Abstract: An information processing system includes a preparation machine with an installed image; an execution machine on which the installed image is virtually installed; and a virtualizer for virtualizing the installed image on the execution machine to produce a virtually installed image by using a hierarchy of selective virtualizers, wherein the virtualizing is selective such that not all operations of the executing software of the installed image at any particular level are virtualized.

Abstract: During a process of migrating a source system into a standardized virtual environment, virtual machine instances of the source system executing in a hypervisor are snapshotted as virtual machine images in an operational repository of the hypervisor. The virtual machine images in the operational repository are short-term snapshots. From time to time during the migration process, long-term snapshots of the source system are created by checking given ones of the virtual machine images from the hypervisor operational repository into an image library as image objects.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for distributing a composite software stack as a virtual appliance. A new virtual appliance is published by obtaining a parent virtual appliance; configuring the new virtual appliance; obtaining file level differences between the parent virtual appliance and the new virtual appliance; and publishing the new virtual appliance as a patch comprising the file level differences relative to the parent virtual appliance. The file level differences comprise one or more of additions, deletions and modifications to the parent virtual appliance. An update to a given virtual appliance can be published as a fix pack, wherein the fix pack comprises file level differences relative to the given virtual appliance.

Abstract: Aspects of the present invention provide a tool for analyzing and remediating an update-related failure. In an embodiment, a failure state of a computer system that has been arrived at as a result of an update is captured. A semantic diff that includes the difference between the failure state and at least one of an original state or a completion state is then computed. This semantic diff is transformed into a feature vector format. Then the transformed semantic diff is analyzed to determine a remediation for the update. Failure and/or resolution signatures can be constructed using the semantic diff and contextual data, and these signatures can be used in comparison and analysis of failures and resolutions.

Abstract: Aspects of the present invention provide a tool for analyzing and remediating an update-related failure. In an embodiment, a failure state of a computer system that has been arrived at as a result of an update is captured. A semantic diff that includes the difference between the failure state and at least one of an original state or a completion state is then computed. This semantic diff is transformed into a feature vector format. Then the transformed semantic diff is analyzed to determine a remediation for the update. Failure and/or resolution signatures can be constructed using the semantic diff and contextual data, and these signatures can be used in comparison and analysis of failures and resolutions.

Abstract: Aspects of the present invention provide a solution for passively monitoring a computer system. In an embodiment, a virtual server is accessed by an indexing agent that is contained in an indexing appliance. The virtual server is located on a physical server and is one of a plurality of virtual system instances on a common physical server. The indexing appliance is separate from the virtual server and, as such, the indexing agent is not executed within the virtual server, itself. The indexing agent retrieves a virtual image of the virtual server and indexes the virtual image to extract features indicative of changes in the virtual server. These features are analyzed to perform passive monitoring of the virtual server. Since the indexing appliance is separate from the virtual server for which passive monitoring is being performed, the indexing agent can perform the retrieving and the indexing without utilizing agents executing within the virtual server.

Abstract: Aspects of the present invention provide a solution for passively monitoring a computer system. In an embodiment, an indexing agent operates on a physical server having a plurality of virtual servers. The indexing agent has a framework having a plurality of indexing layers. Each of these indexing layers is adapted to index a virtual server along a different abstraction level to extract abstraction level features indicative of changes in the virtual server. Further, each of the indexing layers has an application programming interface, which is adapted to receive one or more external indexing modules to be plugged into the framework. Each indexing module is adapted to provide instructions to the indexing agent while the indexing layer to which it is plugged is indexing the associated abstraction level of the virtual machine.

Abstract: A method for updating an application on a host system includes steps or acts of: installing an application on the host system; installing a virtual machine monitor on the host system, installing a first virtual container on the host system, wherein the first virtual container comprises at least one update to the installed application; and instantiating the first virtual container under the virtual machine monitor in a mode wherein the host system can be accessed but not modified and wherein instantiating the first virtual container includes updating the installed application in the first virtual computer and running the updated application in the first virtual container. The method may also include a step of confirming that the updated application runs properly. Optionally, the virtual container may be devirtualized.

Abstract: A composite software stack is distributed as a virtual appliance. A new virtual appliance is published by obtaining a parent virtual appliance; configuring the new virtual appliance; obtaining file level differences between the parent virtual appliance and the new virtual appliance; and publishing the new virtual appliance as a patch comprising the file level differences relative to the parent virtual appliance. The file level differences comprise additions, deletions and/or modifications to the parent virtual appliance. An update to a given virtual appliance can be published as a fix pack, wherein the fix pack comprises file level differences relative to the given virtual appliance. An end user obtains a desired virtual appliance by selecting the desired virtual appliance; obtaining metadata for the desired virtual appliance comprising an identifier of a patch file and a parent virtual appliance; and applying the patch file to the parent virtual appliance to get a modified virtual appliance.

