Vmware, Inc.

Wmware, Inc.

Vishwas Nagaraja

Sesh Jalagam

Komal Mangtani

Rakesh Sinha

David Winterfeldt

Intesar Mohammed

Arjun Dube

Danny Holzman

Nikunj Nemani

Nagaraju Pendyala

Raghavendra Rachamadugu

Nilesh Agrawal

Assaf Berg

Parthiv Malani

Annie Chen

A deployment system enables a developer to generate a deployment plan according to a logical, multi-tier application blueprint defined by application architects. The deployment plan includes tasks to be executed for deploying application components on virtual computing resource provided in a cloud infrastructure. The deployment plan includes time dependencies that determine an execution order of the tasks according to dependencies between application components specified in the application blueprint. The deployment plan enables system administrators to view the application blueprint as an ordered workflow view that facilitates collaboration between system administrators and application architects.

System to generate a deployment plan for a cloud infrastructure according to logical, multi-tier application blueprint

A system for managing a virtualized computing system is disclosed. The system enables a user of a mobile device to efficiently track and manage computing resources via a management application that includes a graphical user interface that is designed to be operated using a conventional terminal (e.g., via a mouse and keyboard). The system may receive commands from the user of the mobile device in a first format and translate the commands into a second format that can be executed by a management application. Embodiments of the present disclosure further enable a management application to verify and securely communicate with users via existing communications services (e.g., social networking services) without expending additional resources to develop custom, secure interfaces for multiple mobile software and hardware platforms.

Cloud computing abstraction layer for integrating mobile platforms

A workflow is expressed as an arrangement of a set of executable tiles. In some embodiments, the tiles include operations expressed in different programming languages. A tile can include a declarative specification of datatypes so that external agents, e.g., workflow services, can identify the datatypes and schemas required as arguments and produced as result; this simplifies the defining of a workflow, e.g., by a workflow coder. A tile can have zero, one, or plural user interfaces; selection of a user interface from plural user interfaces can be based on a user selection, on user roles, or on tile lifecycle stage. Workflow services can communicate with each other so that workflows can be distributed and shifted among processor nodes.

Information-technology workflows using executable tiles with plural user interfaces

A workflow is expressed as an arrangement of a set of executable tile. In some embodiments, the tiles include operations expressed in different programming languages. A tile can include a declarative specification of datatypes so that external agents, e.g., workflow services, can identify the datatypes and schemas required as arguments and produced as result; this simplifies the defining of a workflow, e.g., by a workflow coder. A tile can have zero, one, or plural user interfaces; selection of a user interface from plural user interfaces can be based on a user selection, on user roles, or on tile lifecycle stage. Workflow services can communicate with each other so that workflows can be distributed and shifted among processor nodes.

Information-technology workflow using tiles that declaratively specify datatypes

Information-technology workflows using executable tiles

Information-technology workflows using executable tiles distributed between workflow instances

A deployment system enables a developer to define a logical, multi-tier application blueprint that can be used to create and manage (e.g., redeploy, upgrade, backup, patch) multiple applications in a cloud infrastructure. In the application blueprint, the developer models an overall application architecture, or topology, that includes individual and clustered nodes (e.g., VMs), logical templates, cloud providers, deployment environments, software services, application-specific code, properties, and dependencies between top-tier and second-tier components. The application can be deployed according to the application blueprint, which means any needed VMs are provisioned from the cloud infrastructure, and application components and software services are installed.

Single, logical, multi-tier application blueprint used for deployment and management of multiple physical applications in a cloud infrastructure

A deployment system orchestrates execution of deployment plan in coordination with nodes participating in deployment of a multi-tier application in a cloud infrastructure. The deployment system distributes local deployment plans to each node and maintains a centralized state of deployment time dependencies between tasks in different local deployment plans. Prior to execution of each task, deployment agents executing on each node communicates with the centralized deployment system to check whether any deployment time dependencies need to be resolved. Additionally, the deployment system utilizes a node task timer that triggers a heartbeat mechanism for monitoring failure of deployment agents.

Execution of a distributed deployment plan for a multi-tier application in a cloud infrastructure

A cloud computing environment consists of a cloud deployment platform and a cloud management server configured to manage a plurality of virtual machines deployed in a cloud infrastructure. When a request to deploy an application to the cloud infrastructure is received by the cloud deployment platform, application deployment errors are monitored and tracked. A unique identifier is generated for each virtual machine, and requests to instantiate the virtual machines in the cloud infrastructure are then transmitted. A log containing error records that identify the occurrence of deployment errors is monitored based on the generated virtual machine identifiers, where the deployment errors are detected by the cloud deployment platform or the cloud management server. Based on the monitoring, error messages are generated by the cloud deployment platform.

Tracking application deployment errors via cloud logs

A cloud computing environment consists of a cloud deployment platform with an application management server executing thereon, and a cloud management server configured to manage a plurality of virtual machines deployed in a cloud infrastructure. When a cloud-based application is deployed to the cloud infrastructure, a deployment plan for the cloud-based application is read, where the deployment plan comprises a first plurality of tasks to be executed in the cloud infrastructure. A determination is made that one or more custom tasks are required to be executed in the cloud infrastructure. After the determination, the one or more custom tasks are inserted into the first plurality of tasks to generate a second plurality of tasks. The second plurality of tasks is then transmitted to the cloud management server for execution in the cloud infrastructure.

Customized configuration of cloud-based applications prior to deployment

A deployment system enables a developer to customize a deployment plan generated according to a logical, multi-tier application blueprint for deploying multiple applications in a cloud infrastructure. Using the deployment system, the developer inserts a custom script or task in a sequence of tasks to be performed to deploy an application component in different phases (e.g., installation, configuration, start-up) on a virtual machine. The deployment system anchors the custom script to the different phases of the application component's deployment such that the customizations to the deployment plan are maintained through changes to the underlying application blueprint.

System and method for customizing a deployment plan for a multi-tier application in a cloud infrastructure

A system for adapting virtual computing resource (e.g., virtual machine) templates for use with new software platforms without modifying, or otherwise requiring recertification of, the template itself is disclosed. The system enables the installation of a software agent to be bootstrapped to the installation and execution of an agent already included in a template. Installation of the bootstrapped software agent may be performed automatically during initial provisioning of a virtual machine with little or no additional effort required from an administrator. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure enable preexisting templates to repurposed for use with new and/or more advanced cloud management platforms.

Installation of a software agent via an existing template agent

A deployment system enables a developer to define a logical, multi-tier application blueprint that can be used to create and manage (e.g., redeploy, upgrade, backup, patch) multiple applications in a cloud infrastructure. The deployment system supports the use of nested policies to manage a deployment plan. Upon determining compliance to the nested policies, the application can be deployed according to an application blueprint, which means any needed VMs are provisioned from the cloud infrastructure, and application components and software services are installed.

Policy management of deployment plans

A system for managing credentials for authenticating and securely communicating with trusted hosts, for example, in a cloud computing environment. The system dynamically updates credentials stored in a database and injects the updated credentials back into a runtime environment without restarting the runtime environment or applications running on the runtime environment. Embodiments of the present invention further enable credentials to be tracked and managed on a per-tenant basis, allowing each tenant that is running an application on a runtime environment to customize which hosts should be trusted.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Vishwas Nagaraja