LICENSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, LICENSE MANAGEMENT COMPUTER, LICENSE MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND LICENSE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM EMBODIED ON COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

• US 20100211945A1
• Filed: 02/16/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: DOUI, Takayuki
• Granted Patent: US 8,402,459 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/121 Restricting unauthorised execution of programs

Abstract

In order to facilitate a change of a computer into which an application program is to be installed, a license management computer stores management information, and in receipt of an installation request from an installation computer, it extracts the management information corresponding to the installation request. When there is no relevant management information, the license management computer generates and stores new management information, and permits installation of the application program to the installation computer. When the relevant management information is extracted, the license management computer compares device identification information and external device identification information included in the installation request with device identification information and external device identification information included in the extracted management information, and if at least one of the device identification information and the external device identification information matches the corresponding one, the license management computer permits installation of the application program to the installation computer.

Claims

1. A license management system including an installation computer and a license management computer connected via a network, the license management computer being configured to manage an application program installed into said installation computer,

said installation computer comprising:

an installation request transmitting portion to transmit an installation request to said license management computer for installing the application program, the installation request including program identification information for identifying said application program, device identification information for identifying said installation computer, and external device identification information for specifying an external device connected to said installation computer via the network; and

an installation portion to install said application program on the condition that said license management computer permits installation of said application program in response to said installation request transmitted,

said license management computer comprising;

a management information storing portion to store management information, the management information including said program identification information, said device identification information, and said external device identification information;

an installation request receiving portion to receive said installation request that said installation computer transmits to said license management computer before installation of the application program;

an installation-time extracting portion to extract, from said management information storing portion, the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request;

a management information generating portion, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted by said installation-time extracting portion, to generate and store management information including the program identification information, the device identification information, and the external device identification information which are included in said received installation request;

an installation-time comparing portion, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted by said installation-time extracting portion, to compare the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request respectively with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information;

an installation-time updating portion, in the case where said installation-time comparing portion determines that one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information and the other does not match the corresponding information, to update the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said installation request; and

an installation management portion configured to permit installation of said application program to said installation computer in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted by said installation-time extracting portion, or in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted by said installation-time extracting portion and said installation-time comparing portion determines that at least one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information.

2. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein said installation computer further comprises a managed-device identification information acquiring portion to acquire, as said external device identification information, at least one piece of managed-device identification information for respectively identifying at least one device to be managed which is connected to said installation computer via the network.

3. The license management system according to claim 2, wherein said device to be managed is an image forming device.

4. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein

said installation computer further comprises:

an execution requesting portion to transmit an execution request to said license management computer after said application program has been installed and before said application program is executed, the execution request including the program identification information for identifying said application program, said device identification information, and said external device identification information; and

an execution control portion to execute said application program on the condition that said license management computer permits execution of said application program in response to said execution request transmitted to said license management computer before start of execution of said application program, and

said license management computer further comprises;

an execution request receiving portion to receive said execution request transmitted from said installation computer;

an execution-time extracting portion to extract, from said management information storing portion, the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received execution request;

an execution-time comparing portion, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received execution request is extracted by said execution-time extracting portion, to compare the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received execution request respectively with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information; and

an execution management portion configured to permit execution of said application program to said installation computer on the conditions that the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received execution request is extracted by said execution-time extracting portion and that said execution-time comparing portion determines that the device identification information included in said received execution request matches the device identification information included in said extracted management information.

5. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein said installation computer further comprises an accepting portion to accept external device identification information input by a user.

6. The license management system according to claim 5, wherein

said installation computer further comprises a changing portion to change said external device identification information, wherein

in the case where said external device identification information is changed by said changing portion after said application program has been installed, said execution requesting portion transmits to said license management computer an execution request including the program identification information for identifying said application program, said device identification information, and said changed external device identification information, and

in the case where said execution request is transmitted to said license management computer after said application program has been executed and if said license management computer does not permit execution of said application program, said execution control portion stops execution of said application program, and

said license management computer further comprises an execution-time updating portion, in the case where said execution-time comparing portion determines that the device identification information included in said received execution request matches the device identification information included in said extracted management information but the external device identification information included in said received execution request does not match the external device identification information included in said extracted management information, to update the external device identification information included in said extracted management information with the external device identification information included in said execution request.

7. The license management system according to claim 6, wherein

said installation computer further comprises:

a managed-device identification information acquiring portion to acquire, as said external device identification information, at least one piece of managed-device identification information for respectively identifying at least one device to be managed which is connected to said installation computer via the network; and

a management information storing portion to store said management information, wherein

in the case where said acquired at least one piece of managed-device identification information differs from said external device identification information, said changing portion changes said stored external device identification information with said acquired at least one piece of managed-device identification information.

8. The license management system according to claim 6, wherein

said installation computer further comprises an accepting portion to accept external device identification information input by a user, wherein

said changing portion changes said stored external device identification information with the external device identification information accepted by said accepting portion.

9. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein said device identification information is a unique code which is at least one of an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, and a serial number.

10. A license management computer for managing an application program installed into an installation computer, the installation computer being connected to the license management computer via a network, the license management computer comprising:

a management information storing portion to store management information, the management information including program identification information for identifying an application program, device identification information for identifying said installation computer into which said application program is installed, and external device identification information for specifying an external device connected to said installation computer via the network;

an installation request receiving portion to receive an installation request that said installation computer transmits to said license management computer for installing the application program, the installation request including program identification information for identifying the application program to be installed, device identification information for identifying said installation computer, and said external device identification information;

an installation-time extracting portion to extract, from said management information storing portion, the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request;

a management information generating portion, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted by said installation-time extracting portion, to generate and store management information including the program identification information, the device identification information, and the external device identification information which are included in said received installation request;

an installation-time comparing portion, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted by said installation-time extracting portion, to compare the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request respectively with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information;

an installation-time updating portion, in the case where said installation-time comparing portion determines that one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information and the other does not match the corresponding information, to update the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said installation request; and

an installation management portion configured to permit installation of said application program to said installation computer in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted by said installation-time extracting portion, or in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted by said installation-time extracting portion and said installation-time comparing portion determines that at least one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information.

11. The license management computer according to claim 10, further comprising:

an execution request receiving portion to receive an execution request that said installation computer transmits to said license management computer after the application program has been installed and before said application program is executed, the execution request including said program identification information, said device identification information, and said external device identification information;

an execution-time extracting portion to extract, from said management information storing portion, the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received execution request;

an execution-time comparing portion, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received execution request is extracted by said execution-time extracting portion, to compare the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received execution request respectively with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information; and

an execution management portion configured to permit execution of said application program to said installation computer on the conditions that the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received execution request is extracted by said execution-time extracting portion and that said execution-time comparing portion determines that the device identification information included in said received execution request matches the device identification information included in said extracted management information.

12. The license management computer according to claim 10, wherein

the installation computer into which said application program has been installed acquires at least one piece of managed-device identification information for respectively identifying at least one device to be managed which is connected to said installation computer via the network, and

said external device identification information includes said at least one piece of managed-device identification information acquired by said installation computer.

13. The license management computer according to claim 10, wherein said external device identification information is input into said installation computer by a user.

14. The license management computer according to claim 10, wherein said device identification information is a unique code which is at least one selected from among an IP address, a MAC address, and a serial number.

15. A license management method performed by a license management computer connected to an installation computer in a communicable manner, said license management computer including a management information storing portion to store management information, the management information including program identification information for identifying an application program, device identification information for identifying said installation computer into which said application program is installed, and external device identification information for specifying an external device connected to said installation computer via a network,

the method comprising:

a receiving step of receiving an installation request that said installation computer transmits to said license management computer for installing an application program, the installation request including program identification information for identifying the application program to be installed, device identification information for identifying said installation computer, and external device identification information related to said installation computer;

an installation-time extracting step of extracting, from said management information storing portion, the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request;

a generating step of, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted in said installation-time extracting step, generating management information including the program identification information, the device identification information, and the external device identification information included in said received installation request and storing the generated management information in said management information storing portion;

an installation-time comparing step of, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted in said installation-time extracting step, comparing the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request respectively with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information;

an updating step of, in the case where it is determined in said installation-time comparing step that one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information and the other does not match the corresponding information, updating the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said installation request; and

a permitting step of permitting installation of said application program to said installation computer in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted in said installation-time extracting step, or in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted in said installation-time extracting step and it is determined in said installation-time comparing step that at least one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information.

16. A license management program embodied on a computer readable medium and executed in a license management computer connected to an installation computer in a communicable manner, said license management computer including a management information storing portion to store management information, the management information including program identification information for identifying an application program, device identification information for identifying said installation computer into which said application program is installed, and external device identification information for specifying an external device connected to said installation computer via a network,

the program causing said license management computer to perform:

a receiving step of receiving an installation request that said installation computer transmits to said license management computer for installing an application program, the installation request including program identification information for identifying the application program to be installed, device identification information for identifying said installation computer, and external device identification information related to said installation computer;

an installation-time extracting step of extracting, from said management information storing portion, the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request;

a generating step of, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted in said installation-time extracting step, generating management information including the program identification information, the device identification information, and the external device identification information included in said received installation request and storing the generated management information in said management information storing portion;

an installation-time comparing step of, in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted in said installation-time extracting step, comparing the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request respectively with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information;

an updating step of, in the case where it is determined in said installation-time comparing step that one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information and the other does not match the corresponding information, updating the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information with the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said installation request; and

a permitting step of permitting installation of said application program to said installation computer in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is not extracted in said installation-time extracting step, or in the case where the management information including the same program identification information as the program identification information included in said received installation request is extracted in said installation-time extracting step and it is determined in said installation-time comparing step that at least one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said received installation request matches the corresponding one of the device identification information and the external device identification information included in said extracted management information.