Method for monitoring fault of operating system and application program

• US 6,697,972 B1
• Filed: 08/22/2000
• Issued: 02/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Arai, Toshiaki, Oshima, Satoshi, Sakoyama, Noboru
• Primary Examiner(s): Baderman, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOHN, JOSHUA A
• Application Number:
  US09/642,769
• Time in Patent Office: 1,281 Days
• Field of Search: 714/13, 714/55
• US Class Current: 714/55
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06

Abstract

A fault of an operating system (hereafter referred to as “OS”) is observed without adding dedicated hardware. Besides AP fault monitoring, check-point information is preserved at high speed without adding dedicated hardware. In a computer having a multi-OS environment, an AP fault monitor and a monitored AP operate on a first OS. A fault monitor operates on a second OS. Each of the first OS and the AP fault monitor transmits an alive message to the fault monitor by utilizing an inter-OS communication function of a multi-OS controller. The fault monitor monitors the alive message of each of the first OS and the AP fault monitor. The monitored AP transmits an alive message to the AP fault monitor. The AP fault monitor monitors it. The monitored AP preserves check-point information in a region of a memory. In the region of the memory, information is preserved by a fault and restart of the first OS as well.

Claims

1. A fault monitoring method in a computer including a first OS, a second OS, and a multi-OS controller having a communication function between said first OS and said second OS, said fault monitoring method comprising the steps of:

monitoring, in an AP fault monitor activated by execution of a program on said first OS, a fault of an application (hereafter referred to as “

AP”

) activated by execution of a program on said first OS;

successively receiving, in a high rank fault monitor activated by execution of a program on said second OS, a monitor alive message indicating an alive state of said AP fault monitor transmitted from said AP fault monitor, by using an inter-OS communication function of said multi-OS controller;

successively receiving, in said high rank fault monitor, an OS alive message indicating an alive state of said first OS transmitted from said first OS, by using an inter-OS communication function of said multi-OS controller; and

in said high rank fault monitor, restarting said AP fault monitor and recovering said AP when a reception interval of said AP alive message has exceeded a first predetermined time, and restarting said first OS and said AP fault monitor and recovering said AP when a reception interval of said OS alive message has exceeded a second predetermined time.

2. A fault monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein said high rank fault monitor determines whether said AP alive message and said OS alive message have exceeded said first and second predetermined time, respectively, by comparing the reception intervals of said AP alive message and said OS alive message with predetermined time information pieces respectively stored in a memory included in said computer.

3. A fault monitoring method according to claim 2, wherein when restarting said first OS said high rank fault monitor restarts said first OS in accordance with a restart method stored in said memory, when restarting said AP fault monitor said high rank fault monitor restarts said AP fault monitor in accordance with a restart method stored in said memory, and when recovering said AP said high rank fault monitor recovers said AP based on check-point information stored in a shared memory region in said computer.

4. A fault monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein when said AP fault monitor has sensed a fault of said AP, said AP is recovered based on check-point information stored in a shared memory region in said computer.

5. A multi-OS computer having a fault monitor function, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a first OS loaded on said memory by said processor;

a second OS loaded on said memory by said processor;

a multi-OS controller having a communication function between said first OS and said second OS, loaded on said memory by said processor;

an AP activated by execution of a program on said first OS;

an AP fault monitor for monitoring a fault of said AP, said AP fault monitor being activated by execution of a program on said first OS; and

a high rank fault monitor for monitoring a fault of said AP fault monitor, said high rank fault monitor being activated by execution of a program on said second OS,

wherein by using the inter-OS communication function of said multi-OS controller, said high rank fault monitor successively receives a monitor alive message indicating an alive state of said AP fault monitor transmitted from said AP fault monitor,

wherein by using the inter-OS communication function of said multi-OS controller, said high rank fault monitor successively receives an OS alive message indicating an alive state of said first OS transmitted from said first OS, and

wherein said high rank fault monitor restarts said AP fault monitor and recovers said AP when a reception interval of said AP alive message has exceeded a first predetermined time, and said high rank fault monitor restarts said first OS and said AP fault monitor and recovers said AP when a reception interval of said OS alive message has exceeded a second predetermined time.

6. A multi-OS computer according to claim 5, wherein said high rank fault monitor determines whether said AP alive message and said OS alive message have exceeded said first and second predetermined time, respectively, by comparing the reception intervals of said AP alive message and said OS alive message with predetermined time information pieces respectively stored in said memory.

7. A multi-OS computer according to claim 6, further comprising a shared memory region in said memory, said shared memory region being capable of being accessed from said first OS and second OS,

wherein when restarting said first OS said high rank fault monitor restarts said first OS in accordance with a restart method stored in said memory, when restarting said AP fault monitor said high rank fault monitor restarts said AP fault monitor in accordance with a restart method stored in said memory, and when recovering said AP said high rank fault monitor recovers said AP based on check-point information stored in said shared memory region.

8. A storage medium for storing a computer readable program, said program comprising:

a first OS;

a second OS different from said first OS;

a multi-OS control program unit for managing computer resources, said multi-OS control program unit having an inter-OS communication function between said first OS and said second OS;

a fault monitoring program unit for monitoring a fault of said first OS via said inter-OS communication function, said fault monitoring program unit operating on said second OS;

an AP fault monitoring program unit for monitoring a fault of an AP operating on said first OS, said AP fault monitoring program unit operating on said first OS; and

a fault monitoring program unit for monitoring a fault of said AP fault monitoring program unit besides a fault of said first OS via said inter-OS communication function, said fault monitoring program unit operating on said second OS.

9. A storage medium for storing a computer readable program according to claim 8, wherein said multi-OS control program unit provides a storage region, check-point information of said AP is stored in said storage region in response to a request from said AP, and information is preserved in said storage region by a fault and restart of said first OS as well.