Method, system, and program for generating and using configuration policies

• US 20030033398A1
• Filed: 08/10/2001
• Published: 02/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: da Silva, Rowan E., Carlson, Mark A.
• Application Number:
  US09/928,128
• Publication Number:
  US 20030033398A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Provided is a method, system, and program for managing multiple resources in a system. A user request is received to generate a configuration policy. User selection is received of a set of the multiple resources. A determination is made of at least one element for each selected resource in the set, wherein each element is capable of managing one of the resources in the system. User selection is received of one element for each selected resource in the set. The configuration policy is defined to include the user selected elements, wherein invoking the configuration policy further invokes each element defined in the configuration policy to configure the resources associated with the invoked elements.

Claims

1. A method for managing multiple resources in a system, comprising:

receiving a user request to generate a configuration policy;

receiving user selection of a set of the multiple resources;

determining at least one element for each selected resource in the set, wherein each element is capable of managing one of the resources in the system;

receiving user selection of one element for each selected resource in the set; and

defining the configuration policy to include the user selected elements, wherein invoking the configuration policy further invokes each element defined in the configuration policy to configure the resources associated with the invoked elements.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a first user interface enabling the user to select the set of the multiple resources to include in the configuration policy; and

displaying a second user interface enabling the user to select the one element for each resource in the set.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple resources include a storage device, a switch, a host adaptor, and a volume manager, wherein the elements managing the storage device allocate the storage space to the host, wherein the elements managing the switch are capable of allocating at least one path in the switch to the storage device to allow the host to access the allocated storage space, wherein the elements managing the host adaptors allocate at least one host adaptor in the host to communicate with the switch to access the allocated storage space, and wherein the elements managing the volume manager assign the allocated storage space in the device to the requested logical volume used by the host.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the system is capable of including multiple storage devices, switches, and host adaptors in the host, and wherein there is at least one separate element to manage each storage device and switch in the system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of multiple elements provided for one resource define a different configuration of the resource.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one element for each resource comprises:

using interfaces in a lookup service proxy object to query element proxy objects to determine a name for each of the element proxy objects.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

displaying at least one selectable list of the names of each of the element proxy objects for each resource, wherein the user selects one element for each resource from the selectable lists.

8. A method for configuring multiple resources in the system, comprising:

receiving user selection of one of multiple configuration policies, wherein each configuration policy defines resources to configure and one element for each resource to configure, wherein each element specifies configuration parameters to use to configure the resource;

receiving user selection of an instance of one resource to configure, wherein the user selected resource instance is capable of being configured by the configuration policy;

determining additional resource instances that are configured by the selected configuration policy; and

calling the elements defined for the selected configuration policy to configure the user selected resource instance and the determined additional resource instances according to the element configuration parameters.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

displaying a first interface listing the multiple configuration policies, wherein the user selects one configuration policy from the list; and

displaying at a second interface enabling the user to select the instance of the resource to configure.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

querying information indicating the resource instances available for the configuration, wherein the information indicates the connectedness of the resource instances, wherein the determined additional resource instances are connected.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein one of the resources to configure comprises a storage device further comprising:

determining available storage space at each storage device instance that is available to the user selected resource instance;

receiving user selection of an amount of storage space to allocate; and

determining one storage device instance including the user selected amount of storage space, wherein calling the elements to configure each user selected resource further comprises calling a storage element to configure the determined storage device instance to allocate the user selected amount of storage space to the configuration.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

