Method and apparatus for maintaining a computer system
First Claim
1. A method of remotely maintaining a client computer from a server computer, wherein the client computer comprises a plurality of attributes, a network interface card (NIC) and a local operating system, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a preboot attribute determination application from the server computer to the client computer via the network interface card prior to said client computer loading said local operating system;
determining said plurality of attributes of said client computer with the preboot attribute determination application executing on said client computer prior to said client computer loading said local operating system;
receiving said plurality of attributes from said client computer at the server computer;
automatically selecting one of a plurality of management instruction sets stored on said server computer for said client computer, wherein said one of said plurality of management instruction sets is selected by said server computer based upon said plurality of attributes of said client computer determined by said preboot attribute determination program; and
providing said one of said plurality of management instructions from said server computer to said client computer to thereby allow said client computer to execute said one of said plurality of management instruction sets at said client computer prior to loading said local operating system.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In various embodiments of the invention, a server monitors a network for a startup message from a client computer as appropriate. The server may include a computer application that generates configuration instructions in response to commands from an administrator and/or information obtained from a client computer. The instructions may be in the form of scripts, data, objects, or the like. The instructions may be passed to the client computer, which may execute various administrative functions as directed. In exemplary embodiments, the instructions may command direct placement, verification and/or replacement of files, directory entries, BIOS attributes or other characterisitics of the client computer.
64 Citations
93 Claims
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1. A method of remotely maintaining a client computer from a server computer, wherein the client computer comprises a plurality of attributes, a network interface card (NIC) and a local operating system, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a preboot attribute determination application from the server computer to the client computer via the network interface card prior to said client computer loading said local operating system; determining said plurality of attributes of said client computer with the preboot attribute determination application executing on said client computer prior to said client computer loading said local operating system; receiving said plurality of attributes from said client computer at the server computer; automatically selecting one of a plurality of management instruction sets stored on said server computer for said client computer, wherein said one of said plurality of management instruction sets is selected by said server computer based upon said plurality of attributes of said client computer determined by said preboot attribute determination program; and providing said one of said plurality of management instructions from said server computer to said client computer to thereby allow said client computer to execute said one of said plurality of management instruction sets at said client computer prior to loading said local operating system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of remotely managing a client computer having a local operating system, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an attribute determination program from a server in response to a request from said client computer; executing the attribute determination program on the client computer to identify a plurality of attributes of said client computer prior to said client computer loading the local operating system and to provide said attributes to said server; receiving said attributes from said attribute determination program at said server; automatically selecting one of a plurality of management instructions for said client computer at said server as a function of said attributes obtained from said attribute determination program; and providing said one of said plurality of management instructions from said server to said client computer prior to booting said local operating system of client computer. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A system for managing a client computer over a network, the client computer having a plurality of client computer attributes and a local operating system, the system comprising:
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a database configured to store a plurality of template records, each of said plurality of template records comprising a set of template attributes and a corresponding one of a plurality of configuration scripts; and a server application configured to receive a request from said client computer via said network, to provide a preboot attribute determination program to the client computer in response to the request, to receive said client computer attributes from the preboot attribute determination program executing on the client computer prior to said client computer booting said local operating system, to associate said client computer with at least one of said template records by comparing said client computer attributes to said template attributes, and to select the one of the plurality of configuration scripts corresponding to the associated at least one of said template records to be provided to said client computer for execution on said client computer prior to booting a local operating system. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A system for administrating a client computer over a network, the system comprising:
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means for providing a preboot attribute determination application from a server computer to the client computer via the network interface card prior to said client computer loading said local operating system; means for determining said plurality of attributes of said client computer with the preboot attribute determination application executing on said client computer prior to said client computer loading said local operating system; means for receiving said plurality of attributes from said client computer at the server computer; means for automatically selecting one of a plurality of management instruction sets stored on said server computer for said client computer, wherein said one of said plurality of management instruction sets is selected by said server computer based upon said plurality of attributes of said client computer determined by said preboot attribute determination program; and means for providing said one of said plurality of management instructions from said server computer to said client computer to thereby allow said client computer to execute said one of said plurality of management instruction sets at said client computer prior to loading said local operating system. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87)
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88. A method of maintaining files on a client computer having a local operating system and a network interface card, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a boot request at a server computer from said client computer; providing a response to said boot request from said server to said client via said network interface card, wherein said response comprises an attribute determination program configured to be executed on said client computer prior to booting said local operating system, wherein the attribute determination program is configured to prepare an index of files present on said client computer; receiving the index of files present on said client computer from said attribute determination program prior to booting said local operating system; automatically selecting a set of instructions at said server based upon said index of files prepared by the attribute determination program, wherein the selected set of instructions comprises instructions for providing updated files from said server to said client computer based upon said index and for instructing said client computer to boot said local operating system after said updated files are received from said server; and executing the set of selected instructions to thereby update the files on the client computer prior to booting the local operating system on the client computer. - View Dependent Claims (89, 90, 91, 92)
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93. A method of maintaining a registry on a client computer having a local operating system and a network interface card, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a boot request at a server computer from said client computer; providing an attribute determination program to the client computer via the network interface card in response to said boot request, wherein said attribute determination program is configured to check said registry on said client computer prior to booting said local operating system and to provide a registry response to said server computer via said network interface card; receiving said registry response at said server from said attribute determination program; automatically selecting a set of instructions at said server based upon said registry response received from the attribute determination program, wherein the selected set of instructions comprises instructions for updating the registry from said server to said client computer in response to said processing step and for instructing said client computer to boot said local operating system after said registry is updated; and executing the set of selected instructions to thereby update the registry on the client computer prior to booting the local operating system on the client computer.
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Specification