Using object-oriented constraint satisfaction for automated configuration generation

Abstract

In this paper, we describe an approach for automatically generating configurations for complex applications. Automated generation of system configurations is required to allow large-scale deployment of custom applications within utility computing environments. Our approach models the configuration management problem as an Object-Oriented Constraint Satisfaction Problem (OOCSP) that can be solved efficiently using a resolution-based theoremprover. We outline the approach and discuss both the benefits of the approach as well as its limitations, and highlight certain unresolved issues that require further work. We demonstrate the viability of this approach using an eCommerce site as an example, and provide results on the complexity and time required to solve for the configuration of such an application. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2004.