Private computer network installations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10360011-B2
Application number	US-201715408133-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2017
Priority date	Jan 17, 2017
Publication date	Jul 23, 2019
Grant date	Jul 23, 2019

Abstract

Software such as operating system software, firmware, and other software components may be installed onto target servers in private computer networks. In some embodiments, virtual machines and/or virtual machine images including guest operating systems and automated installation (AI) components, may be generated and configured to perform software installations onto target servers. For example, a virtual machine generator may be configured to create, install, and configure new virtual machines with specifications based on one or more target devices in a private network. An installation device in communication with the private network may store and/or execute the customized virtual machines to perform software installations onto target devices within the private network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A private network software installation system comprising:
one or more target computing devices, wherein each said target computing device operates on a private network and does not have access to a public network; and
an installation device, comprising:
one or more network interfaces;
a processing unit comprising one or more processors; and
memory coupled with and readable by the processing unit and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, causes the installation device to:
generate a virtual machine, using a virtual machine application executing on the installation device;
install a guest operating system on the virtual machine;
determine a set of software packages to be installed using the virtual machine;
select one or more automated installation software components, based on the software packages to be installed using the virtual machine;
install the selected one or more automated installation software components on the virtual machine;
package and store one or more virtual machine images within the memory of the installation device, each virtual machine image including the guest operating system and the selected one or more automated installation (AI) software components;
receive and store one or more software component packages within the memory of the installation device;
establish one or more connections with one or more target devices via the one or more network interfaces; and
transmit the one or more virtual machine images, via the one or more network interfaces, to the one or more target devices.

2. The private network software installation system of claim 1 , wherein each target device comprises an Ethernet port, and wherein the connections between the target devices and the installation device are made using the Ethernet ports of the target devices.

3. The private network software installation system of claim 1 , the system comprising a plurality of target devices, wherein the installation device receives and stores a plurality of virtual machine images, wherein each of the plurality of target devices simultaneously accesses a different virtual machine image on the installation device.

4. The private network software installation system of claim 3 , and wherein system further comprises a network switch configured as a point of access to the private network, wherein the plurality of virtual machine images are accessed by the plurality of target devices through the network switch.

5. The private network software installation system of claim 3 , wherein each of the plurality of virtual machine images includes a set of parameters that correspond to a set of configuration settings that control the installation of the software component packages on a particular target device, and wherein different virtual machine images include different sets of configuration settings.

6. The private network software installation system of claim 3 , wherein each particular target device of the plurality of target devices is configured to access the virtual machine image, execute the virtual machine, execute the guest operating system, and execute the automated installation (AI) software components by:
establishing the connection between the particular target device and the installation device via an Ethernet port; and
power cycling the particular target device to initiate the steps of accessing the virtual machine image, executing the virtual machine, executing the guest operating system, and executing the automated installation (AI) software components.

7. The private network software installation system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more software component packages installed on the target devices comprise at least one of an operating system upgrade or an operating system patch.

8. The private network software installation system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more target devices includes a hypervisor, and wherein the virtual machine is executed by the hypervisor of the one or more target devices.

9. The private network software installation system of claim 1 , wherein the installation device includes a hypervisor, and wherein the execution of the virtual machine by each particular target device of the one or more target devices comprises:
invoking, by the particular target device, the hypervisor of the installation device; and
executing, by the particular target device, the virtual machine using the hypervisor of the installation device.

10. A method, comprising:
generating a virtual machine, using a virtual machine application executing on an installation device, the installation device comprising one or more processing units, one or more memory units, and a host operating system;
installing, by the installation device, a guest operating system on the virtual machine, wherein the guest operating system within the virtual machine is separate from the host operating system of the installation device;
determining a set of software packages to be installed using the virtual machine;
selecting one or more automated installation software components, based on the software packages to be installed using the virtual machine;
installing, by the installation device, the selected one or more automated installation software components on the virtual machine;
packaging, by the installation device, the virtual machine including the guest operating system and the selected automated installation software components into a virtual machine image;
storing, by the installation device, one or more software component packages within the one or more memory units of the installation device;
establishing, by the installation device, a connection with a target device, wherein the target device operates on a private network and is not connected to a public network; and
transmitting, by the installation device, the virtual machine image, to the target device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein establishing the connection with the target device and providing access to the virtual machine are performed via an Ethernet port of the target device.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
generating one or more additional virtual machines on the installation device, each of the one or more additional virtual machines including a guest operating system and one or more automated installation (AI) software components;
establishing connections between the installation device and one or more additional target devices; and
providing the one or more additional target devices with access to the one or more additional virtual machines, wherein the installation device provides the virtual machine to the target device while simultaneously providing the one or more additional virtual machines to the one or more additional target devices.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the target device and the one or more additional target devices operate on a private network and do not have access to a public network, and wherein the installation device connects to a network switch configured as a point of access to the private network in order to provide access to virtual machines, to target devices within the private network.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the virtual machine includes a set of parameters that correspond to a set of configuration settings that control the installation of the software component packages on a particular target device, and wherein different virtual machines include different sets of configuration settings.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the installation device further includes a hypervisor, and wherein the

Assignees

• Oracle Int Corp

Inventors

• Acharya Kadiresan

Classifications

• G06F8/63 Primary

  Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order · CPC title

• G06F9/5077

  Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources (specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455) · CPC title

• G06F8/61

  Installation · CPC title

• G06F9/45558

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• G06F2009/45562

  Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances · CPC title