US 10,108,446 B1 · Late load technique for deploying a virtualization layer underneath a running operating system

Abstract

A late load technique deploys a virtualization layer underneath an operating system executing on a node of a network environment to enable the virtualization layer to control the operating system. Binary executable files (binaries) for the virtualization layer may be included in a ring 0 driver loaded in memory of the node with the highest privilege level (e.g., host mode ring 0) needed to control the guest operating system. The ring 0 driver may request allocation of physical memory from the guest operating system for the virtualization layer and thereafter suspend the guest operating system and hardware resources of the node in a deterministic manner. The ring 0 driver may capture architectural states of those resources, which are used to create a virtual machine and virtual devices having initial states that are substantially identical to the states of the operating system and hardware resources at the time of suspension. The ring 0 driver may then load the binaries of the virtualization layer in the allocated memory, bootstrap the virtualization layer to create the virtual machine, initialize the virtual devices and restart the devices in the virtual machine environment with the captured architectural states.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

acquiring, by a ring 0 driver executing on a node, physical memory from a guest operating system executing on a central processing unit (CPU) of the node, the CPU coupled to a memory and to a plurality of hardware resources;
suspending, by the ring 0 driver executing on the node, the guest operating system and the hardware resources to a first state, the ring 0 driver, residing in the guest operating system, having a highest privilege level of the guest operating system;
capturing and saving states of the hardware resources by the ring 0 driver executing on the node;
loading, by the ring 0 driver executing on the node, binary executables for a virtualization layer into the acquired physical memory;
and
bootstrapping, by the ring 0 driver executing on the node, the virtualization layer to create a virtual machine with an initial state that corresponds to a state of the node executing the guest operating system prior to deployment of the virtualization layer, including the captured states of the hardware resources.

3 more elements

A system comprising:

a memory configured to store a guest operating system including a ring 0 driver having a highest privilege level of the guest operating system and a virtualization layer, the ring 0 driver including binary executables for the virtualization layer;
and
a plurality of hardware resources coupled to the memory, the hardware resources including a central processing unit (CPU) adapted to execute the ring 0 driver, the ring 0 driver when executed operable to:
acquire physical memory from the guest operating system for the virtualization layer;
suspend the guest operating system and the hardware resources to a quiescent state;
capture and save states of the hardware resources;
load the binary executables for the virtualization layer into the acquired physical memory;
and
bootstrap the virtualization layer to create a virtual machine with an initial state that corresponds to a state of the system prior to deployment of the virtualization layer, including the captured states of the hardware resources.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Late load technique for deploying a virtualization layer underneath a running operating system

Life of this patent

Late load technique for deploying a virtualization layer underneath a running operating system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20