CROSS-CLOUD PROVIDER VIRTUAL MACHINE MIGRATION

• US 20170371696A1
• Filed: 06/28/2016
• Published: 12/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: PRZIBOROWSKI, Nathan L., TARASUK-LEVIN, Gabriel, RAMANATHAN, Arunachalam, RAGHAVAN, Prachetaa, LIANG, Benjamin Yun, RAJAGOPAL, Haripriya, SHU, Longhao
• Granted Patent: US 11,487,566 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

A method for migrating a virtual machine (VM) includes establishing a first connection to a first cloud computing system executing a first VM, and establishing a second connection to a second cloud computing system managed by a second cloud provider, which is different form the first cloud provider. The method further includes instantiating a second VM designated as a destination VM in the second cloud computing system, and installing a migration agent on each of the first VM and the second VM. The migration agents execute a migration process of the first VM to the second VM by (1) iteratively copying guest data from the first VM to the second VM until a switchover criteria of the migration operation is met, and (2) copying a remainder of guest data from the first VM to the second VM when the switchover criteria is met.

Claims

1. A method for migrating a virtual machine, the method comprising:

establishing a first connection, as a first tenant, to a first cloud computing system executing a first virtual machine (VM) associated with the first tenant, wherein the first cloud computing system is managed by a first cloud provider;

establishing a second connection, as the first tenant, to a second cloud computing system managed by a second cloud provider, wherein the first cloud provider and the second cloud provider are different;

instantiating a second VM designated as a destination VM in the second cloud computing system;

installing a guest-level migration agent on each of the first VM and the second VM, wherein the guest-level migration agents are configured to execute within a virtual machine at a guest level; and

executing a migration process of the first VM in the first cloud computing system to the second VM in the second cloud computing system using the guest-level migration agents by (1) iteratively copying guest data from the first VM to the second VM until a switchover criteria of the migration operation is met, and (2) copying a remainder of guest data from the first VM to the second VM responsive to satisfaction of the switchover criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the migration process is completed by rebooting the second VM.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the migration process, the guest-level migration agent of the first VM determines an estimated time for transferring the guest data from the first VM to the second VM.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the switchover criteria comprises a downtime parameter indicating a duration of time, and step (2) is executed when the downtime parameter no longer exceeds the estimated time for transferring the guest data.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the second cloud computing system does not expose a public network address to the second VM, generating a virtual private network (VPN) connection to the second VM,

wherein the guest-level migration agent of the second VM is installed via the VPN connection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the migration process, the guest-level migration agent of the first VM excludes one or more directories from the transfer of the guest data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the migration process, the guest-level migration agent of the first VM, responsive to determining that the switchover criteria has been satisfied, restricts run-level access by the first VM to the guest data.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that are executable in a computer system to carry out a method for migrating a virtual machine, the method comprising:

establishing a first connection, as a first tenant, to a first cloud computing system executing a first virtual machine (VM) associated with the first tenant, wherein the first cloud computing system is managed by a first cloud provider;

establishing a second connection, as the first tenant, to a second cloud computing system managed by a second cloud provider, wherein the first cloud provider and the second cloud provider are different;

instantiating a second VM designated as a destination VM in the second cloud computing system;

installing a guest-level migration agent on each of the first VM and the second VM, wherein the guest-level migration agents are configured to execute within a virtual machine at a guest level; and

executing a migration process of the first VM in the first cloud computing system to the second VM in the second cloud computing system using the guest-level migration agents by (1) iteratively copying guest data from the first VM to the second VM until a switchover criteria of the migration operation is met, and (2) copying a remainder of guest data from the first VM to the second VM responsive to satisfaction of the switchover criteria.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the migration process is completed by rebooting the second VM.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, during the migration process, the guest-level migration agent of the first VM determines an estimated time for transferring the guest data from the first VM to the second VM.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the switchover criteria comprises a downtime parameter indicating a duration of time, and step (2) is executed when the downtime parameter no longer exceeds the estimated time for transferring the guest data.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

responsive to determining that the second cloud computing system does not expose a public network address to the second VM, generating a virtual private network (VPN) connection to the second VM,

wherein the guest-level migration agent of the second VM is installed via the VPN connection.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, during the migration process, the guest-level migration agent of the first VM excludes one or more directories from the transfer of the guest data.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein, during the migration process, the guest-level migration agent of the first VM, responsive to determining that the switchover criteria has been satisfied, restricts run-level access by the first VM to the guest data.

15. A computer system comprising:

a first cloud computing system including a first host computer executing a first virtual machine (VM), the first VM having installed therein a guest-level migration agent, wherein the first cloud computing system is managed by a first cloud provider; and

a second cloud computing system including a second host computer, wherein the second cloud computing system is managed by a second cloud provider that is different from the first cloud provider,

wherein the second host computer is configured to instantiate a second VM designated as a destination VM, the second VM having installed therein a guest-level migration agent, and

wherein the guest-level migration agents of the first VM and the second VM are configured to execute a migration process of the first VM to the second VM by (1) iteratively copying guest data from the first VM to the second VM until a switchover criteria of the migration operation is met, and (2) copying a remainder of guest data from the first VM to the second VM responsive to satisfaction of the switchover criteria.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the migration process is completed by rebooting the second VM.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the guest-level migration agent of the first VM is configured to determine an estimated time for transferring the guest data from the first VM to the second VM.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the switchover criteria comprises a downtime parameter indicating a duration of time, and the guest-level migration agents are configured to iteratively copy the guest data so long as the downtime parameter exceeds the estimated time for transferring the guest data.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the guest-level migration agent of the first VM is further configured to exclude one or more directories from the transfer of the guest data.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the guest-level migration agent of the first VM is further configured to:

responsive to determining that the switchover criteria has been satisfied, restrict run-level access by the first VM to the guest data.