Recreating Software Installation Bundles from Host Metadata
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Solution Overview
Problem
Creating a software installation bundle for a host cluster in a software-defined datacenter can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially when the host cluster is not connected to a wide area network, making it difficult to obtain necessary software components for creating a desired image.
Innovation Solution
A method to recreate software installation bundles from an existing software image on a host in a virtualized computing system by obtaining image metadata, identifying software installation bundles, and re-creating them using their descriptors, signatures, and payloads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a user manually imports multiple software components to create a desired image for host cluster, then the software image can be created, but the process becomes time-consuming and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts software installation bundle information from an existing seed host and uses this copied information to automatically generate software images for other hosts. Instead of manually importing software components, the system copies the configuration metadata (SIB descriptors, signatures, and payload references) from the seed host and recreates the same software bundles automatically, eliminating manual errors and saving time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary extraction of software bundle metadata from a seed host before deploying to other hosts. By pre-configuring the software image on one host and then replicating this configuration automatically, the system avoids repeated manual setup steps for each host, significantly reducing the time and error rate for software image creation across the entire host cluster.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If host cluster is isolated from wide area network for security reasons, then security is improved, but the ability to obtain necessary software components is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent downloads and stores all necessary software components and metadata on a seed host before the host cluster is isolated from the network. This preliminary action ensures that the software image is fully configured offline, allowing the isolated host cluster to recreate software bundles without needing network access, thus maintaining both security and software deployment capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a seed host as an intermediary that bridges the gap between networked software repositories and isolated host clusters. The seed host downloads software components from external depots and makes them available locally, enabling other hosts in the isolated cluster to obtain necessary software components without direct network connection, thus maintaining security while preserving adaptability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual setup of software image is required, then customization is possible, but the process becomes complex and requires domain expertise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent copies the complete software configuration from a seed host that has been customized with specific software components and settings. This copying process automatically replicates the exact same customized configuration across other hosts, preserving customization capability while eliminating the complexity of manually configuring each host individually and reducing the need for domain expertise.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary customization on a single seed host, then uses this pre-configured host as a template for automatic deployment to other hosts. This approach allows domain experts to perform customization once on the seed host, and the system automatically handles the replication, significantly reducing the complexity and expertise required for deploying customized software images across the entire cluster.
Data Source
AI summary
An example method of creating a software image from software executing on a host in a virtualized computing system includes: obtaining, by an image generator executing in the virtualized computing system, an image metadata from the host, the image metadata describing a running image of a hypervisor executing on the host; identifying, from the image metadata, a plurality of software installation bundles (SIBs) used to install the running image on the host; obtaining, from the image metadata, SIB descriptors and SIB signatures for the plurality of SIBs; obtaining, from storage on the host, payloads referenced in the image metadata for the SIBs; and recreating the plurality of SIBs from the SIB descriptors, the SIB signatures, and the payloads.