System and method for autonomous software licensing during bootup process

A new approach is proposed to support software validation and licensing management. An instance of a software component deployed to a physical computing device is configured to request a copy of license of the software component from a license server out-of-band before the software component can be installed and/or booted up on the physical computing device. Upon receiving a request for the copy of license from the instance of the software component, the license server is configured to grant or deny the request based on the current number of copies of license of the software component available. If the request is granted, the instance of the software component is booted up on the physical computing device. During its operation, the instance of the software component continues to communicate with the license server periodically to indicate whether the copy of license assigned by the server is still in use.

BACKGROUND

To prevent software theft, a proprietary software generally requires some means of validating legitimacy of a copy of the software by, for non-limiting examples, requesting a user to enter a license key, token, login credentials, and/or to provide access to certain components in the user's environment, etc. Generally, the copy of the software has unique properties (e.g., with some unique built-in variables) that make the copy of the software capable of self-validating. Alternatively, the software must be able to securely transmit the information (user/or surrounding) to a centralized license infrastructure/server for validation (usually over a network) to obtain a copy of license for the software and receive a response on whether the copy of license is granted so that the software may be installed and be functional/operational. For a non-limiting example, an instance of a virtual appliance (or appliance), which can be but is not limited to a virtual machine (VM) instance running either locally on a hypervisor of a physical computing device or in a cloud fall into the latter category, wherein such VM instance faces limitations similar to a physical computing device in its abilities to communicate with the license server experiencing large workloads and/or bandwidth limitations over multiple firewalls during peak time without user-intervention. The paradigm described above may be amplified several-fold when the license server located in a public cloud is under a so-called “auto-scaling” scenario where the number of license requests to validate instances of the virtual appliances can be spun-up and torn-down automatically as triggered by the licensing workload at runtime (e.g., requests for tax filing software may peak during the tax season).

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to support software validation and licensing management in any computing environment. Under the proposed approach, an instance of a software component deployed to a physical computing device is configured to request a copy of license of the software component from a license server out-of-band before the software component can be installed and/or booted up on the physical computing device. Here, the software component can be but is not limited to a virtual appliance (e.g., a VM instance), an operating system (OS), a container, or any other type of software that requires a copy of license to be installed, and run on the physical computing device. The license server is configured to maintain a certain number of copies of licenses for the software component in a pool/database set by a user. Upon receiving a request for the copy of license from the instance of the software component, the license server is configured to grant or deny the request based on the current number of copies of license of the software component available (e.g., not in use). If the request is granted and the copy of license is received, the instance of the software component is booted up on the physical computing device. During its operation, the instance of the software component continues to communicate with the license server periodically to indicate whether the copy of license assigned by the server is still in use.

Under the proposed approach, the legitimacy of an instance of a software component can be validated automatically in an autoscaling environment when the load of licensing requests changes dynamically over time. The proposed approach provides autonomous license management and validation prior to booting up the instance of the software component as well as self-adaptation and updating ability when certain copies of license of the software component are no longer in use and can be released and reused by other instances of the software component without any user intervention. Since the proposed approach is agnostic to any specific environment (e.g., hypervisor or cloud technology), the license server can be hosted in any cloud environment either a public cloud or a private datacenter of the user where no external network access is provided (also known as a dark site). In addition, the proposed approach enables so-called “boot to fit” capability, which breaks up/pauses the bootup process of the instance of the software component to determine whether the instance of the software component being booted up should continue to be installed in the current computing environment of the physical computing device.

Although instances of a virtual appliance are used hereinafter as non-limiting examples of instances of a software component to illustrate the proposed approach, it is appreciated that the same or similar approach is equally applicable to any other type of software component that requires licensing from a license server. For non-limiting examples, a virtual appliance can be but is not limited to a VM instance or an application software that required licensing to be installed and/or run on a physical computing device.

FIG.1depicts an example of a system diagram100to support autonomous software licensing during a bootup process. Although the diagrams depict components as functionally separate, such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes. It will be apparent that the components portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software, firmware and/or hardware components. Furthermore, it will also be apparent that such components, regardless of how they are combined or divided, can execute on the same host or multiple hosts, wherein the multiple hosts can be connected by one or more networks.

