Policy-based hypervisor configuration management

1. A computer-implemented method for automatically assembling at least one target configuration of a target host at a virtualization software level based on a source configuration of a first host at the virtualization software level, the method comprising the steps of:

accessing the source configuration for the first host at the virtualization software level, wherein the first host is configured to instantiate at least one virtual machine;

processing a policy-based profile describing the source configuration, the source configuration comprising a plurality of individual configuration settings representing a complete configuration of the source configuration of the first host at the virtualization software level from which to configure the at least one target configuration at deployment;

automatically creating a configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the policy-based profile describing the source configuration by mapping each of the individual configuration settings of the plurality of individual configuration settings to the configuration specification for the at least one target configuration of the target host at the virtualization software level;

automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration, such that the at least one target configuration is based on the policy-based profile and such that the at least one target configuration represents the complete configuration of the source configuration;

automatically creating a compliance specification for the at least one target configuration based on the policy-based profile describing the source configuration, the compliance specification comprising at least one check to verify that a target configuration is in compliance with the policy-based profile;

utilizing the compliance specification to determine whether the at least one target configuration is in compliance with the policy-based profile; and

responsive to updating the policy-based profile, automatically updating the at least one target configuration to place the at least one target configuration in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration further comprises performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

configuring at least one target across a network;

configuring at least one target as part of a boot process, in a network-based boot environment;

utilizing at least one physical computer readable medium as a delivery device to configure at least one target; and

utilizing at least one virtual computer readable medium as a delivery device to configure at least one target.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising, responsive to determining that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile, alerting a user that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatically updating the at least one target configuration to place the at least one target configuration in compliance with the updated policy-based profile comprises:

automatically creating an updated configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the updated policy-based profile describing the source configuration; and

automatically applying the updated configuration specification to the at least one target configuration, such that the at least one target configuration is based on the updated policy-based profile.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein automatically creating an updated configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the updated policy-based profile describing the source configuration further comprises:

automatically creating an updated configuration specification describing a delta between an existing target configuration and an updated target configuration, and at least one operation to alter the at least one target configuration to eliminate the delta.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

determining that at least one modification has been made to the source configuration; and

responsive to the at least one modification, creating the updated policy-based profile describing the source configuration.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

automatically ensuring that specific contents of a configuration profile is kept within boundaries specified by a set of applicable and valid policies.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein creating a policy-based profile describing the source configuration comprises specifying at least one policy type from a group of policy types consisting of:

deferred policies;

conditional policies;

composite policies;

requirement based policies; and

allocated resource policies.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration comprises:

configuring at least one target as part of a boot process, in a network-based boot environment.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration comprises:

utilizing at least one physical computer readable medium as a delivery device to configure at least one target.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration comprises:

utilizing at least one virtual computer readable medium as a delivery device to configure at least one target.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

deploying the at least one target configuration to a target.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising, responsive to determining that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile, determining a delta between a target configuration not in compliance and a compliant target configuration.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising, responsive to determining that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile, generating a report concerning the at least one target configuration that is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising, responsive to determining that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile, automatically updating the at least one target configuration such that the at least one target configuration is in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.

16. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium containing a computer program product for automatically assembling at least one target configuration of a target host at a virtualization software level based on a source configuration of a first host at the virtualization software level, the computer program product comprising:

program code for accessing the source configuration for the first host at the virtualization software level, wherein the first host is configured to instantiate at least one virtual machine;

program code for processing a policy-based profile describing the source configuration, the source configuration comprising a plurality of individual configuration settings representing a complete configuration of the source configuration of the first host at the virtualization software level from which to configure the at least one target configuration at deployment;

program code for automatically creating a configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the policy-based profile describing the source configuration by mapping each of the individual configuration settings of the plurality of individual configuration settings to the configuration specification for the at least one target configuration of the target host at the virtualization software level;

program code for automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration, such that the at least one target configuration is based on the policy-based profile and such that the at least one target configuration represents the complete configuration of the source configuration;

program code for automatically creating a compliance specification for the at least one target configuration based on the policy-based profile describing the source configuration, the compliance specification comprising at least one check to verify that a target configuration is in compliance with the policy-based profile;

program code for utilizing the compliance specification to determine whether the at least one target configuration is in compliance with the policy-based profile; and

program code for automatically updating the at least one target configuration, in response to updating the policy-based profile, to place the at least one target configuration in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the program code for automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration further comprises program code for performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

configuring at least one target across a network;

configuring at least one target as part of a boot process, in a network-based boot environment;

utilizing at least one physical computer readable medium as a delivery device to configure at least one target; and

utilizing at least one virtual computer readable medium as a delivery device to configure at least one target.

18. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 further comprising, program code for, responsive to determining that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile, performing at least one step from a group of steps consisting of:

determining a delta between the at least one target configuration not in compliance and a compliant target configuration;

alerting a user that the at least one target configuration is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile; and

generating a report concerning the at least one target configuration that is not in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.

19. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 further comprising:

program code for automatically creating an updated configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the updated policy-based profile describing the source configuration; and

program code for automatically applying the updated configuration specification to the at least one target configuration, such that the at least one target configuration is based on the updated policy-based profile.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 wherein the program code for automatically creating an updated configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the updated policy-based profile describing the source configuration further comprises:

program code for automatically creating an updated configuration specification describing a delta between an existing target configuration and an updated target configuration, and at least one operation to alter the at least one target configuration to eliminate the delta.

21. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 further comprising:

program code for determining that at least one modification has been made to the source configuration; and

program code for, responsive to the at least one modification, creating the updated policy-based profile describing the source configuration.

22. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 further comprising:

program code for automatically ensuring that specific contents of a configuration profile is kept within boundaries specified by a set of applicable and valid policies.

23. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein program code for creating a policy-based profile describing the source configuration further comprises program code for specifying at least one policy type from a group of policy types consisting of:

deferred policies;

conditional policies;

composite policies;

requirement based policies; and

allocated resource policies.

24. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions embodied therein that, when executed, cause a computer system to perform a method for automatically assembling at least one target configuration of a target host at a virtualization software level based on a source configuration of a first host at the virtualization software level, the method comprising:

accessing the source configuration for the first host at the virtualization software level, wherein the first host is configured to instantiate at least one virtual machine;

processing a policy-based profile describing the source configuration, the source configuration comprising a plurality of individual configuration settings representing a complete configuration of the source configuration of the first host at the virtualization software level from which to configure the at least one target configuration at deployment;

automatically creating a configuration specification for the at least one target configuration based on the policy-based profile describing the source configuration by mapping each of the individual configuration settings of the plurality of individual configuration settings to the configuration specification for the at least one target configuration of the target host at the virtualization software level;

automatically applying the configuration specification to the at least one target configuration, such that the at least one target configuration is based on the policy-based profile and such that the at least one target configuration represents the complete configuration of the source configuration;

verifying that the at least one target configuration based on the configuration specification is in compliance with the policy-based profile describing the source configuration; and

responsive to updating the policy-based profile, automatically updating the at least one target configuration to place the at least one target configuration in compliance with the updated policy-based profile.