International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Klaus Werner

Joerg Schmidbauer

Charles W Gainey, Jr

Damian Leo Osisek

Klaus Meissner

Jakob Christopher Lang

Angel Nunez Mencias

Reinhard Theodor Buendgen

Michael J Jordan

Ulrich Mayer

Matthias Huber

Jonathan D Bradbury

Tamas Visegrady

Peter Kenneth Szwed

Steven G Glassen

Louis P Gomes

Marco Kraemer

Richard Victor Kisley

John C Dayka

Michael D Hocker

Thomas B Mathias

Edward W Chencinski

Richard John Moore

James Richard Coon

Volker Urban

Garry Joseph Sullivan

Harald Freudenberger

Richard J Gusefski

Torsten Hendel

Benedikt Klotz

Markus Selve

A method, computer program product, and computer system are provided. A machine hypervisor builds and enqueue a zeroize adjunct processor (AP) domain (ZAPD) common command request message to a target AP domain queue. Machine firmware validates the enqueued common command request message on the target AP domain queue. The machine firmware converts the ZAPD command request to the mode-specific form of the domain zeroize request. A command request message is executed at an AP crypto adapter of the target AP domain. Executing includes zeroizing a storage area of the AP crypto adapter. The execution results are returned to the machine firmware. The machine firmware converts the crypto card mode's ZAPD command reply message into the common ZAPD command reply message. The final execution results including the converted common ZAPD command reply message are returned to the machine hypervisor.

Adjunct processor (AP) domain zeroize

Multiple work requests from different applications are queued to be processed subsequently without interruption by a crypto device. A prediction table is generated for each application to be processed by the crypto device. An initial credit value is determined for each incoming work request. The work request is an entry in an ordered queue in the order of time using respective time stamps. The next work request to be processed is selected from the entries in the queue by using the first entry in the queue for which the credit values for the corresponding application is greater than or equal to the predicted execution time for the corresponding request type in the prediction table. The selected next work request is processed.

Crypto device operation

A security module, such as a cryptographic adapter, is reserved for a secure guest of a computing environment. The reserving includes binding one or more queues of the security module to the secure guest. The one or more queues are then managed based on one or more actions relating to the reservation.

Reserving one or more security modules for a secure guest

A method for sharing secret data between multiple containers. In response to the initial booting of an operating system instance in a container, a unique operating system identifier is generated for the operating system instance. A grant authority stores the unique operating system identifier in a reserved area of a secure storage device. In response to a request from the operating system instance to access secret data in the secure storage device, the grant authority determines whether the unique operating system identifier is stored in the secure storage device. The operating system instance may be granted access to secret data in the non-reserved area of the secure storage device.

Sharing secret data between multiple containers

An example operation may include one or more of receiving a unique identifier and a security value from an object, retrieving a previously stored security value of the object from a database based on the received unique identifier, determining that the object is verified based on the received security value and the previously stored security value, and modifying the previously stored security value to generate a modified security value and transmitting the modified security value to the database.

Tracking and verification of physical assets

Auditably proving a usage history of an asset, in which the asset includes a hardware security module with at least a public key and a private key. A client application logs hash values of a pair of request data and response data. Usage history of the asset is proved. The proving includes verifying, using the public key, a signature of other hash values of the pair of request data and response data. The other hash values are signed with the private key. The proving further includes comparing the hash values logged by the client application with the other hash values.

Auditably proving a usage history of an asset

A secure storage device is connected to a computer system. The secure storage device has a memory including a domain and a subdomain storing first and second data, respectively. The computer system includes a first level hypervisor managing a first level virtual machine, which supports a first operating system, and a second level hypervisor. The second level hypervisor manages a second level virtual machine, which supports a second level operating system. A first authentication process for the first level operating system uses first profile data sent by the computer system and a portion of the first data. A second authentication process for the second level operating system uses second profile data sent by the computer system and a portion of the second data. The first data is not accessible by the second level operating system. The second data is not accessible by the first level operating system.

Operating a secure storage device

A method for operating a secure storage device with a non-volatile memory on a computer system which executes multiple operating system instances. The non-volatile memory comprises one or more domains which are used by the operating system instances. A separate trusted key entry system is used to configure secret data of an operating system instance stored in the non-volatile memory. The method comprises setting a domain to either secure or non-secure mode; generating a unique identifier of the operating system instance; generating a secure hash for the operating system instance; and storing the secure hash in the domain.

Operating a secure storage device with a non-volatile memory

Interruption facility for adjunct processor queues. In response to a queue transitioning from a no replies pending state to a reply pending state, an interruption is initiated. This interruption signals to a processor that a reply to a request is waiting on the queue. In order for the queue to take advantage of the interruption capability, it is enabled for interruptions.

Interruption facility for adjunct processor queues

A technique for monitoring a shared hardware resource in a computer system running at least two partitions includes collecting measurement data from the hardware resource. An aggregation of the measurement data over a certain time interval is computed. A noise level value adapted to a workload is calculated using a workload dependent heuristic. Noise data, based on the calculated noise level value, is generated. The computed aggregation of measurement data is mixed with the generated noise data. The mixed aggregation of measurement data is output to an external interface for monitoring.

Techniques for monitoring a shared hardware resource

A software version management system comprising a host driver and at least one software module. The host driver comprises migration means to start, stop and replace the software modules on a computer system in response to replacement actions. The system is characterized by the software module being a downgradable software module comprising a compatibility database specifying dependencies between different versions of the software module; the migration means further comprising i) at least a status means to retrieve temporal information from the downgradable software module; ii) at least a downgrading means responsive to a replacement action to downgrade the downgradable software module to a particular downgrade version and to the status means, the downgrading means identifying an intermediate version of the downgradable software module; the host driver comprising restarting means responsive to the report of the completion of the intermediate version to load and start the downgrade version of the software module.

Software version management for executing replacement actions

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Moetzingen, Germany

Klaus Werner