In the example ofFIG.1, the system100includes one or more instances of a software component (e.g., a virtual appliance)102seach including a license client104and an appliance operating system (OS)106, a license server108, and a license database (DB)/pool110. Each of the instances of the software component, the server, and/or the components in the system100running on one or more computing units or devices each having software instructions stored in a storage such as a non-volatile memory (also referred to as secondary memory) of the computing unit. When the software instructions are executed, at least a subset of the software instructions is loaded into a memory (also referred to as primary memory) by the computing unit, the computing unit becomes a special purposed one for practicing one or more processes.

In the example ofFIG.1, each computing unit running the instances of the virtual appliance, the server, and/or the components in the system100can be a computing device, a communication device, a storage device, or any computing device capable of running a software component. For non-limiting examples, a computing device can be but is not limited to a server machine, a laptop PC, a desktop PC, a tablet, a Google Android device, an iPhone, an iPad, and a voice-controlled speaker or controller. Each computing unit has a communication interface (not shown) for communicating with each other over a communication network (not shown), which can be but is not limited to Internet, intranet, wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), wireless network, Bluetooth, WiFi, and mobile communication network for internal communications among entities, components, and users of an organization. The physical connections of the communication network and the communication protocols are well known to those skilled in the art.

In the example ofFIG.1, an instance of virtual appliance102is deployed to a physical computing device, wherein the instance of the virtual appliance102is required to obtain a copy of license of the virtual appliance102for validation in order to be installed and run on the computing device to perform certain functionalities. In some embodiments, the instance of the virtual appliance102includes at least two software components—a license client104and an appliance OS106. When the instance of the virtual appliance102is deployed to the physical computing device, the instance of the virtual appliance102is provided with an IP address of the license server108to communicate with. When the instance of the virtual appliance102starts up, the license client104of the instance of the virtual appliance102is configured to communicate with the license server108to request a copy of license for the virtual appliance102in a pre-bootup environment of the instance of the virtual appliance102before the appliance OS106of the instance of the virtual appliance102is booted up. Specifically, at the beginning of the bootup process of the instance of the virtual appliance102and before the appliance OS106is booted up into the main OS of the physical computing device, the license client104is configured to run in a pre-boot environment on the instance of the virtual appliance102and to transmit a request to the license server108to acquire a copy of license to run the instance of the virtual appliance102on the physical computing device. If the request for license is granted and the copy of license is acquired from the license server108, the bootup process continues and the appliance OS106is booted up into the main OS of the physical computing device where the instance of the virtual appliance102is deployed, meaning that the instance of the virtual appliance102becomes operational. If the request for license is denied by the license server108, the bootup process will terminate and the instance of the virtual appliance102cannot continue to be installed and run because the copy of license cannot be obtained.

In some embodiments, the license client104is configured to continue to communicate with the license server108about the current status of the instance of the virtual appliance102, e.g., to indicate that the copy of license it acquired from the license server108is still in use, after the instance of the virtual appliance102has booted up on the main OS of the physical computing device. In some embodiments, the license client104is configured to periodically send one or more heartbeat messages to the license server108to indicate that the license is still in use and the license server108will reserve that copy of license assigned to that instance of the virtual appliance102as long as the one or more heartbeat messages are periodically received by the license server108. If no heartbeat message has been received from the instance of the virtual appliance102over a pre-specified timeout period, meaning that the instance of the virtual appliance102may no longer be active, the license server108will then release that copy of license assigned to the instance of the virtual appliance102back to the license DB110to be used by another instance of the virtual appliance102if all licenses in the license DB110have been assigned or allocated. In some embodiments, if the instance of the virtual appliance102is no longer in use, the license client104is configured to inform the license server108accordingly when the instance of the virtual appliance102is shut down on the physical computing device so that the copy of license of the instance of the virtual appliance102can be taken back by the license server108to be put back into the license DB110for use by other instances of the virtual appliance102.

