Source: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/58798012/System-Accounting-For-Operating-System-Partitions---Patent-7793289
Timestamp: 2014-04-20 20:11:59
Document Index: 418342662

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 04', 'application No. 04', 'application No. 04', 'application No. 04', 'application No. 04', 'application No. 04', 'Application No. 04252689', 'Application No. 04252690', 'Application No. 04252690']

System Accounting For Operating System Partitions - Patent 7793289
United States Patent: 7793289
7,793,289
A mechanism is disclosed for system accounting in an operating system
environment that has been partitioned into a global zone and one or more
non-global zones. Each zone is associated with one or more processes that
execute in association with that zone. Each zone contains a separate
system accounting log file. When a process terminates, the process
invokes an exit function implemented by a kernel that controls all of the
zones. In response, the kernel determines in which zone the process
executed. The kernel adds, to the system accounting log file of the zone
in which the process executed, a first record that indicates accounting
information for the process. The kernel also may add a second record to a
global system accounting log file. The first record may contain details
specified by a non-global zone&#39;s settings, while the second record may
contain different details specified by the global zone&#39;s settings.
Leonard; Ozgur C. (San Mateo, CA), Tucker; Andrew G. (Menlo Park, CA)
10/762,067
705/51 709/104 717/100
2005/0076326
Poul-Henning Kamp, et al., &quot;Jails: Confining the omnipotent root&quot;, 2.sup.nd Intl System Administration and Networking Conference Proceedings
&quot;SANE 2000&quot;, May 22-25, 2000, Maastricht, The Netherlands, pp. 1-11. cited by other
Mc Dougall, Richard, et al., &quot;Resource Management&quot;, Prentice Hall, 1999, 25 pages. cited by other
Czajkowski, G., &quot;Application isolation in the Java Virtual Machine&quot;, 2000, ACM Press, Proceedings of the 15.sup.th ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications, pp. 354-366. cited by other
Czajkowski, G., &quot;Multitasking without compromise: a virtual machine evolution&quot;, ACM Press, Proceedings of the 16.sup.th ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Object Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications, dated Oct. 2001, pp. 125-138. cited
Osman, S., et al., &quot;The design and implementation of Zap: a system for migrating computing environments&quot;, SIGOPS Operating System, Rev. 36, SI, dated Dec. 2000, pp. 361-376. cited by other
Watson, &quot;TrustedBSD--Adding Trusted Operating System Features to FreeBSD&quot;, The USENIX Association, 2001, 14 pages. cited by other
Official Action from EPO for foreign patent application No. 04 252 690.5-2211 dated Nov. 23, 2005 (5 pgs)--attached. cited by other
Current Claims in EPO patent application No. 04 252 690.5-2211 (9 pgs)--attached, Filed Sep. 29, 2005. cited by other
European Patent Office, &quot;Communication pursuant to Article 94(3) EPC&quot;, Foreign application No. 04 252 690.5-2211, received Jun. 17, 2008, 5 pages. cited by other
Current Claims, Foreign application No. 04 252 690.5-2211, 9 pages, Filed Sep. 29, 2005. cited by other
Official Action from EPO for foreign patent application No. 04 252 690.5-2211 dated Jun. 10, 2005 (6 pgs)--attached. cited by other
Current Claims in EPO patent application No. 04 252 690.5-2211 (9 pgs)--attached, filed 2005. cited by other
Current Claims, European patent application 04252689.7, 6 pages, Filed 2005. cited by other
Claims, Application No. 04252689.7-1243, 6 pages, Filed 2005. cited by other
European Search Report from the European Patent Office for Foreign Patent Application No. 04252690.5 (3 pgs.), Aug. 31, 2004. cited by other
Claims As Filed in European Patent Application No. 04252690.5 (6 pgs.), 2004. cited by other
U.S. Application/Pat. No. 15437-0601, filed Feb. 3, 2004, Office Action, mailed Apr. 29, 2008. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/763,147, filed Jan. 21, 2004, Notice Of Allowance, mailed Jun. 16, 2008. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/744,360, filed Dec. 22, 2003, Notice Of Allowance, Jul. 1, 2008. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/833,474, filed Apr. 27, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/767,118, filed Jan. 28, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/767,117, filed Jan. 28, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/766,094, filed Jan. 27, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/744,360, filed Dec. 22, 2003. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/763,147, filed Jan. 21, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/769,415, filed Jan. 30, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/761,622, filed Jan. 20, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/767,003, filed Jan. 28, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/762,066, filed Jan. 20, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/767,235, filed Jan. 28, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/771,827, filed Feb. 3, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/771,698, filed Feb. 3, 2004. cited by other
U.S. Appl. No. 10/768,303, filed Jan. 29, 2004. cited by other.
60/469,558, filed May 9, 2003, entitled &quot;OPERATING SYSTEM
VIRTUALIZATION,&quot; by Andrew G. Tucker, et al., the entire contents of
1.  A machine-implemented method, comprising: determining, by a processor, a first virtual operating system environment (VOSE) of a plurality of VOSEs in which a first process
executed, in response to an ending of execution of the first process, wherein the plurality of VOSEs is controlled by a single operating system kernel instance;  wherein each VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs comprises a file system partition of a global
file system;  and in response to the processor determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, recording, in a first system accounting log file (SALF) stored in a first file system partition of the global file system associated with the
first VOSE, first accounting information about the first process.
