Method and apparatus for provisioning software on a network of computers

An apparatus for provisioning software on a plurality of computational nodes in a distributed information processing system, the apparatus comprising:

• a LAN interface for receiving a list of software modules in a software package for installation onto at least one of a plurality of computational nodes communicatively coupled together over a network;
• a memory for storing information pertaining to dependencies between the list of software modules for installation and any software module installed on a given node of the plurality of nodes;
• and
• a comparator for selecting at least one node in the plurality nodes for installation of the software modules in response to the list of dependencies being below a given threshold.

A computer program product for provisioning software on a plurality of computational nodes in a distributed information processing system, the computer program product comprising:

• a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising:
• receiving a list of software modules in a software package for installation onto at least one of a plurality of computational nodes communicatively coupled together over a network;
• receiving a list of nodes eligible to receive the software modules for installation, wherein the list includes any dependencies between the list of software modules for installation and any software module installed on a given node of the plurality of nodes;
• and
• selecting at least one node in the plurality nodes for installation of the software modules in response to the list of dependencies being below a given threshold.