Granted Patent B2

US 12,411,719 · App. 17/394,642 · Granted Sep 9, 2025

Inventors: Claudio Imbrenda (Boeblingen, DE); Christian Borntraeger (Stuttgart, DE); Janosch Andreas Frank (Stuttgart, DE); Jonathan D. Bradbury (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION

G06F9/5077G06F9/45558G06F21/70G06F2009/45587G06F2221/2141G06F2221/2143

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A computer program product for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer program product comprising:

at least one computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions being readable by a processing circuit to cause the processing circuit to perform a method comprising:

initiating, by a host of the computing environment, starting of a secure guest within the computing environment, the initiating comprising sending a secure guest image and secure guest metadata to a secure platform of the computing environment separate from the host for use in starting the secure guest using one or more secure guest resources that are indicated inaccessible by the host via the secure guest metadata;

initiating, by the host of the computing environment, removal of the secure guest from the computing environment and reclaiming of secure guest resources, including leaving one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed by the host asynchronous to the removal of the secure guest by the secure platform, wherein interaction with a state of the secure guest is to be processed by the secure platform of the computing environment, the secure platform being trusted by the secure guest and by the host, and wherein the initiating comprises sending, by the host, a request to the secure platform to remove the secure guest and change state metadata associated with the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to indicate that the one or more secure guest resources are in a discarded state, the discarded state allowing the one or more secure guest resources to be reclaimed by the host asynchronous to removal of the secure guest by the secure platform; and

reclaiming, by the host subsequent to the initiating removal of the secure guest, the one or more secure guest resources in the discarded state asynchronous to removal of the secure guest, the reclaiming including determining, by the host, that the state metadata associated with the one or more secure guest resources is in the discarded state and, based on the state metadata of the one or more secure guest resources being in the discarded state, clearing by the host the one or more secure guest resources for reuse, wherein the one or more secure guest resources are available for reuse as the one or more secure guest resources are reclaimed asynchronous to the removal of the secure guest by the secure platform.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein reclaiming the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest occurs after, and asynchronous to, removal of the secure guest.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein removal of the secure guest includes reclaiming of one or more other secure guest resources coextensive with removal of the secure guest, while leaving the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed asynchronously.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more secure guest resources comprise guest memory associated with the secure guest.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 , further comprising specifying, by the host, the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed asynchronous to removal of the secure guest.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more secure guest resources comprise one or more secure memory pages, and the determining comprises checking page metadata to confirm that a secure memory page of the one or more secure memory pages is in the discarded state prior to clearing by the host the secure memory page for reuse.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , further comprising clearing one or more security flags associated with the one or more secure memory pages based on clearing by the host the one or more secure memory pages.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the host comprises a hypervisor of the computing environment, and the secure platform is separate from the hypervisor.

9. A computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer system comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor in communication with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, the method comprising:

initiating, by a host of the computing environment, starting of a secure guest within the computing environment, the initiating comprising sending a secure guest image and secure guest metadata to a secure platform of the computing environment separate from the host for use in starting the secure guest using one or more secure guest resources that are indicated inaccessible by the host via the secure guest metadata;

initiating, by the host of the computing environment, removal of the secure guest from the computing environment and reclaiming of secure guest resources, including leaving one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed by the host asynchronous to the removal of the secure guest by the secure platform, wherein interaction with a state of the secure guest is to be processed by the secure platform of the computing environment, the secure platform being trusted by the secure guest and by the host, and wherein the initiating comprises sending, by the host, a request to the secure platform to remove the secure guest and change state metadata associated with the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to indicate that the one or more secure guest resources are in a discarded state, the discarded state allowing the one or more secure guest resources to be reclaimed by the host asynchronous to removal of the secure guest by the secure platform; and

reclaiming, by the host subsequent to the initiating removal of the secure guest, the one or more secure guest resources in the discarded state asynchronous to removal of the secure guest, the reclaiming including determining, by the host, that the state metadata associated with the one or more secure guest resources is in the discarded state and, based on the state metadata of the one or more secure guest resources being in the discarded state, clearing by the host the one or more secure guest resources for reuse, wherein the one or more secure guest resources are available for reuse as the one or more secure guest resources are reclaimed asynchronous to the removal of the secure guest by the secure platform.

10. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein reclaiming the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest occurs after, and asynchronous to, removal of the secure guest.

11. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein removal of the secure guest includes reclaiming of one or more other secure guest resources coextensive with removal of the secure guest, while leaving the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed asynchronously.

12. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more secure guest resources comprise guest memory associated with the secure guest.

13. The computer system of claim 9 , further comprising specifying, by the host, the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed asynchronous to removal of the secure guest.

14. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more secure guest resources comprise one or more secure memory pages, and the determining comprises checking page metadata to confirm that a secure memory page of the one or more secure memory pages is in the discarded state prior to clearing by the host the secure memory page for reuse.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , further comprising clearing one or more security flags associated with the one or more secure memory pages based on clearing by the host the one or more secure memory pages.

16. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the host comprises a hypervisor of the computing environment, and the secure platform is separate from the hypervisor.

17. A computer-implemented method for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer-implemented method comprising:

initiating, by a host of the computing environment, starting of a secure guest within the computing environment, the initiating comprising sending a secure guest image and secure guest metadata to a secure platform of the computing environment separate from the host for use in starting the secure guest using one or more secure guest resources that are indicated inaccessible by the host via the secure guest metadata;

initiating, by the host of the computing environment, removal of the secure guest from the computing environment and reclaiming of secure guest resources, including leaving one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed by the host asynchronous to the removal of the secure guest by the secure platform, wherein interaction with a state of the secure guest is to be processed by the secure platform of the computing environment, the secure platform being trusted by the secure guest and by the host, and wherein the initiating comprises sending, by the host, a request to the secure platform to remove the secure guest and change state metadata associated with the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to indicate that the one or more secure guest resources are in a discarded state, the discarded state allowing the one or more secure guest resources to be reclaimed by the host asynchronous to removal of the secure guest by the secure platform; and

reclaiming, by the host subsequent to the initiating removal of the secure guest, the one or more secure guest resources in the discarded state asynchronous to removal of the secure guest, the reclaiming including determining, by the host, that the state metadata associated with the one or more secure guest resources is in the discarded state and, based on the state metadata of the one or more secure guest resources being in the discarded state, clearing by the host the one or more secure guest resources for reuse, wherein the one or more secure guest resources are available for reuse as the one or more secure guest resources are reclaimed asynchronous to the removal of the secure guest by the secure platform.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 , wherein reclaiming the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest occurs after, and asynchronous to, removal of the secure guest.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 , wherein removal of the secure guest includes reclaiming of one or more other secure guest resources coextensive with removal of the secure guest, while leaving the one or more secure guest resources of the secure guest to be reclaimed asynchronously.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 , wherein the host comprises a hypervisor of the computing environment, and the secure platform is separate from the hypervisor.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , wherein the one or more secure guest resources comprise one or more secure memory pages, and the determining comprises checking page metadata to confirm that a secure memory page of the one or more secure memory pages is in the discarded state prior to clearing by the host the secure memory page for reuse.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , further comprising clearing one or more security flags associated with the one or more secure memory pages based on clearing by the host the one or more secure memory pages.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (39)