1. A virtual machine system comprising:
a virtual machine (VM) creation application that creates a VM using machine configuration data and a virtual disk image of the machine to be virtualized; and
virtual disk image file that stores said virtual disk image of the machine to be virtualized and content information identifying the content of the virtual disk image, whereby said content information may be read from said virtual disk image file by a content determination application program without starting the VM corresponding to said virtual disk image.
2. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said virtual disk image file has a file format including a section containing a pointer to a portion of said virtual disk image containing desired content information.
3. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes information identifying whether one or more application programs in said virtual disk image has been patched.
4. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes usage policy data for applications in said virtual disk image and said content determination application program comprises a usage policy engine that determines from said usage policy data whether a particular user may or may not use an operating system or application programs within said virtual disk image.
5. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes migration policy data for applications in said virtual disk image and said content determination application program comprises a migration policy engine that determines from said migration policy data whether the VM created from said virtual disk image may or may not be moved from a current physical machine to another physical machine.
6. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes time out data for said virtual disk image or application programs within said virtual disk image and said content determination application program determines from said time out data whether a particular user may use or continue to use said virtual disk image or said application programs within said virtual disk image.
7. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes DRM data for said virtual disk image or application programs within said virtual disk image and said content determination application program determines from said DRM data whether a particular user may use or continue to use said virtual disk image or said application programs within said virtual disk image.
8. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes tag data that indexes the contents of said virtual disk image and said content determination application program includes an indexing engine that searches said tag data to identify the contents of said virtual disk image.
9. A virtual machine system as in claim 8, comprising at least two virtual disk images having tag data that index the contents of said virtual disk images, said indexing engine searching said tag data to locate a desired virtual disk image of said at least two virtual disk images.
10. A virtual machine system as in claim 8, wherein said tag data includes data relating said machine to be virtualized to a particular user environment.
11. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes network environment data for said virtual disk image and said content determination application program determines a network environment of said machine to be virtualized.
12. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said machine configuration data is stored in said virtual disk image file.
13. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein at least one saved state of said machine to be virtualized is stored in said virtual disk image file.
14. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information includes user notes relating to modification of said machine to be virtualized.
15. A virtual machine system as in claim 1, wherein said content information is stored in said virtual disk image file in an extensible file format.
16. A virtual machine system as in claim 15, wherein said extensible file format is XML.
17. A method of creating a virtual machine, comprising:
reading machine configuration data and a virtual disk image of the machine to be virtualized from a virtual disk image file; and
creating said machine to be virtualized from the machine configuration data and the virtual disk image.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein said reading step comprises the step of reading a section of said virtual disk image file including a pointer to a portion of said virtual disk image containing said machine configuration data.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising reading content information from said virtual disk image file without starting the VM corresponding to said virtual disk image, said content information identifying the content of the virtual disk image.
20. A computer readable medium comprising a virtual disk image file that stores a virtual disk image of a machine to be virtualized and machine configuration data, whereby said virtual disk image and said machine configuration data are configured so as to be read by a virtual machine creation application program that creates a virtual machine having a virtual hard disk including the contents of said virtual disk image and a machine configuration specified by said machine configuration data.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A shock absorbing type steering shaft comprising a tubular outer shaft having a female serration and a solid inner shaft having a male serration, characterized in that:
after the outer diameter surface of the outer shaft is pressed inwardly in the radial direction to plastically deform an inner portion thereof, the inner shaft is inserted into the outer shaft so that the inner shaft is pressure-contacted and fixed to the plastically deformed portion of the outer shaft.
2. A shock absorbing type steering shaft characterized in that:
a predetermined portion of the tip end of the outer shaft is pressed and deformed from the outside thereof in the radial direction to form the female serration portion, and the male serration portion of the inner shaft is pressure-fitted in this pressed and deformed portion.
3. A method for manufacturing a shock absorbing type steering shaft for fitting and fixing a solid inner shaft having a male serration in a tubular outer shaft having a female serration, comprising:
pressing and deforming a portion or portions of the outer shaft from the outside thereof in a radial direction while forming the female serration therein; and
pressure-fitting the male serration of the inner shaft into the pressed and deformed portion or portions of the outer shaft to contact and fix the inner shaft to the outer shaft.