Granted Patent B2

US 12,430,156 · App. 18/111,331 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Inventors: Raymond Strode (Westford, MA); Alexander Larsson (Stockholm, SE); Matthias Clasen (Westford, MA); Debarshi Ray (Brno, CZ)

Assignee: Red Hat, Inc.

G06F9/4555G06F9/45512G06F9/45558G06F9/461H04L41/0806H04L41/0846G06F2009/45562G06F2009/45575

Abstract

Claims (58)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a container management component, a request to run a first container;

in response to receiving the request to run the first container, running the first container and importing into the first container, by the container management component, a first container management agent operable to run a first user interface in the first container, the first container management agent being further operable to communicate with the container management component, wherein the first container comprises an installation of a first operating system;

receiving a user request to create a second container;

creating the second container in view of the first container, wherein the second container comprises an installation of a second operating system different than the first operating system;

receiving, by the container management component from the first container via the first user interface running in the first container, a first command to switch from the first container to the second container; and

responsive to receiving the first command to switch from the first container to the second container:

configuring the second container in view of one or more configurations of the first container, wherein configuring the second container comprises importing a shell history associated with the first container to the second container, wherein the shell history comprises a plurality of commands comprising the first command, each of the plurality of commands being previously received via the first user interface running in the first container;

running the second container and importing into the second container, by the container management component, a second container management agent operable to run a second user interface in the second container, the second container management agent being further operable to communicate with the container management component, wherein the plurality of commands previously received via the first user interface is presented within the second user interface; and

causing execution of the first container to stop.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user request to create the second container comprises a request to fork the first container.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the second container in view of the first container comprises creating a copy of the first container comprising the installation of the second operating system.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to receiving a user request to switch to the first container, switching from the second container to the first container.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the second container further comprises:

attaching a current working directory related to the first container to the second container.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the second container further comprises:

identifying a user identifier associated with the first container; and

associating the user identifier with the second container.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the second container further comprises:

importing a home directory related to the first container to the second container.

8. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device operatively coupled to the memory, the processing device to:

receive, by a container management component, a request to run a first container;

in response to receiving the request to run the first container, run the first container and import into the first container, by the container management component, a first container management agent operable to run a first user interface in the first container, the first container management agent being further operable to communicate with the container management component, wherein the first container comprises an installation of a first operating system;

receive a user request to create a second container;

create the second container in view of the first container, wherein the second container comprises an installation of a second operating system different than the first operating system;

receive, by the container management component from the first container via the first user interface running in the first container, a first command to switch from the first container to the second container; and

responsive to receiving the first command to switch from the first container to the second container:

configure the second container in view of one or more configurations of the first container, wherein, to configure the second container, the processor device is to import a shell history associated with the first container to the second container, wherein the shell history comprises a plurality of commands comprising the first command, each of the plurality of commands being previously received via the first user interface running in the first container;

run the second container and import into the second container, by the container management component, a second container management agent operable to run a second user interface in the second container, the second container management agent being further operable to communicate with the container management component, wherein the plurality of commands previously received via the first user interface is presented within second the user interface; and

cause execution of the first container to stop.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the user request to create the second container comprises a request to fork the first container.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein to create the second container in view of the first container, the processing device is to create a copy of the first container comprising the installation of the second operating system.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further to:

in response to receiving a user request to switch to the first container, switch from the second container to the first container.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein to configure the second container, the processing device is further to:

attach a current working directory related to the first container to the second container.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein to configure the second container, the processing device is further to:

identify a user identifier associated with the first container; and

associate the user identifier with the second container.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein to configure the second container, the processing device is further to:

import a home directory related to the first container to the second container.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when accessed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:

receive, by a container management component, a request to run a first container;

in response to receiving the request to run the first container, run the first container and import into the first container, by the container management component, a first container management agent operable to run a first user interface in the first container, the first container management agent being further operable to communicate with the container management component, wherein the first container comprises an installation of a first operating system;

receive a user request to create a second container;

create the second container in view of the first container, wherein the second container comprises an installation of a second operating system different than the first operating system;

receive, by the container management component from the first container via the first user interface running in the first container, a first command to switch from the first container to the second container; and

responsive to receiving the first command to switch from the first container to the second container:

configure the second container in view of one or more configurations of the first container, wherein, to configure the second container, the instructions further cause the processor device to import a shell history associated with the first container to the second container, wherein the shell history comprises a plurality of commands comprising the first command, each of the plurality of commands being previously received via the first user interface running in the first container;

run the second container and import into the second container, by the container management component, a second container management agent operable to run a second user interface in the second container, the second container management agent being further operable to communicate with the container management component, wherein the plurality of commands previously received via the first user interface is presented within second the user interface; and

cause execution of the first container to stop.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the user request to create the second container comprises a request to fork the first container.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein to create the second container in view of the first container, the instructions cause the processing device to create a copy of the first container comprising the installation of the second operating system.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processing device to:

in response to receiving a user request to switch to the first container, switch from the second container to the first container.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (37)