System and method for installing hypervisor after user operating system has been installed and loaded

• US 20070240153A1
• Filed: 03/29/2006
• Published: 10/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Locker, Howard, Cromer, Daryl, Mese, John, Kelso, Scott, Springfield, Randall, Peterson, Nathan, Weksler, Arnold, Waltermann, Rod
• Application Number:
  US11/394,277
• Publication Number:
  US 20070240153A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45545 Guest-host, i.e. hypervisor is an application program itself, e.g. VirtualBox

Abstract

A system and method for installing a type-1 hypervisor onto a secondary storage of a computer while a user operating system is already installed and executing in main memory.

Claims

1. A method for installing a hypervisor on a secondary storage of a computer, comprising:

while a user operating system (O.S.) is executing on the computer, installing, onto the secondary storage, files of a type-1 hypervisor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating a boot loader of the computer with information associated with the hypervisor.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

loading the hypervisor into a main memory of the computer upon subsequent booting of the computer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the act of loading includes:

using the information associated with the hypervisor in the boot loader to access files in the secondary storage associated with the hypervisor; and

copying the files into the main memory.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising using the hypervisor to load the user O.S. from the secondary storage into the main memory.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising using the boot loader running in the hypervisor to load the user O.S. from the secondary storage into the main memory.

7. A computer system, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one main memory accessible by the processor during computer operation; and

at least one secondary storage storing at least one operating system (O.S.) loadable into the main memory from secondary storage and executable by the processor to install at least one hypervisor into the secondary storage.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the hypervisor is a type-1 hypervisor.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the operating system is at least one of:

a user operating system (U.O.S.), or a service OS.

10. The system of claim 9, comprising at least one boot loader executable by the processor to copy the U.O.S. into the main memory from the secondary storage.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the boot loader is updated with information associated with the hypervisor.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the hypervisor is loaded into the main memory upon booting of the computer subsequent to hypervisor installation.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the hypervisor is loaded at least in part by using the information associated with the hypervisor in the boot loader to access files in the secondary storage associated with the hypervisor, and then copying the files into the main memory.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the hypervisor loads the user O.S. from the secondary storage into the main memory.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the boot loader running in the hypervisor loads the user O.S. from the secondary storage into the main memory.

16. A computer, comprising:

at least one processor; and

means executable by the processor for installing a type-hypervisor onto a secondary storage associated with the computer while a user operating system (U.O.S.) is executing in a main memory associated with the computer.

17. The computer of claim 16, comprising at least one boot loader executable by the processor to copy the U.O.S. into the main memory from the secondary storage.

18. The computer of claim 17, wherein the hypervisor is loaded into main memory at least in part by using information associated with the hypervisor in the boot loader to access files in the secondary storage associated with the hypervisor, and then copying the files into the main memory.

19. The computer of claim 18, wherein the hypervisor loads the user O.S. from the secondary storage into the main memory.

20. The computer of claim 18, wherein the boot loader running in the hypervisor loads the user O.S. from the secondary storage into the main memory.