Patch attachment facility

1. A computer-based system comprising:

a computer, including a computer readable storage medium and processor;

a patch management system, executing on the computer, which can load one or more patches to a software program, wherein each patch being couple with metadata specific to the patch and a patch ID which the patch management system uses to identify the patch, wherein the patch management system loads the one or more patches according to

an execution level adapted to determine if a set of patches should be evaluated for installation, and

an individual patch level adapted to evaluate individual patch entries for installation;

an install registry comprising dependency data which indicates which software components are stored on a system and tracks software component dependencies, wherein the software component dependencies include an indication of which software components are to be loaded together and which software components conflict;

a global product registry which indicates the software component dependencies of a software product line and provides the software component dependencies to the install registry;

a patch catalog which indicates the patches and patch dependencies; and

an installer to install the patches and the software components of the software program according to the evaluated set of patches and the evaluate individual patch entries, the installer adapted to interpret the dependency data provided by the install registry and the metadata couple to the patch to determine which patches and which software components are to be loaded, and, in response, to instruct the patch management system to automatically load the determined patches and the software components to the software program according to the software component dependencies and the patch dependencies.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the patch management system also has a graphical user interface to get user input to load the patches.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the patch management system updates version information based on the loaded patches.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the software components and the patch are loaded in a combined operation.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the metadata indicates what patches to load.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the metadata is used to determine what patches to place in an install package.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the metadata is a XML file.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the patch management system uses the patch ID to determine the software product line associate with the patch.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the patch dependencies include an indication of which patches are to be loaded together and which patches conflict.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps comprising:

provide a patch management system which can load one or more patches to a software program, each patch associated with metadata specific to the patch and a patch ID which the patch management system uses to identify the patch, wherein the patch management system loads the one or more patches according to

an execution level adapted to determine if a set of patches should be evaluated for installation, and

an individual patch level adapted to evaluate individual patch entries for installation;

indicate, by an install registry, which software components are stored on a system, and tracks software component dependencies, wherein the software component dependencies include an indication of which software components are to be loaded together and which software components conflict;

indicate, by a global product registry, the software component dependencies of a software product line and provides the software component dependencies to the install registry;

indicate, by a patch catalog, the patches and patch dependencies; and

install the patches and the software components of the software program according to the evaluated set of patches and the evaluate individual patch entries, by the installer, the installer adapted to check the install registry and the metadata couple to the patch to determine which patches and which software components are to be loaded, and, in response, to instruct the patch management system to automatically load the determined patches and the software components to the software program according to the software component dependencies and the patch dependencies.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the patch management system also has a graphical user interface to load the patches.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the patch management system updates version information based on the loaded patches.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the software components and the patch are loaded in a combined operation.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the metadata indicates what patches to load.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the metadata is used to determine the patches to install into an install package.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the metadata is a XML file.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the patch dependencies include an indication of which patches are to be loaded together and which patches conflict.