Methods and apparatus to generate a shadow setup based on a cloud environment and upgrade the shadow setup to identify upgrade-related errors

1. An apparatus comprising at least one microprocessor, the apparatus configured to execute computer program instructions stored in a non-transitory machine readable memory, the instructions, when executed, to cause the apparatus to:

scan a cloud environment based on scanning rules to generate scanned data, the cloud environment including a number of computing components;

determine sampling criteria based on data from the cloud environment, the sampling criteria identifying a number of possible configurations of the computing components, the number of possible configurations being less than the number of the computing components;

generate a configuration file based on the sampling criteria and the scanned data, the configuration file corresponding to a replica of the cloud environment in which the replica includes the number of possible configurations of the computing components, the replica being a scaled down version of the cloud environment;

deploy a shadow setup based on the configuration file;

initiate an upgrade of one or more components of the shadow setup; and

generate a report corresponding to a presence of errors associated with the upgrade.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to receive user input verifying the shadow setup prior to deploying the shadow setup.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions causing the apparatus to deploy the shadow setup fixes errors encountered when deploying the shadow setup, the errors being fixed prior to the initiation of the upgrade.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the report includes data related to the errors encountered during the upgrade.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to generate a user interface, the user interface allowing a user to upgrade the one or more components in the cloud environment in a manner corresponding to the upgrade of the shadow setup.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to prevent or hinder a user from initiating an upgrade in the cloud environment when the errors are encountered during the upgrade of the one or more components of the shadow setup.

7. A method comprising:

scanning, by executing an instruction using a processor, a cloud environment based on scanning rules to generate scanned data, the cloud environment including a number of computing components;

determining, by executing an instruction using the processor, sampling criteria based on data from the cloud environment, the sampling criteria identifying a number of possible configurations of the computing components, the number of possible configurations being less than the number of the computing components;

generating, by executing an instruction using the processor, a configuration file based on the sampling criteria and the scanned data, the configuration file corresponding to a replica of the cloud environment in which the replica includes the number of possible configurations of the computing components, the replica being a scaled down version of the cloud environment;

deploying, by executing an instruction using the processor, a shadow setup based on the configuration file;

initiating, by executing an instruction using the processor, an upgrade of one or more components of the shadow setup; and

generating, by executing an instruction using the processor, a report corresponding to a presence of errors associated with the upgrade.

8. The method of claim 7 , further including receiving user input to verify the shadow setup prior deploying the shadow setup.

9. The method of claim 7 , further including, when the deploying of the shadow setup causes an error, fixing the error prior to the initiating of the upgrade.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the report includes data based on the errors encountered during the upgrade.

11. The method of claim 7 , further including, when the report corresponds to a successful upgrade, receiving user input to initiate an upgrade of the one or more components in the cloud environment in a manner corresponding to the upgrade of the shadow setup.

12. The method of claim 7 , further including preventing or hindering a user from initiating an upgrade in the cloud environment when the errors are encountered during the upgrade of the one or more components of the shadow setup.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

scan a cloud environment based on scanning rules to generate scanned data, the cloud environment including a number of computing components;

determine sampling criteria based on data from the cloud environment, the sampling criteria identifying a number of possible configurations of the computing components, the number of possible configurations being less than the number of the computing components;

generate a configuration file based on the sampling criteria and the scanned data, the configuration file corresponding to a replica of the cloud environment in which the replica includes the number of possible configurations of the computing components, the replica being a scaled down version of the cloud environment;

deploy a shadow setup based on the configuration file;

initiate an upgrade of one or more components of the shadow setup; and

generate a report corresponding to a presence of errors associated with the upgrade.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to receive user input to verify the shadow setup prior to deploying the shadow setup.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to, when the deploying of the shadow setup causes an error, fix the error prior to the initiation of the upgrade.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the report includes data based on the errors encountered during the upgrade.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to, when the report corresponds to a successful upgrade, receive user input to initiate an upgrade of the one or more components in the cloud environment in a manner corresponding to the upgrade of the shadow setup.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to prevent or hinder a user from initiating an upgrade in the cloud environment when the errors are encountered during the upgrade of the one or more components of the shadow setup.