Virtual Machine Live Support Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Setting up a development environment on a local computer can be time-consuming and prone to dependency conflicts, leading to broken software components, and seeking technical support often requires inconvenient and time-consuming processes for gathering and sharing detailed system information.
Innovation Solution
Integrating live support within a virtual machine-based development environment by establishing a secure communication channel between the virtual machine and a remote support device, using a token for authentication and system configuration information transmission, enabling two-way communication for efficient troubleshooting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If developers independently set up development environments on their local computers, then each developer can have customized configurations, but dependency conflicts and compatibility issues arise between different versions of shared libraries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the development environment into isolated virtual machines, where each virtual machine is a self-contained unit with its own filesystem, process namespace, and system resources. This segmentation prevents dependency conflicts between different virtual machines while allowing each to have customized configurations, as the isolation boundaries prevent interference between shared libraries and system components.
2Ease of repair
If detailed system information is gathered and shared with support professionals, then technical support can be provided, but the process becomes inconvenient and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by automatically gathering and preparing comprehensive system information, virtual machine configuration data, and diagnostic details before the support interaction begins. The support portal pre-configures information collection templates and automatically populates them with relevant system state data, eliminating the need for developers to manually gather information during the support process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a support portal as an intermediary between developers and support professionals. This portal serves as a mediator that automatically collects, formats, and transmits system information, virtual machine configurations, and diagnostic data. The intermediary handles information gathering, validation, and presentation, reducing the time and effort required from developers while ensuring complete and accurate information is provided to support staff.
3Reliability
If a virtual machine is isolated from the host machine, then troubleshooting issues does not affect the host machine, but the complexity of managing virtual machines increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the virtual machine architecture to provide multiple functions through a standardized interface. The virtual machines serve as universal containers that can host different development environments, languages, and toolchains while maintaining consistent management protocols. The support portal provides multi-functional capabilities including deployment, monitoring, isolation management, and coordinated troubleshooting across multiple virtual machines, reducing the perceived complexity through unified control.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to live support integration in a virtual machine based development environment. According to one embodiment, a method generally includes obtaining, by a virtual machine in the virtual machine based development environment, a token from a secure location. In some embodiments, upon determining, that the token is authentic, the virtual machine determines system configuration information relating to the virtual machine. In certain embodiments, the virtual machine establishes a communication channel with a remote support device using the token. The establishing may comprise transmitting, by the virtual machine, the system configuration information to the remote support device and enabling two-way communication between the virtual machine and the remote support device.