Systems and methods for data management in a virtual computing environment

• US 8,856,790 B1
• Filed: 03/25/2013
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quest Software, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dell Software, Inc. (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Feathergill, David Allen, Kherson, Dimitry
• Primary Examiner(s): Puente, Emerson
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, DONG U
• Application Number:
  US13/850,164
• Time in Patent Office: 561 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for performing operations on a host system with one or more virtual machines without persistently storing an agent or daemon thereon. In certain examples, a management server is configured to inject dependencies, such as binary data, over a network to the host system for performing a requested operation. For instance, systems and methods can establish a secure shell (SSH) port forwarding connection through which dependencies stored on the management server are injected into a service console of the host system. The injected dependencies can then be executed and/or used to perform the requested operation, such as a backup or compression operation on virtual machine data. Once the requested operation has completed, the injected binaries are preferably removed from the host system so as to conserve system resources.

Claims

1. A method for performing one or more operations on virtual machine data, the method comprising:

receiving with a management server comprising computer hardware a request to perform an operation on data of one or more virtual machines hosted by a host server, the host server being remote to the management server;

identifying a plurality of dependencies associated with the requested operation;

searching the host server to identify a group of dependencies comprising one or more of the plurality of dependencies that are not available on the host server;

injecting the group of dependencies over a port forwarding connection from the management server to a service console of the host server;

executing at least the injected group of dependencies to perform the requested operation on the virtual machine data, such that said executing is performed without installing an agent or a daemon in the service console of the host server; and

following said executing, removing the injected group of dependencies from the service console of the host server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the port forwarding connection comprises a secure shell (SSH) connection.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising echoing a script file from the management server to the host server prior to said injecting, the script file being configured to bind to a local port of the host server to receive the injected group of dependencies.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the script file is configured to write the injected group of dependencies to a designated path on the host server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dependencies comprises a plurality of executable files.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the injected group of dependencies comprises at least one of the plurality of executable files.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the injected group of dependencies comprises a plurality of data files.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising establishing a shell connection with the host server via the management server.

9. A system for performing one or more operations in a virtual computing environment, the system comprising:

a management server comprising computer hardware in network communication with a remote server hosting at least one virtual machine, the management server further comprising,

a library comprising a plurality of dependencies, the plurality of dependencies comprising at least one binary file, and

an injection module configured to identify select ones of the plurality of dependencies that are associated with performing a requested operation on at least one of virtual machine data and a hypervisor layer, the injection module being further configured to,

initiate a communication session between the management server and the remote server,

search the remote server to identify a group of dependencies comprising one or more of the plurality of dependencies that are not available on the remote server,

inject the group of dependencies over a network connection to the remote server,

issue a first command to execute on the remote server the injected group of dependencies to perform the requested operation, and

issue a second command to terminate the session and to remove from the remote server the injected group of dependencies such that none of the injected group of dependencies remains on the remote server following said termination of the session.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the injection module is further configured to echo a script file from the management server to the remote server prior to said injecting, the script file being configured to bind to a port of the remote server to receive the injected group of dependencies.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the injected group of dependencies comprises a plurality of binary files.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the network connection comprises a secure shell (SSH) connection.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the management server further comprises a shell interface configured to receive user commands associated with initiation of the session.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the requested operation comprises a backup operation of the virtual machine data.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the requested operation comprises a compression operation on the virtual machine data.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the injection module is configured to inject the group of dependencies to a service console of the remote server.

17. A computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method comprising:

receiving with a management server a request to perform an operation on data of one or more virtual machines hosted by a host server, the host server being remote to the management server;

identifying a plurality of dependencies associated with the requested operation;

searching the host server to identify a group of dependencies comprising one or more of the plurality of dependencies that are not available on the host server;

injecting the group of dependencies over a port forwarding connection from the management server to a service console of the host server;

executing at least the injected group of dependencies to perform the requested operation on the virtual machine data, such that said executing is performed without installing an agent or a daemon in the service console of the host server; and

following said executing, removing the injected group of dependencies from the service console of the host server.