Refreshing a software component without interruption

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10169030-B1
Application number	US-201715703218-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 13, 2017
Priority date	Sep 13, 2017
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product are provided for refreshing a software component without interruption. The method includes detecting when a current instance of the software component is inactive and activating a refresh process of the software component in parallel to the current instance, including starting a new instance of the software component. The method further includes monitoring a state of the current instance and, when the current instance ceases to be inactive, canceling the refresh process. The method includes determining that the refresh process is complete and switching from the current instance to the new instance of the software component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for refreshing a software component without interruption, comprising:
detecting when a current instance of the software component is inactive;
activating a refresh process of the software component in parallel to the current instance, including starting a new instance of the software component;
monitoring a state of the current instance and, when the current instance ceases to be inactive, canceling the refresh process;
determining that the refresh process is complete; and
switching from the current instance to the new instance of the software component.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the software component is re-instantiated in parallel with the current instance so that there are temporarily two instances of the software component existing, and wherein the new instance is a reconfigured or upgraded instance.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein switching from the current instance to the new instance of the software component includes transferring the state of the software component.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , including starting the refreshing when it is automatically detected that the software component requires refreshing and, when the refresh process cancels, looping to detect when the software component requires an updated refresh.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein when the refresh process is canceled, repeating the refreshing according to configured rules defining a frequency of refresh attempts.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein detecting when a current instance of the software component is inactive includes determining that no input devices are being used and no requests are being processed or sent.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein detecting when a current instance of the software component is inactive includes determining that no background processes that are uninterruptible are running.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein detecting when a current instance of the software component is inactive includes applying configured rules defining inactivity.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further including testing the software component to determine when the software component is suitable for the refresh process, wherein the testing determines when the software component has idle time and when the software component is able to run a separate instance in parallel.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the refresh process includes one or more from a group of: a restart process, a reconfiguration process, and an upgrade process.

11. A system for refreshing a software component without interruption, comprising:
a processor and a memory configured to provide computer program instructions to the processor to execute components including:
an idle detecting component for detecting when a current instance of the software component is inactive;
a refresh activation component for activating a refresh process of the software component in parallel to the current instance, including starting a new instance of the software component;
an idle monitoring component for monitoring a state of the current instance and, when the current instance ceases to be inactive, canceling the refresh process;
a complete component for determining that the refresh process is complete; and
a switching component for switching from the current instance to the new instance of the software component.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the software component is re-instantiated in parallel with the current instance so that there are temporarily two instances of the software component existing, and wherein the new instance is a reconfigured or upgraded instance.

13. The system as claimed in claim 11 , further including a refresh determining component for starting the refreshing when it is automatically determined that the software component requires refreshing.

14. The system as claimed in claim 11 , further including a repeat component for repeating the refreshing when the refresh process is canceled according to configured rules defining a frequency of refresh attempts.

15. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the idle detecting component determines that no input devices are being used.

16. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the idle detecting component determines that no requests are being processed or sent.

17. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the idle detecting component applies configured rules defining inactivity.

18. The system as claimed in claim 11 , further including a testing component for testing the software component to determine when the software component is suitable for the refresh process, wherein the testing determines when the software component has idle time and when the software component is able to run a separate instance in parallel.

19. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the refresh process includes one or more from a group of: a restart process, a reconfiguration process, and an upgrade process.

20. A computer program product for refreshing a software component without interruption, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
detect when a current instance of the software component is inactive;
activate a refresh process of the software component in parallel to the current instance, including starting a new instance of the software component;
monitor a state of the current instance and, when the current instance ceases to be inactive, canceling the refresh process;
determine that the refresh process is complete; and
switch from the current instance to the new instance of the software component.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Claessens Ivo
• Janssen Roy
• Pisters Ramon L H
• Van Ham Frank

Classifications

• G06F9/4843

  by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system · CPC title

• G06F8/656 Primary

  while running · CPC title