2.  The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, determining, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, one or more specified
accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein recording the first accounting information comprises recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more specified accounting information
3.  The method of claim 2, further comprising: in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a second process that is executing in the first VOSE, determining in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the second
process is executing;  and in response to determining that the second process is executing in the first VOSE, updating the first accounting settings;  wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel
4.  The method of claim 3, wherein processes that do not execute in the first VOSE are prevented from updating the first accounting settings.
5.  The method of claim 1, wherein the first SALF is not accessible by any processes that execute in any VOSE other than the first VOSE.
6.  The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to an ending of execution of a second process that executed in a second VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs, determining in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the second process executed;
and in response to determining that the second process executed in the second VOSE, recording, in a second SALF stored in a second file system partition associated with the second VOSE, second accounting information about the second process;  wherein the
first VOSE is separate from the second VOSE.
7.  The method of claim 6, further comprising: in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, determining, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, one or more first specified
accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  and in response to determining that the second process executed in the second VOSE, determining, based on second accounting settings that are associated with the second
VOSE, one or more second specified accounting information aspects of the plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein recording the first accounting information comprises recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or
more first specified accounting information aspects;  wherein recording the second accounting information comprises recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more second specified accounting information aspects;  and
8.  The method of claim 7, further comprising: in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a third process that is executing in the first VOSE, determining in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the third process
is executing;  in response to determining that the third process is executing in the first VOSE, updating the first accounting settings;  in response to an invocation of the accounting settings updating function by a fourth process that is executing in
the second VOSE, determining in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the fourth process is executing;  and in response to determining that the fourth process is executing in the second VOSE, updating the second accounting settings;  wherein the
accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance;  and wherein the first accounting settings are separate from the second accounting settings.
9.  The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to the ending of execution of the first process, recording, in a second SALF stored in a file system that is associated with a global operating system environment (OSE) that comprises
the plurality of VOSEs, second accounting information about the first process;  wherein the second SALF is separate from the first SALF.
10.  The method of claim 9, further comprising: in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, determining, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, one or more first specified
accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  and determining, based on second accounting settings that are associated with the global OSE, one or more second specified accounting information aspects of the plurality
of accounting information aspects;  wherein recording the first accounting information comprises recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more first specified accounting information aspects;  wherein recording the second
accounting information comprises recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more second specified accounting information aspects;  wherein the one or more first specified accounting information aspects are separate from the
one or more second specified accounting information aspects;  in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a second process that is executing in the first VOSE, determining in which of the global OSE and the plurality of
VOSEs the second process is executing;  in response to determining that the second process is executing in the first VOSE, updating the first accounting settings;  in response to an invocation of the accounting settings updating function by a third
process that is executing in the global OSE, determining in which of the global OSE and the plurality of VOSEs the third process is executing;  and in response to determining that the third process is executing in the global OSE, updating the second
accounting settings;  wherein the first accounting settings are separate from the second accounting settings;  and wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance.
11.  The method of claim 9, wherein the second accounting information indicates an identity of a VOSE in which the first process executed.
12.  A volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium, comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine a first virtual operating system environment (VOSE) of a plurality of VOSEs in which a first process
file system;  and instructions for causing one or more processors to record, in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, in a first system accounting log file (SALF) stored in a first file system partition of the global
file system associated with the first VOSE, first accounting information about the first process.
13.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, in
response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, one or more specified accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein the instructions for causing one or more processors to record the
first accounting information comprise instructions for causing one or more processors to record aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more specified accounting information aspects.
14.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a second
process that is executing in the first VOSE, in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the second process is executing;  and instructions for causing one or more processors to update, in response to determining that the second process is executing in the
first VOSE, the first accounting settings;  wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance.
15.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein processes that do not execute in the first VOSE are prevented from updating the first accounting settings.
16.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first SALF is not accessible by any processes that execute in any VOSE other than the first VOSE.
17.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, in response to an ending of execution of a second process that executed in a second
VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs, in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the second process executed;  and instructions for causing one or more processors to record, in response to determining that the second process executed in the second VOSE, in a
second SALF stored in a second file system partition associated with the second VOSE, second accounting information about the second process;  wherein the first VOSE is separate from the second VOSE.
18.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, in
response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, one or more first specified accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  and instructions for causing one or more processors to determine,
based on second accounting settings that are associated with the second VOSE, in response to determining that the second process executed in the second VOSE, one or more second specified accounting information aspects of the plurality of accounting
information aspects;  wherein the instructions for causing one or more processors to record the first accounting information comprise instructions for causing one or more processors to record aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one
or more first specified accounting information aspects;  wherein the instructions for causing one or more processors to record the second accounting information comprise instructions for causing one or more processors to record aspects of accounting
information that correspond to the one or more second specified accounting information aspects;  wherein the one or more first specified accounting information aspects are separate from the one or more second specified accounting information aspects;
instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by third process that is executing in the first VOSE, in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the third process is
executing;  instructions for causing one or more processors to update, in response to determining that the third process is executing in the first VOSE, the first accounting settings;  instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, in
response to an invocation of the accounting settings updating function by a fourth process that is executing in the second VOSE, in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the fourth process is executing: and instructions for causing one or more processors
to update, in response to determining that the fourth process is executing in the second VOSE, the second accounting settings;  wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance;  and wherein the
first accounting settings are separate from the second accounting settings.
