Patent ID: 8719812

Claim:
A method for installing a software package on a hardware platform, the method comprising: loading a software package that includes a software description file on a hardware platform, wherein the software package includes a plurality of attribute information sections corresponding to a plurality of hardware platform types; determining a hardware platform type from among the plurality of hardware platform types that is associated with the hardware platform; dynamically modifying the software description file based on the software package and the hardware platform, wherein the software description file is modified by selecting an attribute information section that corresponds to the determined hardware platform type from the software package and appending the selected attribute information section to the software description file, and wherein appending the selected attribute information section includes appending a portion of variable platform description data and a portion of executable content data structure to the software description file, wherein each of the portions is associated with the determined hardware platform type; and utilizing the modified software description file and the one of the plurality of appended attribute information section to install the software package on the hardware platform, wherein utilizing the modified software description file include comparing the modified description file to a preexisting software description file on the hardware platform to determine whether to perform at least one operational action during the installation process.