Verification of template integrity of monitoring templates used for customized monitoring of system activities

• US 9,256,488 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2010
• Issued: 02/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Pasternak, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): TRUONG, LOAN
• Application Number:
  US12/898,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20120084608A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,953 Days
• Field of Search: 714/41, 709/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/54 by adding security routines or objects to programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/64 Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures

Abstract

A mechanism for performing verification of template integrity of monitoring templates used for customized monitoring of system activities. A method of embodiments of the invention includes calculating a first hash code for a monitoring template, the monitoring template to customize a performance monitor to serve as a universal monitor to facilitate a plurality of monitoring tools to perform monitoring of activities of a plurality of system components of the computer system, extracting the first hash code from the monitoring template, and calculating a second hash code for the monitoring template. The method further includes verifying integrity of the monitoring template by comparing the first hash code with the second hash code, and the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be satisfactory if the first hash code matches the second hash code.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

calculating a first hash code for a monitoring template, the monitoring template to customize a performance monitor to serve as a universal monitor to perform monitoring of activities of a plurality of system components of the computer system, the universal monitor to replace a plurality of monitoring tools;

embedding the first hash code into the monitoring template;

receiving a request to load the monitoring template;

extracting the first hash code from the monitoring template;

saving the monitoring template to a temporary directory without the first hash code;

calculating a second hash code for the monitoring template with the first hash code removed;

verifying, by a processing device, an integrity of the monitoring template by comparing the first hash code with the second hash code, wherein the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be satisfactory in response to the first hash code matching the second hash code; and

loading the monitoring template from the temporary directory.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be unsatisfactory if the first hash code does not match the second hash code.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein integrity verification is performed prior to loading the monitoring template, and wherein the monitoring template is loaded for use in monitoring the activities if the integrity is determined to be satisfactory.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating an exception error if the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be unsatisfactory.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first hash code is calculated prior to saving the monitoring template.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising embedding the first hash code into the monitoring template, and saving the monitoring template with the embedded first hash code prior to extracting the first hash code from the monitoring template.

7. A system comprising:

a memory to store an operating system and a performance monitor comprising a template integrity component; and

a processing device coupled to the memory to execute the performance monitor, the processing device to;

calculate a first hash code for a monitoring template, the monitoring template to customize a performance monitor to serve as a universal monitor to perform monitoring of activities of a plurality of system components of the computer system, the universal monitor to replace a plurality of monitoring tools;

embed the first hash code into the monitoring template;

receive a request to load the monitoring template;

extract the first hash code from the monitoring template,

save the monitoring template to a temporary directory without the first hash code,

calculate a second hash code for the monitoring template with the first hash code removed,

verify an integrity of the monitoring template by comparing the first hash code with the second hash code, wherein the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be satisfactory in response to the first hash code matching the second hash code; and

load the monitoring template from the temporary directory.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be unsatisfactory if the first hash code does not match the second hash code.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein integrity verification is performed prior to loading the monitoring template, and wherein the monitoring template is loaded for use in monitoring the activities if the integrity is determined to be satisfactory.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the template integrity component is further operable to generate an exception error if the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be unsatisfactory.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the first hash code is calculated prior to saving the monitoring template.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the template integrity component is further operable to embed the first hash code into the monitoring template, and saving the monitoring template with the embedded first hash code prior to extracting the first hash code from the monitoring template.

13. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to:

calculate a first hash code for a monitoring template, the monitoring template to customize a performance monitor to serve as a universal monitor to perform monitoring of activities of a plurality of system components of the computer system, the universal monitor to replace a plurality of monitoring tools;

embed the first hash code into the monitoring template;

receive a request to load the monitoring template;

extract the first hash code from the monitoring template;

save the monitoring template to a temporary directory without the first hash code;

calculate a second hash code for the monitoring template with the first hash code removed;

verify, by the processing device, an integrity of the monitoring template by comparing the first hash code with the second hash code, wherein the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be satisfactory in response to the first hash code matching the second hash code; and

load the monitoring template from the temporary directory.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be unsatisfactory if the first hash code does not match the second hash code.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein integrity verification is performed prior to loading the monitoring template, and wherein the monitoring template is loaded for use in monitoring the activities if the integrity is determined to be satisfactory.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, the instructions further to cause the processing device to generate an exception error if the integrity of the monitoring template is determined to be unsatisfactory.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first hash code is calculated prior to saving the monitoring template.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, the instructions further to cause the processing device to embed the first hash code into the monitoring template, and saving the monitoring template with the embedded first hash code prior to extracting the first hash code from the monitoring template.