System updates with personal virtual disks

• US 10,019,177 B2
• Filed: 02/19/2015
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Larkin, Michael, Uli, Shashikiran, Deforeest, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Bullock, Jr., Lewis Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Tina
• Application Number:
  US14/626,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20150160877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors

Abstract

A method and system for updating a collection of software resources in a virtual desktop infrastructure system. Virtual machines associated with sets of virtual disk elements in a hierarchy of disk layers, such as basic, department, or user virtual disks are offered updates for one or more available software resources. Updates available for deployment in the virtual desktop infrastructure system are recorded in a database by a controller server. The controller server takes an inventory of all the virtual machines associated with each disk layer in the hierarchy of disk layers on which to apply the available updates. The controller server applies the one or more updates to the identified virtual machines, and stores the update application results in a database. The controller server may apply the one or more updates to virtual machines associated with descendant disk layers in the hierarchy of disk layers in view of previous applications of the updates.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a disk layer on which to execute an update, the method comprising:

receiving an update for one or more software resources;

identifying a plurality of available software resources targeted by the update;

identifying a plurality of disk layers, in a hierarchy of disk layers, having the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update;

determining a lowest disk layer of the plurality of disk layers having at least one of the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is different from a lowest disk layer of the hierarchy of disk layers; and

applying the update to one or more software resources of the determined lowest disk layer such that a first plurality of virtual machines are updated and a second plurality of virtual machines are not updated, wherein the first plurality of virtual machines and the second plurality of virtual machines are formed based, at least in part, on different software resources of the determined lowest disk layer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is associated with different departments of an entity.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the update successfully updated at least one virtual machine formed based, at least in part on, software resources of the determined lowest disk layer.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, in response to determining that the update successfully updated the at least one virtual machine, suspending application of the update to software resources of a different disk layer used to form the at least one virtual machine.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising, in response to determining that the update was not successfully applied to a particular virtual machine formed based, at least in part, on software resources of the determined lowest disk layer, applying the update to software resources of a disk layer descending from the determined lowest disk layer and used to form the particular virtual machine.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating each of the plurality of available software resources with one or more disk layers in the hierarchy of disk layers.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising querying to determine an update status of each disk layer having at least one of the plurality of available software resources.

8. A system for identifying a disk layer on which to execute an update, the system comprising:

an update management server comprising a first processor and a first memory storing computer readable instructions which, when executed by the first processor, configure the update management server to receive an update for one or more software resources; and

a controller server comprising a second processor and a second memory storing computer readable instructions which, when executed by the second processor, configure the controller server to;

identify a plurality of available software resources targeted by the update;

identify a plurality of disk layers, in a hierarchy of disk layers, having the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update;

determine a lowest disk layer of the plurality of disk layers having at least one of the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is different from a lowest disk layer of the hierarchy of disk layers; and

apply the update to one or more software resources of the determined lowest disk layer such that a first plurality of virtual machines are updated and a second plurality of virtual machines are not updated, wherein the first plurality of virtual machines and the second plurality of virtual machines are formed based, at least in part, on different software resources of the determined lowest disk layer.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is associated with different departments of an entity.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller server is further configured to determine whether the update successfully updated at least one virtual machine formed based, at least in part, on software resources of the determined lowest disk layer.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the controller server is further configured to, in response to determining that that the update successfully updated the at least one virtual machine, suspending application of the update to software resources of a different disk layer used to form the at least one virtual machine.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller server is further configured to, in response to determining that the update was not successfully applied to a particular virtual machine formed based, at least in part, on software resources of the determined lowest disk layer, applying the update to software resources of a disk layer descending from the determined lowest disk layer and used to form the particular virtual machine.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller server is further configured to associate each of the plurality of available software resources with one or more disk layers in the hierarchy of disk layers.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller server is further configured to determine an update status of each disk layer having at least one of the plurality of available software resources.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions that, when executed, configure a system to:

receive an update for one or more software resources;

identify a plurality of available software resources targeted by the update;

identify a plurality of disk layers, in a hierarchy of disk layers, having the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update;

determine a lowest disk layer of the plurality of disk layers having at least one of the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is different from a lowest disk layer of the hierarchy of disk layers; and

apply the update to one or more software resources of the determined lowest disk layer such that a first plurality of virtual machines are updated and a second plurality of virtual machines are not updated, wherein the first plurality of virtual machines and the second plurality of virtual machines are formed based, at least in part, on different software resources of the determined lowest disk layer.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is associated with different departments of an entity.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, further cause the system to, in response to determining that the update successfully updated at least one virtual machine formed based, at least in part, on software resources of the determined lowest disk layer, suspending application of the update to software resources of a different disk layer used to form the at least one virtual machine.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, further cause the system to, in response to determining that the update was not successfully applied to a particular virtual machine formed based, at least in part, on software resources of the determined lowest disk layer, applying the update to software resources of a disk layer descending from the determined lowest disk layer and used to form the particular virtual machine.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, further cause the system to associate each of the plurality of available software resources with one or more disk layers in the hierarchy of disk layers.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, further cause the system to determine an update status of each disk layer having at least one of the plurality of available software resources.