Light weight software and hardware inventory
First Claim
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1. In a network computing environment including at least one client and at least one server, a method of inventorying software and/or hardware, the method comprising:
- requesting a first rule file from the server;
receiving the first rule file from the server, wherein the first rule file comprises a set of inventory rules describing information desired by the server, wherein the first rule file is organized hierarchically and includes a plurality of class arguments including class arguments for both software and hardware classes indicating that the server desires information about particular classes, instance arguments below the class arguments, wherein each the instance arguments specify an occurrence of a class on a machine, property arguments below the instance arguments, the property arguments specifying a particular attributes of instances;
gathering information about the software and/or hardware at the client based on rules in the first rule file;
sending results of gathering information about the software and/or hardware at the client to the server;
requesting a second rule file from the server;
receiving the second rule file from the server;
wherein receiving a rule file from the server comprises receiving a signed cabinet file, and further comprising verifying the signature of the cabinet file to determine if the signature is valid;
determining that the second rule file comprises an invalid signature; and
as a result of determining that the second rule file comprises the invalid signature, sending a message to the server indicating that the second rule file signature is invalid, whereafter the second rule file is destroyed or quarantined at the server.
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Abstract
A method of inventorying software and/or hardware. The method may be practiced for example in a network computing environment including at least one client and at least one server. The method includes requesting a rule file from the server. The rule file is received from the server. Information is gathered about the software and/or hardware at the client based on rules in the rule file. The results of gathering information about the software and/or hardware at the client is sent to the server.
21 Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a network computing environment including at least one client and at least one server, a method of inventorying software and/or hardware, the method comprising:
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requesting a first rule file from the server; receiving the first rule file from the server, wherein the first rule file comprises a set of inventory rules describing information desired by the server, wherein the first rule file is organized hierarchically and includes a plurality of class arguments including class arguments for both software and hardware classes indicating that the server desires information about particular classes, instance arguments below the class arguments, wherein each the instance arguments specify an occurrence of a class on a machine, property arguments below the instance arguments, the property arguments specifying a particular attributes of instances; gathering information about the software and/or hardware at the client based on rules in the first rule file; sending results of gathering information about the software and/or hardware at the client to the server; requesting a second rule file from the server; receiving the second rule file from the server; wherein receiving a rule file from the server comprises receiving a signed cabinet file, and further comprising verifying the signature of the cabinet file to determine if the signature is valid; determining that the second rule file comprises an invalid signature; and as a result of determining that the second rule file comprises the invalid signature, sending a message to the server indicating that the second rule file signature is invalid, whereafter the second rule file is destroyed or quarantined at the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a network computing environment including at least one client and at least one server, a method of inventorying software and/or hardware, the method comprising:
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receiving a request for a rule file from the client; sending a first rule file to the client wherein the first rule file comprises a set of inventory rules describing information desired by the server, wherein the first rule file is organized hierarchically and includes a plurality of class arguments including class arguments for both software and hardware classes indicating that the server desires information about particular classes, instance arguments below the class arguments, wherein each the instance arguments specify an occurrence of a class on a machine, property arguments below the instance arguments, the property arguments specifying a particular attributes of instances; receiving an inventory file from the client including information about software and/or hardware as specified in the first rule file; receiving a request for a second rule file from the client; sending the second rule file from the server to the client; wherein sending a rule file from the server comprises sending a signed cabinet file, and wherein the signature of the cabinet file is verified by the client to determine if the signature is valid; receiving a message at the server from the client indicating that the second rule file signature is invalid as a result of the message indicating that the second rule file comprises an invalid signature; and destroying or quarantining the second rule file at the server. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification