Gathering context information used for activation of contextual dumping

• US 8,239,167 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2008
• Issued: 08/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Ramacher, Mark, Ngai, Gary, Dageville, Benoit, Dias, Karl, Sarig, Yair, Fallen, Marcus, Mysorenagarajarao, Ajith Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, John H
• Application Number:
  US12/251,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20090106589A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,392 Days
• Field of Search: 702/58, 702/59, 702/108, 702/183, 702/184, 702/185, 714/25, 714/37, 714/38, 714/47, 717/158
• US Class Current: 702/184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0778 Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0781 Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/16 using machine learning or artificial intelligence

Abstract

An infrastructure is provided for gathering diagnostic data that is relevant to an error or other conditions detected in a monitored system. A diagnosability framework is provided that automates the gathering of relevant diagnostic data upon occurrence of the condition in the monitored system. In one embodiment, context data is determined for the condition detected in the monitored system. A rule-based engine is provided that is configured to automatically determine one or more actions to be performed for the condition detected in the monitored system based on the determined context data. The actions may include performing tasks that gather diagnostic data that is relevant to the detected condition, store the gathered diagnostic data in a repository, recommend one or more diagnostic actions to a user, and other diagnostic related actions.

Claims

1. A method for determining a diagnostic action in a monitored system, the method comprising:

determining, by a computer system, context data for a condition detected in the monitored system, wherein the determined context data includes information related to the detected condition in the monitored system, information related to functions and/or processes that are being executed in the monitored system, or combinations thereof,

wherein determining the context data for the detected condition comprises determining, by the computer system, information related to one or more components in the monitored system and information related to a function or process that is tagged as relevant to diagnosis; and

determining, by the computer system, a diagnostic action to be performed responsive to the detected condition based upon the context data determined.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the context data for the detected condition comprises determining an error number and one or more error arguments associated with the condition detected in the monitored system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the information related to one or more components comprises determining information related to one or more components that are active on a call stack.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the information related to one or more components comprises determining information related to a component that is identified as most likely having caused the detected condition in the monitored system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the information related to one or more components comprises determining information related to a component that signaled the detected condition in the monitored system.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the context data for the detected condition comprises determining information related to an impact that the detected condition has on the monitored system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the diagnostic action to be performed comprises:

determining, by the computer system, a set of one or more rules configured for the monitored system, each rule specifying a condition and one or more actions to be performed when the condition specified in the rule is satisfied; and

determining, by the computer system, that the condition associated with a first rule from the set of rules is satisfied by the context data determined, wherein at least one action specified by the first rule is the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising executing, by the computer system, the determined diagnostic action.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein executing the determined diagnostic action comprises gathering, by the computer system, diagnostic data that is relevant to the detected condition in the monitored system.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor to determine a diagnostic action in a monitored system, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to determine context data for a condition detected in the monitored system, wherein the determined context data includes information related to the detected condition in the monitored system, information related to functions and/or processes that are being executed in the monitored system, or combinations thereof,

wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the context data for the detected condition comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine information related to one or more components in the monitored system and information related to a function or process that is tagged as relevant to diagnosis; and

instructions that cause the processor to determine a diagnostic action to be performed responsive to the detected condition based upon the context data determined.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the context data for the detected condition comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine an error number and one or more error arguments associated with the condition detected in the monitored system.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the context data for the detected condition comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine information related to one or more components that are active on a call stack.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the context data for the detected condition comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine information related to an impact that the detected condition has on the monitored system.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the diagnostic action to be performed comprise:

instructions that cause the processor to determine a set of one or more rules configured for the monitored system, each rule specifying a condition and one or more actions to be performed when the condition specified in the rule is satisfied; and

instructions that cause the processor to determine that the condition associated with a first rule from the set of rules is satisfied by the context data determined, wherein at least one action specified by the first rule is the diagnostic action determined to be performed in the monitored system.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions that cause the processor to gather diagnostic data that is relevant to the detected condition in the monitored system.

16. A system for determining a diagnostic action in a monitored system, the system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory;

wherein the processor is configured to;

determine context data for a condition detected in the monitored system, wherein the determined context data includes information related to the detected condition in the monitored system, information related to functions and/or processes that are being executed in the monitored system, or combinations thereof,

determine information related to one or more components in the monitored system and information related to a function or process that is tagged as relevant to diagnosis; and

determine a diagnostic action to be performed responsive to the detected condition based upon the context data determined.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to determine information related to one or more components that are active on a call stack.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to determine information related to a component that signaled the detected condition in the monitored system.