Method and apparatus for authorizing and reporting changes to device configurations

• US 20020112095A1
• Filed: 09/12/2001
• Published: 08/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Usinternetworking Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dahl, Erik, Hayes, Greg, Ford, Tobias
• Granted Patent: US 6,895,414 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/330
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/026 using e-messaging for transporting management information, e.g. email, instant messaging or chat
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

A method and apparatus for tracking and reporting changes to configuration files as part of an overall system auditing function and as a measure of efficiency of change review board procedures. Changes in configuration of network devices made by submitters of such changes are recorded in a separate repository and, at appropriate intervals, forwarded to network administrators and subject matter experts both to verify the correctness of the literal change and to confirm that the changes have been previously approved.

Claims

1. A system for reporting configuration changes in a network, said network comprising a plurality of devices, the system comprising:

a plurality of configuration files, each of said files applying to a device in the network;

a version control repository;

a collector agent that collects the configuration files from the devices and writes the configuration files to the repository; and

a comparison agent that determines version differences for the configuration files in the repository, creates an HTML page visually depicting the version differences, and sends an email message containing a URL referencing the HTML page.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the collector agent receives signals indicating a configuration change in at least one of the devices.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the comparison agent determines the recipients of the email message by performing a lookup on a table mapping filenames to email addresses.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the comparison agent determines the recipients of the email message by performing a first lookup on a table mapping filenames to devices and a second lookup on a table mapping devices to email addresses.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the comparison agent determines the recipients of the email message by performing a first lookup on a table mapping filenames to usernames and a second lookup on a table mapping usernames to email addresses.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the comparison agent determines the recipients of the email message by performing a first lookup on a table mapping filenames to devices, a second lookup on a table mapping devices to usernames, and a third lookup on a table mapping usernames to email addresses.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the version control repository is implemented by the CVS software system.

8. A method for authorizing and reporting configuration changes to devices in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

accepting a change request specifying a device in the network and a proposed configuration change to the device;

receiving notification when configuration files for devices in the network have been edited;

writing configuration files to a version control repository;

determining the version differences engendered by the editing of the configuration files;

creating an HTML page visually depicting the version differences; and

sending an email message with a URL referencing the HTML page, the recipients of the email message determined by consulting a lookup table mapping the names of configuration files to email addresses.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of:

restoring a prior configuration in response to a request denying approval for a change request thereby effecting a rollback

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of:

certifying a change by tagging the change procedure as approved.

11. The method of claim 8 comprising the step of:

ascertaining that the email message containing version differences is sent to subject matter expert for the device configuration to be changed and to the system administrate.

13. The method set forth in claim 12 further including:

secondary reporting of the differences to system administration and designated experts.

14. The method set forth in claim 12 further including:

restoring the original device configuration to effect a rollback to the device configuration prior to the device changes.

15. The method set forth in claim 14 where in the restoring step is initiated in response to a denial of approval of the proposed device configuration change.

16. The method set forth in claim 14 further including:

sending an approval of the device configuration change to the change originator.

17. The method set forth in claim 12 further including accessing a file of email addresses associated with the device where a change in configuration is sensed, and

utilizing the accessed e-mail address to forward the differences report.

18. The method set forth in claim 17 further including an email address of other designated parties to receive differences report.

19. The method set forth in claim 13 further including

storing the original device configuration and the changed device configuration for historical reference.

20. The method set forth in claim 19 further including

deleting an original device configuration when the changed device configuration is approved.

12. A method for verifying the correctness of configuration changes to a device in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

sensing when a signal sent to the device changes the device'"'"'s configuration, writing the changed device configuration to a version control repository;

computing the differences between the current configuration and the prior configuration of the device; and

reporting the differences to a designated user.