19.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to record, in response to the ending of execution of the first process, in a second SALF stored in
a file system that is associated with a global operating system environment (OSE) that comprises the plurality of VOSEs, second accounting information about the first process;  wherein the second SALF is separate from the first SALF.
20.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, in
based on second accounting settings that are associated with the global OSE, one or more second specified accounting information aspects of the plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein the instructions for causing one or more processors to
record the first accounting information comprise instructions for causing one or more processors to record aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more first specified accounting information aspects;  wherein the instructions for
causing one or more processors to record the second accounting information comprise instructions for causing one or more processors to record aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more second specified accounting information
aspects;  and wherein the one or more first specified accounting information aspects are separate from the one or more second specified accounting information aspects.
21.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 20, further comprising: instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a second
process that is executing in the first VOSE, in which of the global OSE and the plurality of VOSEs the second process is executing;  instructions for causing one or more processors to update, in response to determining that the second process is
executing in the first VOSE, the first accounting settings;  instructions for causing one or more processors to determine, in response to an invocation of the accounting settings updating function by a third process that is executing in the global OSE,
in which of the global OSE and the plurality of VOSEs the third process is executing;  and instructions for causing one or more processors to update, in response to determining that the third process is executing in the global OSE, the second accounting
settings;  wherein the first accounting settings are separate from the second accounting settings;  and wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance.
22.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the second accounting information indicates an identity of a VOSE in which the first process executed.
23.  An apparatus, comprising: a processor mechanism for determining a first virtual operating system environment (VOSE) of a plurality of VOSEs in which a first process executed, in response to an ending of execution of the first process,
wherein the plurality of VOSEs is controlled by a single operating system kernel instance;  wherein each VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs comprises a file system partition of a global file system;  and a memory mechanism for recording, in response to
determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, in a first system accounting log file (SALF) stored in a first file system partition of the global file system associated with the first VOSE, first accounting information about the first
24.  The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising: a mechanism for determining, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, one or
more specified accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein the mechanism for recording the first accounting information comprises a mechanism for recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to
the one or more specified accounting information aspects.
25.  The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising: a mechanism for determining, in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a second process that is executing in the first VOSE, in which VOSE of the plurality of
VOSEs the second process is executing;  and a mechanism for updating, in response to determining that the second process is executing in the first VOSE, the first accounting settings;  wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by
the operating system kernel instance.
26.  The apparatus of claim 25, wherein processes that do not execute in the first VOSE are prevented from updating the first accounting settings.
27.  The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first SALF is not accessible by any processes that execute in any VOSE other than the first VOSE.
28.  The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising: a mechanism for determining, in response to an ending of execution of a second process that executed in a second VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs, in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the
second process executed;  and a mechanism for recording, in response to determining that the second process executed in the second VOSE, in a second SALF stored in a second file system partition associated with the second VOSE, second accounting
information about the second process;  wherein the first VOSE is separate from the second VOSE.
29.  The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising: a mechanism for determining, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE,
determining one or more first specified accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  and a mechanism for determining, based on second accounting settings that are associated with the second VOSE, in response to
determining that the second process executed in the second VOSE, one or more second specified accounting information aspects of the plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein the mechanism for recording the first accounting information
comprises a mechanism for recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more first specified accounting information aspects;  wherein the mechanism for recording the second accounting information comprises a mechanism for
recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more second specified accounting information aspects;  and wherein the one or more first specified accounting information aspects are separate from the one or more second specified
accounting information aspects.
30.  The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising: a mechanism for determining, in response to an invocation of an accounting settings updating function by a third process that is executing in the first VOSE, in which VOSE of the plurality of
VOSEs the third process is executing;  a mechanism for updating, in response to determining that the third process is executing in the first VOSE, the first accounting settings;  a mechanism for determining, in response to an invocation of the accounting
settings updating function by a fourth process that is executing in the second VOSE, in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSEs the fourth process is executing;  and a mechanism for updating, in response to determining that the fourth process is executing
in the second VOSE, the second accounting settings;  wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance;  and wherein the first accounting settings are separate from the second accounting settings.
31.  The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising: a mechanism for recording, in response to the ending of execution of the first process, in a second SALF stored in a file system that is associated with a global operating system environment
(OSE) that comprises the plurality of VOSEs, second accounting information about the first process;  wherein the second SALF is separate from the first SALF.
