SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TESTING RESULTS OF CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY

• US 20110055636A1
• Filed: 08/31/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: DeHaan, Michael Paul, Likins, Adrian Karstan, Vidal, Seth Kelby
• Granted Patent: US 8,166,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2247 Verification or detection of system hardware configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for testing results of configuration management activity. In embodiments, a configuration management server can control and maintain the configuration state of one or more targets, hosts, servers, clients, or other machines in a managed. In aspects, a testing tool hosted on the configuration management server can verify the correct implementation of configuration instructions. In embodiments, the testing tool can access or receive an anticipated or target configuration state for one or more target(s) or other machines, indicating the status of services, memory, security, storage, and/or other configuration parameters after a selected configuration command is to be transmitted and run on the recipient machine. After the configuration change or update is performed, the test tool can receive results indicating the actual configuration state achieved after running the configuration management command(s), and compare those to the anticipated configuration state. Any discrepancies can be flagged, and corrective commands can be issued.

Claims

1. A method of testing the implementation of configuration management activities in a network, comprising:

receiving a configuration state of at least one machine in the network after executing at least one configuration management command on the at least one machine; and

performing a comparison between an target configuration state for the at least one machine and the configuration received after executing the at least one configuration management command; and

determining whether a configuration fault condition exists in the at least one machine based on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration fault condition comprises at least one of an activated service fault, a security fault, a memory management fault, a storage management fault, a library fault, an application fault, a file version fault, or a user authorization fault.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the configuration fault condition comprises an activated service fault, and the activated service fault comprises at least one of at least one detected running service not specified in the target configuration state or at least one undetected service specified in the target configuration state.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising issuing a further corrective configuration command from the configuration management server to a corresponding machine based on results of the determination of whether a fault condition exists.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the further corrective configuration command comprises at least one of—

at least one command to turn off the at least one detected running service on the at least one machine not specified in the target configuration state, or

at least one command to turn on the at least one service not running on the at least machine specified in the target configuration state.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the target configuration state comprises at least one of a configuration state specification supplied by a user or a configuration state specification generated by a testing tool.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one machine comprises at least one of a server, a host, a client, or a target machine.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparison is performed via a testing tool hosted in a configuration management server.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a record of the at least one executed configuration management command to a configuration file.

10. A configuration management system, comprising:

an interface to a set of machines in a network; and

a testing tool, communicating with the set of machines via the interface, the testing tool being configured to—

receive a configuration state of at least one machine in the network after execute at least one configuration management command on the at least one machine,

perform a comparison between an target configuration state for the at least one machine and the configuration received after executing the at least one configuration management command, and

determine whether a configuration fault condition exists in the at least one machine based on the comparison.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the configuration fault condition comprises at least one of an activated service fault, a security fault, a memory management fault, a storage management fault, a library fault, an application fault, a file version fault, or a user authorization fault.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the configuration fault condition comprises an activated service fault, and the activated service fault comprises at least one of at least one detected running service not specified in the target configuration state or at least one undetected service specified in the target configuration state.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the testing tool is further configured to issue a further corrective configuration command via the configuration management system to a corresponding machine based on results of the determination of whether a fault condition exists.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the further corrective configuration command comprises at least one of—

at least one command to turn off the at least one detected running service on the at least one machine not specified in the target configuration state, or

at least one command to turn on the at least one service not running on the at least machine specified in the target configuration state.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the target configuration state comprises at least one of a configuration state specification supplied by a user or a configuration state specification generated by a testing tool.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one machine comprises at least one of a server, a host, a client, or a target machine.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the testing tool is hosted in a configuration management server.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the testing tool is further configured to store a record of the at least one executed configuration management command to a configuration file.

19. A management database, comprising:

an interface to a configuration management system; and

computer readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium being configured to store—

a set of identifiers for a set of machines in a managed network,

a configuration state of the set of machines, and

a target configuration state based on the execution of a configuration management command for at least one of the set of machines.

20. The database of claim 19, wherein the target configuration state comprises at least one of a target configuration state entered by a user or a target configuration state generated via a testing tool.