CONFIGURATION INTERFACE MANAGER

• US 20090199212A1
• Filed: 02/04/2008
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Schneider, James P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,881,172 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/318
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

A method and system for managing configuration interfaces. In one embodiment, a system includes a user interface for receiving a user login, causing a configuration process to be invoked, and receiving user input for managing the configuration process. A log file is used to store log file information in response to the received user input for managing the configuration process. The log file can be used by a process monitor to determine if there is any recent user activity. The process monitor can determine whether the log file has been changed in response to the received user input during a specific time interval. In response to a determination that the log file has not been changed in response to the received user input during the specific time interval, the process monitor can terminate the configuration process.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

determining that a configuration process has been invoked in a computer system, wherein the configuration process causes ports to be opened to receive communications across a network;

periodically checking for a recent user interaction with the configuration process using a log file for the configuration process, wherein the log file is updated in response to a user interaction;

determining that the log file has not been updated within a first time interval; and

causing the opened ports to be closed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the opened ports are closed by terminating the configuration process.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration process is invoked by a remote user that uses the opened ports.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration process is invoked by a local user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein whether the log file has been updated is determined in response to an expiration of a timer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a warming message to a user within the first time interval.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining that the log file has been updated in response to a user responding to the sent warning message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the log file has been updated within the first time interval; and

waiting for a second time interval before performing a subsequent determination of whether the log file has been updated within the first time interval.

9. A machine-accessible medium including instructions that, when executed by a first machine, cause the first machine to perform a computer implemented method comprising:

determining that a configuration process has been invoked in a computer system, wherein the configuration process causes ports to be opened to receive communications across a network;

periodically checking for a recent user interaction with the configuration process using a log file for the configuration process, wherein the log file is updated in response to a user interaction;

determining that the log file has not been updated within a first time interval; and

causing the opened ports to be closed.

10. The machine-accessible medium of claim 9, wherein the opened ports are closed by terminating the configuration process.

11. The machine-accessible medium of claim 9, wherein the configuration process is invoked by a remote user that uses the opened ports.

12. The machine-accessible medium of claim 9, wherein the configuration process is invoked by a local user.

13. The machine-accessible medium of claim 9, wherein whether the log file has been updated is determined in response to an expiration of a timer.

14. The machine-accessible medium of claim 9, wherein the first time interval is specified in a crontab file.

15. The machine-accessible medium of claim 9, further comprising sending a warning message to a user within the first time interval.

16. The machine-accessible medium of claim 15, further comprising determining that the log file has been updated in response to a user responding to the sent warning message.

17. The machine-accessible medium of claim 15, wherein the opened ports are caused to be closed after waiting for a second time interval.

18. An apparatus, comprising;

a user interface to receive a user login, to cause a configuration process to be invoked, and to receive user input for managing the configuration process;

a log file to store log file information in response to the received user input for managing the configuration process; and

a process monitor, coupled with the user interface and the log file, to determine that the configuration process has been invoked in a computer system, wherein the configuration process causes ports to be opened to receive communications across a network, to periodically check for a recent user interaction with the configuration process using a log file for the configuration process, wherein the log file is updated in response to a user interaction, to determine that the log file has not been updated within a first time interval, and to cause the opened ports to be closed.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein process monitor determines whether the log file has been changed by verifying that a file date and time attribute falls within the first time interval.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein process monitor determines whether the log file has been changed by evaluating contents of the log file.