32.  The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising: a mechanism for determining, based on first accounting settings that are associated with the first VOSE, in response to determining that the first process executed in the first VOSE, one or
more first specified accounting information aspects of a plurality of accounting information aspects;  and a mechanism for determining, based on second accounting settings that are associated with the global OSE, one or more second specified accounting
information aspects of the plurality of accounting information aspects;  wherein the mechanism for recording the first accounting information comprises a mechanism for recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more first
specified accounting information aspects;  wherein the mechanism for recording the second accounting information comprises a mechanism for recording aspects of accounting information that correspond to the one or more second specified accounting
information aspects;  wherein the one or more first specified accounting information aspects are separate from the one or more second specified accounting information aspects;  a mechanism for updating, in response to an invocation of an accounting
settings updating function by a second process that is executing in the first VOSE, In which of the global OSE and the plurality of VOSEs the second process is executing;  a mechanism for updating, in response to determining that the second process is
executing in the first VOSE, the first accounting settings;  a mechanism for determining, in response to an invocation of the accounting settings updating function by a third process that is executing in the global OSE, In which of the global OSE and the
plurality of VOSEs the third process is executing;  and a mechanism for updating, in response to determining that the third process is executing in the global OSE, the second accounting settings;  wherein the first accounting settings are separate from
the second accounting settings;  and wherein the accounting settings updating function is implemented by the operating system kernel instance.
33.  The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the second accounting information indicates an identity of a VOSE in which the first process executed.
34.  The method of claim 1, wherein the operating system kernel instance exists in a global zone that contains the plurality of VOSEs, and wherein the operating system kernel instance determines in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSES the first
process executed in response to the first process invoking an exit function of the operating system kernel instance.
35.  The volatile or non-volatile machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the operating system kernel instance exists in a global zone that contains the plurality of VOSEs, and wherein the operating system kernel instance determines
in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSES the first process executed in response to the first process invoking an exit function of the operating system kernel instance.
36.  The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the operating system kernel instance exists in a global zone that contains the plurality of VOSEs, and wherein the operating system kernel instance determines in which VOSE of the plurality of VOSES the
first process executed in response to the first process invoking an exit function of the operating system kernel instance.  Description
Many of today&#39;s computing systems include computing resources that are not fully utilized.  The owners of these systems often could benefit by increasing the utilization of these systems&#39; computing resources.
A number of approaches could be adopted in order to increase utilization.  Under a &quot;consolidation&quot; approach, the processes and data of multiple parties might be co-located on a single hardware unit in order to more fully utilize the resources of
the hardware unit.  Under the consolidation approach, multiple parties might share a single hardware unit&#39;s resources, including file systems, network connections, and memory structures.  For example, multiple businesses might have separate websites that
are hosted by the same server.
However, some of the parties might not know or trust each other.  In some cases, some of the parties actually might be competitors with others of the parties.  Under such circumstances, each party would want to ensure that its processes and data
are shielded, or isolated, from access by other parties and those other parties&#39; processes.
Mechanisms that would isolate one party&#39;s processes and data from other parties sharing the same hardware unit have been proposed.  For example, a &quot;jail&quot; mechanism provides the ability to partition an operating system environment into a &quot;non
jailed&quot; environment and one or more &quot;jailed&quot; environments.  The jail mechanism allows users, processes, and data to be associated with a jailed environment.  For example, one group of users, processes, and data may be associated with one jailed
environment, and another group of users, processes, and data may be associated with another jailed environment.  The jail mechanism restricts users and processes that are associated with a particular jailed environment from accessing processes and data
that are associated with environments (both jailed and non-jailed) other than the particular jailed environment.
Some operating system environments provide an accounting mechanism that records, for each process that executes in the environment, information about the length of time that the process executed, and the identity of the user that executed the
process.  When a process exits, the accounting mechanism adds, to a log file, accounting information that corresponds to the process.  This accounting information may be used for billing purposes.  The act of recording accounting information is called
As discussed above, an operating system environment may be partitioned into a non-jailed environment and one or more jailed environments.  However, no previous system accounting approaches contemplated multiple partitions within an operating
system environment.  Because previous system accounting approaches did not contemplate a partitioned operating system environment, previous system accounting approaches lack features that would be useful to an administrator of a partitioned operating
system environment as well as administrators of the partitions of a partitioned operating system environment.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a mechanism is disclosed for system accounting in an operating system environment that has been partitioned into a global zone and one or more non-global zones.  Each zone has zero or
more processes executing therein.  These processes execute in association with that zone.  Each zone contains a separate system accounting log file.  When a process terminates, the process invokes an exit function implemented by a kernel that controls
all of the zones.  In response, the kernel determines in which zone the process executed.  The kernel adds, to the system accounting log file of the zone in which the process executed, a record that indicates accounting information for the process.
Consequently, the system accounting mechanism is provided separately in all of the zones, while isolating the processes and data in each zone from the processes and data in each other non-global zone.
Furthermore, in one embodiment, when a process executing in a non-global zone calls the exit function, the kernel also responsively adds, to the system accounting log file of the global zone, a record that indicates accounting information for the
process.  This record may indicate, among other information, an identity of the zone in which the process executed.
as computer system 400 illustrated in FIG. 4, for example.  Although FIG. 4 depicts a system that contains centralized component resources, embodiments may be implemented on systems that comprise remotely distributed component resources (e.g.,
processors, memory, persistent storage, etc.) that access each other via a network.  For illustrative purposes, the OS is assumed to be Solaris.TM.  manufactured by Sun Microsystems, Inc.  of Santa Clara, Calif.  However, the concepts taught herein may
be applied to any OS, including but not limited to Unix, Linux, Microsoft Windows, MacOS, etc.
