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US 10,705,939 B2Granted
Apparatuses, methods and systems for determining a virtual machine state
AssigneeDatto, Inc.
InventorsAustin McChord, Matthew Coleman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING A VIRTUAL MACHINE STATE (“CRV”) (transforms register retrieval requests, via CRV components, into boot success messages and screenshot capture command invocation outputs. A method comprises determining when to capture a screenshot of a virtual machine's display output by observing the values of a virtual CPU's registers, or the entropy of the virtual CPU's register values, obtained from a hypervisor in communication with the virtual machine's virtual CPU. The method further comprises determining when the virtual machine is at a boot success state and capturing a screenshot of the virtual machine display output.
Claims40
A method for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generating a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- storing the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers and the method further comprises:
- identifying one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers that stay at a single value regardless of whether a virtual CPU has successfully booted, or has encountered an error while booting;
- and
- excluding register sample values associated with any of the identified one or more virtual CPU registers from the plurality of register sample values;
- wherein the set of rules are not generated based on any of the excluded register sample values.
8 more elements
An apparatus for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the apparatus comprising:
- memory to store processor-executable instructions;
- and
- at least one processor, operably coupled to the memory, to execute the processor-executable instructions, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- obtains a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generate a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- store the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers, and
- wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- identifies one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers that stay at a single value regardless of whether a virtual CPU has successfully booted, or has encountered an error while booting;
- and
- excludes register sample values associated with any of the identified one or more virtual CPU registers from the plurality of register sample values;
- wherein the set of rules are not generated based on any of the excluded register sample values.
12 more elements
A method for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generating a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- storing the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers and the method further comprises:
- for each virtual CPU register in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers, measuring a degree of repetition across the plurality of register sample values;
- identifying one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers for which the degree of repetition is below a threshold;
- and
- excluding register sample values associated with any of the identified one or more virtual CPU registers from the plurality of register sample values;
- wherein the set of rules are not generated based on any of the excluded register sample values.
9 more elements
An apparatus for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the apparatus comprising:
- memory to store processor-executable instructions;
- and
- at least one processor, operably coupled to the memory, to execute the processor-executable instructions, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- obtains a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generate a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- store the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers, and
- wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- for each virtual CPU register in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers, measures a degree of repetition across the plurality of register sample values;
- identifies one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers for which the degree of repetition is below a threshold;
- and
- excludes register sample values associated with any of the identified one or more virtual CPU registers from the plurality of register sample values;
- wherein the set of rules are not generated based on any of the excluded register sample values.
13 more elements
A method for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generating a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- storing the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers and the method further comprises:
- identifying one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers whose values change based on incremental versions of a single major operating system release;
- and
- modifying the plurality of register sample values such that register sample values associated with both the single major operating system release and with the identified one or more virtual CPU registers have the same value.
7 more elements
An apparatus for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the apparatus comprising:
- memory to store processor-executable instructions;
- and
- at least one processor, operably coupled to the memory, to execute the processor-executable instructions, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- obtains a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generate a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- store the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers, and
- wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- identifies one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers whose values change based on incremental versions of a single major operating system release;
- and
- modifies the plurality of register sample values such that register sample values associated with both the single major operating system release and with the identified one or more virtual CPU registers have the same value.
11 more elements
A method for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generating a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- storing the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers and the method further comprises:
- identifying one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers which is associated with register sample values that can only vary between a predetermined number of string values;
- and
- modifying the plurality of register sample values such that each respective register sample value that is associated with one of the identified virtual CPU registers is replaced with an enumerated value that corresponds to the respective register sample value.
7 more elements
An apparatus for generating rules for determining a status of an operating system running on a virtual machine, the apparatus comprising:
- memory to store processor-executable instructions;
- and
- at least one processor, operably coupled to the memory, to execute the processor-executable instructions, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- obtains a plurality of register sample values comprising:
- a plurality of boot success state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual central processing unit (CPU) register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has successfully booted, and
- a plurality of boot error state register sample values, each of which represents a sample virtual CPU register value associated with a virtual CPU register of a virtual CPU that has encountered an error while booting;
- generate a set of rules for evaluating virtual CPU register values associated with a target virtual CPU to determine whether the target virtual CPU has successfully booted, wherein the set of rules are generated based at least in part on at least some of the plurality of boot success state register sample values, and at least some of the plurality of boot error state register sample values;
- and
- store the generated set of rules;
- wherein each register sample value in the plurality of register sample values is associated with a virtual CPU register in a defined plurality of virtual CPU registers, and
- wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the apparatus:
- identifies one or more virtual CPU registers in the defined plurality of virtual CPU registers which is associated with register sample values that can only vary between a predetermined number of string values;
- and
- modifies the plurality of register sample values such that each respective register sample value that is associated with one of the identified virtual CPU registers is replaced with an enumerated value that corresponds to the respective register sample value.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.