Patent ID: 8453152

Claim:
A system for managing workflow, comprising: a scheduler operative to schedule use of a computing environment comprising a plurality of consumable resources comprising at least one machine resource and at least one floating resource; the scheduler operative to specify a rolling update license for the at least one floating resource, wherein the scheduler accesses the rolling update license to control a number of software update operations enabled to occur in parallel on the at least one floating resource; the scheduler operative to receive a plurality of flexible reservation requests for scheduling in the computing environment, wherein each of the plurality of flexible reservation requests specifies a duration, at least one required machine resource, and a required rolling update license; the scheduler operative to create a separate flexible job for each of the plurality of flexible reservation requests and placing each separate flexible job in a prioritized job queue comprising a plurality of flexible jobs for scheduling; the scheduler operative to add a separate reservation of a plurality of reservations each set to a waiting state for each of the plurality of flexible reservation requests; the scheduler operative to only allow activation of one reservation at a time from among the plurality of reservations; the scheduler, responsive to detecting a particular flexible job from among the plurality of flexible jobs positioned in the prioritized job queue for scheduling next and detecting a selection of the plurality of consumable resources comprising the rolling update license available to match the at least one required machine resource and the required rolling update license for the duration and detecting that no other reservation comprising the rolling update license is currently active from among the plurality of reservations, operative to transfer the selection of the plurality of consumable resources to the one reservation and setting the one reservation to an active state, wherein the one reservation is activated as the selection of the plurality of consumable resources become available and has uninterrupted use of the selection of the plurality of consumable resources for the duration for at least one bound job to the reservation; the scheduler operative to send an update to a cluster management system indicating the one reservation is active; the scheduler operative to receive, from the cluster management system, the at least one job bound to the one reservation for upgrading at least one software element within the plurality of consumable resources; and the scheduler operative to dispatch the at least one job bound to the one reservation to the one reservation to update the at least one software element, reconfigure the plurality of consumable resources, and remove the reconfigured plurality of consumable resources.