As shown in FIG. 1, OS environment 100 may comprise one or more zones (also referred to herein as partitions), including a global zone 130 and zero or more non-global zones 140.  The global zone 130 is the general OS environment that is created
when the OS is booted and executed, and serves as the default zone in which processes may be executed if no non-global zones 140 are created.  In the global zone 130, administrators and/or processes having the proper rights and privileges can perform
generally any task and access any device/resource that is available on the computer system on which the OS is run.  Thus, in the global zone 130, an administrator can administer the entire computer system.  In one embodiment, it is in the global zone 130
that an administrator executes processes to configure and to manage the non-global zones 140.
The non-global zones 140 represent separate and distinct partitions of the OS environment 100.  Each of non-global zones 140 may be viewed as a virtual operating system environment (&quot;VOSE&quot;).  One of the purposes of the non-global zones 140 is to
provide isolation.  In one embodiment, a non-global zone 140 can be used to isolate a number of entities, including but not limited to processes 170, one or more file systems 180, and one or more logical network interfaces 182.  Because of this
isolation, processes 170 executing in one non-global zone 140 cannot access or affect processes in any other zone.  Similarly, processes 170 in a non-global zone 140 cannot access or affect the file system 180 of another zone, nor can they access or
affect the network interface 182 of another zone.  As a result, the processes 170 in a non-global zone 140 are limited to accessing and affecting the processes and entities in that zone.  Isolated in this manner, each non-global zone 140 behaves like a
virtual standalone computer.  While processes 170 in different non-global zones 140 cannot access or affect each other, it should be noted that they may be able to communicate with each other via a network connection through their respective logical
network interfaces 182.  This is similar to how processes on separate standalone computers communicate with each other.
Having non-global zones 140 that are isolated from each other may be desirable in many applications.  For example, if a single computer system running a single instance of an OS is to be used to host applications for different competitors, then
it would be desirable to isolate the data and processes of one competitor from the data and processes of another competitor.  That way, it can be ensured that information will not be leaked between the competitors.  Partitioning an OS environment 100
into non-global zones 140 and hosting the applications of the competitors in separate non-global zones 140 is one possible way of achieving this isolation.
applications of a competitor.  In one embodiment, to prevent a non-global zone 140 from affecting other zones, the entities in a non-global zone 140 generally are not allowed to access or control any of the physical devices of the computer system.
In one embodiment, kernel 150 enforces the zone boundaries.  More specifically, kernel 150 ensures that processes 170 in one non-global zone 140 are not able to access or affect processes 170, file systems 180, and network interfaces 182 of
another zone (non-global or global).  In addition to enforcing the zone boundaries, kernel 150 also provides a number of other services.  These services include but are not limited to mapping the network interfaces 182 of the non-global zones 140 to the
physical network devices 120 of the computer system, and mapping the file systems 180 of the non-global zones 140 to an overall file system and a physical storage 110 of the computer system.
To put an Installed zone into the Ready state, a global administrator invokes an operating system utility (in one embodiment, zoneadm(1m) again), which causes a zoneadmd process 162 to be started (there is a zoneadmd process associated with each
non-global zone).  In one embodiment, zoneadmd 162 runs within the global zone 130 and is responsible for managing its associated non-global zone 140.  After zoneadmd 162 is started, it interacts with the kernel 150 to establish the non-global zone 140.
In creating a non-global zone 140, a number of operations are performed, including but not limited to assigning a zone ID, starting a zsched process 164 (zsched is a kernel process; however, it runs within the non-global zone 140, and is used to track
kernel resources associated with the non-global zone 140), mounting file systems 180, plumbing network interfaces 182, configuring devices, and setting resource controls.  These and other operations put the non-global zone 140 into the Ready state to
prepare it for normal operation.
the zone behaves like a virtual standalone computer.  When a non-global zone 140 is in the Ready state, no user or non-kernel processes are executing inside the zone (as is mentioned above, zsched is a kernel process, not a user process).  Thus, the
After a non-global zone 140 is in the Ready state, it can be transitioned into the Running state by executing one or more user processes in the zone.  In one embodiment, this is done by having zoneadmd 162 start an init process 172 in its
associated zone.  Once started, the init process 172 looks in the file system 180 of the non-global zone 140 to determine what applications to run.  The init process 172 then executes those applications to give rise to one or more other processes 174.
In this manner, an application environment is initiated on the virtual platform of the non-global zone 140.  In this application environment, all processes 170 are confined to the non-global zone 140; thus, they cannot access or affect processes, file
systems, or network interfaces in other zones.  The application environment exists so long as one or more user processes are executing within the non-global zone 140.
In block 202, it is determined in which VOSE (i.e., non-global zone) of a plurality of VOSEs a process executed.  In block 204, accounting information about the process is recorded in a system accounting log file (&quot;SALF&quot;) that is stored in a file system
partition that is associated with the VOSE in which the process executed.  Thus, in one embodiment, a separate SALF is maintained for each zone, and each SALF contains accounting information pertaining to the processes that executed within the zone with
which that SALF is associated.
In one embodiment, kernel 150 maintains separate accounting settings for each of non-global zones 140 and global zone 130.  For example, kernel 150 may comprise first accounting settings that are associated with global zone 130, second accounting
settings that are associated with non-global zone 140a, and third accounting settings that are associated with non-global zone 140b.  The accounting settings for one zone may differ from accounting settings for other zones.
