System and method for performing validation of a configuration

• US 20050262225A1
• Filed: 05/17/2005
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Halpern, Eric M., Paclat, Charles, Spotswood, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 7,529,818 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files

Abstract

In embodiments, the present invention provides mechanisms and methods for making a set of configuration changes to a set of servers comprised of an administration server and one or more managed servers. These mechanisms and methods can enable a number of changes to be made to the configuration at once, e.g., in a batch. In such transaction based processing, embodiments process changes in batches, which enables embodiments to avoid failures in configuration changes that result in the machines being in a non-recoverable or unknown configuration state.

Claims

1. A method for validating a set of configuration changes, comprising:

receiving a set of changes to a configuration;

comparing the set of changes to a configuration associated with a running state;

determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes; and

indicating at least one of an acceptance or a rejection based upon a result of the determining step.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a set of changes to a configuration further comprises:

receiving a plurality of changes comprising a batch.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the set of changes to a configuration associated with a running state further comprises:

comparing the set of changes to a configuration MBean in an MBean graph.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes further comprises:

determining based upon a result of the comparing step to accept the set of changes, if each one of the set of changes does not cause an error to occur.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes further comprises:

determining based upon a result of the comparing step to accept the set of changes, if each one of the set of changes does not cause an undesired state to be entered.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes further comprises:

determining based upon a result of the comparing step not to accept the set of changes, if at least one of the set of changes causes an error to occur.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes further comprises:

determining based upon a result of the comparing step not to accept the set of changes, if at least one of the set of changes causes an undesired state to be entered.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein indicating at least one of an acceptance or a rejection based upon a result of the determining step further comprises:

signaling an administration server indicating the set of changes are accepted, if a result of determining based upon a result of the comparing step is to accept the set of changes.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein indicating at least one of an acceptance or a rejection based upon a result of the determining step further comprises:

signaling an administration server indicating the set of changes are not accepted, if a result of determining based upon a result of the comparing step is to not accept the set of changes.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for receiving a set of changes to a configuration further comprise instructions for carrying out the steps of:

receiving a plurality of changes comprising a batch.

10. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for validating a set of configuration changes, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

receiving a set of changes to a configuration;

comparing the set of changes to a configuration associated with a running state;

determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes; and

indicating at least one of an acceptance or a rejection based upon a result of the determining instructions.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for comparing the set of changes to a configuration associated with a running state include instructions for carrying out the steps of:

comparing the set of changes to a configuration MBean in an MBean graph.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions whether to accept the set of changes further comprise instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions to accept the set of changes, if each one of the set of changes does not cause an error to occur.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions whether to accept the set of changes further comprise instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions to accept the set of changes, if each one of the set of changes does not cause an undesired state to be entered.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions whether to accept the set of changes further comprise instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions not to accept the set of changes, if at least one of the set of changes causes an error to occur.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions whether to accept the set of changes further comprise instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions not to accept the set of changes, if at least one of the set of changes causes an undesired state to be entered.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions for determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions whether to accept the set of changes further comprise instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

signaling an administration server indicating the set of changes are accepted, if a result of determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions is to accept the set of changes.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions for determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions whether to accept the set of changes further comprise instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

signaling an administration server indicating the set of changes are not accepted, if a result of determining based upon a result of the comparing instructions is to not accept the set of changes.

19. A managed server for validating a set of configuration changes, comprising:

a processor; and

one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

receiving a set of changes to a configuration;

comparing the set of changes to a configuration associated with a running state;

determining based upon a result of the comparing step whether to accept the set of changes; and

indicating at least one of an acceptance or a rejection based upon a result of the determining step.

20. A method for performing bean tree differencing, comprising:

receiving a configuration file update by a managed server in an application server;

comparing the configuration file update to a managed server configuration MBean to determine configuration changes;

determining if the configuration changes are accepted by the managed server; and

generating a validation response signal.