Automatically generating system restoration order for network recovery

• US 8,667,096 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• 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, Michael Paul, Likins, Adrian Karstan, Vidal, Seth Kelby
• Primary Examiner(s): Osman, Ramy Mohamed
• Application Number:
  US12/395,493
• Publication Number:
  US 20100220584A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,831 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/223, 709/203, 709/217, 709/226, 717/176, 717/178
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0846 based on copy from other elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for automatically generating a system restoration order for network recovery. A set of managed machines, such as personal computers or servers, can be managed by a network management platform communicating with the machines via a secure channel. The network management platform can access a dependency map indicating a required order for restoration of machines or nodes on a network. The network management platform likewise access a reverse kickstart file for each machine to be automatically restored in order to ensure proper functioning of the network, and extract a current configuration of that machine for purposes of restoring the overall network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing, by a processing device, a dependency map for a set of nodes on a network, the dependency map encoding a dependency relationship between programs installed on nodes in the set of nodes;

accessing a separate associated reverse automatic installation file for each node in the set of nodes represented in the dependency map, the reverse automatic installation file encoding data hosted on each respective node;

generating, via a provisioning server, a provisioning installation for each of the nodes from the separate associated reverse automatic installation file for each of the nodes; and

validating a network restoration using a validation process performed via a network management platform.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the dependency map comprises a set of ordered links between nodes in the network based on a first set of software generating output or services used as inputs to a second set of software.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the dependency map is generated via a network management platform issuing a set of discovery commands.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisioning installation comprises at least one of an operating system and a set of applications.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reverse automatic installation file contains instructions for recreating the contents of at least one system installation on at least one file system, and wherein the reverse automatic installation file comprises a reverse kickstart file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of nodes comprises at least one of a set of servers, a set of hosts, and a set of targets.

7. A network management platform, comprising:

an interface to a network comprising a set of nodes; and

a network management engine, communicating with the set of nodes via the interface, the network management engine to;

access a dependency map for the set of nodes on the network, the dependency map encoding a dependency relationship between programs installed on nodes in the set of nodes,

access a separate associated reverse automatic installation file for each node in the set of nodes represented in the dependency map, each reverse automatic installation file encoding data host on each respective node,

generate, via a provisioning server, a provisioning installation for each of the nodes from the separate associated reverse automatic installation file for each of the nodes, and

validate a network restoration using a validation process performed via a network management platform.

8. The network management platform of claim 7, wherein the dependency map comprises a set of ordered links between nodes in the network based on a first set of software generating output or services used as inputs to a second set of software.

9. The network management platform of claim 7, wherein the network management engine is further configured to generate the dependency map by issuing a set of discovery commands.

10. The network management platform of claim 7, wherein the provisioning installation comprises at least one of an operating system and a set of applications.

11. The network management platform of claim 7, wherein the reverse automatic installation file contains instructions for recreating the contents of at least one system installation on at least one file system.

12. The network management platform of claim 7, wherein the set of nodes comprises at least one of a set of servers, a set of hosts, and a set of targets.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

accessing, by the processor, a dependency map for a set of nodes on the restored network, the dependency map encoding a dependency relationship between programs installed on nodes in the set of nodes;

accessing a separate associated reverse automatic installation file for each node in the set of nodes represented in the dependency map, the reverse automatic installation file encoding data hosted on each respective node;

generating, via a provisioning server, a provisioning installation for each of the nodes from the separate associated reverse automatic installation file for each of the nodes; and

validating a network restoration using a validation process performed via a network management platform.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the dependency map comprises a set of ordered links between nodes in the network based on a first set of software generating output or services used as inputs to a second set of software.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the dependency map is generated via a network management platform issuing a set of discovery commands.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the provisioning installation comprises at least one of an operating system and a set of applications.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the reverse automatic installation file contains instructions for recreating the contents of at least one system installation on at least one file system.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of nodes comprises at least one of a set of servers, a set of hosts, and a set of targets.