Agentless recording for virtual machine consoles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9400727-B2
Application number	US-201213472157-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2012
Priority date	May 15, 2012
Publication date	Jul 26, 2016
Grant date	Jul 26, 2016

Abstract

A virtual machine console is recorded. A method for monitoring a virtual machine may comprise monitoring a virtualization environment, detecting a new virtual machine and associated console, creating an additional instantiation of the console by generating a reflection of the console on a video capture device and recording a real time video of an image of the additional instantiation of the console on the video capture device. Prior to recording, the image may be analyzed to determine a change and the recording of the image can be triggered based upon the analysis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for monitoring a virtual machine comprising:
monitoring a virtualization environment, wherein the virtualization environment is provided by a virtualization provider that provides a plurality of virtual machines,
detecting a new virtual machine and a console associated with the virtual machine,
wherein the console associated with the virtual machine is used to access and perform operations of the virtual machine;
creating, responsive to detecting the console associated with the virtual machine, an additional instantiation of the console by generating a reflection of the console on a video capture device; and
recording a real time video of usage of the console by capturing an image of the additional instantiation of the console on the video capture device,
wherein the monitoring comprises using a discovery API associated with the virtualization provider of the virtualization environment to query the virtualization environment for virtual machines and consoles,
wherein each virtual machine and console is owned by a respective virtualization consumer,
wherein creating the additional instantiation of the console comprises using a console software API associated with the virtualization provider to generate the reflection,
wherein detecting the new virtual machine and the console associated with the virtual machine is performed independent of an agent installed on the virtual machine to facilitate the detecting,
wherein creating the additional instantiation of the console associated with the virtual machine is performed independent of an agent installed on the virtual machine to facilitate the creating, and
wherein recording the real time video usage of the console associated with the virtual machine is per independent of an agent installed on the virtual machine to facilitate the recording.

2. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 1 , wherein the monitoring comprises using the discovery API associated with the virtualization provider for the virtualization environment and security credentials provided by the virtualization consumer to query the virtualization environment for virtual machines and consoles associated with the virtualization consumer.

3. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 1 , further comprising detecting a first change in the image of the additional instantiation of the console, wherein the recording is triggered by the detection.

4. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 3 , further comprising:
setting a change timer to a preset value after the detection of the first change; and
resetting the change timer when a second change in the image of the additional instantiation of the console is subsequently detected,
wherein the recording of the image of the additional instantiation of the console is stopped if the change timer expires.

5. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 1 , further comprising storing the recorded real time video of the image.

6. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 , wherein the recorded real time video of the image is associated with an identifier.

7. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 , wherein the recorded real time video of the image is timestamped.

8. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving a request to view a recorded real time video of the image from a requester; and authenticating the requester,
wherein if the requester is authenticated, the method further comprises causing a list of recorded real time videos associated with a specific virtual machine to he displayed.

9. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving a selection of a recorded real time video from the list of recorded real time videos; and
providing the selected recorded real time video to the requester.

10. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 , further comprising:
registering an entity authorized to request a real time video for a specific virtual machine.

11. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 10 , further comprising:
issuing a notification to the entity when a real time video is stored for the specific virtual machine.

12. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 ,
wherein a plurality of virtual machines and consoles are detected, and
wherein images of each additional instantiation of the consoles are separately recorded.

13. The method for monitoring a virtual machine according to claim 5 , further comprising:
deleting the recorded real time videos after a period of time.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the virtualization environment includes a first virtualization environment provided by a first virtualization provider,
wherein the monitoring comprises:
monitoring the first virtualization environment using a first discovery API associated with the first virtualization provider of the first virtualization environment to query the first virtualization environment for virtual machines and consoles;
monitoring a second virtualization environment that is provided by a second virtualization provider that is different from the first virtualization provider,
wherein monitoring the second virtualization environment comprises using a second discovery API that is different from the first discovery API, and that is associated with the second virtualization provider of the second virtualization environment to query the second virtualization environment for virtual machines and consoles.

15. A virtual image capture device comprising:
a console monitor to monitor a virtualization environment to detect a new virtual machine console associated with a virtual machine, wherein the virtualization environment is provided by a virtualization provider that provides a plurality of virtual machines,
wherein the virtual machine console associated with the virtual machine is used to access and perform operations of the virtual machine;
a replication unit to create, responsive to detecting the virtual machine console associated with the virtual machine, an additional instantiation of the detected virtual machine console by generating a reflection of the virtual machine console; and
a recording unit to record a real time video of usage of the virtual machine console by capturing an image of the reflected console,
wherein the monitoring comprises using a discovery API associated with the virtualization provider of the virtualization environment to query the virtualization environment for virtual machine consoles,
wherein each virtual machine console is owned by a respective virtualization consumer,
wherein creating the additional instantiation of the virtual machine console comprises using a console software API associated with the virtualization provider to generate the reflection,
wherein detecting the new virtual machine console associated with the virtual machine is performed independent of an agent installed on the virtual machine to facilitate the detecting,
wherein creating the additional instantiation of the virtual machine console associated with the virtual machine is performed independent of an agent installed on the virtual machine to facilitate the creating, and
wherein recording the real time video usage of the virtual machine console associated with the virtual machine is performed independent of an agent installed on the virtual machine to facilitate the recording.

16

Assignees

• Barak Nir
• Fadida Itzhak
• Jerbi Amir
• Ca Inc

Inventors

• Barak Nir
• Fadida Itzhak
• Jerbi Amir

Classifications

• G06F2221/2101

  Auditing as a secondary aspect · CPC title

• H04N21/2743

  Video hosting of uploaded data from client · CPC title

• G06F2221/2149

  Restricted operating environment · CPC title

• H04N5/77

  between a recording apparatus and a television camera · CPC title

• H04N21/2747

  Remote storage of video programmes received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server · CPC title