Identification of virtual computing instance issues

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9304796-B1
Application number	US-201314040189-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 27, 2013
Priority date	Sep 27, 2013
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

Technology for identifying virtual computing instance issues is described. An operating information report of a virtual computing instance may be parsed to obtain a diagnostic result. The diagnostic result may be compared against a data store of known computing instance issues to determine whether there is an issue for the virtual computing instance. The issue may be flagged when identified and provided for resolution.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for identifying virtual computing instance issues, comprising:
under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions:
receiving an operating information report from a virtual computing instance at a virtual storage location, the operating information report being created by a request from a user of the virtual computing instance;
generating a report identification in response to receiving the operating information report at the storage location and transmitting the report identification to the virtual computing instance;
parsing the operating information report to obtain a diagnostic result;
comparing the diagnostic result against an issues data store containing known virtual computing instance issues to determine whether there is an existing issue for the virtual computing instance;
flagging the existing issue when identified; and
comparing a flagged existing issue against a solutions data store to identify a cause of the flagged existing issue and a solution to resolve the flagged existing issue.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising notifying the user of the cause and the solution.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving additional known virtual computing instance issue data and storing the additional known virtual computing instance issue data in the issues data store.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving additional cause and solution data and storing the additional cause and solution data in the solutions data store.

5. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions:
receiving an operation information report;
parsing the operating information report of a virtual computing instance to obtain a diagnostic result, the operating information report being created by request from a user of the virtual computing instance;
generating a report identification in response to receiving the operating information report;
comparing the diagnostic result against a data store of known computing instance issues to determine whether there is an issue for the virtual computing instance;
flagging the issue when identified; and
providing a flagged issue for resolution.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising comparing the flagged issue against a solutions data store to identify a cause of the flagged issue and a solution to resolve the flagged issue.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising storing the operating information report as a read-only report with access limited to a user and a diagnostic technician.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving the operating information report at a storage location associated with the virtual computing instance.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising providing the flagged issue for display to a diagnostic technician via an interface with the storage location.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving the operating information report at a storage location via an Application Programming Interface (API) using a temporary, signed Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising generating a report identification in response to receiving the operating information report at the storage location and transmitting in the temporary, signed URL the report identification to the virtual computing instance.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving a subsequent request for report information via the API from the virtual computing instance and providing the flagged issue for display in response to the subsequent request.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising expiring the operating information report after a predetermined period of time.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising restricting access to portions of the operating information report to ensure privacy of a user of the virtual computing instance.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving scripts from a plurality of users for identifying the known computing instance issues and storing the scripts in the data store of known computing instance issues, the scripts including scripts for identifying the known computing instance issues across a plurality of computing platforms.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising copying a storage node of the virtual computing instance to another virtual computing instance when the virtual computing instance is non-contactable and generating the operating information report from the another virtual computing instance.

17. A system, comprising:
one or more computing nodes, each of which comprises at least one processor and a memory, wherein the one or more computing nodes are configured to collectively implement:
an API to receive an operating information report when called without a report identification and to retrieve virtual computing instance diagnostic information when called with the report identification;
an issues data store to store scripts for identifying known virtual computing instance issues;
a parsing module to parse the operating information report to obtain a diagnostic result;
an analysis module to use the issues data store and the diagnostic result to determine whether there is an existing issue for the virtual computing instance; and
a flagging module to flag the existing issue when present.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a notification module to notify a user of the virtual computing instance of at least one of a potential cause or a potential solution to the existing issue.

19. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a security module to:
restrict submission of the operating information report to submissions through the API via a temporary, signed URL;
restrict access by a user to the operating information report to access requests through the API including the report identification; and
restrict access by a diagnostic technician to the operating information report to a subset of information included in the operating information report and to access via an administration interface.

20. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a monitoring module to receive a plurality of the operating information reports over time at a request of a user and to identify the existing issue when changes to the virtual computing instance occur which trigger at least one of the scripts.

21. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions:
generating an operating information report for a virtual computing instance;
transmitting the operating information report to a storage location for processing using a temporary, signed URL;
receiving a report identification in a temporary, signed Uniform Resource Locator (URL) from the storage location in response to transmitting the operating information report to the storage location; and
transmitting the report identification to the storage location to retrieve a processed result of the operating information report.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , further com

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Douglas Jeffrey Andrew
• Petty Heath David
• Emmerson Troy Dalton

Classifications

• G06F11/0784 Primary

  Routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow · CPC title

• G06F9/45533 Primary

  Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors · CPC title

• G06F11/2028

  eliminating a faulty processor or activating a spare · CPC title

• G06F11/0712

  in a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems · CPC title

• G06F11/0787

  Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection · CPC title