Backup index generation process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10613939-B2
Application number	US-201715471833-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2017
Priority date	Mar 28, 2017
Publication date	Apr 7, 2020
Grant date	Apr 7, 2020

Abstract

Container images may be generated from a backup system that includes a backup of one or more applications from a computing system of an entity. During a backup process, an application can be identified and its storage location in a secondary storage can be tracked or saved in a backup index. Configuration information and data or files created by user interaction with the application can be backed up and the location of the backed up data or files may be stored in the backup index along with the location of the configuration information. Using the backup index, a container image can be created that includes a selected application, its configuration information, and data, if any, created by the application. The container image can be generated from the backup stored in the secondary storage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of performing an indexed backup of a primary storage, the computer-implemented method comprising:
as implemented by a backup agent within a computing system comprising one or more hardware processors and configured with specific computer-executable instructions,
receiving a trigger to backup a primary storage of a client computing device;
accessing a plurality of data blocks on the primary storage;
identifying an application included in a first set of data blocks of the plurality of data blocks;
tagging the first set of data blocks with a first tag indicating that the first set of data blocks includes the application;
identifying configuration information that specifies installation and access control parameters for a first user of the application, the configuration information included in a second set of data blocks of the plurality of data blocks;
tagging the second set of data blocks with a first user tag indicating that the second set of data blocks includes the configuration information, wherein the first user tag that distinguishes the second set of data blocks from the first set of data blocks corresponding to the application and from blocks tagged with a second user tag that include second configuration information for a second user of the application;
identifying data generated by the application included in a third set of data blocks of the plurality of data blocks;
tagging the third set of data blocks with a second tag indicating that the third set of data blocks includes the data generated by the application and that distinguishes the third set of data blocks from the first set of data blocks corresponding to the application and the second set of data blocks corresponding to the configuration information;
generating a backup index based at least in part on storage locations of the plurality of data blocks at a secondary storage and one or more tags associated with at least some of the plurality of data blocks, the one or more tags including the first tag, the first user tag, and the second tag; and
generating a container image for the application in response to a selection of an entry in the backup index associated with the application, the container image serving as a template for installing an instance of the application in a container.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the backup agent is a data agent within the client computing system and the computing system is the client computing system.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the backup agent is a media agent within a secondary storage computing device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the backup agent comprises a plurality of agents including at least a data agent of the client computing system and a media agent of a secondary storage computing device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of data blocks include one or more application binaries of the application.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the application included in the first set of data blocks comprises querying an operating system of the client computing device to identify the application.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the configuration information for the application comprises querying an operating system of the client computing device to identify at least some of the configuration information.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the configuration information for the application comprises querying an application programming interface of the application to identify at least some of the configuration information.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the backup index is maintained by a secondary storage computing device.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising backing up the plurality of data blocks to the secondary storage.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying the backup index to reflect a change in a storage location at the secondary storage of a data block from the plurality of data blocks.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the data generated by the application is generated in response to user interaction with the application during execution of the application on the client computing device.

13. A system for performing an indexed backup of a primary storage, the system comprising:
a backup agent implemented in computer hardware, the backup agent configured to:
detect a trigger to backup a primary storage of a client computing device;
access a plurality of data blocks on the primary storage;
identify an application included in a first set of data blocks of the plurality of data blocks;
tag the first set of data blocks with a first tag indicating that the first set of data blocks includes the application;
identify configuration information that specifies installation and access control parameters for a first user of the application, the configuration information included in a second set of data blocks of the plurality of data blocks;
tag the second set of data blocks with a first user tag indicating that the second set of data blocks includes the configuration information, wherein the first user tag that distinguishes the second set of data blocks from the first set of data blocks corresponding to the application and from blocks tagged with a second user tag that include second configuration information for a second user of the application;
identify data generated by the application included in a third set of data blocks of the plurality of data blocks;
tag the third set of data blocks with a second tag indicating that the third set of data blocks includes the data generated by the application and that distinguishes the third set of data blocks from the first set of data blocks corresponding to the application and the second set of data blocks corresponding to the configuration information; and
generate a backup index based at least in part on storage locations of the plurality of data blocks at a secondary storage and one or more tags associated with at least some of the plurality of data blocks, the one or more tags including the first tag, the first user tag, and the second tag; and

a container image generator implemented in computer hardware and configured to generate a container image for the application in response to a selection of an entry in the backup index associated with the application, the container image serving as a template for installing an instance of the application in a container.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the backup agent comprises one of a data agent, a media agent, or a combination of a data agent and a media agent.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the backup agent is further configured to identify the application included in the first set of data blocks by querying an operating system of the client computing device.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the backup agent is further configured to identify the configuration information for the application by querying one or more of an operating system of the client computing device or an application programming interface of the application to identify at least some of the configuration information.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the backup agent is further configured to backup the plurality of data blocks to the secondary storage.

18. The system of claim 13 , wh

Assignees

• Commvault Systems Inc

Inventors

• Mitkar Amit
• Kumarasamy Paramasivam
• Chen Jianwei

Classifications

• G06F2201/84

  Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data · CPC title

• G06F11/1453

  using de-duplication of the data · CPC title

• G06F2201/815

  Virtual · CPC title

• G06F11/2094

  Redundant storage or storage space (G06F11/2056 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F11/2038

  with a single idle spare processing component · CPC title