Rapid bug identification in container images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11379207-B2
Application number	US-202016999120-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2020
Priority date	Aug 21, 2020
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

Bugs in container images can be rapidly identified. For example, a computing device can receive first metadata about a first container image that includes a first version of a piece of software and second metadata about a second container image that includes a second version of the piece of software. The computing device can obtain first source code from a first location indicated in the first metadata and second source code from a second location indicated in the second metadata. The computing device can determine a difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing the first source code to the second source code. The computing device can generate an output for display indicating the difference between the first container image and the second container image.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory including instructions that are executable by the processor for causing the processor to:
receive first metadata about a first container image that includes a first version of a piece of software, the first metadata indicating a first location and a first commit identifier corresponding to first source code from which the first version of the piece of software was built in generating the first container image, wherein the first commit identifier is a first commit hash;
obtain the first source code from the first location based on the first commit identifier;
receive second metadata about a second container image that includes a second version of the piece of software, the second metadata indicating a second location and a second commit identifier corresponding to second source code from which the second version of the piece of software was built in generating the second container image, wherein the second commit identifier is a second commit hash;
obtain the second source code from the second location based on the second commit identifier;
determine a difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing the first source code to the second source code; and
generate an output for display indicating the difference between the first container image and the second container image.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the difference is a first difference;
the first container image includes a first filesystem and the second container image includes a second filesystem; and
the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to determine a second difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing the first filesystem to the second filesystem.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the difference is a first difference, and the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to determine a second difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing a first commit history associated with the first container image and a second commit history associated with the second container image.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to:
receive a user input subsequent to generating the output, the user input including one or more adjustments to the second container image; and
generate a third container image based on the user input and contents of the second container image, the third container image being configured to serve as a rebuild of the second container image that includes the one or more adjustments.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to:
determine a software patch based on the difference between the first container image and the second container image, the software patch being configured to correct a bug associated with the second container image; and
generate a third container image based on the second container image and the software patch, the third container image being separate from the first container image and the second container image.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to generate a graphical user interface for display on a display device, the graphical user interface including a tree view representing relationships between the first container image and the second container image.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to merge the first container image and the second container image into a single container image based on receiving a merge command.

8. The system of claim 1 , the difference is a first difference, and wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the processor for causing the processor to determine a second difference between the first container image and the second container image by performing a text search on the first container image and the second container image, the difference being a textual string.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first commit identifier uniquely identifies a commit associated with the first source code, and wherein the second commit identifier uniquely identifies another commit associated with the second source code.

10. A method comprising:
receiving, by a processor, first metadata about a first container image that includes a first version of a piece of software, the first metadata indicating a first location and a first commit identifier corresponding to first source code from which the first version of the piece of software was built in generating the first container image, wherein the first commit identifier is a first commit hash;
obtaining, by the processor, the first source code from the first location based on the first commit identifier;
receiving, by the processor, second metadata about a second container image that includes a second version of the piece of software, the second metadata indicating a second location and a second commit identifier corresponding to second source code from which the second version of the piece of software was built in generating the second container image, wherein the second commit identifier is a second commit hash;
obtaining, by the processor, the second source code from the second location based on the second commit identifier;
determining, by the processor, a difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing the first source code to the second source code; and
generating, by the processor, an output for display indicating the difference between the first container image and the second container image.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the difference is a first difference;
the first container image includes a first filesystem and the second container image includes a second filesystem; and
the method further comprising determining, by the processor, a second difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing the first filesystem to the second filesystem.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the difference is a first difference, and further comprising determining a second difference between the first container image and the second container image by comparing a first commit history associated with the first container image and a second commit history associated with the second container image.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, by the processor, a user input subsequent to generating the output, the user input including one or more adjustments to the second container image; and
generating, by the processor, a third container image based on the user input and contents of the second container image, the third container image being configured to serve as a rebuild of the second container image that includes the one or more adjustments.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining, by the processor, a software patch based on the difference between the first container image and the second container image, the software patch being configured to correct a bug associated with the second container image; and
generating, by the processor, a third container image based on the second container image and the software patch, the third container image being separate from

Assignees

• Red Hat Inc

Inventors

• Scheinkman Sebastian
• Shoval Or

Classifications

• G06F8/30

  Creation or generation of source code · CPC title

• G06F8/71

  Version control (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57); Configuration management · CPC title

• G06F9/44505

  Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files · CPC title

• G06F2009/45562

  Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances · CPC title

• G06F8/658

  Incremental updates; Differential updates · CPC title