Controlling a discovery component, within a virtual environment, that sends authenticated data to a discovery engine outside the virtual environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9866547-B2
Application number	US-201615238682-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2016
Priority date	Dec 13, 2014
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

A discovery bundle component is applied in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment, wherein the discovery bundle automatically discovers asset information about one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image. The discovery bundle component sends, to a discovery product service, the asset information wrapped with a trusted signed certificate for the discovery product service, wherein the discovery product service is located outside the virtual environment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, using one or more processors, at a discovery product service, initial discovery results with a signed credential from a discovery bundle component in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment;
in response to verifying the signed credential as a trusted signed certificate, adding, using the one or more processors, an active registration record for the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment with the initial discovery results to a registration list maintained by the discovery product service;
starting, using the one or more processors, by the discovery product service, a delta timer;
in response to receiving a delta discovery result secured with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component within a delta time window, adding, using the one or more processors, the delta discovery result to the active registration record for the virtual image and restarting the delta timer; and
in response to not receiving the delta discovery result from the discovery bundle component within the delta time window, marking, using the one or more processors, the active registration record for the deployed virtual image as no longer active.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving, using one or more processors, at a discovery product service, initial discovery results with a signed credential from a discovery bundle component in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment further comprises:
receiving, using the one or more processors, the initial discovery results comprising asset information about one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image, the asset information comprises an application infrastructure the one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image that is secured and only discoverable within the virtual environment by providing a credential provided to the discovery bundle component by an authorized user.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving, using one or more processors, at a discovery product service, initial discovery results with a signed credential from a discovery bundle component in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment further comprises:
receiving, using the one or more processors, the initial discovery results with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component in the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment, the virtual environment comprising one or more of a virtual machine, a logical partition, and a workload partition.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving, using one or more processors, at a discovery product service, initial discovery results with a signed credential from a discovery bundle component in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment further comprises:
receiving, using the one or more processors, the initial discovery results with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component in the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment on a deployed system connected within a cloud environment.

5. A system, comprising:
a processor, coupled with a memory, and configured to perform the actions of:
receiving initial discovery results with a signed credential from a discovery bundle component in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment;
in response to verifying the signed credential as a trusted signed certificate, adding an active registration record for the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment with the initial discovery results to a registration list;
starting a delta timer;
in response to receiving a delta discovery result secured with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component within a delta time window, adding the delta discovery result to the active registration record for the virtual image and restarting the delta timer; and
in response to not receiving the delta discovery result from the discovery bundle component within the delta time window, marking the active registration record for the deployed virtual image as no longer active.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform the actions of:
receiving the initial discovery results comprising asset information about one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image, the asset information comprises an application infrastructure the one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image that is secured and only discoverable within the virtual environment by providing a credential provided to the discovery bundle component by an authorized user.

7. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform the actions of:
receiving the initial discovery results with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component in the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment, the virtual environment comprising one or more of a virtual machine, a logical partition, and a workload partition.

8. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform the actions of:
receiving the initial discovery results with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component in the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment on a deployed system connected within a cloud environment.

9. A computer program product for managing virtual image discovery, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
receive initial discovery results with a signed credential from a discovery bundle component in a virtual image deployed within a virtual environment;
in response to verifying the signed credential as a trusted signed certificate, add an active registration record for the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment with the initial discovery results to a registration list;
start a delta timer;
in response to receiving a delta discovery result secured with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component within a delta time window, add the delta discovery result to the active registration record for the virtual image and restarting the delta timer; and
in response to not receiving the delta discovery result from the discovery bundle component within the delta time window, mark the active registration record for the deployed virtual image as no longer active.

10. The computer program product according to claim 9 , further comprising the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
receive the initial discovery results comprising asset information about one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image, the asset information comprises an application infrastructure the one or more application bundles applied to the virtual image that is secured and only discoverable within the virtual environment by providing a credential provided to the discovery bundle component by an authorized user.

11. The computer program product according to claim 9 , further comprising the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
receive the initial discovery results with the signed credential from the discovery bundle component in the virtual image deployed within the virtual environment, the virtual environment comprising one or more of a virtual machine, a logical partition, and a workload partition.

12. The computer program product according to claim 9 , further comprising the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
rece

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Griffith John A
• Rhames Daniel P
• Riedel Philip R
• Schmidt David L

Classifications

• H04L63/108

  when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time · CPC title

• H04L63/102

  Entity profiles · CPC title

• H04L63/0823 Primary

  using certificates (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263) · CPC title

• H04L63/101

  Access control lists [ACL] · CPC title