US-12625692-B2 - Disk image dump for configuring bare metal servers

US12625692B2US 12625692 B2US12625692 B2US 12625692B2US-12625692-B2

Abstract

Systems and methods for capturing a disk image of a bare metal server, and then using the disk image to provision other bare metal servers. A method includes capturing a disk image of a first bare metal server and writing the disk image to a repository manager. The method includes launching a continuous delivery mode on a second bare metal server where the disk image is fetched from repository manager and written to second bare metal server, followed by configuring the unique identity.

Inventors

Sree Nandan Atur
Ravi Kumar Alluboyina

Assignees

RAKUTEN SYMPHONY, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221129

Claims (20)

1 . A method comprising: capturing a disk image of a first bare metal server while the first bare metal server is in a live continuous delivery mode; writing the disk image to a repository manager; launching a live continuous delivery mode on a second bare metal server via a bootloader; mounting the disk image to the second bare metal server; and configuring a unique identity of the second bare metal server.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a request from a user to initiate a workflow to capture the disk image of the first bare metal server, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request by way of a dashboard rendered on a user interface.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising submitting the workflow to a worker node, wherein the workflow comprises causing the worker node to launch the live continuous delivery mode on the first bare metal server without use of a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a request from a user to initiate a workflow to install an operating system on the second bare metal server by way of a disk image dump, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request by way of a dashboard rendered on a user interface.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein launching the continuous delivery mode on the second bare metal server comprises launching without use of a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing the disk image of the first bare metal server comprises: requesting an initialization file from a file store of the first bare metal server without using dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) or a DHCP server; and receiving the initialization file.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein capturing the disk image of the first bare metal server further comprises: installing, on the first bare metal server, a kickstarter executable; and executing the kickstarter executable to register the first bare metal server with a machine initialization module; wherein receiving the initialization file comprises receiving the initialization file from the machine initialization module over a network in response to registering the first bare metal server with the machine initialization module.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the unique identity of the second bare metal server comprises configuring one or more of an internet protocol (IP) address, gateway, domain name system (DNS), or hostname of the second bare metal server.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein mounting the disk image to the second bare metal server comprises streaming the disk image from the repository manager by way of a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the disk image.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein mounting the disk image to the second bare metal server comprises downloading the disk image from the repository manager by way of the uniform resource locator and directly writing the downloaded disk image to disk storage resources associated with the second bare metal server.
11 . Non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for executing by one or more processors, the instructions comprising: capturing a disk image of a first bare metal server while the first bare metal server is in a live continuous delivery mode; writing the disk image to a repository manager; launching a live continuous delivery mode on a second bare metal server via a bootloader; mounting the disk image to the second bare metal server; and configuring a unique identity of the second bare metal server.
12 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further comprise receiving a request from a user to initiate a workflow to capture the disk image of the first bare metal server, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request by way of a dashboard rendered on a user interface.
13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further comprise submitting the workflow to a worker node, wherein the workflow comprises causing the worker node to launch the live continuous delivery mode on the first bare metal server without use of a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).
14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further comprise receiving a request from a user to initiate a workflow to install an operating system on the second bare metal server by way of a disk image dump, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request by way of a dashboard rendered on a user interface.
15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are such that launching the continuous delivery mode on the second bare metal server comprises launching without use of a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).
16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are such that capturing the disk image of the first bare metal server comprises: requesting an initialization file from a file store of the first bare metal server without using dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) or a DHCP server; and receiving the initialization file.
17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are such that capturing the disk image of the first bare metal server further comprises: installing, on the first bare metal server, a kickstarter executable; and executing the kickstarter executable to register the first bare metal server with a machine initialization module; wherein receiving the initialization file comprises receiving the initialization file from the machine initialization module over a network in response to registering the first bare metal server with the machine initialization module.
18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are such that configuring the unique identity of the second bare metal server comprises configuring one or more of an internet protocol (IP) address, gateway, domain name system (DNS), or hostname of the second bare metal server.
19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are such that mounting the disk image to the second bare metal server comprises streaming the disk image from the repository manager by way of a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the disk image.
20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are such that mounting the disk image to the second bare metal server comprises downloading the disk image from the repository manager by way of the uniform resource locator and directly writing the downloaded disk image to disk storage resources associated with the second bare metal server.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates generally to configuring network systems and specifically relates to configuring a bare metal server with a disk image. SUMMARY Systems and methods for capturing a disk image of a bare metal server, and then using the disk image to provision other bare metal servers. A method includes capturing a disk image of a first bare metal server and writing the disk image to a repository manager. The method includes launching a continuous delivery mode on a second bare metal server where the disk image is fetched from repository manager and written to second bare metal server, followed by configuring the unique identity. BACKGROUND Numerous industries benefit from and rely upon cloud-based computing resources to store data, access data, and run applications and tasks based on the stored data. These systems often rely on storage and processing resources of numerous bare metal servers. In traditional systems, it is computationally expensive and time consuming to install an operating system on a new bare metal server and configure the new bare metal server for use. Additionally, these traditional systems must endure server downtime when servers are being provisioned and configured. In view of the foregoing, disclosed herein are systems, methods, and devices for decreasing server downtime and reducing configuration time for new bare metal servers by configuring servers with a disk image. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a network environment in which the systems and methods described herein may be used; FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a system comprising layers for external management of a network service; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an element of a network service; FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a hierarchy for orchestrating a network service; FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a system for executing a deployment automation module of an orchestration server system; FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an interface that may be provided by a workflow builder to facilitate creating workflows; FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram of a method for batch processing functions for large numbers of elements; FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a system for distributing files and executing functions of a workflow; FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a system that may be used to implement the functionality of a machine initialization module of an orchestration server system; FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method for initializing a bare metal server; FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a system for capturing a disk image of bare metal servers that may be used to install operating systems on other bare metal servers with a copy and paste functionality; FIG. 12 is a schematic process flow diagram of a method for capturing a disk image of a first bare metal server; FIG. 13 is a schematic process flow diagram of a method for configuring a second bare metal server with a disk image of a first bare metal server; and FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an example computing device suitable for implementing methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and devices for capturing a disk image of a bare metal server, and then using the captured disk image to install operating systems on other bare metal servers. The methods described herein may be implemented with a copy/paste functionality to obtain high performance while keeping server reboots to a minimum. In traditional systems, it is computationally expensive and time consuming to install an operating system on a bare metal server and then configure the bare metal server for use. Additionally, this process includes significant downtime when the bare metal server cannot be used to execute applications and workflows. Additionally, typical operating system provisioning kickstarter files are complex and include numerous components, including a pre-section, operating system installs, post-selection configuration, and one-time updated services. These kickstarter files can present numerous challenges when seeking to configure numerous bare metal servers for immediate use. In view of the foregoing, the systems, methods, and devices described herein enable users to initiate a workflow to capture a disk image of a first bare metal server, and then use the captured disk image to install and op