In the example ofFIG.1, the license server108is configured to automatically manage a pool of a plurality of copies of licenses of the virtual appliance102, wherein the plurality of copies of licenses are maintained in the license DB110. Here, the license server108can be hosted in any cloud environment, e.g., either a public cloud that is publicly accessible over the Internet or at a private datacenter of the user where no external network access is provided (e.g., a dark site). In some embodiments, the number of the plurality of copies of licenses in the license DB110for the virtual appliance102can be set by a user via a user interface (UI) and populated by the license server108. In some embodiments, the plurality of copies of licenses are stored in a digitally-signed license file and the license server108is configured to verify that the license file is authentic before populating the license DB110with the plurality of copies of licenses in the digitally-signed license file. In some embodiments, the license DB110is configured to persist and maintain the plurality of copies of licenses together with their current statuses, which can be but are not limited to whether each of the plurality of copies of licenses is free/available or in-use by an instance of the virtual appliance102.

When the request for a copy of license of the virtual appliance102has been received, the license server108is configured to check the license DB110to determine if there is a copy of license of the virtual appliance102available. If so, the license server108is configured to assign the copy of license of the virtual appliance102to the instance of the virtual appliance102that requested it. If it is determined that every copy of license of the virtual appliance102in the license DB110is in use, the license server108may deny the request for a copy of license by the instance of the virtual appliance102. If there is no copy of license of the virtual instance102available, the instance of the virtual appliance102may terminate the current bootup process and take a different boot path/process. In some embodiments, the instance of the virtual appliance102may boot up and run with limited functionalities without a copy of license of the virtual instance102. In some embodiments, a user of the instance of the virtual appliance102may acquire or purchase additional copies of license of the virtual appliance102and make the additional copies of license available in the license DB110. In some embodiments, the instance of the virtual appliance102is configured to perform an out-of-band lookup to determine which path to boot up, wherein the out-of-band lookup may identify one or more alternative bootup processes either pre-defined by the user and automatically determined by the instance of the virtual appliance102when a copy of license for the virtual appliance102is not available.

FIG.2depicts a flowchart200of an example of a process to support software validation and licensing management. Although the figure depicts functional steps in a particular order for purposes of illustration, the processes are not limited to any particular order or arrangement of steps. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the various steps portrayed in this figure could be omitted, rearranged, combined, and/or adapted in various ways.

In the example ofFIG.2, the flowchart200starts at block202, where a plurality of copies of licenses for a software component are populated and managed by a license server, wherein the plurality of copies of licenses are maintained in a license database (DB). The flowchart200continues to block204, where a request for a copy of license of the software component is transmitted by an instance of the software component deployed to a physical computing device to a license server via a license client running in a pre-bootup environment of the instance of the software component at beginning of a bootup process before the instance of the software component is booted up and run on the physical computing device. The flowchart200continues to block206, where the license DB is checked to determine if there is a copy of license of the virtual appliance available when the request for the copy of license of the virtual appliance is received. The flowchart200continues to block208, where the copy of license of the virtual appliance is assigned to the instance of the virtual appliance requesting the copy of license if there is a copy of license of the virtual appliance available in the license DB. The flowchart200continues to block210, where the request for a copy of license by the instance of the virtual appliance is denied if it is determined that every copy of license of the virtual appliance is in use. The flowchart200ends at block212, where the instance of the software component is continued to boot up and run on the physical computing device if the copy of license is assigned by the license server.

One embodiment may be implemented using a conventional general purpose or a specialized digital computer or microprocessor(s) programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art. Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the software art. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation of integrated circuits or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The methods and system described herein may be at least partially embodied in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatus for practicing those processes. The disclosed methods may also be at least partially embodied in the form of tangible, non-transitory machine-readable storage media encoded with computer program code. The media may include, for example, RAMs, ROMs, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, BD-ROMs, hard disk drives, flash memories, or any other non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the method. The methods may also be at least partially embodied in the form of a computer into which computer program code is loaded and/or executed, such that, the computer becomes a special purpose computer for practicing the methods. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the computer program code segments configure the processor to create specific logic circuits. The methods may alternatively be at least partially embodied in a digital signal processor formed of application specific integrated circuits for performing the methods.