INTERACTIVE PROBLEM RESOLUTION PRESENTED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF MAJOR OBSERVABLE APPLICATION BEHAVIORS

• US 20100218030A1
• Filed: 02/20/2009
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: SCHREIBER, ELIZABETH A., COURT, BARNABY L., BHATNAGAR, RADHIKA, STYLES, DAVID B., KUNDAVARAM, ANJAN R., ETGEN, MICHAEL P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,979,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0706 the processing taking place on a specific hardware platform or in a specific software environment
• 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 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40

Abstract

A system, method, and article of manufacture are disclosed for monitoring and resolving problems detected in the application stack. The application stack may include multiple, interpedently application components which collectively provide a unified service. An interactive problem resolution program may monitor and assist users in troubleshooting an application stack installed on a separate computer system. Generally, when a problem in the application stack is detected, the IPR Program may alert users to the problem and provide information about the problem to guide users in taking steps to correct the problem.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing interactive problem resolution for a problem detected in a monitored application stack, comprising configuring one or more processors to perform an operation comprising:

detecting an occurrence of a problem with a first application in the monitored application stack, wherein the monitored application stack includes a plurality of applications and wherein a second application in the monitored application stack has an operational dependency on the first application;

determining a primary impact of the detected problem on the first application;

determining, based on the operational dependency, a secondary impact of the detected problem on the second application;

generating a first description of the primary and secondary impacts of the detected problem in terms of observable application behaviors of the first and second applications;

generating a second description of one or more suggested corrective actions to remedy the detected problem; and

outputting the first description and the second description to a graphical user interface display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary impact is determined from a product dependency graph indicating interdependencies between the plurality of applications included in the monitored application stack.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more suggested corrective actions are prioritized according to the interdependences between the plurality of applications included in the monitored application stack.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the application stack includes at least a database, an application server, and a webserver.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a first corrective action to remedy the detected problem on the first application;

upon determining the first corrective action resolves the detected problem on the first application, determining whether the secondary impact on the second application has been resolved; and

if not;

generating a third description of one or more suggested corrective actions to resolve the secondary impact on the second application, and

presenting the third description on the graphical user interface display.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the second description on a graphical user interface display, comprises:

emphasizing one or more suggested corrective actions for the first application; and

deemphasizing one or more suggested corrective actions for the second application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the problem is detected by monitoring application log files maintained by the first application.

8. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program which, when executed, performs an operation for providing interactive problem resolution for a problem detected in a monitored application stack, the operation comprising:

detecting an occurrence of a problem with a first application in the monitored application stack, wherein the monitored application stack includes a plurality of applications and wherein a second application in the monitored application stack has an operational dependency on the first application;

determining a primary impact of the detected problem on the first application;

determining, based on the operational dependency, a secondary impact of the detected problem on the second application;

generating a first description of the primary and secondary impacts of the detected problem in terms of observable application behaviors of the first and second applications;

generating a second description of one or more suggested corrective actions to remedy the detected problem; and

outputting the first description and the second description to a graphical user interface display.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the secondary impact is determined from a product dependency graph indicating interdependencies between the plurality of applications included in the monitored application stack.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more suggested corrective actions are prioritized according to the interdependences between the plurality of applications included in the monitored application stack.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the application stack includes at least a database, an application server, and a webserver.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the operation further comprises:

performing a first corrective action to remedy the detected problem on the first application;

upon determining the first corrective action resolves the detected problem on the first application, determining whether the secondary impact on the second application has been resolved; and

if not;

generating a third description of one or more suggested corrective actions to resolve the secondary impact on the second application, and

presenting the third description on the graphical user interface display.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein presenting the second description on a graphical user interface display, comprises:

emphasizing one or more suggested corrective actions for the first application; and

deemphasizing one or more suggested corrective actions for the second application.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the problem is detected by monitoring application log files maintained by the first application.

15. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing a interactive problem resolution (IPR) application, which, when executed on the processor is configured to perform an operation for providing interactive problem resolution for a problem detected in a monitored application stack, the operation comprising;

detecting an occurrence of a problem with a first application in the monitored application stack, wherein the monitored application stack includes a plurality of applications and wherein a second application in the monitored application stack has an operational dependency on the first application,

determining a primary impact of the detected problem on the first application,

determining, based on the operational dependency, a secondary impact of the detected problem on the second application,

generating a first description of the primary and secondary impacts of the detected problem in terms of observable application behaviors of the first and second applications,

generating a second description of one or more suggested corrective actions to remedy the detected problem, and

presenting the first description and the second description on a graphical user interface display.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the secondary impact is determined from a product dependency graph indicating interdependencies between the plurality of applications included in the monitored application stack.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more suggested corrective actions are prioritized according to the interdependences between the plurality of applications included in the monitored application stack.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the application stack includes at least a database, an application server, and a webserver.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the operation further comprises:

performing a first corrective action to remedy the detected problem on the first application;

upon determining the first corrective action resolves the detected problem on the first application, determining whether the secondary impact on the second application has been resolved; and

if not;

generating a third description of one or more suggested corrective actions to resolve the secondary impact on the second application, and

presenting the third description on the graphical user interface display.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein presenting the second description on a graphical user interface display, comprises:

emphasizing one or more suggested corrective actions for the first application; and

deemphasizing one or more suggested corrective actions for the second application.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the problem is detected by monitoring application log files maintained by the first application.