Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to update virtual machine templates

• US 9,851,984 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2010
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Kennedy, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Camquy
• Application Number:
  US13/696,384
• Publication Number:
  US 20130074072A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,785 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to update virtual machine templates are disclosed. A disclosed example method to update a virtual machine template (105) includes updating a management policy (110), starting a virtual machine (116) based on the virtual machine template (105) in a network cordoned sandbox (170), triggering the virtual machine (116) to update per the updated management policy (110), and saving the virtual machine (116) as an updated virtual machine template (106).

Claims

1. A method to update a virtual machine template, comprising:

updating a management policy associated with a virtual machine;

starting a virtual machine based on the virtual machine template in a network cordoned sandbox, wherein starting the virtual machine in the network cordoned sandbox configures the virtual machine to access a central policy database and a central file system using a communication gateway;

triggering, based on the management policy updating, the virtual machine to update per the updated management policy, wherein a user interface triggers a server automation (SA) agent to initiate the update;

saving the virtual machine as an updated virtual machine template, wherein a second virtual machine started based on the updated virtual machine template is in compliance with the management policy;

for a second policy of the management policy, determining whether the virtual machine started based on the virtual machine template is compliant with the second policy; and

updating the virtual machine per the second policy when the virtual machine is not compliant with the second policy.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising storing the updated management policy in a database, wherein the virtual machine obtains the updated management policy from the database.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising attaching the updated management policy to the virtual machine template.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising presenting a user interface to enable a user to update the management policy and to trigger the update of the virtual machine per the updated management policy.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein updating the virtual machine per the updated management policy comprising selecting a policy element from the updated management policy and determining whether the virtual machine is compliant with the policy element.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein updating the virtual machine per the updated management policy comprising obtaining a file from the central file system and applying the file to update the virtual machine when the virtual machine is not compliant with a policy element.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising providing notification to a user at the completion of updating the virtual machine per the updated management policy, wherein the notification comprises updates that were not applied.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein saving the virtual machine as the updated virtual machine template causes the virtual machine to cease operations.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to update a virtual machine template by:

updating a management policy associated with a virtual machine;

starting a virtual machine based on the virtual machine template in a network cordoned sandbox, wherein starting the virtual machine in the network cordoned sandbox configures the virtual machine to access a central policy database and a central file system using a communication gateway;

triggering, based on the management policy updating, the virtual machine to update per the updated management policy, wherein a user interface triggers a server automation (SA) agent to initiate the update;

saving the virtual machine as an updated virtual machine template, wherein a second virtual machine started based on the updated virtual machine template is in compliance with the management policy;

for a second policy of the management policy, determining whether the virtual machine started based on the virtual machine template is compliant with the second policy; and

updating the virtual machine per the second policy when the virtual machine is not compliant with the second policy.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the machine to attach the updated management policy to the virtual machine template.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the machine to present a user interface to enable a user to update the management policy and to trigger the update of the virtual machine per the updated management policy.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the machine to store the updated management policy in a database, wherein the virtual machine obtains the updated management policy from the database.

13. A method to update a virtual machine template, comprising:

updating a management policy associated with the virtual machine template;

receiving a trigger, based on the management policy updating, to initiate the update of the virtual machine template, wherein a user interface triggers a server automation (SA) agent to initiate the update;

for a first policy of the management policy, determining whether a virtual machine started based on the virtual machine template is compliant with the first policy;

when the virtual machine is not compliant with the first policy, updating the virtual machine per the first policy; and

saving a state of the virtual machine as an updated virtual machine template, wherein a second virtual machine started based on the updated virtual machine template is in compliance with the management policy;

starting the virtual machine in a network cordoned sandbox, wherein starting the virtual machine in the network cordoned sandbox configures the virtual machine to access a central policy database and a central file system using a communication gateway;

for a second policy of the management policy, determining whether the virtual machine started based on the virtual machine template is compliant with the second policy;

when the virtual machine is not compliant with the second policy, updating the virtual machine per the second policy.

14. A method as defined in claim 13, further comprising obtaining the management policy from the central policy database.

15. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein updating the virtual machine per the first policy comprises:

obtaining a file identified by the first policy; and

at least one of applying or executing the file to update the virtual machine.