Registering and accessing virtual systems for use in a managed system

• US 9,086,917 B1
• Filed: 10/17/2006
• Issued: 07/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ManageIQ, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Fitzgerald, Joseph, Barenboim, Oleg
• Primary Examiner(s): Wai, Eric C
• Application Number:
  US11/550,356
• Time in Patent Office: 3,199 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45575 Starting, stopping, suspending or resuming virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for controlling and managing virtual machines and other such virtual systems. VM execution approval is based on compliance with policies controlling various aspects of VM. The techniques can be employed to benefit all virtual environments, such as virtual machines, virtual appliances, and virtual applications. For ease of discussion herein, assume that a virtual machine (VM) represents each of these environments. In one particular embodiment, a systems management partition (SMP) is created inside the VM to provide a persistent and resilient storage for management information (e.g., logical and physical VM metadata). The SMP can also be used as a staging area for installing additional content or agentry on the VM when the VM is executed. Remote storage of management information can also be used. The VM management information can then be made available for pre-execution processing, including policy-based compliance testing.

Claims

1. An apparatus for transferring virtual machines, the apparatus comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to a plurality of virtual machines, each of which has a plurality of virtual machine characteristics; and

a non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a virtual machine logical name which includes a plurality of discrete tags, wherein each discrete tag is representative of a respective virtual machine characteristic of the plurality of virtual machine characteristics;

responsive to receiving the virtual machine logical name, resolve the virtual machine logical name into at least one virtual machine explicit name associated with at least one storage location of at least one virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines by accessing a virtual machine registry, the virtual machine registry including at least a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the virtual machine, the virtual machine logical name, the at least one virtual machine explicit name and the at least one storage location for each respective virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, the at least one storage location located in a virtual machine repository separate from the virtual machine registry, and each respective one of the plurality of virtual machines being associated with a different unique identifier, and the virtual machine logical name being different from the unique identifier and the virtual machine explicit name; and

responsive to resolving the virtual machine logical name, transfer the at least one virtual machine from the at least one storage location in the virtual machine repository to a host environment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein receiving the virtual machine logical name includes receiving a virtual machine event request.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the virtual machine event request includes a start virtual machine request.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein resolving the virtual machine logical name includes using a UDDI registry.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein resolving the virtual machine logical name includes using a SQL database look-up.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein transferring the at least one virtual machine includes using at least one FTP, HTTP, AND HTTPS.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to decompress the at least one virtual machine.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to translate the at least one virtual machine.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to translate the at least one virtual machine.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to cache the at least one virtual machine.

11. An apparatus for transferring a first plurality of virtual machines and a second plurality of virtual machines, the apparatus comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the first plurality of virtual machines and the second plurality of virtual machines, each of which has a plurality of virtual machine characteristics; and

a non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a first virtual machine logical name which includes a first plurality of discrete tags, wherein each discrete tag is representative of a respective virtual machine characteristic of the plurality of virtual machine characteristics;

responsive to receiving the first virtual machine logical name, resolve the first virtual machine logical name into at least one first virtual machine explicit name associated with at least one first storage location of at least one first virtual machine of the first plurality of virtual machines by accessing a virtual machine registry, the virtual machine registry including at least a first unique identifier that uniquely identifies the first virtual machine, the first virtual machine logical name, the at least one first virtual machine explicit name and the at least one first storage location for each respective virtual machine of the first plurality of virtual machines, the at least one first storage location located in a virtual machine repository separate from the virtual machine registry, and each respective one of the first plurality of virtual machines being associated with a different unique identifier, and the first virtual machine logical name being different from the first unique identifier and the first virtual machine explicit name;

responsive to resolving the first virtual machine logical name, transfer the at least one first virtual machine of the first plurality of virtual machines from the at least one first storage location in the virtual machine repository to a first host environment;

receive a second virtual machine logical name which includes a second plurality of discrete tags, wherein each discrete tag is representative of a respective virtual machine characteristic of the plurality of virtual machine characteristics;

responsive to receiving the second virtual machine logical name, resolve the second virtual machine logical name into at least one second virtual machine explicit name associated with at least one second storage location of at least one second virtual machine of the second plurality of virtual machines by accessing the virtual machine registry, the virtual machine registry including at least a second unique identifier that uniquely identifies the second virtual machine, the second virtual machine logical name, the at least one second virtual machine explicit name and the at least one second storage location for each respective virtual machine of the second plurality of virtual machines, the at least one second storage location located in the virtual machine repository separate from the virtual machine registry, and each respective one of the second plurality of virtual machines being associated with a different unique identifier, and the second virtual machine logical name being different from the second unique identifier and the second virtual machine explicit name; and

responsive to resolving the second virtual machine logical name, transfer the at least one second virtual machine of the second plurality of virtual machines from the at least one second storage location in the virtual machine repository to a second host environment, wherein the first plurality of virtual machines include at least one virtual machine in the second plurality of virtual machines.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first host environment includes the second host environment.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first host environment is different than the second host environment.