Generating a software license knowledge base for verifying software license compliance in cloud computing environments
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- generating, by a processor of a cloud management system, a software license database including software license requirements for a plurality of software programs;
retrieving, from publicly available information sources over public computer networks, software license requirements for a plurality of publicly available software programs;
enhancing contents of the software license database by the software license requirements for the publicly available software programs;
instantiating, in view of operational parameters specified by a could resource instantiation request, a plurality of virtual machines utilizing distributed resources of a cloud system;
monitoring, by a monitoring component in communication with a virtual machine monitor (VMM) managing one of more virtual machines of the plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual machines, to identify a running cloud computing process;
identifying, by the processor, a software program utilized by the cloud computing process;
identifying software license requirements associated with the software program by the software license database;
determining a current number of instances of the software program;
presenting, via a graphical user interface (GUI) a software license compliance report visually representing a symbolic name of the software program, the current number of instances of the software program, a current number of licenses held for the software program, and a number of licenses needed for the software program;
determining, in view of the current number of instances, whether the cloud computing process complies with the software license requirements associated with the software program; and
terminating the cloud computing process in response to determining that the cloud computing process does not comply with the software license requirements associated with the software program.
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Abstract
A monitoring system can monitor computing processes in clouds. The monitoring system can verify software license compliance in the computing processes instantiated in the clouds. The monitoring system can generate and maintain a software license knowledge base. The software license knowledge base can include the software license requirements for various software programs. To generate the software license knowledge base, the monitoring system can communicate with various sources (software vendors, clouds, publicly available sources, etc.) to determine license requirements for the various software programs.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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generating, by a processor of a cloud management system, a software license database including software license requirements for a plurality of software programs; retrieving, from publicly available information sources over public computer networks, software license requirements for a plurality of publicly available software programs; enhancing contents of the software license database by the software license requirements for the publicly available software programs; instantiating, in view of operational parameters specified by a could resource instantiation request, a plurality of virtual machines utilizing distributed resources of a cloud system; monitoring, by a monitoring component in communication with a virtual machine monitor (VMM) managing one of more virtual machines of the plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual machines, to identify a running cloud computing process; identifying, by the processor, a software program utilized by the cloud computing process; identifying software license requirements associated with the software program by the software license database; determining a current number of instances of the software program; presenting, via a graphical user interface (GUI) a software license compliance report visually representing a symbolic name of the software program, the current number of instances of the software program, a current number of licenses held for the software program, and a number of licenses needed for the software program; determining, in view of the current number of instances, whether the cloud computing process complies with the software license requirements associated with the software program; and terminating the cloud computing process in response to determining that the cloud computing process does not comply with the software license requirements associated with the software program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 12, 13)
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4. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing a processor of a cloud management system to perform operations comprising:
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generating a software license database including software license requirements for a plurality of software programs; retrieving, from publicly available information sources over public computer networks, software license requirements for a plurality of publicly available software programs; enhancing contents of the software license database by the software license requirements for the publicly available software programs; instantiating, in view of operational parameters specified by a could resource instantiation request, a plurality of virtual machines utilizing distributed resources of a cloud system; monitoring, by a monitoring component in communication with a virtual machine monitor (VMM) managing one of more virtual machines of the plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual machines, to identify a running cloud computing process; identifying a software program utilized by the cloud computing process; identifying software license requirements associated with the software program by the software license database; determining a current number of instances of the software program; presenting, via a graphical user interface (GUI) a software license compliance report visually representing a symbolic name of the software program, the current number of instances of the software program, a current number of licenses held for the software program, and a number of licenses needed for the software program; determining, in view of the current number of instances, whether the cloud computing process complies with the software license requirements associated with the software program; and terminating the cloud computing process in response to determining that the cloud computing process does not comply with the software license requirements associated with the software program. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 14, 15)
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8. A cloud management system comprising:
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a network interface; and a processor coupled to the network interface to; generate a software license database including software license requirements for a plurality of software programs; retrieve, from publicly available information sources over public computer networks, software license requirements for a plurality of publicly available software programs; enhance contents of the software license database by the software license requirements for the publicly available software programs; instantiate, in view of operational parameters specified by a could resource instantiation request, a plurality of virtual machines utilizing distributed resources of a cloud system; monitor, by a monitoring component in communication with a virtual machine monitor (VMM) managing one of more virtual machines of the plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual machines, to identify a running cloud computing process; identify a software program utilized by the cloud computing process; identify software license requirements associated with the software program by the software license database; determining a current number of instances of the software program; presenting, via a graphical user interface (GUI) a software license compliance report visually representing a symbolic name of the software program, the current number of instances of the software program, a current number of licenses held for the software program, and a number of licenses needed for the software program; determine, in view of the current number of instances, whether the cloud computing process complies with the software license requirements associated with the software program; and terminate the cloud computing process in response to determining that the cloud computing process does not comply with the software license requirements associated with the software program. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 16, 17)
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Specification