IP address and domain name automation of virtual infrastructure

1. A method of provisioning an Internet Protocol address, comprising:

receiving a request to provision an Internet Protocol address to a virtual resource;

automatically determining an Internet Protocol address to allocate to the virtual resource, wherein automatically determining the Internet Protocol address includes selecting the determined Internet Protocol address among a group of Internet Protocol addresses potentially available to be assigned to the virtual resource of the received request;

using an Internet Protocol Address Management appliance to automatically allocate the determined Internet Protocol address to the virtual resource, wherein the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance manages Internet Protocol address provisioning of both virtual resources and physical resources; and

automatically registering the virtual resource with a Domain Name System using the determined Internet Protocol address, wherein automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System includes registering the determined Internet Protocol address as being associated with a selected domain name; wherein the request is received due to a component action included in a group of component actions programmatically defined in a workflow;

wherein the workflow is defined using a global cloud manager interface application that interfaces with a global cloud manager managing a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System includes determining which domain name is available to be assigned to the virtual resource among a group of eligible domain names tracked by the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual resource includes one or more of the following: a virtual machine, a virtual entity, a virtual device, a virtual network, a virtual switch, a virtual host adaptor, and a virtual appliance.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically determining the Internet Protocol address includes determining an available Internet Protocol address in a database of available Internet Protocol addresses managed by the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating a database of virtual cloud infrastructure metadata information using the determined Internet Protocol address.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising automatically de-allocating the determined Internet Protocol address at least in part by updating a database of available Internet Protocol addresses managed by the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising automatically de-registering the virtual resource with a Domain Name System.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is received from an agent of a global cloud manager, and the global cloud manager manages a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request identifies a range of IP address from which the IP address should be assigned.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the workflow is at least in part defined by a user.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance communicates with the global cloud manager interface application using an Advanced Message Queuing Protocol message.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance to automatically allocate the determined Internet Protocol address includes updating a database of available Internet Protocol addresses managed by the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance.

13. A method of registering with a Domain Name System, comprising:

receiving a request to register a virtual resource with a Domain Name System;

determining which domain names, if any, are available to be assigned to the virtual resource among a group of eligible domain names;

selecting one of the determined to be available domain names as the selected domain name;

automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System at least in part by sending a registration request to a domain name server to register the selected domain name with the virtual resource; and

providing information associated with the registration of the virtual resource with the Domain Name System; wherein the request is received due to a component action included in a group of component actions programmatically defined in a workflow;

wherein the workflow is defined using a global cloud manager interface application that interfaces with a global cloud manager managing a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.

14. A system for provisioning an Internet Protocol address, comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive a request to provision an Internet Protocol address to a virtual resource; and

a processor configured to automatically determine an Internet Protocol address to allocate to the virtual resource, automatically allocate the determined Internet Protocol address to the virtual resource, and automatically register the virtual resource with a Domain Name System using the determined Internet Protocol address,

wherein automatically determining the Internet Protocol address includes selecting the determined Internet Protocol address among a group of Internet Protocol addresses potentially available to be assigned to the virtual resource of the received request, the system manages Internet Protocol address provisioning of both virtual resources and physical resources, and automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System includes registering the determined Internet Protocol address as being associated with a selected domain name; wherein the request is received due to a component action included in a group of component actions programmatically defined in a workflow;

wherein the workflow is defined using a global cloud manager interface application that interfaces with a global cloud manager managing a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System includes determining which domain name is available to be assigned to the virtual resource among a group of eligible domain names tracked by the system.

16. A system for registering with a Domain Name System, comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive a request to register a virtual resource with a Domain Name System; and

a processor configured to determine which domain names, if any, are available to be assigned to the virtual resource among a group of eligible domain names, select one of the determined to be available domain names as the selected domain name, automatically register the virtual resource with the Domain Name System at least in part by sending a registration request to a domain name server to register the selected domain name with the virtual resource, and provide information associated with the registration of the virtual resource with the Domain Name System; wherein the request is received due to a component action included in a group of component actions programmatically defined in a workflow;

wherein the workflow is defined using a global cloud manager interface application that interfaces with a global cloud manager managing a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.

17. A computer program product for provisioning an Internet Protocol address, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a request to provision an Internet Protocol address to a virtual resource;

automatically determining an Internet Protocol address to allocate to the virtual resource, wherein automatically determining the Internet Protocol address includes selecting the determined Internet Protocol address among a group of Internet Protocol addresses potentially available to be assigned to the virtual resource of the received request;

using an Internet Protocol Address Management appliance to automatically allocate the determined Internet Protocol address to the virtual resource, wherein the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance manages Internet Protocol address provisioning of both virtual resources and physical resources; and

automatically registering the virtual resource with a Domain Name System using the determined Internet Protocol address, wherein automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System includes registering the determined Internet Protocol address as being associated with a selected domain name; wherein the request is received due to a component action included in a group of component actions programmatically defined in a workflow;

wherein the workflow is defined using a global cloud manager interface application that interfaces with a global cloud manager managing a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System includes determining which domain name is available to be assigned to the virtual resource among a group of eligible domain names tracked by the Internet Protocol Address Management appliance.

19. A computer program product for registering with a Domain Name System, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a request to register a virtual resource with a Domain Name System;

determining which domain names, if any, are available to be assigned to the virtual resource among a group of eligible domain names;

selecting one of the determined to be available domain names as the selected domain name;

automatically registering the virtual resource with the Domain Name System at least in part by sending a registration request to a domain name server to register the selected domain name with the virtual resource; and

providing information associated with the registration of the virtual resource with the Domain Name System; wherein the request is received due to a component action included in a group of component actions programmatically defined in a workflow;

wherein the workflow is defined using a global cloud manager interface application that interfaces with a global cloud manager managing a virtual cloud that includes the virtual resource.