displaying a storage allocation interface displaying the available storage space, wherein the user enters the selected amount of storage space through the displayed allocation interface.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the multiple resources include a storage device and a host adaptor, and wherein the user selected resource comprises a host including at least one host adaptor, and wherein the determined additional resources instances comprise one instance of the host adaptor and storage device resources.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the multiple resources further include a switch, and wherein the determined additional resources instances further include one instance of the switch resource.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the instance of the host adaptor and storage device comprises querying information indicating host adaptor and storage device instances capable of being configured according to the configuration parameters and the topology of the host adaptor and storage device instances, and wherein the determined host adaptor and storage device instances to use in the configuration are connected.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the multiple resources further include a switch, and wherein the determined additional resources instances further include one instance of the switch resource, wherein the determined switch instance is in a path between the determined host adaptor and storage device instances.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the element managing the storage device allocates storage space to the host, wherein the element managing the switch is capable of allocating at least one path in the switch to the storage device to allow the host to access the allocated storage space, wherein the element managing the host adaptors allocates at least one host adaptor in the host to communicate with the switch to access the allocated storage space.

18. The method of claim 8, wherein each of multiple elements provided for one resource define a different configuration of the resource.

19. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

querying configuration policy proxy objects in a lookup service to determine configuration policies;

displaying a user interface listing the determined configuration policies, wherein the user selects one of the configuration policies from the list;

downloading the configuration policy proxy object for the selected configuration policy from the lookup service; and

using an interface in the downloaded configuration policy proxy object to call the elements for each resource to configure the user selected and additional resource instances according to the element configuration.

20. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the additional instances of the resource further comprises:

querying attributes associated with a proxy object in a lookup service for the user selected configuration policy to determine resource instances capable of being configured by the selected configuration policy.

21. A system for managing multiple resources, comprising:

a computer readable medium including at least one element for each of the managed resources in the system, wherein each element is capable of managing one of the resources in the system;

means for receiving a user request to generate a configuration policy;

means for receiving user selection of a set of the multiple resources;

means for determining at least one element for each selected resource in the set;

means for receiving user selection of one element for each selected resource in the set; and

means for defining the configuration policy to include the user selected elements, wherein invoking the configuration policy further invokes each element defined in the configuration policy to configure the resources associated with the invoked elements.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

means for displaying a first user interface enabling the user to select the set of the multiple resources to include in the configuration policy; and

means for displaying a second user interface enabling the user to select the one element for each resource in the set.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the multiple resources include a storage device, a switch, a host adaptor, and a volume manager, wherein the elements managing the storage device allocate the storage space to the host, wherein the elements managing the switch are capable of allocating at least one path in the switch to the storage device to allow the host to access the allocated storage space, wherein the elements managing the host adaptors allocate at least one host adaptor in the host to communicate with the switch to access the allocated storage space, and wherein the elements managing the volume manager assign the allocated storage space in the device to the requested logical volume used by the host.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein each of multiple elements provided for one resource define a different configuration of the resource.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the computer readable medium further includes element proxy objects and a lookup service proxy object, and wherein the means for determining the at least one element for each resource performs:

using interfaces in the lookup service proxy object to query element proxy objects to determine a name for each of the element proxy objects.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

means for displaying at least one selectable list of the names of each of the element proxy objects for each resource, wherein the user selects one element for each resource from the selectable lists.

28. A system for configuring multiple resources, comprising:

a computer readable medium including;

(i) at least one element for each of the managed resources in the system, wherein each element is capable of managing one of the resources in the system, and wherein each element specifies configuration parameters to use to configure the resource;

(ii) configuration policies, wherein each configuration policy defines resources to configure and one element for each resource to configure;

means for receiving user selection of one of the configuration policies,

means for receiving user selection of an instance of one resource to configure, wherein the user selected resource instance is capable of being configured by the configuration policy;

means for determining additional resource instances that are configured by the selected configuration policy; and

means for calling the elements defined for the selected configuration policy to configure the user selected resource instance and the determined additional resource instances according to the element configuration parameters.

24. The system of claim 31, wherein the managed resources are capable of including multiple storage devices, switches, and host adaptors in the host, and wherein there is at least one separate element in the computer readable medium to manage each storage device and switch in the system.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

means for displaying a first interface listing the multiple configuration policies, wherein the user selects one configuration policy from the list; and

means for displaying at a second interface enabling the user to select the instance of the resource to configure.

30. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

means for querying information indicating the resource instances available for the configuration, wherein the information indicates the connectedness of the resource instances, wherein the determined additional resource instances are connected.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein one of the resources to configure comprises a storage device further comprising:

means for determining available storage space at each storage device instance that is available to the user selected resource instance;

means for receiving user selection of an amount of storage space to allocate; and

means for determining one storage device instance including the user selected amount of storage space, wherein the means for calling the elements to configure each user selected resource further performs calling a storage element to configure the determined storage device instance to allocate the user selected amount of storage space to the configuration.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

means for displaying a storage allocation interface displaying the available storage space, wherein the user enters the selected amount of storage space through the displayed allocation interface.

33. The system of claim 28, wherein the multiple resources include a storage device and a host adaptor, and wherein the user selected resource comprises a host including at least one host adaptor, and wherein the determined additional resources instances comprise one instance of the host adaptor and storage device resources.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the multiple resources further include a switch, and wherein the determined additional resources instances further include one instance of the switch resource.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the means for determining the instance of the host adaptor and storage device queries information indicating host adaptor and storage device instances capable of being configured according to the configuration parameters and the topology of the host adaptor and storage device instances, and wherein the determined host adaptor and storage device instances to use in the configuration are connected.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the multiple resources further include a switch, and wherein the determined additional resources instances further include one instance of the switch resource, wherein the determined switch instance is in a path between the determined host adaptor and storage device instances.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the element managing the storage device allocates storage space to the host, wherein the element managing the switch is capable of allocating at least one path in the switch to the storage device to allow the host to access the allocated storage space, wherein the element managing the host adaptors allocates at least one host adaptor in the host to communicate with the switch to access the allocated storage space.

38. The system of claim 28, wherein each of multiple elements provided for one resource define a different configuration of the resource.

39. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

means for querying configuration policy proxy objects in a lookup service to determine configuration policies;

means for displaying a user interface listing the determined configuration policies, wherein the user selects one of the configuration policies from the list;

means for downloading the configuration policy proxy object for the selected configuration policy from the lookup service; and

means for using an interface in the downloaded configuration policy proxy object to call the elements for each resource to configure the user selected and additional resource instances according to the element configuration.

40. The system of claim 28, wherein the means for determining the additional instances of the resource further performs:

querying attributes associated with a proxy object in a lookup service for the user selected configuration policy to determine resource instances capable of being configured by the selected configuration policy.

41. An article of manufacture including code for managing multiple resources in a system by:

receiving a user request to generate a configuration policy;

receiving user selection of a set of the multiple resources;

determining at least one element for each selected resource in the set, wherein each element is capable of managing one of the resources in the system;

receiving user selection of one element for each selected resource in the set; and

defining the configuration policy to include the user selected elements, wherein invoking the configuration policy further invokes each element defined in the configuration policy to configure the resources associated with the invoked elements.

42. The article of manufacture of claim 41, further comprising:

displaying a first user interface enabling the user to select the set of the multiple resources to include in the configuration policy; and

displaying a second user interface enabling the user to select the one element for each resource in the set.

43. The article of manufacture of claim 41, wherein the multiple resources include a storage device, a switch, a host adaptor, and a volume manager, wherein the elements managing the storage device allocate the storage space to the host, wherein the elements managing the switch are capable of allocating at least one path in the switch to the storage device to allow the host to access the allocated storage space, wherein the elements managing the host adaptors allocate at least one host adaptor in the host to communicate with the switch to access the allocated storage space, and wherein the elements managing the volume manager assign the allocated storage space in the device to the requested logical volume used by the host.

44. The article of manufacture of claim 43, wherein the system is capable of including multiple storage devices, switches, and host adaptors in the host, and wherein there is at least one separate element to manage each storage device and switch in the system.

45. The article of manufacture of claim 41, wherein each of multiple elements provided for one resource define a different configuration of the resource.