Abstract: An information processing system includes a preparation machine with an installed image; an execution machine on which the installed image is virtually installed; and a virtualizer for virtualizing the installed image on the execution machine to produce a virtually installed image by using a hierarchy of selective virtualizers, wherein the virtualizing is selective such that not all operations of the executing software of the installed image at any particular level are virtualized.

Abstract: An information processing system includes a preparation machine with an installed image; an execution machine on which the installed image is virtually installed; and a virtualizer for virtualizing the installed image on the execution machine to produce a virtually installed image by using a hierarchy of selective virtualizers, wherein the virtualizing is selective such that not all operations of the executing software of the installed image at any particular level are virtualized.

Abstract: A system, computer program and method for transmitting requested data from a data source in response to data transmission requests from at least one electronic device according to differential rates of throughput. Data transmission requests are classified into one of a plurality of throughput classes, with each throughput class having an assigned rate of throughput. A proportion of data transmission requests to be processed from each throughput class is selected such that each data transmission request has a rate of throughput approximating the assigned rate of throughput of its class. The requested data is then sent from the data source to the electronic device.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for distributing a composite software stack as a virtual appliance. A new virtual appliance is published by obtaining a parent virtual appliance; configuring the new virtual appliance; obtaining file level differences between the parent virtual appliance and the new virtual appliance; and publishing the new virtual appliance as a patch comprising the file level differences relative to the parent virtual appliance. The file level differences comprise one or more of additions, deletions and modifications to the parent virtual appliance. An update to a given virtual appliance can be published as a fix pack, wherein the fix pack comprises file level differences relative to the given virtual appliance.

Abstract: A method for managing a virtual machine image includes receiving a request to change a package configuration of a machine, processing an image action received in the request, wherein the processing the image action received includes, opening the image action with associated action inputs, comparing the opened image action inputs with inputs associated with action instances in a database, determining whether the compared opened image action inputs match the inputs associated with action instances, retrieving from the database, image difference data associated with the image action responsive to determining that the compared opened image action inputs match the inputs associated with action instances in the database, and applying the image difference data to an image to transform the image, determining whether each image action in the request has been processed and processing a second image action responsive to determining that each image action has not been processed.

Abstract: A method for creating a virtual machine image, includes: storing a first image manifest for a first virtual machine image, the first image manifest including a mapping from file names of the first virtual machine image to content descriptors; storing a second image manifest for a second virtual machine image, the second image manifest including a mapping from file names of the second virtual machine image to content descriptors; creating a first overlay mapping by: placing a file name and its content descriptor both from the second image manifest in the first overlay mapping; and placing a file name and its content descriptor both from the first image manifest in the first overlay mapping if the file name and its content descriptor are not mapped in the second image manifest; and constructing a third virtual machine image having an image manifest whose mapping is the first overlay mapping.

Abstract: A method for operating a file system includes receiving a write instruction including a file descriptor associated with a file and a content identifier, a content offset, and a content length, associating a region within the file with the content identifier, saving the association of the region and the content identifier.

Abstract: A method for performing software operations on virtual machine images, includes: receiving a virtual machine image that includes data; reclassifying the data into a plurality of parts; and performing a software operation on one of the parts, wherein the software operation is performed without running a virtual machine.

Abstract: A method comprises receiving a first virtual machine image, processing the first virtual machine image with a Mirage transformation, and generating a first manifest including a mapping of hierarchical names of content of the first virtual machine image to content identifiers.

Abstract: A method for performing software operations on virtual machine images, includes: receiving a virtual machine image that includes a mapping from a first file name to first file content; reformatting the virtual machine image by: creating a store that contains the first file content and that associates a content descriptor with the first file content, wherein the first file content can be reconstructed by using the content descriptor; and decoupling the mapping by creating an image manifest that maps the first file name to the content descriptor; and performing a software operation on the virtual machine image using the reformatted virtual machine image.

Abstract: A method for performing software operations on virtual machine images, includes: receiving a first virtual machine image that includes a mapping from a first file name to first file content; reformatting the first virtual machine image by: creating a unique ID for the first file content; and decoupling the mapping of the first virtual machine image by creating an image manifest that maps the first file name to the unique ID, and creating a store that contains the first file content and that maps the unique ID to the first file content; and performing a software operation on the first virtual machine image using the reformatted first virtual machine image.