Generic network protocol scripting

• US 20090132723A1
• Filed: 11/16/2007
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Schneider, James Paul
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,393 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/237
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B

Abstract

Some embodiments of generic network protocol scripting have been presented. In one embodiment, a script is received from a user. The script is associated with a set of connection oriented network transport based network protocols. The script may be executed to emulate a network transaction according to one of the set of connection oriented network transport based network protocols within a network.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a script associated with a plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols from a user; and

executing the script to emulate a network transaction according to one of the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols within a network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols comprise one or more transfer control protocol-based (TCP-based) network protocols.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the script comprises:

making a connection to a host;

sending a protocol string to the host via the connection;

waiting for a response from the host; and

matching the response against a plurality of predefined strings after receiving the response.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the script comprises:

making a connection to an arbitrary socket;

sending a protocol string via the arbitrary socket; and

closing the connection when a predetermined time period expires.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeating execution of the script to test the network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

examining results of executing the script to analyze the one of the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the network by periodically executing the script and reviewing results of periodic execution of the script.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

developing protocol prototypes based on the execution of the script.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a scripting engine to execute a script associated with a plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols to emulate a network transaction according to one of the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols within a network; and

a network interface coupled to the scripting engine, to communicatively couple to the network.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols comprise one or more transfer control protocol-based (TCP-based) network protocols.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

an input interface coupled to the scripting engine, to receive the script from a user.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein executing the script causes the network interface to connect to a host over the network, to send a protocol string to the host, and to wait for a response from the host, and the scripting engine is further operable to match the response, if received, against a plurality of predefined strings.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein executing the script causes the network interface to make a connection to an arbitrary socket, to send a protocol string via the socket, and to close the connection when a predetermined time period expires.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a network testing module coupled to the scripting engine, to cause the scripting engine to repeat execution of the script to test the network.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a network exploration module coupled to the scripting engine, to analyze one of the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols based on result of executing the script.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a network monitoring module coupled to the scripting engine, to monitor the network by causing the scripting engine to periodically execute the script, wherein the network monitoring module is further operable to review results of periodic execution of the script.

17. A system comprising the apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

the network; and

a server, wherein the scripting engine is operable to execute the script to cause the network interface to connect to the server over the network.

18. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions that, when executed by a processor, will cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a script associated with a plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols from a user; and

executing the script to emulate a network transaction according to one of the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols within a network.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols comprise one or more transfer control protocol-based (TCP-based) network protocols.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein executing the script comprises:

making a connection to a host;

sending a protocol string to the host via the connection;

waiting for a response from the host; and

matching the response against a plurality of predefined strings after receiving the response.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein executing the script comprises:

making a connection to an arbitrary socket;

sending a protocol string via the arbitrary socket; and

closing the connection when a predetermined time period expires.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

repeating execution of the script to test the network.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

examining results of executing the script to analyze the one of the plurality of connection oriented network transport based network protocols.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

monitoring the network by periodically executing the script and reviewing results of periodic execution of the script.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

developing protocol prototypes based on the execution of the script.