IP Library Granted Patent US 10,140,159
Granted Patent B1
US 10,140,159 · App. 15/061,241 · Granted Nov 27, 2018

Systems and methods for dynamic creation of container manifests

Inventors: James Albert Thomason (Las Vegas, NV); David Mortman (Worthington, OH); Campbell McNeill (Austin, TX)
Assignee: Quest Software Inc.
G06F9/5027
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,140,159
App. No.
15/061,241
Granted
Nov 27, 2018
Kind
B1
Abstract

In one embodiment, a method is performed by a computer system. The method includes determining a base state of a particular container, wherein the base state is represented by a base image. The method further includes determining a target state of the particular container, wherein the target state is represented by a deployment of the particular container. In addition, the method includes determining a set of commands to transition from the base state to the target state. Further, the method includes generating a manifest for the target state of the particular container, the manifest comprising the determined set of commands to reach the target state.

Claims (50)

1. A method comprising, by a computer system:

determining a base state of a particular container, wherein the base state is represented by a base image, and wherein the particular container is configured to execute on an isolated user-space instance in a shared kernel space on an operating system of a resource;

determining a target state of the particular container, wherein the target state is represented by a deployment of the particular container on a particular resource that has a container-management agent installed thereon, wherein the target state at least partially results from commands, previously issued to the container-management agent, to control operation of the particular container;

determining a set of commands to transition the particular container from the base state to the target state;

wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining an audit trail of a management application for the particular container; and

retrieving previously-executed user commands from the audit trail, the determined set of commands comprising at least some of the previously-executed user commands;

generating a build manifest for the target state of the particular container, the build manifest comprising a listing of files in the particular container, a digital signature of a source of at least some of the files, hashes of at least some of the files, and commands to create the particular container, the commands to create the particular container comprising the determined set of commands to transition the particular container from the base state to the target state; and

automatically deploying the particular container in the target state using the base image and the generated build manifest for the target state.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining audit trails of a plurality of management applications for the particular container; and

retrieving the previously-executed user commands from the audit trails.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising, prior to the examining, identifying the plurality of management applications from an overall set of management applications.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining a file system of the deployment of the particular container; and

based, at least in part, on the examining, discovering a plurality of deltas against the base state; and

generating delta commands that produce the plurality of deltas, wherein the set of commands comprise the delta commands.

5. An information handling system comprising a processor and memory, wherein the processor and memory in combination are operable to implement a method comprising:

determining a base state of a particular container, wherein the base state is represented by a base image, and wherein the particular container is configured to execute on an isolated user-space instance in a shared kernel space on an operating system of a resource;

determining a target state of the particular container, wherein the target state is represented by a deployment of the particular container on a particular resource that has a container-management agent installed thereon, wherein the target state at least partially results from commands, previously issued to the container-management agent, to control operation of the particular container;

determining a set of commands to transition the particular container from the base state to the target state;

wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining an audit trail of a management application for the particular container; and

retrieving previously-executed user commands from the audit trail, the determined set of commands comprising at least some of the previously-executed user commands;

generating a build manifest for the target state of the particular container, the build manifest comprising a listing of files in the particular container, a digital signature of a source of at least some of the files, hashes of at least some of the files, and commands to create the particular container, the commands to create the particular container comprising the determined set of commands to transition the particular container from the base state to the target state; and

automatically deploying the particular container in the target state using the base image and the generated build manifest for the target state.

6. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining audit trails of a plurality of management applications for the particular container; and

retrieving the previously-executed user commands from the audit trails.

7. The information handling system of claim 6 , the method comprising, prior to the examining, identifying the plurality of management applications from an overall set of management applications.

8. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining a file system of the deployment of the particular container; and

based, at least in part, on the examining, discovering a plurality of deltas against the base state; and

generating delta commands that produce the plurality of deltas, wherein the set of commands comprise the delta commands.

9. A computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method comprising:

determining a base state of a particular container, wherein the base state is represented by a base image, and wherein the particular container is configured to execute on an isolated user-space instance in a shared kernel space on an operating system of a resource;

determining a target state of the particular container, wherein the target state is represented by a deployment of the particular container on a particular resource that has a container-management agent installed thereon, wherein the target state at least partially results from commands, previously issued to the container-management agent, to control operation of the particular container;

determining a set of commands to transition the particular container from the base state to the target state;

wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining an audit trail of a management application for the particular container; and

retrieving previously-executed user commands from the audit trail, the determined set of commands comprising at least some of the previously-executed user commands;

generating a build manifest for the target state of the particular container, the build manifest comprising a listing of files in the particular container, a digital signature of a source of at least some of the files, hashes of at least some of the files, and commands to create the particular container, the commands to create the particular container comprising the determined set of commands to transition the particular container from the base state to the target state; and

automatically deploying the particular container in the target state using the base image and the generated build manifest for the target state.

10. The computer-program product of claim 9 , wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining audit trails of a plurality of management applications for the particular container; and

retrieving the previously-executed user commands from the audit trails.

11. The computer-program product of claim 9 , wherein the determining the set of commands comprises:

examining a file system of the deployment of the particular container; and

based, at least in part, on the examining, discovering a plurality of deltas against the base state; and

generating delta commands that produce the plurality of deltas, wherein the set of commands comprise the delta commands.

Assignments (26)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 19, 2025
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.
Reel/Frame 073606/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 18, 2025
From: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.
Reel/Frame 073613/0326 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2025
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; ERWIN, INC.
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 071527/0649 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2025
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; ERWIN, INC.
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 071527/0001 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059105/0479 →
FIRST LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY LLC; ONELOGIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY
To: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
Reel/Frame 058945/0778 →
SECOND LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY LLC; ONELOGIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
Reel/Frame 058952/0279 →
RELEASE OF SECOND LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059096/0683 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0347 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0486 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS RECORDED AT R/F 040581/0850 Recorded May 22, 2018
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 046211/0735 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 6, 2017
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 044719/0565 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 040587 FRAME: 0624. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 28, 2017
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 044811/0598 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 10, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040587/0624 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 9, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040581/0850 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0467 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN CERTAIN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040039/0642) Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0016 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040030/0187 →
RELEASE OF REEL 038664 FRAME 0908 (NOTE) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; SECUREWORKS, CORP.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040027/0390 →
RELEASE OF REEL 038665 FRAME 0041 (TL) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; SECUREWORKS, CORP.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040028/0375 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040039/0642 →
RELEASE OF REEL 038665 FRAME 0001 (ABL) Recorded Sep 13, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; SECUREWORKS, CORP.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040021/0348 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 26, 2016
From: THOMASON, JAMES ALBERT; MORTMAN, DAVID; MCNEILL, CAMPBELL
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 039263/0597 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded May 11, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS FIRST LIEN COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 038664/0908 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded May 11, 2016
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 038665/0041 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded May 11, 2016
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 038665/0001 →