Management of software and operating system updates required for the process of creating a virtual machine facsimile of an existing physical or virtual machine

• US 10,114,630 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2012
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Raman, Venkatasubrahmanyan, Varava, Natalya V., Royt, Sergey, Fries, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Wei
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wu, Junchun
• Application Number:
  US13/570,114
• Publication Number:
  US 20120304163A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,274 Days
• Field of Search: 717170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for using known update technologies to automatically identify the updates installed on a physical machine prior to facsimile creation, to locate the update packages from an update server, and to download them to the machine performing the facsimile creation. The use of update technologies enables precise identification of the updates that affect the defined set of files requiring replacement, and thus minimizes the number of updates that need to be downloaded. In addition, the desired set of replacement files are extracted and cached to allow for their reuse during subsequent facsimile creations using either the same or different physical or virtual machine as the source. Downloading the minimal set of updates and caching them for reuse eliminates the redundant downloads of updates and results in a shorter time for facsimile creation.

Claims

1. A method for creating a virtual copy of a source machine, the method comprising:

imaging the source machine to create an image of the source machine, the image comprising a file corresponding to a file of the source machine;

checking the source machine to determine a first version of an update installed on the source machine, the update being associated with a software component installed on the source machine;

determining a second version of the update, the second version being a newer version than the first version;

checking the file comprised in the image and determining that the corresponding file of the source machine was affected by the update, wherein determining that the corresponding file of the source machine was affected by the update comprises examining a software profile of the source machine;

replacing the file comprised in the image with a newer file associated with the second version of the update, wherein replacing the file is based at least in part on the determination that the corresponding file of the source machine was affected by the update;

storing the newer file in a cache on the source machine; and

extracting the newer file from the cache for reuse during a future virtual copy creation;

wherein the steps of determining, replacing, storing, and extracting eliminate redundant downloads of the update and reduce a time of the virtual copy creation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a list of managed components, wherein the list of managed components comprises the software component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein checking the source machine to determine a first version of an update installed on the source machine comprises checking a software profile of the source machine to determine one or more updates applied to one or more of the managed components based on the list of managed components.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising storing one or more update identifiers associated with the one or more determined updates and the one or more managed components.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising checking the source machine to determine a version of the software component based on the list of managed components.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising storing the list of managed components and the determined version of the software component.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the source machine is a physical machine, and wherein imaging the source machine comprises determining parameters of the physical machine, wherein the parameters comprise:

memory type, processing power, disk size, number of network cards, and type of connected networks.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the source machine is a virtual machine, and wherein imaging the source machine comprises determining hardware and software profiles of the virtual machine.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the source machine is an image, and wherein imaging the source machine comprises converting files comprised in a software profile of the source machine from a first file format to a second file format.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the newer file on a storage device associated with a second machine.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting the image to a format compatible with an image format executable on a second machine.

12. A system for creating a facsimile of a machine, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor when the system is operational, the memory bearing processor instructions that, when executed on the processor, cause the system to at least;

image the machine to create an image of the machine, the image comprising a set of at least one file corresponding to at least one file of the machine;

check the machine to determine a first version of an update installed on the machine, the update being associated with software installed on the machine;

determine a second version of the update, the second version being an updated version of the first version;

check a file comprised in the set of at least one file of the image and determine that a corresponding file of the machine was affected by the update, wherein the instructions to determine that the corresponding file of the source machine was affected by the update comprise instructions to examine a software profile of the source machine;

replace the file comprised in the set with a newer file associated with the second version of the update, wherein replacing the file is based at least in part on the determination that the corresponding file of the machine was affected by the update;

store the newer file in a cache on the source machine; and

extract the newer file from the cache for reuse during a future virtual copy creation;

wherein the determining, replacing, storing, and extracting eliminate redundant downloads of the update and reduce a time of the virtual copy creation.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising processor instructions stored in the memory that, when executed on the processor, cause the system to boot the image on a physical machine.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the image is booted as a virtual machine by assembling a plurality of virtual hard disks, wherein each of the virtual hard disks is defined by a respective set of files, and wherein at least one of the hard disks is defined by at least the newer file.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising processor instructions stored in the memory that, when executed on the processor, cause the system to:

determine whether the software is comprised on a software list managed by the system; and

receive a version of the software from a server connected to the system over a network, the received version being a newer version than a version of the software installed on the machine.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising processor instructions stored in the memory that, when executed on the processor, cause the system to:

determine whether the software is comprised on a software list managed by the system;

receive the second version of the update from a server connected to the system over a network; and

store, on a memory associated with the system, an update identifier associated with the second version of the update.

17. The system of claim 12, further comprising processor instructions stored in the memory that, when executed on the processor, cause the system to:

download the newer file from a server connected to the system over a network; and

store the downloaded file in cache associated with the system.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage device having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to execute a virtual copy of a source machine, the instructions comprising instructions to:

retrieve an image of the source machine, the image comprising a file corresponding to a file of the source machine;

receive from a remote device a second version of a software update, the software update corresponding to an update to the software installed on the source machine, the second version being an updated version of a first version of the update installed on the source machine;

determine that the corresponding file in the source machine was affected by the update to the software installed on the source machine, wherein the instructions to determine that the corresponding file of the source machine was affected by the update comprise instructions to examine a software profile of the source machine;

retrieve a replacement file associated with the second version of the software update;

replace the file comprised in the image with the replacement file, wherein replacing the file is based at least in part on the determination that the corresponding file of the source machine was affected by the update;

store the replacement file in a cache on the source machine; and

extract the replacement file from the cache for reuse during a future virtual copy creation; and

run the updated image as a virtual machine;

wherein determining, replacing, storing, and extracting eliminate redundant downloads of the update and reduce a time of the virtual copy creation.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 18 further comprising instructions to store the updated image on a memory associated with a machine running the virtual machine.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 18, wherein the replacement file is retrieved from cache associated with a machine running the virtual machine.