Patent ID: 8458658

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by a processing device, a request from an initiator, the request comprising functionality to be performed by a software appliance; locating in a repository, by the processing device, an application capable of performing the requested functionality; locating in the repository, by the processing device, a subset of components of an operating system necessary to provide an execution platform for the identified application; combining, by the processing device, the identified application and the subset of components of the operating system to form the software appliance; appending, by the processing device, an identifier to the software appliance; determining, by the processing device, operational requirements for the software appliance, the operational requirements comprising a minimum amount of computing resources to support the software appliance; providing, by the processing device, the operational requirements to the initiator of the request; and receiving, by the processing device, a response to the operational requirements from the initiator of the request, the response comprising at least one of a confirmation to provide the software appliance or a request to modify the software appliance.