System and method for automatic installation and maintenance of hardware and software in a distributed computer system

• US 20080028396A1
• Filed: 07/30/2007
• Published: 01/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB Research Ltd. (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Schemat, Peter, Stich, Christian, Dix, Marcel
• Granted Patent: US 8,572,601 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and a method for automatic installation and maintenance of hardware and/or software in the system nodes (SK) of a distributed computer system, in particular in a distributed automation system, comprising a system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ), wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) can be activated from a single arbitrary access in the distributed system. The system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) selects a software package and/or a functional component, and automatically executes the maintenance steps of the selected software package and/or of the selected functional component as regards the distribution, installation and/or configuration of the software package and/or of the selected functional component in a defined sequence on the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system.

Claims

1. System for automatic installation and maintenance of hardware and/or software in the system nodes (SK) of a distributed computer system, in particular in a distributed automation system, comprising a system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ), wherein

the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) can be activated from a single arbitrarily selectable access in the distributed system,

the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) selects a software package and/or a functional component, and

automatically executes the maintenance steps of the selected software package and/or of the selected functional component as regards the distribution, installation and/or configuration of the software package and/or of the selected functional component in a particular defined sequence on the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the selected software packages are elements of life cycle management activities (LCMA) such as new system installations, system updates, system upgrades to a higher version, system expansions incorporating additional functionalities or system analyses.

3. System according to claim 2, wherein the life cycle management activities (LCMA) are represented by different predefined processes in the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ), and the processes describe the installation and configuration steps, which are to be performed in a specific sequence on the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system.

4. System according to claim 3, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) controls the process for the system-wide execution of the predefined processes on the various system nodes (SK) in the process control system.

5. System according to claim 1, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) can be activated from any system node (SK) in the distributed system or using a maintenance console connected to the distributed system.

6. System according to claim 1, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (SK) uses an Internet connection to perform upgrades to the software in the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system.

7. System according to claim 1, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) interacts with a display module, which stores the changes in the distributed system that have been produced by the software packages and/or functional components newly installed and/or configured, displays these changes and/or provides them for further processing.

8. System according to claim 1, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) documents changes to the network structure and/or to the individual hardware components.

9. System according to claim 1, wherein the system nodes (SK) are data-processing devices such as operator stations, engineering stations, archiving stations, control equipment comprising processing stations, input and output units and/or communications interfaces.

10. System according to claim 1, wherein a test module is provided, which tests that the installation and configuration of the distributed software packages and/or functional components are fully implemented on the individual system nodes (SK) of the distributed system, and/or tests the interdependencies of the software packages and/or functional components between the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system, and/or creates a system status report.

11. System according to claim 1, wherein after the automatic installation and/or configuration of the software packages and/or functional components, the distributed system is immediately operational again.

12. System according to claim 1, wherein reinstallation of the distributed system involves the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) first of all providing an option for reinstalling the system and, following reinstallation of the system, the same tool (WZ) being able to be used to select further options for maintaining the system.

20. Method according to claim 12, wherein changes to the hardware, for instance adding, removing or replacing system nodes (SK) or hardware components, are documented by the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ).

13. Method for automatic installation and maintenance of hardware and/or software in the system nodes (SK) of a distributed computer system, in particular in a distributed automation system, comprising a system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ), wherein

the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) is activated from a single arbitrarily selectable access in the distributed system,

a software package and/or a functional component is selected by the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ), and

the maintenance steps of the selected software package and/or of the selected functional component as regards the distribution, installation and/or configuration of the software package and/or of the selected functional component are executed automatically in a defined sequence on the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system.

14. Method according to claim 13, wherein life cycle management activities (LCMA), such as new system installations, system updates, system upgrades to a higher version, system expansions incorporating additional functionalities or system analyses, are executed by the selected software packages.

15. Method according to claim 13, wherein the life cycle management activities (LCMA) are represented by different predefined processes, and the processes described the installation and configuration steps, which are to be performed in a specific sequence on the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system.

16. Method according to claim 15, wherein the process for the system-wide execution of the predefined processes on the various system nodes (SK) in the process control system are controlled by the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ).

17. Method according to claim 13, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) is activated by any system node (SK) in the distributed system or using a maintenance console connected to the distributed system.

18. Method according to claim 13, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) is used to perform upgrades to the software in the system nodes (SK) of the distributed system via an Internet connection.

19. Method according to claim 13, wherein the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) is connected to a display module, which stores, displays and/or provides for further processing, changes in the distributed system.

21. Method according to claim 13, wherein the installation and configuration of the distributed software packages and/or functional components are tested to assess whether they are fully implemented and/or operational on the individual system nodes (SK), and/or a system status report is created, said activities being performed by a test module.

22. Method according to claim 13, wherein reinstallation of the distributed system involves the system installation and/or system maintenance tool (WZ) first of all providing an option for reinstalling the system and, following the reinstallation of the system, the same tool (WZ) being used to select further options for maintaining the system.