System and method for determining differences between software configurations

• US 7,926,049 B1
• Filed: 03/23/2006
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Kumar, Ravindra
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAVIS, JOHN Q
• Application Number:
  US11/388,174
• Time in Patent Office: 1,846 Days
• Field of Search: 717/170
• US Class Current: 717/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files

Abstract

A system and method for determining differences between configurations of a software program. A configuration differencing command generates a hash table of configuration keys and values for each of the configurations being compared. A key is selected from a first hash table and the command determines if an identical key exists in the second hash table. If the key exists in the second hash table, a comparison is made of the values associated with the keys and, if the values are not identical, the configuration differencing command displays the differences to an administrator.

Claims

1. A method for determining differences between a first configuration and a second configuration of software on a storage system, the method comprising:

generating, by a processor of the storage system, a first hash table having at least one first entry, each first entry including a first key representing a first configuration option of the first configuration and a first value associated with a first setting of the first configuration option and a second hash table having at least one second entry, each second entry including a second key representing a second configuration option of the second configuration and a second value associated with a second setting of the second configuration option;

selecting, by a configuration differencing command executed by the processor, the first key from the first entry of the first hash table;

determining, by the configuration differencing command, if the selected key exists within the second entry of the second hash table;

if so, determining, by the configuration differencing command, whether the first and second values of the first and second entries are equal; and

if so, marking, by the configuration differencing command, the first and second entries as identical within the first and second hash tables.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising in response to determining that the first key does not exist in the second hash table, displaying a set of configuration differences to a user.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising in response to determining that the value of the first and second entries are not equal, displaying a set of configuration differences to a user.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying a set of keys unique to the second hash table.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying a set of keys unique to the first hash table.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the software comprises a storage operating system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the first hash table and the second hash table comprises reading at least one configuration file associated with the first configuration and reading at least one configuration file associated with the second configuration.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one configuration file associated with the first configuration are stored in a root directory.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one configuration file associated with the first configuration is stored in a metadata directory.

10. A system for determining the differences in configurations between a first configuration and a second configuration of software, the system comprising:

means for generating a first hash table having at least one first entry, each first entry including a first key representing a first configuration option of the first configuration and a first value associated with a first setting the first configuration option and a second hash table having at least one second entry, each second entry including a second key representing a second configuration option of the second configuration and a second value associated with a second setting of the second configuration option;

means for selecting a first key from the function of the first hash table and determining if the first key exists within a second entry of the second hash table;

if so, means for determining whether the first and second values of the first and second entries are equal; and

if so, means for marking the first and second entries as identical within the first and second hash tables.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising means for displaying a set of differences in response to determining that the first key does not exist in the second hash table.

12. The system of claim 10 further comprising means for displaying a set of differences in response to determining that the first and second values are not equal.

13. The system of claim 10 further comprising means for identifying a set of keys unique to the second hash table.

14. The system of claim 10 further comprising means for identifying a set of keys unique to the first hash table.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the software comprises a storage operating system.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein means for generating the first hash table and the second hash table comprises means for reading at least one configuration file associated with the first configuration and means for reading at least one configuration file associated with the second configuration.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the at least one configuration file associated with the first configuration are stored in a root directory.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the at least one configuration file associated with the first configuration is stored in a metadata directory.

19. A system for determining the differences in configurations between a first configuration and a second configuration of software, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory configured to store an operating system, the operating system configured to implement a configuration difference command that generates, by the processor, a set of hash tables representative of the first and second configurations and further configured to select a first key representing a particular configuration option of the first configuration from the first hash table and determine if a match key representing a second configuration option of the second configuration exists in the second hash table.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the configuration differencing command is further configured to, in response to determining that a matching key exists in the second hash table, compare a first value associated with the first key in the first hash table with a second value associated with the match key in the second hash table.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the configuration differencing command is further configured to display a set of differences between the first and second configurations in response to determining that the first value associated with the first key in the first hash table does not match the second value associated with the matching key in the second hash table.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein the software comprises a storage operating system.