46. The article of manufacture of claim 41, wherein determining the at least one element for each resource comprises:

using interfaces in a lookup service proxy object to query element proxy objects to determine a name for each of the element proxy objects.

47. The article of manufacture of claim 46, further comprising:

displaying at least one selectable list of the names of each of the element proxy objects for each resource, wherein the user selects one element for each resource from the selectable lists.

48. An article of manufacture method for configuring multiple resources in the system by:

receiving user selection of one of multiple configuration policies, wherein each configuration policy defines resources to configure and one element for each resource to configure, wherein each element specifies configuration parameters to use to configure the resource;

receiving user selection of an instance of one resource to configure, wherein the user selected resource instance is capable of being configured by the configuration policy;

determining additional resource instances that are configured by the selected configuration policy; and

calling the elements defined for the selected configuration policy to configure the user selected resource instance and the determined additional resource instances according to the element configuration parameters.

49. The article of manufacture of claim 48, further comprising:

displaying a first interface listing the multiple configuration policies, wherein the user selects one configuration policy from the list; and

displaying at a second interface enabling the user to select the instance of the resource to configure.

50. The article of manufacture of claim 48, further comprising:

querying information indicating the resource instances available for the configuration, wherein the information indicates the connectedness of the resource instances, wherein the determined additional resource instances are connected.

51. The article of manufacture of claim 48, wherein one of the resources to configure comprises a storage device further comprising:

determining available storage space at each storage device instance that is available to the user selected resource instance;

receiving user selection of an amount of storage space to allocate; and

determining one storage device instance including the user selected amount of storage space, wherein calling the elements to configure each user selected resource further comprises calling a storage element to configure the determined storage device instance to allocate the user selected amount of storage space to the configuration.

52. The article of manufacture of claim 51, further comprising:

displaying a storage allocation interface displaying the available storage space, wherein the user enters the selected amount of storage space through the displayed allocation interface.

53. The article of manufacture of claim 48, wherein the multiple resources include a storage device and a host adaptor, and wherein the user selected resource comprises a host including at least one host adaptor, and wherein the determined additional resources instances comprise one instance of the host adaptor and storage device resources.

54. The article of manufacture of claim 53, wherein the multiple resources further include a switch, and wherein the determined additional resources instances further include one instance of the switch resource.

55. The article of manufacture of claim 53, wherein determining the instance of the host adaptor and storage device comprises querying information indicating host adaptor and storage device instances capable of being configured according to the configuration parameters and the topology of the host adaptor and storage device instances, and wherein the determined host adaptor and storage device instances to use in the configuration are connected.

56. The article of manufacture of claim 55, wherein the multiple resources further include a switch, and wherein the determined additional resources instances further include one instance of the switch resource, wherein the determined switch instance is in a path between the determined host adaptor and storage device instances.

57. The article of manufacture of claim 56, wherein the element managing the storage device allocates storage space to the host, wherein the element managing the switch is capable of allocating at least one path in the switch to the storage device to allow the host to access the allocated storage space, wherein the element managing the host adaptors allocates at least one host adaptor in the host to communicate with the switch to access the allocated storage space.

58. The article of manufacture of claim 48, wherein each of multiple elements provided for one resource define a different configuration of the resource.

59. The article of manufacture of claim 48, further comprising:

querying configuration policy proxy objects in a lookup service to determine configuration policies;

displaying a user interface listing the determined configuration policies, wherein the user selects one of the configuration policies from the list;

downloading the configuration policy proxy object for the selected configuration policy from the lookup service; and

using an interface in the downloaded configuration policy proxy object to call the elements for each resource to configure the user selected and additional resource instances according to the element configuration.

60. The article of manufacture of claim 48, wherein determining the additional instances of the resource further comprises:

querying attributes associated with a proxy object in a lookup service for the user selected configuration policy to determine resource instances capable of being configured by the selected configuration policy.