Patent ID: 8473942

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a plurality of system software installation files including a software package having an installable program executable on a system with specific system attributes, wherein the software package to contain a list identifying specific system attributes required to execute the installable program and an external list of system attributes separate from the software package; and wherein the external list to include at least one system attribute that is compatible with the installable program but not identified by the list of system attributes in the software package; initiating an installation process for the software package on the system with at least one system attribute that is compatible with the installable program but not identified by the list of system attributes in the software package by performing operations including: detecting the external list of system attributes; when the external list of system attributes is detected: determining if the external list of system attributes is applicable to the list of specific system attributes included in the software package; determining the installation based on the list of specific system attributes contained in the software package if there are no different attributes between the external list of system attributes and the list of specific system attributes contained in the software package, wherein the installation process is configured to fail if the at least one system attribute differs from the list of system using attributes in the software package; and determining the installation based on the external list of system attributes if the system attributes of the external list differ from the list of specific system attributes contained in the software package, wherein the installation process is configured to fail if the at least one system attribute differs from the list of system attributes in the software package; and executing the installation process based on the list of specific system attributes contained in the software package if the external list is not detected, wherein the installation process is configured to fail if the at least one system attribute differs from the list of system attributes in the software package.