Managing the customizing of appliances

• US 10,379,876 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2015
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chao, Chih-Wen, Galloway, Gregory L., Lee, Cheng-Ta, Wu, Ming-Hsun, Wu, Rick M. F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Waliullah, Mohammed
• Application Number:
  US14/941,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20160147546A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,366 Days
• Field of Search: 726 18
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2153 Using hardware token as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4403 Processor initialisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4406 Loading of operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of customizing an appliance. The method includes steps of pre-storing a public key in the appliance; connecting the appliance to an external storage device; and booting up the appliance to automatically proceed with the following customization process: obtaining a customization file from the external storage device; authenticating the customization file with the public key; and executing customization with the customization file if the authentication succeeds.

Claims

1. A method of customizing an appliance, comprising steps of:

pre-storing a public key and verification reference information in the appliance;

connecting the appliance to an external storage device; and

booting up the appliance to automatically proceed with the following customization process;

obtaining a customization file from the external storage device;

authenticating the customization file with the public key;

verifying a content of the customization file according to the verification reference information; and

responsive to a successful authentication of the customization file, executing customization with the customization file, wherein the appliance is customized according to the customization file after the content of the customization file is successfully verified, wherein the step of booting up the appliance to proceed with the customization process comprises;

proceeding with the customization process after confirming that a customization lock file does not exist in a non-volatile storage device of the appliance.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of booting up the appliance to proceed with the customization process comprises:

booting up the appliance with a pre-stored firmware,

and wherein the step of executing customization with the customization file further includes;

modifying settings in the pre-stored firmware.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of booting up the appliance to proceed with the customization process comprises:

booting up the appliance with a pre-stored firmware,

and wherein the step of executing customization with the customization file further includes;

updating the pre-stored firmware.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of executing customization with the customization file comprises:

modifying a user interface of the appliance.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the customization process further comprises:

shutting down or rebooting automatically by the appliance according to a scheme designated in the customization file after completing customization.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the customization process further comprises:

enabling or disabling a specific function automatically by the appliance according to a scheme designated in the customization file after completing customization.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the customization process further comprises:

generating a customization lock file in a non-volatile storage device of the appliance after completing customization, wherein the customization lock file prevents another customization of the appliance from occurring.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the customization process further comprises:

verifying validity of content of the customization file according to verification reference information.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

producing a digital signature for the customization file with a private key corresponding to the public key.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pre-stored public key is a non-encrypted public key of a manufacturer of the appliance, and the authenticating of the customization file is performed using the non-encrypted public key of the manufacturer of the appliance.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the pre-stored public key of the manufacturer of the appliance is stored in a firmware of the appliance.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the customization file is signed with a corresponding private key of the manufacturer of the appliance.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the external storage device further comprises a digital signature file.

14. A method of customizing an appliance, comprising steps of:

connecting the appliance to an external storage device; and

booting up the appliance to automatically proceed with the following customization process;

determining whether a customization lock file exists in a non-volatile storage device of the appliance;

responsive to determining that the customization lock file does not exist, obtaining a customization file from the external storage device and executing customization according to the customization file;

determining whether to generate the customization lock file in the non-volatile storage device of the appliance according to a parameter in the customization file after completing customization; and

generating the customization lock file in the non-volatile storage device if determination is positive.

15. An appliance, including:

a processor; and

a memory, including a set of computer-executable instructions,

wherein the processor executes the set of computer-executable instructions to implement steps of;

pre-storing a public key in the appliance;

connecting the appliance to an external storage device; and

booting up the appliance to automatically proceed with the following customization process;

reading a customization file from the external storage device;

authenticating the customization file with the public key; and

responsive to a successful authentication of the customization file, executing customization with the customization file, wherein the step of booting up the appliance to proceed with the customization process comprises;

proceeding with the customization process after confirming that a customization lock file does not exist in a non-volatile storage device of the appliance.

16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the computer-readable medium that is configured to perform steps of:

pre-storing a public key in the appliance; and

booting up the appliance to automatically proceed with the following customization process;

determining if the appliance is connected to an external storage device;

responsive to determining that the appliance is connected to the external storage device, obtaining a customization file and an encrypted digital signature file from the external storage device;

authenticating the customization file by decrypting the encrypted digital signature file with the public key; and

responsive to a successful authentication of the customization file, executing customization with the customization file, wherein the step of booting up the appliance to proceed with the customization process comprises;

proceeding with the customization process after confirming that a customization lock file does not exist in a non-volatile storage device of the appliance.