Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by: retrieving metadata of a base image based on a first input that specifies a version of the base image, metadata of an add-on image based on a second input that specifies a server of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in which the virtualization software is to be installed, and metadata of drivers and agents based on a third input that specifies a firmware package for the server of the OEM; validating a desired image of the virtualization software by extracting dependencies and conflicts defined in metadata of all payloads of the desired image of the virtualization software, and confirming there are no violations of the extracted dependencies and conflicts; and upgrading the current image of the virtualization software to the desired image and upgrading the current version of the firmware to the desired version.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software and a desired state of the firmware; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software that includes software components of a desired version of the firmware; and coordinating an upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software and the desired version of the firmware in the hosts. The upgrade includes an upgrade in each of the hosts to the desired version of the firmware, and an upgrade in each of the hosts to the desired image of the virtualization software that includes the software components of the desired version of the base image and the software components of the desired version of the firmware.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by performing the steps of: validating a desired image of the virtualization software by extracting dependencies and conflicts defined in metadata of all payloads of the desired image of the virtualization software, and confirming there are no violations of the extracted dependencies and conflicts; performing a pre-check of the desired image of the virtualization software against a current image of the virtualization software and a pre-check of the desired version of the firmware against a current version of the firmware; and upon determining from results of the pre-check that the virtualization software can be upgraded to the desired image and the firmware can be upgraded to the desired version, upgrading the current image of the virtualization software to the desired image and upgrading the current version of the firmware to the desired version.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software in a plurality of hosts is installed or upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software by retrieving metadata of the desired state of the virtualization software and determining components that make up the desired state of the virtualization software; and instructing each of the hosts to install the desired image of the virtualization software or upgrade a current image of the virtualization software to the desired image of the virtualization software. One of the components defines a set of payloads for a core kernel of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software in a plurality of hosts is installed or upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software by retrieving metadata of the desired state of the virtualization software and determining components that make up the desired state of the virtualization software; and instructing each of the hosts to install the desired image of the virtualization software or upgrade a current image of the virtualization software to the desired image of the virtualization software. One of the components defines a set of payloads for a core kernel of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software and a desired state of the firmware; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software that includes software components of a desired version of the firmware; and coordinating an upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software and the desired version of the firmware in the hosts. The upgrade includes an upgrade in each of the hosts to the desired version of the firmware, and an upgrade in each of the hosts to the desired image of the virtualization software that includes the software components of the desired version of the base image and the software components of the desired version of the firmware.

