SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING REVERSE INSTALLATION FILE FOR NETWORK RESTORATION

• US 20100223608A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 09/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: DeHAAN, Micheal Paul, Vadal, Seth Kelby, Likins, Adrian Karstan
• Granted Patent: US 9,940,208 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1482 by means of middleware or OS functionality

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for generating a reverse installation file for network restoration. A set of managed machines, such as personal computers or servers, can be managed by a network management engine communicating with the machines via a secure channel. The network management engine can scan the managed network for kickstart, or provisioning answer files, that were used to install software to network nodes at a prior time. The network management engine can access the original kickstart file, and update that file to reflect a current state of the associated machine by inserting user-supplied updates, storage configuration updates, security credentials, and/or other data. Upon a crash or other malfunction of the associated machine, the network management platform can access the reverse kickstart file and generate a restoration of that node to a current state from the reverse kickstart data.

Claims

1. A method of generating a reverse kickstart file, comprising:

accessing an original kickstart filed used to generate a provisioning installation on at least one target;

accessing a package management tool to identify a set of files in the original kickstart file that have been modified on the at least one target;

embedding the set of modified files in the reverse kickstart file;

generating a storage section in the reverse kickstart file representing a mounted file system in the target; and

associating a set of security credentials for the at least one target with the reverse kickstart file.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the reverse kickstart file.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating a set of security credentials comprises embedding the set of security credentials in the reverse kickstart file.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating a set of security credentials comprises storing the set of security credentials to a backup system along with set of commands to extract the set of security credentials from the backup system.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating additional files not managed by the package management tool with the reverse kickstart file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating a storage section comprises generating a storage section representing a network mounted file system.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating a recovery process to re-install software on the at least one target using the reverse kickstart file.

8. A network management platform, comprising:

an interface to a managed network having at least one target; and

a network management engine, communicating with the at least one target via the interface, the network management engine being configured to—

access an original kickstart filed used to generate a provisioning installation on the at least one target,

access a package management tool to identify a set of files in the original kickstart file that have been modified on the at least one target,

embed the set of modified files in the reverse kickstart file,

generate a storage section in the reverse kickstart file representing a mounted file system in the target, and

associate a set of security credentials for the at least one target with the reverse kickstart file.

9. The network management platform of claim 8, wherein the network management engine is further configured to store the reverse kickstart file.

10. The network management platform of claim 8, wherein the associating of a set of security credentials comprises embedding the set of security credentials in the reverse kickstart file.

11. The network management platform of claim 8, wherein the associating of a set of security credentials comprises storing the set of security credentials to a backup system along with set of commands to extract the set of security credentials from the backup system.

12. The network management platform of claim 8, wherein the network management engine is further configured to associate additional files not managed by the package management tool with the reverse kickstart file.

13. The network management platform of claim 8, wherein the generation of a storage section comprises generating a storage section representing a network mounted file system.

14. The network management platform of claim 8, wherein the network management engine is further configured to initiate a recovery process to re-install software on the at least one target using the reverse kickstart file.

15. A reverse kickstart file, the reverse kickstart file representing data usable to re-install software on at least one target, the reverse kickstart file being generated by a method comprising:

accessing an original kickstart filed used to generate a provisioning installation on at least one target;

accessing a package management tool to identify a set of files in the original kickstart file that have been modified on the at least one target;

embedding the set of modified files in the reverse kickstart file;

generating a storage section in the reverse kickstart file representing a mounted file system in the target; and

associating a set of security credentials for the at least one target with the reverse kickstart file.

16. The reverse kickstart file of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises storing the reverse kickstart file.

17. The reverse kickstart file of claim 15, wherein the associating a set of security credentials comprises embedding the set of security credentials in the reverse kickstart file.

18. The reverse kickstart file of claim 15, wherein the associating a set of security credentials comprises storing the set of security credentials to a backup system along with set of commands to extract the set of security credentials from the backup system.

19. The reverse kickstart file of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises associating additional files not managed by the package management tool with the reverse kickstart file.

20. The reverse kickstart file of claim 15, wherein the generating a storage section comprises generating a storage section representing a network mounted file system.