TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to information handling systems, and more particularly to management of servers in a cluster environment such as a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) is an IT framework that combines storage, computing, and networking into a single system in an effort to reduce data center complexity and increase scalability. Hyper-converged platforms may include a hypervisor for virtualized computing, software-defined storage, and virtualized networking, and they typically run on standard, off-the-shelf servers.

Some examples of HCI systems may operate in various environments (e.g., an HCI management system such as the VMware® vSphere® ESXi™ environment, or any other HCI management system). For purposes of clarity and exposition, the ESXi™ example will be discussed in detail in this disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that its teachings may be applied to other HCI management systems as well.

In some HCI management systems, command-line interfaces may be used for managing virtual infrastructure. In the example of ESXi™, a set of ESXi™ shell commands referred to as ‘esxcli’ may be used. A daemon service named ‘vmware-hostd’ may be responsible for managing all esxcli operations on the ESXi™ environment.

The ‘esxcli’ command may be used to register customized extensions by following its plug-in definition rules in configuration files. This feature may be used to implement specific functions for different platforms. To add or modify the interface definition of an esxcli plug-in, the vmware-hostd daemon typically needs to be restarted for the new changes to take effect. However, restarting vmware-hostd may require putting the nodes into maintenance mode, because otherwise some important functions (e.g., vMotion/vSAN) may be impacted.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to add or modify the interface definition of an esxcli plug-in, but to avoid restarting the vmware-hostd daemon during such changes in order to reduce cluster maintenance time.

It should be noted that the discussion of a technique in the Background section of this disclosure does not constitute an admission of prior-art status. No such admissions are made herein, unless clearly and unambiguously identified as such.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, the disadvantages and problems associated with management of information handling systems may be reduced or eliminated.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include at least one processor; and a non-transitory memory coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the information handling system is configured to manage an information handling system cluster by providing a command line interface between a user and a daemon service configured to execute user commands; wherein the command line interface implements a proxy subcommand that is configured to accept other commands; and wherein, when an other command is received, the daemon service is configured to parse the other command and dispatch the parsed other command to a particular backend service.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include an information handling system providing a command line interface between a user and a daemon service configured to execute user commands, the command line interface for management of an information handling system cluster; the command line interface providing a proxy subcommand that is configured to accept other commands; and wherein, when an other command is received, the daemon service is configured to parse the other command and dispatch the parsed other command to a particular backend service.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, an article of manufacture may include a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having computer-executable code thereon that is executable by a processor of an information handling system for: providing a command line interface between a user and a daemon service configured to execute user commands, the command line interface for management of an information handling system cluster; the command line interface providing a proxy subcommand that is configured to accept other commands; and wherein, when an other command is received, the daemon service is configured to parse the other command and dispatch the parsed other command to a particular backend service.

Technical advantages of the present disclosure may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the figures, description and claims included herein. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are examples and explanatory and are not restrictive of the claims set forth in this disclosure.