Additionally, each zone&#39;s file system may store a copy of a utility program that comprises code that, when executed, allows the accounting settings associated with that zone to be specified.  For example, file system 180a may store a first copy
of a utility program, file system 180b may store a second copy of the utility program, and the global zone&#39;s file system may store a third copy of the utility program.  Thus, each zone&#39;s file system may store a copy of the same utility program.
In one embodiment, when the utility program is executed within a zone, a utility process is started as a child process of a process executing within that zone.  Because each child process is associated with the zone with which that child process&#39;
parent process is associated, the utility process is associated with the zone in which it was executed.  For example, if a zone administrator for non-global zone 140a executes the utility program, then, in non-global zone 140a, a utility process is
started as a child process of a process executing in non-global zone 140a.  Because the parent process of the utility process is associated with non-global zone 140a, the utility process is also associated with non-global zone 140a.  Similarly, if a zone
administrator for global zone 130 executes the utility program then, in global zone 130, a utility process will be started and associated with global zone 130.
Each zone is associated with a different zone identifier.  Associating a process with a zone may be accomplished, for example, by storing an association between the process&#39; unique process identifier and the zone&#39;s unique zone identifier.
In one embodiment, the code of the utility program includes an instruction to invoke a &quot;systemcall&quot; function implemented by kernel 150.  The invocation of the systemcall function specifies the accounting settings that are to be associated with
the zone from which the systemcall function was invoked.  When a utility process executes the systemcall function, a module within kernel 150 (the &quot;kernel module&quot;) determines the zone with which the utility process is associated (the &quot;utility process&#39;
associated zone&quot;).  For example, if the utility process was executing within non-global zone 140a, then the kernel module determines that the utility process&#39; associated zone is non-global zone 140a.  The kernel module may make this determination, for
example, by examining the zone identifier that is associated with the utility process&#39; process identifier.
The kernel module receives the accounting settings specified by the invocation of the systemcall function and establishes an association between the accounting settings and the utility process&#39; associated zone.  The association is maintained
within kernel 150.
Accounting settings for a zone may indicate the level of detail of information that should be recorded about events pertaining to the zone.  For example, accounting settings may indicate whether the user identifier of a user that started a
process should be recorded in an accounting log.  For another example, accounting settings may indicate which of a plurality of statistics pertaining to a process should be recorded in an accounting log.  In some OS environments, multiple processes may
be associated with any one of a plurality of tasks, and multiple tasks may be associated with any one of a plurality of projects.  Thus, accounting settings may indicate, for example, whether a process&#39; associated task should be recorded in a system
accounting log file, and whether a task&#39;s associated project should be recorded in a system accounting log file.
Different zone administrators may be interested in different aspects of information about events that pertain to those zones.  By maintaining separate accounting settings for each zone, each zone administrator may specify the details in which he
is interested without interfering with the preferences of any other zone administrator.
According to one embodiment, the utility program does not request or accept from a zone administrator any information that identifies the zone whose accounting settings are to be established.  Thus, the partitioned nature of the OS environment
may be kept transparent to zone administrators.  Such transparency simplifies a zone administrator&#39;s tasks.  Whenever a zone administrator specifies accounting settings, the kernel module automatically determines the zone to which the accounting settings
pertain.  Such transparency also eliminates any possibility of a zone administrator tinkering with the accounting settings for a zone with which he is not associated.
In one embodiment, each zone is associated with a separate system accounting log file that is stored in that zone&#39;s file system.  The kernel module maintains associations between zones and system accounting log files.  For example, the kernel
module may maintain an association between non-global zone 140a and a first system accounting log file that is stored in file system 180a.  For another example, the kernel module may maintain an association between global zone 130 and a second system
accounting log file that is stored in a file system of global zone 130.
When a process terminates normally, the process usually does so by calling an &quot;exit&quot; function implemented by kernel 150.  When a process executes the exit function, the kernel module determines the zone with which the process is associated (the
&quot;process&#39; associated zone&quot;).  The kernel module determines, from the accounting settings that are associated with the process&#39; associated zone, which aspects of accounting information about the process should be stored in a system accounting log file for
the process&#39; associated zone.
In the system accounting log file that is associated with the process&#39; associated zone, the kernel module adds a record that indicates accounting information about the process.  According to one embodiment, the record indicates only those aspects
of the accounting information that are specified by the accounting settings that are associated with the process&#39; associated zone.
For example, the accounting settings associated with non-global zone 140a might indicate that accounting information aspects such as a process identifier, a user identifier, a process duration, a task identifier, and a project identifier are to
be recorded.  In that case, when a process executing within non-global zone 140a calls the exit function, the kernel module adds, to a system accounting log file stored in file system 180a, a record that indicates the process&#39; identifier, the user
identifier of the user that started the process, the length of time that the process executed, the task identifier of the task that is associated with the process, and the project identifier of the project that is associated with the task.
Additionally, when a process executes the exit function, the kernel module also determines, from the accounting settings that are associated with global zone 130, which aspects of accounting information about the process should be stored in a
system accounting log file for global zone 130.  The accounting settings that are associated with global zone 130 may indicate that, among other aspects of accounting information about the process, the zone identifier of the process&#39; associated zone
should be stored in the system accounting log file for global zone 130.
In the system accounting log file that is associated with global zone 130, the kernel module adds a record that indicates accounting information about the process.  According to one embodiment, the record indicates only those aspects of the
accounting information that are specified by the accounting settings that are associated with global zone 130.
