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 20090100418A1
• Filed: 10/12/2007
• Published: 04/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Royt, Sergey, Raman, Venkatasubrahmanyan, Varava, Natalya V., Fries, Robert M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,245,217 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/170
• 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 facsimile of a source machine, the method comprising:

examining the source machine to ascertain a set of software characteristics associated with the source machine, wherein the set of software characteristics includes an identity of a software component installed on the source machine;

determining an installed version of the software component, wherein the installed version of the software component is currently installed on the source machine;

determining, from an update server, whether the installed version of the software component is a most current version of the software component; and

forming an image of the source machine that includes the most current version of the software component.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an update to the software component, wherein the update is currently installed on the source machine;

determining an installed version of the update, wherein the installed version of the update is currently installed on the source machine;

determining, from the update server, whether the installed version of the update is a most current version of the update; and

including the most current version of the update in the image of the source machine.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising making the image of the source machine bootable on a physical machine.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising creating a virtual machine on the physical machine.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein creating the virtual machine comprises assembling a plurality of virtual hard disks, wherein each of the virtual hard disks is defined by a respective set of files, and at least one of the hard disks is defined by at least one file associated with the most current version of the software component.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein assembling the hard disks comprises logically interconnecting the files that form the virtual hard disks.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising running the virtual machine on the physical machine.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein including the most current version of the update in the image of the source machine comprises:

examining a first set of files to determine whether any of the files in the first set is affected by the update, wherein the first set of files forms a software profile of the source machine; and

forming a second set of files that includes at least one replacement file, the replacement file corresponding to a file from the first set that was affected by the update.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising downloading the replacement file from an update server.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

storing the downloaded replacement file in a cache;

retrieving the stored replacement file from the cache; and

forming a second image of the physical machine that includes the replacement file retrieved from the cache.

11. A method for creating a virtual facsimile of a source machine, the method comprising:

providing an identity of a software component installed on the source machine;

identifying an update to the software component, wherein the update is currently installed on the source machine;

determining an installed version of the update, wherein the installed version of the update is currently installed on the source machine;

determining, from the update server, whether the installed version of the update is a most current version of the update; and

forming an image of a source machine that includes the most current version of the update.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing a first set of files that form a software profile of the source machine;

examining the first set of files to determine whether any of the files in the first set is affected by the update;

forming a second set of files that includes at least one replacement file, the replacement file corresponding to a file from the first set that was affected by the update.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising making the image of the source machine bootable on a physical machine.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising creating a virtual machine on the physical machine.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein creating the virtual machine comprises assembling a plurality of virtual hard disks, wherein each of the virtual hard disks is defined by a respective set of files, and at least one of the hard disks is defined by at least one file associated with the most current version of the software component.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein assembling the hard disks comprises logically interconnecting the files that form the virtual hard disks.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising running the virtual machine on the physical machine.

18. A method for creating a virtual facsimile of a source machine, the method comprising:

downloading a from an update server a software update associated with a software component, wherein the software component is included in a software profile of the source machine;

forming a first image of the source machine, wherein the software update forms part of a first image of the source machine;

storing the software update in a cache;

retrieving the software update from the cache; and

forming a second image of the source machine, wherein the second image of the source machine includes the software update retrieved from the cache.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising making the file retrieved from the cache bootable on a physical machine.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising running a virtual machine on the physical machine, wherein running the virtual machine comprises executing the file retrieved from the cache.