Method and system for executing and undoing distributed server change operations

• US 8,296,755 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2007
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BladeLogic Incorporated (KKR & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: BladeLogic Incorporated (KKR & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Srinivasa, Balaji, Manwani, Vijay G., Kraus, Thomas Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Marina
• Application Number:
  US11/768,094
• Publication Number:
  US 20080104217A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,947 Days
• Field of Search: 717/171
• US Class Current: 717/171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1471 involving logging of persistent data for recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/466 Transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/022 Multivendor or multi-standard integration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/084 Configuration by using pre-existing information, e.g. using templates or copying from other elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0863 by rolling back to previous configuration versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1014 based on the content of a request
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1034 Reaction to server failures by a load balancer

Abstract

A method and system for executing and undoing distributed server change operations for a collection of server objects across multiple target servers in a transaction-safe manner is provided. In one embodiment, server change operations for a collection of server objects, such as files and configuration file entries, are specified in a transaction package. The target servers to which the specified change operation are directed are also identified in the transaction package. Parameter values for each of the identified target servers are specified through a parameter file in the transaction package. The transaction package is sent to the identified target servers, which execute the change operations on the target servers in a transaction-safe manner using these parameter values.

Claims

1. A method for executing change operations across a plurality of servers, the method comprising:

specifying change operations for a collection of server objects in a transaction package, wherein the objects comprise at least one of files and configuration file entries;

identifying a plurality of target servers for execution of the change operations specified in the transaction package, wherein the plurality of target servers comprises servers having different operating systems;

specifying parameter values for each of the plurality of target servers; and

communicating the transaction package to the plurality of target servers using a virtual client and one or more virtual agents associated with each of the plurality of target servers, wherein the transaction package comprises instructions for executing the specified change operations on each of the plurality of target servers using the parameter values and instructions for reversing the specified change operations using a transaction log for each of the plurality of target servers if an error occurs when executing the specified change operations, wherein the transaction log is used to record executed operations and to track changes made by the executed operations.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication of an error executing the specified change operations on at least one of the plurality of target servers; and

undoing, on each of the plurality of target servers, any of the specified change operations applied to that particular server.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the indication of an error comprises indication of a hard error.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the act of undoing the specified change operations is performed using information provided in the transaction package.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication of a soft error when executing the specified change operations on at least one of the plurality of target servers;

presenting information regarding the soft error to a user; and

querying the user to determine whether or not to undo the specified change operations across each of the plurality of target servers.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction package further comprises a transaction context.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction package further comprises a plurality of transaction contexts with each transaction context containing independently specified change operations, the method further comprising:

receiving an indication of an error executing a first transaction context containing a first set of specified change operations on at least one of the plurality of target servers; and

undoing, on each of the plurality of target servers, any of the specified change operations from the first transaction context applied to that particular server.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising not undoing any specified change operations from a second transaction context in the transaction package.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the server objects comprise at least one of a primitive server object, a compound server object, an abstract configuration server object, and a component server object.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the primitive server object comprises an elemental server object.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the compound server object comprises at least one of the primitive server objects and the compound server objects.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the abstract configuration server object comprises an entry in a configuration file mapped to a corresponding entry in a common abstract configuration file format.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the component server object comprises a sequenced collection of server objects.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the specified transaction package comprises an extensible markup language (XML) based instruction set.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the specified transaction package comprises a text based instruction set.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing a dry-run on the transaction package.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction package further comprises prerequisite information.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction package further comprises error handling instructions.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction package further comprises sequencing information for the specified change operations.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction package further comprises group-level parameter values, identical across the plurality of target servers, and at least one server-specific parameter value wherein the at least one server-specific parameter value over-rides a corresponding group-level parameter value.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the transaction package contains server-specific parameter values for only a subset of the plurality of target servers.

22. A computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon to instruct a processor to perform the method of claim 1.

23. A computer system comprising one or more processors communicatively coupled to each other and to a computer network, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform the method of claim 1.

24. A computer network comprising:

a plurality of processing units communicatively coupled to a computer network; and

a first processor configured to perform at least a portion of the method of claim 1 wherein the entire method of claim 1 is performed collectively by the plurality of processing units.