System and method for configuration management service

• US 8,775,577 B1
• Filed: 12/18/2007
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Alford, William J., Lohia, Sumit, Hamer, Kenneth L., Whitcomb, Thomas William, McLain, Evan Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shepperd, Eric W
• Application Number:
  US11/958,844
• Time in Patent Office: 2,394 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709219-223, 709/226, 340 43- 433, 710/104, 713 1- 2, 713/100, 718/1, 718/104, 717168-178, 712/15, 370/254
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/20 Network management software packages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

System and method for agentless computing system configuration management in networked environments. A configuration management service may be implemented as a service on a network with a standard network interface. A client may communicate with the service to specify a configuration for a target system, for example through a browser interface. The specified configuration may be stored by the service. The service may generate a package according to the specified configuration. The package may be delivered to the target system via the network. The package may then install the configuration, for example, one or more software, data, or other digital components, on the target systems in accordance with the specified configuration. The clients may request that the service verify and/or update the installed configuration on the target system. The service may, in response, generate an update package for the installed configuration. Target systems may include computer systems and virtual machines.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to implement a configuration management service configured to;

receive via a network, from a plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a plurality of configuration requests in accordance with a standard network interface to the configuration management service, wherein individual ones of the plurality of configuration requests indicate one or more target systems, and specifies a configuration for the indicated one or more target systems, and wherein at least one of the plurality of configuration requests from one of the plurality of clients specifies a configuration for a different type of application environment or software execution environment than does another one of the plurality of configuration requests from another one of the plurality of clients; and

in response to individual received configuration requests;

for one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request, determine one or more components for implementing the configuration specified by the configuration request on the respective target system;

generate one or more packages comprising the determined one or more components for implementing the configuration specified by the configuration request on at least one of the target systems indicated by the configuration request; and

send the one or more packages to a respective at least one of the one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request via the network;

wherein the packages sent to respective target systems in response to the plurality of configuration requests include at least two packages comprising different components specific to a respective different type of application environment or software execution environment in accordance with the configurations specified by the respective configuration requests;

receive via the network, from one of the plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a configuration verification request that specifies an installed configuration on a target system to be verified;

determine, in response to the configuration verification request, that the installed configuration on the target system is not correct by comparing, via the network, the installed configuration on the target system to a locally stored configuration specification corresponding to the installed configuration on the target system; and

in response to said determining that the installed configuration on the target system is not correct;

generate an update package comprising one or more components for correcting the installed configuration on the target system; and

send the update package to the target system via the network.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of configuration requests indicates two or more target systems implemented according to different platforms, wherein a separate package is generated for each of the two or more target systems according to the respective platform, each of the separate packages including at least one component specific to implementing the configuration specified by the respective configuration request on the respective target system.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a data storage, and wherein the configuration management service is further configured to store configuration specifications to the data storage, wherein the configuration specifications comprise information indicating the specified configurations.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein each package is configured to install the specified configuration on a respective target system after the package is received on the respective target system.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein each package is configured to:

determine that the respective target system does not include one or more components necessary to install the specified configuration; and

obtain the missing components for installation on the respective target system.

6. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein the package is configured to obtain the missing components from the configuration management service.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein each configuration request includes a client identifier that uniquely identifies a client of the configuration management service that initiated the configuration request.

8. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the system further comprises a data storage, wherein the configuration management service is further configured to store configuration specifications to the data storage, wherein the configuration specifications comprise information indicating the specified configurations, and wherein the stored configuration specifications are indexed according to the client identifiers.

9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein each package is encrypted for secure transmission over the network to the one or more target systems.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more target systems is a virtual machine, wherein a virtual machine is a virtual, non-physical computing environment created within a host environment, wherein the host environment comprises one or more computing systems.

11. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the configuration management service is implemented as a web service, and wherein the standard network interface is a web service interface.

12. A system, comprising:

a server computer system configured to couple to a network, wherein the server computer system is configured to implement a configuration management service configured to;

receive via the network, from a plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a plurality of configuration requests in accordance with a standard network interface to the configuration management service, wherein individual ones of the plurality of configuration requests specify a configuration for one or more virtual machines, wherein a virtual machine is a virtual, non-physical computing environment created within a host environment, wherein the host environment comprises one or more computing systems, and wherein at least one of the plurality of configuration requests from one of the plurality of clients specifies a configuration for a different type of application environment or software execution environment than does another one of the plurality of configuration requests from another one of the plurality of clients;

in response to individual received configuration requests, store a configuration specification that specifies one or more components of the respective configuration, wherein at least one of the stored configuration specifications specifies one or more components of a configuration for a different type of application environment or software execution environment than does another one of the stored configuration specifications;

receive, from individual ones of two or more virtual machines during initiation of the respective virtual machine, at least one package request in accordance with the standard network interface;

in response to the at least one package request;

determine one of the stored configuration specifications as the configuration specification for the respective virtual machine;

generate a package comprising the one or more components of the configuration as specified by the determined configuration specification, wherein the package is configured to implement the configuration on the respective virtual machine during or after initiation of the virtual machine; and

send the package to the respective virtual machine via a network,

wherein the packages sent to the respective virtual machines in response to the package requests include at least two packages comprising different components specific to a respective different type of application environment or software execution environment in accordance with the configurations specified by the respective configuration requests;

receive via the network, from one of the plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a configuration verification request that specifies an installed configuration on a virtual machine to be verified;

determine, in response to the configuration verification request, that the installed configuration on the virtual machine is not correct by comparing, via the network, the installed configuration on the virtual machine to a locally stored configuration specification corresponding to the installed configuration on the virtual machine; and

in response to said determining that the installed configuration on the virtual machine is not correct;

generate an update package comprising one or more components for correcting the installed configuration on the virtual machine; and

send the update package to the virtual machine via the network.

13. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein each package is configured to install the one or more components of the configuration on the virtual machine after the package is received on the virtual machine.

14. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a configuration management service implemented on one or more computing devices via a network, a plurality of configuration requests from a plurality of clients of the configuration management service in accordance with a standard network interface to the configuration management service, wherein individual ones of the plurality of configuration requests indicate one or more target systems and specifies configuration for the indicated one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request, wherein the individual ones of the plurality of configuration requests are received via the network from a client device of a respective one of the plurality of clients, wherein the respective client specifies implementation of the particular configuration specified by the configuration request via the client device, and wherein at least one of the plurality of configuration requests from one of the plurality of clients specifies a configuration for a different type of application environment or software execution environment than does another one of the plurality of configuration requests from another one of the plurality of clients; and

in response to individual received configuration requests;

for one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request, determining one or more components for implementing the configuration specified by the configuration request on the respective target system;

generating one or more packages comprising the determined one or more components for implementing the configuration specified by the configuration request on at least one of the target systems indicated by the configuration request; and

sending the one or more packages to respective at least one of the one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request via the network,

wherein the packages sent to respective target systems in response to the plurality of configuration requests include at least two packages comprising different components specific to a respective different type of application environment or software execution environment in accordance with the configurations specified by the respective configuration requests;

receiving by the configuration management service via the network, from one of the plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a configuration verification request that specifies an installed configuration on a target system to be verified;

determining, in response to the configuration verification request, that the installed configuration on the target system is not correct by comparing, via the network, the installed configuration on the target system to a locally stored configuration specification corresponding to the installed configuration on the target system;

in response to said determining that the installed configuration on the target system is not correct;

generating an update package comprising one or more components for correcting the installed configuration on the target system; and

sending the update package to the target system via the network.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising storing configuration specifications comprising information indicating the specified configurations to a data storage.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising each package installing the specified configuration on a respective target system after the package is received on the respective target system.

17. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising performing, by each package on a respective target system:

determining that the respective target system does not include one or more components necessary to install the specified configuration; and

obtaining the missing components from the configuration management service for installation on the respective target system.

18. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein at least one of the one or more target systems is a virtual machine, wherein a virtual machine is a virtual, non-physical computing environment created within a host environment, wherein the host environment comprises one or more computing systems.

19. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the configuration management service is implemented as a web service, and wherein the standard network interface is a web service interface.

20. A non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium, comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement a configuration management service configured to:

receive via a network, from a plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a plurality of configuration requests in accordance with a standard network interface to the configuration management service, wherein individual ones of the plurality of configuration requests indicate one or more target systems and specifies a configuration for the indicated one or more target systems and wherein at least one of the plurality of configuration requests from one of the plurality of clients specifies a configuration for a different type of application environment or software execution environment than does another one of the plurality of configuration requests from another one of the plurality of clients; and

in response to individual received configuration requests;

for one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request, determine one or more components for implementing the configuration specified by the configuration request on the respective target system;

generate one or more packages comprising the determined one or more components for implementing the configuration specified by the configuration request on at least one of the target systems indicated by the configuration request; and

send the one or more packages to a respective at least one of the one or more target systems indicated by the configuration request via the network;

wherein the packages sent to respective target systems in response to the plurality of configuration requests include at least two packages comprising different components that are specific to a respective different type of application environment or software execution environment in accordance with the configurations specified by the respective configuration requests;

receive via the network, from one of the plurality of clients of the configuration management service, a configuration verification request that specifies an installed configuration on a target system to be verified;

determine, in response to the configuration verification request, that the installed configuration on the target system is not correct by comparing, via the network, the installed configuration on the target system to a locally stored configuration specification corresponding to the installed configuration on the target system;

in response to said determining that the installed configuration on the target system is not correct;

generate an update package comprising one or more components for correcting the installed configuration on the target system; and

send the update package to the target system via the network.

21. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein each package is configured to install the specified configuration on a respective target system after the package is received on the respective target system.

22. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the configuration management service is further configured to store configuration specifications comprising information indicating the specified configurations to data storage, and wherein the stored configuration specifications are indexed according to client identifiers that uniquely identify the clients of the configuration management service.

23. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein at least one of the one or more target systems is a virtual machine, wherein a virtual machine is a virtual, non-physical computing environment created within a host environment, wherein the host environment comprises one or more computing systems.

24. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the configuration management service is implemented as a web service, and wherein the standard network interface is a web service interface.