RULE-BASED ENGINE FOR GATHERING DIAGNOSTIC DATA

• US 20090105991A1
• Filed: 10/15/2008
• Published: 04/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Dias, Karl, Sarig, Yair, Mysorenagarajarao, Ajith Kumar, Ramacher, Mark, Fallen, Marcus, Ngai, Gary, Dageville, Benoit
• Granted Patent: US 8,296,104 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0778 Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0781 Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/16 using machine learning or artificial intelligence

Abstract

An infrastructure is provided for gathering diagnostic data that is relevant to an error or other conditions detected in a monitored system. A diagnosability framework is provided that automates the gathering of relevant diagnostic data upon occurrence of the condition in the monitored system. In one embodiment, context data is determined for the condition detected in the monitored system. A rule-based engine is provided that is configured to automatically determine one or more actions to be performed for the condition detected in the monitored system based on the determined context data. The actions may include performing tasks that gather diagnostic data that is relevant to the detected condition, store the gathered diagnostic data in a repository, recommend one or more diagnostic actions to a user, and other diagnostic related actions.

Claims

1. A method for determining a diagnostic action in a monitored system, comprising:

detecting a condition in the monitored system;

determining context data for the detected condition; and

determining a diagnostic action to be performed responsive to the detected condition based upon the context data determined, wherein determining the diagnostic action to be performed comprises;

determining a set of one or more rules configured for the monitored system, each rule specifying a condition and one or more actions to be performed when the condition specified in the rule is satisfied;

determining that the condition associated with a first rule from the set of rules is satisfied by the context data determined, wherein at least one action specified by the first rule is the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the condition detected in the monitored system identifies an error in the monitored system.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising generating an incident and an associated problem key in response to the detected error.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising executing the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system upon detecting the condition in the monitored system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the context data comprises information related to the detected condition in the monitored system, information related to functions and/or processes that are being executed in the monitored system, or combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one action specified by the first rule comprises gathering diagnostic data that is relevant to the condition detected in the monitored system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one action specified by the first rule comprises recommending at least one action to a user.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more rules are user configurable.

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor to determine a diagnostic action in a monitored system, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to detect a condition in the monitored system;

instructions that cause the processor to determine context data for the detected condition; and

instructions that cause the processor to determine a diagnostic action to be performed responsive to the detected condition based upon the context data determined, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the diagnostic action to be performed comprise;

instructions that cause the processor to determine a set of one or more rules configured for the monitored system, each rule specifying a condition and an action to be performed when the condition specified in the rule is satisfied;

instructions that cause the processor to determine that the condition associated with a first rule from the set of rules is satisfied by the context data determined, wherein at least one action specified by the first rule is the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system.

10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to detect the condition in the monitored system comprise instructions that cause the processor to detect an error in the monitored system.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions that cause the processor to generate an incident and an associated problem key in response to the detected error.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions that cause the processor to execute the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system upon detecting the condition in the monitored system.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the context data comprises information related to the detected condition in the monitored system, information related to functions and/or processes that are being executed in the monitored system, or combinations thereof.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein at least one action specified by the first rule comprises gathering diagnostic data that is relevant to the condition detected in the monitored system.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the set of one or more rules are user configurable

16. A system for determining a diagnostic action in a monitored system, the system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory;

wherein the processor is configured to;

detect a condition in the monitored system;

determine context data for the detected condition; and

determine a diagnostic action to be performed responsive to the detected condition based upon the context data determined, wherein determining the diagnostic action to be performed comprises;

determining a set of one or more rules configured for the monitored system, each rule specifying a condition and one or more actions to be performed when the condition specified in the rule is satisfied;

determining that the condition associated with a first rule from the set of rules is satisfied by the context data determined, wherein at least one action specified by the first rule is the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the processor is configured to detect an error in the monitored system.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is configured to generate an incident and an associated problem key in response to the detected error.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the processor is configured to execute the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system upon detecting the condition in the monitored system.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the processor is configured to determine the context data for the detected condition comprises determining information related to functions and/or processes that are being executed in the monitored system.