SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF LICENSING AND IDENTIFICATION OF VIRTUAL NETWORK APPLIANCES

• US 20150020069A1
• Filed: 07/10/2014
• Published: 01/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dialogic, Inc. (Enghouse Systems Limited)
• Original Assignee: Dialogic, Inc. (Enghouse Systems Limited)
• Inventors: Patani, Ritesh, Cheng, Chien
• Granted Patent: US 9,342,669 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1011 to devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Systems and methods of licensing and identification of a virtual network appliance. The systems and methods obtain information specific to an instance of a virtual machine corresponding to the virtual network appliance. The instance of the virtual machine is deployed on a predetermined virtualization platform. The systems and methods can generate an identifier as well as a serial number for the virtual machine based at least on the information specific to the instance of the virtual machine, and generate a license including license data for the virtual network appliance, embedding at least the identifier for the virtual machine in the license data. The information specific to the instance of the virtual machine can include a universally unique identifier (UUID) and at least one virtual media access control (MAC) address for the virtual machine deployed on the predetermined virtualization platform.

Claims

1. A method of licensing and identification of a virtual network appliance in a virtualized environment, a representation of the virtual network appliance being received at a client computer over a network as a virtual machine (VM) image instance within the virtualized environment, the method comprising:

receiving, at a licensing server over the network from the client computer, a request for a license for the virtual network appliance, the request including identification information for the virtual network appliance, the identification information including one or more of a virtual media access control (MAC) address and a unique identifier for the VM image instance received at the client computer;

extracting, at the licensing server, one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance from the identification information included in the request;

generating, at the licensing server, at least a VM identifier for the VM image instance based at least on one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance;

generating, at the licensing server, the license for the virtual network appliance, the license including license data, the generating of the license including embedding at least the VM identifier in the license data; and

sending, from the licensing server over the network to the client computer, the license including the VM identifier embedded in the license data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the extracting of the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance includes extracting a universally unique identifier (UUID) for the VM image instance from the identification information.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the extracting of the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance further includes obtaining a hash of at least the UUID for the VM image instance.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

generating, at the licensing server, a checksum value based at least on the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the generating of at least the VM identifier for the VM image instance includes verifying the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance against the checksum value.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the VM identifier embedded in the license data is referred to as a licensed VM identifier, and wherein the method further comprises:

generating, at the licensing server, a runtime VM identifier for the VM image instance based at least on selected portions of the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

verifying, at the licensing server, the licensed VM identifier against the runtime VM identifier.

8. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

performing, at the licensing server, data conversion on at least a selected portion of the UUID for the VM image instance to obtain a serial number for the virtual network appliance.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

appending, at the licensing server, one of a prefix character and a suffix character to the serial number for the virtual network appliance.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

sending, from the licensing server, the serial number for the virtual network appliance over the network to the client computer.

11. A system for licensing and identification of a virtual network appliance in a virtualized environment, a representation of the virtual network appliance being received at a client computer over a network as a virtual machine (VM) image instance within the virtualized environment, the system comprising:

a licensing server including at least one processor operative to execute at least one computer program out of at least one memory;

to receive, over the network from the client computer, a request for a license for the virtual network appliance, the request including identification information for the virtual network appliance, the identification information including one or more of a virtual media access control (MAC) address and a unique identifier for the VM image instance received at the client computer;

to extract one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance from the identification information included in the request;

to generate at least a VM identifier for the VM image instance based at least on one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance;

to generate the license for the virtual network appliance, the license including license data, the generating of the license including embedding at least the VM identifier in the license data; and

to send, over the network to the client computer, the license including the VM identifier embedded in the license data.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory to extract a universally unique identifier (UUID) for the VM image instance from the identification information.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory to obtain a hash of at least the UUID for the VM image instance.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory to generate a checksum value based at least on the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory to verify the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance against the checksum value.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the VM identifier embedded in the license data is referred to as a licensed VM identifier, and wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory:

to generate a runtime VM identifier for the VM image instance based at least on selected portions of the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the UUID for the VM image instance.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory to verify the licensed VM identifier against the runtime VM identifier.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the at least one processor is further operative to execute the at least one computer program out of the at least one memory to perform data conversion on at least a selected portion of the UUID for the VM image instance to obtain a serial number for the virtual network appliance.

19. A system for licensing and identification of a virtual network appliance in a virtualized environment including a network, comprising:

a licensing server; and

a virtual machine (VM) image client, the licensing server and the VM image client being communicably coupled to one another by the network,

wherein the VM image client is operative to receive a representation of the virtual network appliance over the network as a VM image instance, and

wherein the licensing server includes at least one first processor operative to execute at least one computer program out of at least one first memory;

to receive, over the network from the VM image client, a request for a license for the virtual network appliance, the request including identification information for the virtual network appliance, the identification information including one or more of a virtual media access control (MAC) address and a unique identifier for the VM image instance received at the VM image client;

to extract one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance from the identification information included in the request;

to generate at least a VM identifier for the VM image instance based at least on one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance;

to generate the license for the virtual network appliance, the license including license data, the generating of the license including embedding at least the VM identifier in the license data; and

to send, over the network to the VM image client, the license including the VM identifier embedded in the license data.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein at least one software application is provided with the VM image instance received at the VM image client, and wherein the VM image client includes at least one second processor operative to execute the at least one software application out of at least one second memory to generate the identification information for the virtual network appliance by obtaining a hash of the one or more of the virtual MAC address and the unique identifier for the VM image instance.