For example, the accounting settings associated with global zone 130 might indicate that accounting information aspects such as a process identifier, a user identifier, process execution duration, and a zone identifier are to be recorded.  In
that case, when a process executing within non-global zone 140a calls the exit function, the kernel module adds, to a system accounting log file stored in a file system of global zone 130, a record that indicates the process&#39; identifier, the user
identifier of the user that started the process, the length of time that the process executed, and the zone identifier of the process&#39; associated zone.
Thus, when a process executing in one of non-global zones 140 calls the exit function, the kernel module may generate multiple system accounting log file records in response.  The kernel module may generate one record in the system accounting log
file of the process&#39; associated zone, and the kernel module may generate another record in the system accounting log file of the global zone.  The aspects of the accounting information recorded in the non-global zone&#39;s system accounting log file may
differ from the aspects of the accounting information recorded in the global zone&#39;s system accounting log file.  For example, the global zone&#39;s system accounting log file might indicate the process&#39; associated zone identifier, but the non-global zone&#39;s
system accounting log file would not.  Zone identifiers typically are interesting to global zone administrators, but not non-global zone administrators.
Because each non-global zone&#39;s file system is inaccessible from other non-global zones, information contained in each non-global zone&#39;s system accounting log file is protected from users who are associated with other non-global zones.
Furthermore, because the portion of the global zone&#39;s file system that contains the global zone&#39;s system accounting log file is inaccessible from any non-global zones, the global zone&#39;s system accounting log file is protected from users who are not
associated with the global zone.
With the above information in mind, a sample of operation of the system 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention will now be described.  In the following discussion, reference will be made to the system diagram of FIG. 1 and
the flow diagrams of FIGS. 3A-C.
FIGS. 3A-C depict an operational flow for system accounting in an operating system environment that has been partitioned into a global zone and one or more non-global zones, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  In block
302, global zone 130 is established under the control of kernel 150.  In block 304, a plurality of non-global zones 140, also under the control of kernel 150, are established within global zone 130.
In block 306, a utility process is started in global zone 130.  In block 308, kernel 150 establishes an association between the utility process and global zone 130.  In block 310, separate utility processes are started in each of non-global zones
140.  In block 312, for each utility process that executes in a non-global zone, kernel 150 establishes a separate association between that utility process and the non-global zone in which that utility process executes.
In block 314, a particular utility process invokes a systemcall function implemented by kernel 150.  In block 316, a kernel module responsively determines, based on the associations between the utility processes and the zones, a particular zone
in which the particular utility process is executing.  In block 318, the kernel module updates, based on values specified in the invocation of the systemcall function, accounting settings that are associated with the particular zone.  For example, if the
kernel module determines that the particular utility process is executing within global zone 130, then the kernel module updates accounting settings that are associated with global zone 130.  For another example, if the kernel module determines that the
particular utility process is executing within non-global zone 140a, then the kernel module updates accounting settings that are associated with non-global zone 140a.
In block 320, an application process is started in global zone 130.  In block 322, kernel 150 establishes an association between the application process and global zone 130.  In block 324, separate application processes are started in each of
non-global zones 140.  In block 326, for each application process that executes in a non-global zone, kernel 150 establishes a separate association between that application process and the non-global zone in which that application process executes.
In block 328, a particular application process invokes an exit function implemented by kernel 150.  In block 330, the kernel module responsively determines, based on the accounting settings associated with global zone 130 (the &quot;global zone
accounting settings&quot;), which aspects of accounting information for the particular application process should be recorded in a system accounting log file that is stored in a file system of global zone 130 (the &quot;global zone system accounting log file&quot;).
In block 332, the kernel module records, in the global zone system accounting log file, the global zone accounting settings-indicated aspects of the particular application process&#39; accounting information.
For example, if the global zone accounting settings indicate that a user identifier, a process identifier, and a zone identifier are to be recorded for each exiting process, then the kernel module records, in the global zone system accounting log
file, the user identifier of the user that started the particular application process, the process identifier of the particular application process, and the zone identifier of the zone in which the particular application process executed.
In block 334, the kernel module determines, based on the associations between the application processes and the zones, whether a particular zone in which the particular application process executed is one of non-global zones 140.  If the
particular zone is one or non-global zones 140, then control passes to block 338.  Alternatively, if the particular zone is global zone 130, then control passes to block 336.
Alternatively, in block 338, the kernel module determines, based on the associations between the application processes and the zones, the particular non-global zone in which the particular application process executed.  In block 340, the kernel
module determines, based on the accounting settings associated with the particular non-global zone (the &quot;particular non-global zone accounting settings&quot;), which aspects of accounting information for the particular application process should be recorded
in a system accounting log file that is stored in a file system of the particular non-global zone (the &quot;particular non-global system zone accounting log file&quot;).
In block 342, the kernel module records, in the particular non-global zone system accounting log file, the particular non-global zone accounting settings-indicated aspects of the particular application process&#39; accounting information.
