PROVIDING NETWORK IDENTITY FOR VIRTUAL MACHINES

• US 20100180014A1
• Filed: 01/14/2009
• Published: 07/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kannan, Kalapriya, Bhamidipaty, Anuradha
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,837 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks

Abstract

Techniques for assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to a virtual machine are provided. The techniques include tunneling a request for an IP address to an initialization protocol server, using the server to mask an identity of one or more guest virtual machines and obtain an IP address for the virtual machine based on a media access control (MAC) address of the virtual machine, and tunneling the IP address to the virtual machine.

Claims

1. A method for assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to a virtual machine, comprising the steps of:

tunneling a request for an IP address to an initialization protocol server;

using the server to mask an identity of one or more guest virtual machines and obtain an IP address for the virtual machine based on a media access control (MAC) address of the virtual machine; and

tunneling the IP address to the virtual machine.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the initialization protocol server comprises a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for an IP address is made upon boot-up of the virtual machine.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the MAC address of the virtual machine is exposed through the server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising installing one or more agents on a host machine before taking an image, wherein the one or more agents interact with the host machine and obtain a virtual MAC address of one or more guest machines and develop a host MAC to virtual MAC address.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting up a virtual tunnel server, wherein the virtual tunnel server interacts with a boot-strapping initialization protocol server configurable by an administrator to provide a new IP address.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein an agent maintains a table of the MAC address to IP address mapping of the individual guest machines.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein an agent sends a request to the virtual tunnel server and registers a guest host operating system MAC identifier to a host operating system MAC identifier.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to a virtual machine comprises automatically assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to a virtual machine.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine comprises a virtual machine configured in one or more modes that do not expose a media access control (MAC) address outside of a host machine.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program code for assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to a virtual machine, said computer program product including:

computer readable program code for tunneling a request for an IP address to an initialization protocol server;

computer readable program code for using the server to mask an identity of one or more guest virtual machines and obtain an IP address for the virtual machine based on a media access control (MAC) address of the virtual machine; and

computer readable program code for tunneling the IP address to the virtual machine.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the initialization protocol server comprises a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the request for an IP address is made upon boot-up of the virtual machine.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the MAC address of the virtual machine is exposed through the server.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code for installing one or more agents on a host machine before taking an image, wherein the one or more agents interact with the host machine and obtain a virtual MAC address of one or more guest machines and develop a host MAC to virtual MAC address.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code for setting up a virtual tunnel server, wherein the virtual tunnel server interacts with a boot-strapping initialization protocol server configurable by an administrator to provide a new IP address.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein an agent sends a request to the virtual tunnel server and registers a guest host operating system MAC identifier to a host operating system MAC identifier.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the virtual machine comprises a virtual machine configured in one or more modes that do not expose a media access control (MAC) address outside of a host machine.

19. A system for assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to a virtual machine, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to said memory and operative to;

tunnel a request for an IP address to an initialization protocol server;

use the server to mask an identity of one or more guest virtual machines and obtain an IP address for the virtual machine based on a media access control (MAC) address of the virtual machine; and

tunnel the IP address to the virtual machine.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the initialization protocol server comprises a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the request for an IP address is made upon boot-up of the virtual machine.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the MAC address of the virtual machine is exposed through the server.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor coupled to said memory is further operative to install one or more agents on a host machine before taking an image, wherein the one or more agents interact with the host machine and obtain a virtual MAC address of one or more guest machines and develop a host MAC to virtual MAC address.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor coupled to said memory is further operative to set up a virtual tunnel server, wherein the virtual tunnel server interacts with a boot-strapping initialization protocol server configurable by an administrator to provide a new IP address.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein an agent sends a request to the virtual tunnel server and registers a guest host operating system MAC identifier to a host operating system MAC identifier.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein the virtual machine comprises a virtual machine configured in one or more modes that do not expose a media access control (MAC) address outside of a host machine.