Publisher's Synopsis
A method and apparatus for testing application software for installation on hardware platforms. A software tool is qualified using a tool qualifier module running on a first virtual computer system having a configuration that comprises a processor of first processor type and a first virtual machine emulating a processor of second processor type. A benchmark performance is established for the first virtual machine. A second virtual computer system has a configuration that comprises a processor of third type and a second virtual machine emulating the processor of the second processor type. The second virtual machine is verified using a qualifier module to determine whether its performance is consistent with the benchmark performance to form a qualified second virtual machine. After the tool has been qualified, the tool is transferred from the first virtual machine to the qualified second virtual machine without needing to be requalified.