For example, if the particular non-global zone is non-global zone 140a, and the accounting settings associated with non-global zone 140a indicate that system accounting log file records are to include a process identifier, a user identifier, a
process duration, a task identifier, and a project identifier, then the kernel module records, in the system accounting log file stored in file system 180a, the particular application process&#39; identifier, a user identifier of the user that started the
particular application process, a length of time that the particular application process executed, a task identifier of a task that is associated with the particular application process, and a project identifier of a project that is associated with the
For another example, if the particular non-global zone is non-global zone 140b, and the accounting settings associated with non-global zone 140b indicate that system accounting log file records are to include a process identifier and a process
duration, then the kernel module records, in the system accounting log file stored in file system 180b, the particular application process&#39; identifier, and a length of time that the particular application process executed.
As a result, a zone administrator of global zone 130 may view system accounting information for all processes that executed in global zone 130 or any of non-global zones 140.  Additionally, a zone administrator of one of non-global zones 140 may
view system accounting information for processes that executed in the non-global zone that is associated with that zone administrator.  Non-global zone administrators are insulated from system accounting information that relates to non-global zones that
those non-global zone administrators do not administer.
In one embodiment, the various components of computing environment 100 shown in FIG. 1 can be implemented as sets of instructions executable by one or more processors.  These components may be implemented as part of an operating system, including
but not limited to the Solaris.TM.  operating system produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc.  FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 400 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.  Computer system 400 includes a bus
402 for facilitating information exchange, and one or more processors 404 coupled with bus 402 for processing information.  Computer system 400 also includes a main memory 406, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled
to bus 402 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 404.  Main memory 406 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 404.  Computer system
400 may further include a read only memory (ROM) 408 or other static storage device coupled to bus 402 for storing static information and instructions for processor 404.  A storage device 410, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and
coupled to bus 402 for storing information and instructions.
In computer system 400, bus 402 may be any mechanism and/or medium that enables information, signals, data, etc., to be exchanged between the various components.  For example, bus 402 may be a set of conductors that carries electrical signals.
Bus 402 may also be a wireless medium (e.g. air) that carries wireless signals between one or more of the components.  Bus 402 may also be a medium (e.g. air) that enables signals to be capacitively exchanged between one or more of the components.  Bus
402 may further be a network connection that connects one or more of the components.  Overall, any mechanism and/or medium that enables information, signals, data, etc., to be exchanged between the various components may be used as bus 402.
Bus 402 may also be a combination of these mechanisms/media.  For example, processor 404 may communicate with storage device 410 wirelessly.  In such a case, the bus 402, from the standpoint of processor 404 and storage device 410, would be a
wireless medium, such as air.  Further, processor 404 may communicate with ROM 408 capacitively.  In this instance, the bus 402 would be the medium (such as air) that enables this capacitive communication to take place.  Further, processor 404 may
communicate with main memory 406 via a network connection.  In this case, the bus 402 would be the network connection.  Further, processor 404 may communicate with display 412 via a set of conductors.  In this instance, the bus 402 would be the set of
conductors.  Thus, depending upon how the various components communicate with each other, bus 402 may take on different forms.  Bus 402, as shown in FIG. 4, functionally represents all of the mechanisms and/or media that enable information, signals,
The term &quot;machine-readable medium&quot; as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operation in a specific fashion.  In an embodiment implemented using computer system 400, various machine-readable
program through Internet 428, ISP 426, local network 422 and communication interface 418.  The received code may be executed by processor 404 as it is received, and/or stored in storage device 410, or other non-volatile storage for later execution.  In
this manner, computer system 400 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.
System accounting for operating system partitions, Leonard, et al., Ozgur C. Leonard, Andrew G. Tucker, Application number 10 762-067, Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Virtual Machine Task Or Process Management Or Task Management Control, computer system, operating system, Assistant Examiner, Primary Examiner, Patent Drawings, Patent Documents, computer program, global administrator, system environment, Ready state
BACKGROUNDMany of today's computing systems include computing resources that are not fully utilized. The owners of these systems often could benefit by increasing the utilization of these systems' computing resources.A number of approaches could be adopted in order to increase utilization. Under a "consolidation" approach, the processes and data of multiple parties might be co-located on a single hardware unit in order to more fully utilize the resources ofthe hardware unit. Under the consolidation approach, multiple parties might share a single hardware unit's resources, including file systems, network connections, and memory structures. For example, multiple businesses might have separate websites thatare hosted by the same server.However, some of the parties might not know or trust each other. In some cases, some of the parties actually might be competitors with others of the parties. Under such circumstances, each party would want to ensure that its processes and dataare shielded, or isolated, from access by other parties and those other parties' processes.Mechanisms that would isolate one party's processes and data from other parties sharing the same hardware unit have been proposed. For example, a "jail" mechanism provides the ability to partition an operating system environment into a "nonjailed" environment and one or more "jailed" environments. The jail mechanism allows users, processes, and data to be associated with a jailed environment. For example, one group of users, processes, and data may be associated with one jailedenvironment, and another group of users, processes, and data may be associated with another jailed environment. The jail mechanism restricts users and processes that are associated with a particular jailed environment from accessing processes and datathat are associated with environments (both jailed and non-jailed) other than the particular jailed environment.Some operating system environments provide an accounting mechanism t
The 2011-2016 World Outlook for Non-Wood Assembled and Knocked-Down Prefabricated Movable Partitions Excluding Freestanding Partitions
On the Number of Partitions
Modernfold MOVEO Operable Partitions