Systems and methods for live operating system upgrades of inline cloud servers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9569195-B2
Application number	US-201414276785-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2014
Priority date	May 13, 2014
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

An upgrade method for a Unix or Unix-like operating system, a server, and a cloud-based system include operating a server with an old operating system with a partition structure for media, wherein the partition structure includes a root partition and a usr partition; copying media to the root partition and the usr partition associated with a new operating system while the old operating system is operating; rebooting the server with the new operating system set to load; and subsequent to the rebooting, making the root partition persistent using memory and the usr partition persistent using a NULL file system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An upgrade method for an operating system, comprising:
operating server with an old operating system with a partition structure for media, wherein the partition structure comprises a root partition with the old operating system and an usr partition, wherein the operating system only resides in the root partition;
copying media to the root partition and the usr partition associated with a new operating system while the old operating system is operating in the root partition;
rebooting the server with the new operating system set to load from the root partition; and
subsequent to the rebooting, making the root partition persistent using memory and the usr partition persistent using a NULL file system,
wherein the old operating system and the new operating system reside in the root partition together.

2. The upgrade method of claim 1 , further comprising:
copying the media comprising a new kernel and build associated with the new operating system to the root partition.

3. The upgrade method of claim 1 , further comprising:
copying the media comprising a new file tree for the usr partition.

4. The upgrade method of claim 1 , further comprising:
copying the media comprising a local config file that is executed at the rebooting to load the new operating system.

5. The upgrade method of claim 4 , further comprising:
modifying the local config file to load the old operating system at another reboot.

6. The upgrade method of claim 1 , wherein the partition structure further comprises a swap partition, a tmp partition, and a var partition, and the method further comprising:
mounting the swap partition, the tmp partition, and the var partition subsequent to the rebooting and operating with the new operating system.

7. The upgrade method of claim 1 , further comprising:
executing a migration script on the server to:
create a root file system for the server with device-specific information;
install a new kernel for the new operating system in parallel with a kernel for the old operating system; and
unroll a new usr partition directory tree.

8. A server, comprising:
a network interface;
a data store;
a processor communicatively coupled to the network interface and the data store;
memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
operate an old operating system with a partition structure for the data store, wherein the partition structure comprises a root partition with the old operating system and an user partition, wherein an operating system only resides in the root partition;
copy media to the root partition and the usr partition associated with a new operating system while the old operating system is operating in the root partition;
reboot with the new operating system set to load from the root partition; and
subsequent to the reboot, make the root partition persistent using the memory and the usr partition persistent using a NULL file system,
wherein the old operating system and the new operating system reside in the root partition together.

9. The server of claim 8 , wherein the memory storing the instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:
copy the media comprising a new kernel and build associated with the new operating system to the root partition.

10. The server of claim 8 , wherein the memory storing the instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:
copy the media comprising a new file tree for the usr partition.

11. The server of claim 8 , wherein the memory storing the instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:
copy the media comprising a local config file that is executed at the rebooting to load the new operating system.

12. The server of claim 11 , wherein the memory storing the instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:
modify the local config file to load the old operating system at another reboot.

13. The server of claim 8 , wherein the partition structure further comprises a swap partition, a tmp partition, and a var partition, and wherein the memory storing the instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:
mount the swap partition, the tmp partition, and the var partition subsequent to the reboot and operate with the new operating system.

14. The server of claim 8 , wherein the memory storing the instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:
execute a migration script on the server to:
create a root file system for the server with device-specific information;
install a new kernel for the new operating system in parallel with a kernel for the old operating system; and
unroll a new usr partition directory tree.

15. A cloud-based system, comprising:
a plurality of nodes communicatively coupled to one or more users, wherein the plurality of nodes each perform inline monitoring for one of the one or more users for security;
wherein the plurality of nodes operate an operating system;
wherein each of the plurality of nodes comprises:
a network interface communicatively coupled to the one or more users;
a data store;
a processor communicatively coupled to the network interface and the data store;
memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
operate an old operating system with a partition structure for the data store, wherein the partition structure comprises a root partition with the old operating system and an usr partition, wherein an operating system only resides in the root partition;
copy media to the root partition and the usr partition associated with a new operating system while the old operating system is operating in the root partition;
reboot with the new operating system set to load from the root partition; and
subsequent to the reboot, make the root partition persistent using the memory and the usr partition persistent using a NULL file system,
wherein the old operating system and the new operating system reside in the root partition together.

16. The cloud-based system of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of nodes are upgraded concurrently.

Assignees

• Schekochikhin Arcady
• Devarajan Srikanth
• Zscaler Inc

Inventors

• Schekochikhin Arcady
• Devarajan Srikanth

Classifications

• G06F9/441

  Multiboot arrangements, i.e. selecting an operating system to be loaded · 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

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• G06F9/4416

  Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL] · CPC title