Method for managing a virtual machine

1. A method for virtual machine management, the method comprising:

an administration console (AC) determining a proxy machine of a plurality of proxy machines for at least one virtual machine (VM), wherein each of the plurality of proxy machines is designated to communicate with a distinct type of a plurality of types of operating systems (OSes) of virtual machines (VMs) hosted by a virtualization server, wherein the AC, the determined proxy machine and the virtualization server operate on different physical machines;

the AC establishing an authenticated communications link with the determined proxy machine for the at least one VM having an OS of a type corresponding to the determined proxy machine;

the AC requesting an identification of the at least one VM from the virtualization server;

the AC transmitting over the authenticated communications link to the determined proxy machine the identification of the at least one VM;

the AC performing a management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine when the at least one VM is online; and

the AC performing the management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine when the at least one VM is offline, wherein the management function comprises one or more of monitoring the at least one VM, inspecting the at least one VM, modifying the at least one VM, or enforcing a policy pertaining to the at least one VM.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined proxy machine comprises at least one of a physical proxy machine, or a virtual proxy machine executing on a physical machine separate from the virtualization server.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the management function comprises inspecting a file within the VM.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the inspected file is at least one of a disk image file, a wrapper file, a log file, or a snapshot related file.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein information obtained by inspecting the file is stored within at least one of the AC or the determined proxy machine.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the stored information has an identifier for associating the stored information with the VM.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identifier is a hash of a record associated with the VM.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein information obtained by inspecting the file is stored within the VM.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the VM comprises at least one of installing administrative data, installing new software, updating an existing software component, or deleting a software component.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein enforcing the policy comprises at least one of inserting, deleting or deprecating a certificate associated with the policy.

11. The method of claim 2 , wherein

the determined proxy machine mounts the VM and inspects a file within the VM.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the inspected file is at least one of a disk image file, a wrapper file, a log file or a snapshot related file.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein information obtained by inspecting the file is stored within at least one of the AC, the VM, or the determined proxy machine.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the stored information has an identifier for associating the stored information with the VM.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the identifier is a hash of a record associated with the VM.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the management function comprises:

the AC receiving from the virtualization server information about a snapshot file of a running VM, said snapshot file being created by the virtualization server; and

the AC inspecting said snapshot file.

17. A method for virtual machine management, the method comprising:

an administration console (AC) transmitting a query to a virtualization server, said virtualization server comprising at least one virtual machine (VM) having an operating system (OS) of a first type of a plurality of types of OSes of VMs hosted by the virtualization server;

the AC receiving, in response to the query, identification of the at least one VM within the virtualization server;

the AC determining a proxy machine of a plurality of proxy machines for the at least one VM, wherein each of the plurality of proxy machines is designated to communicate with a distinct type of the plurality of types of OSes of VMs hosted by the virtualization server, and establishing an authenticated communications link with the determined proxy machine, said determined proxy machine being designated to communicate with VMs of the first type, wherein the AC, the determined proxy machine and the virtualization server operate on different physical machines;

the AC transmitting over the authenticated communications link to the determined proxy machine the identification of the at least one VM; and

the AC performing a management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine, the management function comprising modifying the at least one VM when the at least one VM is online, and modifying the at least one VM when the at least one VM is offline.

18. A system for virtual machine management, the system comprising:

a memory;

a processing device, coupled to the memory; and

an administration console (AC), executed by the processing device from the memory, to

determine a proxy machine of a plurality of proxy machines for at least one virtual machine (VM), wherein each of the plurality of proxy machines is designated to communicate with a distinct type of a plurality of types of operating systems (OSes) of virtual machines (VMs) hosted by a virtualization server, wherein the AC, the determined proxy machine and the virtualization server operate on different physical machines;

establish an authenticated communications link with the determined proxy machine for at least one VM having an OS of a type corresponding to the determined proxy machine;

request an identification of the at least one VM from the virtualization server;

transmit over the authenticated communications link to the determined proxy machine the identification of the at least one VM;

perform a management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine when the at least one VM is online; and

perform the management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine when the at least one VM is offline, wherein the management function comprises one or more of monitoring the at least one VM, inspecting the at least one VM, modifying the at least one VM, or enforcing a policy pertaining to the at least one VM.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

an administration console (AC) determining a proxy machine of a plurality of proxy machines for at least one virtual machine (VM), wherein each of the plurality of proxy machines is designated to communicate with a distinct type of a plurality of types of operating systems (OSes) of virtual machines (VMs) hosted by a virtualization server, wherein the AC, the determined proxy machine and the virtualization server operate on different physical machines;

the AC establishing an authenticated communications link with the determined proxy machine for the at least one VM having an OS of a type corresponding to the determined proxy machine;

the AC requesting an identification of the at least one VM from the virtualization server;

the AC transmitting over the authenticated communications link to the determined proxy machine the identification of the at least one VM;

the AC performing a management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine when the at least one VM is online; and

the AC performing the management function with respect to the at least one VM using the determined proxy machine when the at least one VM is offline, wherein the management function comprises one or more of monitoring the at least one VM, inspecting the at least one VM, modifying the at least one VM, or enforcing a policy pertaining to the at least one VM.