration, wherein the environment configuration comprises an environment endpoint, wherein the environmental endpoint comprises information to connect a system element to an external element or the external element that the system element is to connect to; and   provisioning, using a processor, an environment using the environment template and the environment configuration, wherein the environment is for deploying an application.   
     
     
         19 . A computer program product for automated provisioning of heterogeneous virtual environments, the computer program product being embodied in a tangible computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
 receiving an environment template, wherein the environment template is built using a blueprint;   receiving an environment configuration, wherein the environment configuration comprises an environment endpoint, wherein the environmental endpoint comprises information to connect a system element to an external element or the external element that the system element is to connect to; and   provisioning, using a processor, an environment using the environment template and the environment configuration, wherein the environment is for deploying an application.