Managing virtual machines using shared image
View Patent ↗A method for managing a computing system comprises identifying read-only portions of a file system, sharing the read-only portions of the file system among a plurality of virtual machines, and managing the shared read-only portions of the file system as a single unit.
1. A method comprising:
instantiating an operating-system image and a first application image in a first virtual machine so that said first virtual machine accesses said operating-system image, said first application image, and a first disk image;
identifying, by a manger,
the operating system image as a file with read-only portions to be shared and managed as a single unit, and
the first application image and the first disk image as files that are to be copied;
copying, based on the identifying, said first application image to yield a second application image, said first virtual machine to yield a second virtual machine, and said first disk image to yield a second disk image;
identifying, by the manager, the second application image as a read-write file that is to be accessible to the second virtual machine but not by the first virtual machine;
updating said second application image; and
instantiating said operating-system image and the updated second application image in said second virtual machine so that said second virtual machine accesses said operating-system image, said updated second application image, and said second disk image.
2. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising reconfiguring said first virtual machine to use said second application image.
3. A method as recited in claim 2 further comprising removing or archiving said first disk image.
4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said copying includes displaying a list of read-only file systems to be shared or copied.
5. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein said copying further includes patching the read-only file systems selected for sharing or copying.
6. Non-transitory storage media encoded with code configured, when executed by a processor, to implement the method of claim 1 .
7. A system comprising non-transitory media encoded with code configured to, when executed using hardware, implement a method including:
instantiating an operating-system image and a first application image in a first virtual machine so that said first virtual machine accesses said operating-system image, said first application image, and a first disk image;
identifying, by a manger,
the operating system image as a file with read-only portions to be shared and managed as a single unit, and
the first application image and the first disk image as files that are to be copied;
copying, based on the identifying, said first application image to yield a second application image, said first virtual machine to yield a second virtual machine, and said first disk image to yield a second disk image;
identifying, by the manager, the second application image as a read-write file that is to be accessible to the second virtual machine but not by the first virtual machine;
updating said second application image; and
instantiating said operating-system image and the updated second application image in said second virtual machine so that said second virtual machine accesses said operating-system image, said updated second application image, and said second disk image.
8. A system as recited in claim 7 further comprising reconfiguring said first virtual machine to use said second application image.
9. A system as recited in claim 8 further comprising removing or archiving said first disk image.
10. A method as recited in claim 7 wherein said copying includes displaying a list of read-only file systems to be shared or copied.
11. A method as recited in claim 10 wherein said copying further includes patching the read-only file systems selected for sharing or copying.
12. A system as recited in claim 7 further comprising said hardware.