Abstract: A method of upgrading an image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts having hardware supported by multiple hardware support managers including first and second hardware support managers, includes generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software and a desired state of first firmware for first hardware supported by the first hardware support manager and second firmware for second hardware supported by the second hardware support manager, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software that includes software components of the desired state of the first and second firmware, and coordinating an upgrade by (1) instructing the first and second hardware support managers to upgrade the hosts to the desired state of the first and second firmware, and (2) instructing each of the hosts to upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software in a plurality of hosts is installed or upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software and storing the desired image of the virtualization software in a storage location accessible to the hosts; and instructing each of the hosts to install the desired image of the virtualization software or upgrade a current image of the virtualization software to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software and a desired state of the firmware; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software that includes software components of a desired version of the firmware; and from a virtual machine management server that is programmed to deploy virtual machines in the hosts, coordinating an upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software and the desired version of the firmware in the hosts by (1) instructing a hardware support manager to upgrade the hosts to the desired version of the firmware, and (2) instructing each of the hosts to upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software in a plurality of hosts is installed or upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a base image and an add-on image; retrieving metadata of the base image and metadata of the add-on image; generating a desired image of the virtualization software based on the metadata of the base image and the metadata of the add-on image; and instructing each of the hosts to install the desired image of the virtualization software or upgrade a current image of the virtualization software to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by performing the steps of: validating a desired image of the virtualization software by extracting dependencies and conflicts defined in metadata of all payloads of the desired image of the virtualization software, and confirming there are no violations of the extracted dependencies and conflicts; performing a pre-check of the desired image of the virtualization software against a current image of the virtualization software and a pre-check of the desired version of the firmware against a current version of the firmware; and upon determining from results of the pre-check that the virtualization software can be upgraded to the desired image and the firmware can be upgraded to the desired version, upgrading the current image of the virtualization software to the desired image and upgrading the current version of the firmware to the desired version.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software and firmware in a plurality of hosts are upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software and a desired state of the firmware; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software that includes software components of a desired version of the firmware; and from a virtual machine management server that is programmed to deploy virtual machines in the hosts, coordinating an upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software and the desired version of the firmware in the hosts by (1) instructing a hardware support manager to upgrade the hosts to the desired version of the firmware, and (2) instructing each of the hosts to upgrade to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software in a plurality of hosts is installed or upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a desired state of the virtualization software; based on the software specification, preparing a desired image of the virtualization software and storing the desired image of the virtualization software in a storage location accessible to the hosts; and instructing each of the hosts to install the desired image of the virtualization software or upgrade a current image of the virtualization software to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: An image of a virtualization software in a plurality of hosts is installed or upgraded by performing the steps of: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a base image and an add-on image; retrieving metadata of the base image and metadata of the add-on image; generating a desired image of the virtualization software based on the metadata of the base image and the metadata of the add-on image; and instructing each of the hosts to install the desired image of the virtualization software or upgrade a current image of the virtualization software to the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: Examples maintain consistency of writes for a plurality of VMs during live migration of the plurality from a source host to a destination host. The disclosure intercepts I/O writes to a migrated VM at a destination host and mirrors the I/O writes back to the source host. This “reverse replication” ensures that the CG of the source host is up to date, and that the source host is safe to fail back to if the migration fails.

Abstract: Examples perform live migration of VMs from a source host to a destination host using destructive consistency breaking operations. The disclosure makes a record of a consistency group of VMs on storage at a source host as a fail-back in the event of failure. The source VMs are live migrated to the destination host, disregarding consistency during live migration, and potentially violating the recovery point objective. After live migration of all of the source VMs, consistency is automatically restored at the destination host and the live migration is declared a success.

Abstract: In a computer-implemented method for automated provisioning a certificate in a computing system a certificate signing request is accessed from a computing node by a centralized management tool of the computing system. The certificate signing request is provided to a certificate authority by the centralized management tool. A signed certificate is accessed from the certificate authority for the computing node. The signed certificate is provided to the computing node, by the centralized management tool, such that there is automated provisioning of the signed certificate at the computing node to establish trust of the computing node in the computing system.

Abstract: Examples perform live migration of VMs from a source host to a destination host using destructive consistency breaking operations. The disclosure makes a record of a consistency group of VMs on storage at a source host as a fail-back in the event of failure. The source VMs are live migrated to the destination host, disregarding consistency during live migration, and potentially violating the recovery point objective. After live migration of all of the source VMs, consistency is automatically restored at the destination host and the live migration is declared a success.

Abstract: Examples perform live migration of objects such as VMs from a source host to a destination host. The disclosure exposes the contents of the storage disk at the destination host, compares the storage disk of the destination host to the source host, and during migration, migrates only data which is not already stored at the destination host. The source and destination VMs have concurrent access to storage disks during migration. After migration, the destination VM executes, with exclusive access to the storage disks.

Abstract: In a computer-implemented method for automated provisioning a certificate in a computing system a certificate signing request is accessed from a computing node by a centralized management tool of the computing system. The certificate signing request is provided to a certificate authority by the centralized management tool. A signed certificate is accessed from the certificate authority for the computing node. The signed certificate is provided to the computing node, by the centralized management tool, such that there is automated provisioning of the signed certificate at the computing node to establish trust of the computing node in the computing system.