Abstract: Managing groups of entities is described. In an embodiment an administrator manages operations on a plurality of entities by constructing a management scenario which defines tasks to be applied on a group of entities. In an example the management scenario includes information on dependencies between entities and information on entity attributes, for example operating system version or CPU usage. In an embodiment an entity management engine converts the tasks and dependencies in the scenario to a management plan. In an example the management plan is a list of operations and conditions to be respected in applying an operation to an entity. In an embodiment the plan can be validated to ensure there are no conflicts. In an embodiment the entity management engine also comprises a scheduler which runs tasks contained in the plan and monitors their outcome.

Abstract: Managing groups of entities is described. In an embodiment an administrator manages operations on a plurality of entities by constructing a management scenario which defines tasks to be applied on a group of entities. In an example the management scenario includes information on dependencies between entities and information on entity attributes, for example operating system version or CPU usage. In an embodiment an entity management engine converts the tasks and dependencies in the scenario to a management plan. In an example the management plan is a list of operations and conditions to be respected in applying an operation to an entity. In an embodiment the plan can be validated to ensure there are no conflicts. In an embodiment the entity management engine also comprises a scheduler which runs tasks contained in the plan and monitors their outcome.