Configuration profiling for remote clients

• US 7,937,456 B2
• Filed: 01/18/2008
• Issued: 05/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: McGrath, Michael P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino; Joseph E
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCLEOD, MARSHALL M
• Application Number:
  US12/016,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20090187642A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 710/19
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method and system for a securely gathering and sharing metrics on configurations of client systems. In one embodiment, a system includes a client that determines which components are installed in the client. The client receives, from a user, rating information for individual components in the client, and generates a configuration profile. The configuration profile includes a unique identifier of the client such as a universally unique identifier (UUID), rating information received from the user, and component information for which rating information was received. The configuration profile is sent to a server that stores the configuration profile in a database. The server can send to the client, in response to receiving the configuration profile, received rating information provided from other users having types of components in common with components provided in the configuration profile.

Claims

1. A client computing system implemented method, comprising:

determining, by the client computing system, a plurality of components that are installed in the client computing system, the client computing system being associated with a unique identifier;

generating, by the client computing system, a configuration profile comprising the plurality of components that are installed in the client computing system and the unique identifier, and sending the configuration profile to a server in a first transmission;

receiving, by the client computing system, a configuration profile user interface from the server in a second transmission in response to sending the configuration profile to the server, the configuration profile user interface comprising a list of the plurality of components that are installed in the client computing system that is associated with the unique identifier and controls for inputting the rating information;

receiving, by the client computing system, the rating information for the installed components in the displayed list via the configuration profile user interface;

providing, by the client computing system to the server, the rating information provided by the user, and information specifying components for which rating information was received; and

in response to providing the configuration profile, receiving, by the client computing system from the server, rating information provided by other users having components in common with the components identified in the configuration profile.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the unique identifier as a universally unique identifier (UUID).

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the UUID is generated using a serial number of an operating system kernel.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the UUID is generated using a one-way hash function of a serial number of a hardware component installed in the computer.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to providing the configuration profile, receiving a link to a wiki site having user-supplied information for components in common with the components identified in the configuration profile.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user interface page facilitating user input of queries concerning rating information for the components identified in the configuration profile;

sending queries provided by the user via the user interface page to the server; and

receiving, from the server, responses to the queries.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting a user for rating information is performed in response to an upgrading of an operating system of the computer system.

8. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a server computing system, from a client computer that is associated with a unique identifier, configuration profile information including a list of components that are installed in the client computer;

generating, by the server computing system, a configuration profile user interface based on the list of components that are installed in the client computer;

sending, by the server computing system, the configuration profile user interface to the client computer, the configuration profile user interface comprising the list of the components that are installed in the client computer that is associated with the unique identifier and controls for inputting rating information to prompt a user for rating information for the installed components;

receiving the rating information provided by the user of the client computer for the components installed in the client computer, and information identifying client computer components for which rating information was provided;

storing the received configuration profile information and rating information in a database that includes configuration profiles associated with other client computers;

providing a user interface to the client computer to allow the user of the client computer to submit queries pertaining to configuration profiles stored in the database; and

in response to user queries, providing, to the client computer, rating information from configuration profiles associated with other client computers, the provided rating information being related to components identified in the configuration profile information received from the client computer.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing a link to a wiki site related to a component for which a client rating has been received.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising generating the unique identifier as a universally unique identifier (UUID) for the client computer.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing a revision level of an operating system of the client.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user interface page is populated with names of the components installed in the computer, wherein each component name is associated with rating information from other client computers for the named component.

13. A non-transitory machine-accessible medium including instructions that, when executed by a first machine, cause the first machine to perform a computer implemented method comprising:

determining a plurality of components that are installed in a computer system, the computer system being associated with a unique identifier;

generating, by the client computing system, a configuration profile comprising the plurality of components that are installed in the client computing system and the unique identifier, and sending the configuration profile to a server in a first transmission;

receiving, by the client computing system, a configuration profile user interface from the server in a second transmission in response to sending the configuration profile to the server, the configuration profile user interface comprising a list of the plurality of components that are installed in the computer system that is associated with the unique identifier and controls for inputting the rating information;

receiving the rating information provided by the user for the installed components in the displayed list;

providing, to a server, the rating information provided by the user, and information identifying components for which rating information was received; and

in response to providing the configuration profile, receiving, from the server, rating information provided by other users having components in common with the components identified in the configuration profile.

14. The non-transitory machine-accessible medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a user interface page facilitating user input of queries concerning rating information for the components identified in the configuration profile;

sending queries provided by the user via the user interface page to the server; and

receiving, from the server, responses to the queries.

15. The non-transitory machine-accessible medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises generating the unique identifier as a universally unique identifier (UUID).

16. The non-transitory machine-accessible medium of claim 13, wherein method further comprises generating a snapshot of software on the first machine.

17. The non-transitory machine-accessible medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises including firmware information of the first machine in the configuration profile.

18. The non-transitory machine-accessible medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises including driver information for a component listed in the configuration profile.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

a client interface to receive, from a client computer that is associated with a unique identifier, configuration profile information including a list of components that are installed in the client computer and rating information provided by a user of the client computer for the components installed in the client computer, and information identifying client computer components for which rating information was provided;

a database, coupled to the client interface, to store the received configuration profile, the database including configuration profiles associated with other client computers; and

a web page generator, coupled to the database, to generate a configuration profile user interface based on the list of components that are installed in the client computer, and to send the configuration profile user interface to the client computer, the configuration profile user interface comprising the list of the components that are installed in the computer system that is associated with the unique identifier and controls for inputting the rating information to prompt the user for the rating information for the installed components and to provide a user interface to allow the user of the client computer to submit queries pertaining to configuration profiles stored in the database, and to respond to user queries received from the client computer by providing rating information from configuration profiles associated with other client computers, the provided rating information being related to components identified in the configuration profile received from the client computer.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the client interface is further configured to generate the unique identifier as a universally unique identifier (UUID) when the client supplied UUID is invalid or absent.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the provided rating information is associated with a link to a wiki site for components related to the provided rating information.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a database engine to query the database using the type and revision of operating system as query terms.