Problem determination in distributed enterprise applications

• US 9,727,405 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2015
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chong, James C., Chan, Joseph L., Patel, Tushar M., Heler, Jean-Jacques, So, Chi H., Tsang, Arthur, Lam, Robert S., Chow, Raymond, Tang, Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Chirag R
• Application Number:
  US14/614,195
• Publication Number:
  US 20150149831A1
• Time in Patent Office: 916 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/302 where the computing system component is a software system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

Problem determination in an enterprise computer system in a distributed environment is provided. Information is obtained regarding the enterprise applications, and high-level information is presented to a user, with one or more prompts provided to the user for more detailed information. In response to a request from a user for more detailed information about the application, more detailed information is provided to the user. Several levels of more detailed information about applications, including information as to individual threads, is available. The method also includes the steps of receiving instructions from an administrator to establish an account for a user, associating one or more servers with the account, and providing access to the corresponding user only to the associated servers. In the method, searches may be conducted for strings and requests, and identified strings and requests may be sorted by a variety of criteria.

Claims

1. A method for problem determination for applications running in a distributed environment, comprising:

receiving, from a user, selection of a data collector for custom configuration; and

in response to the selection of the data collector for custom configuration,

displaying a data collector configuration page;

prompting the user to enter an exclude list of first class names of applications not to be monitored unless the first class names are listed in an exclude override list;

prompting the user to enter the exclude override list of second class names to be monitored, wherein the second class names are a subset of the first class names in the exclude list; and

monitoring the applications of the second class names without monitoring the applications of the first class names.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying an unconfigured data collectors configuration page with a list of configurable data collectors that are not currently configured, wherein the data collector is selected from the list of configurable data collectors.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data collector configuration page includes a first area for the exclude list of first class names and a second area for the exclude override list of second class names.

4. A system for problem determination for applications running in a distributed environment, comprising:

a processor; and

computer hardware configured for;

receiving, from a user, selection of a data collector for custom configuration; and

in response to the selection of the data collector for custom configuration,

displaying a data collector configuration page;

prompting a user to enter an exclude list of first class names of applications not to be monitored unless the first class names are listed in an exclude override list;

prompting the user to enter the exclude override list of second class names to be monitored, wherein the second class names are a subset of the first class names in the exclude list; and

monitoring the applications of the second class names without monitoring the applications of the first class names.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the computer hardware is configured for:

displaying an unconfigured data collectors configuration page with a list of configurable data collectors that are not currently configured, wherein the data collector is selected from the list of configurable data collectors.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the data collector configuration page includes a first area for the exclude list of first class names and a second area for the exclude override list of second class names.

7. A computer program for problem determination for applications running in a distributed environment, said computer program consisting of instructions stored on a non-transitory medium, said instructions, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to execute:

receiving, from a user, selection of a data collector for custom configuration; and

in response to the selection of the data collector for custom configuration,

displaying a data collector configuration page;

prompting the user to enter an exclude list of first class names of applications not to be monitored unless the first class names are listed in an exclude override list;

prompting the user to enter the exclude override list of second class names to be monitored, wherein the second class names are a subset of the first class names in the exclude list; and

monitoring the applications of the second class names without monitoring the applications of the first class names.

8. The computer program of claim 7, wherein said instructions, when executed on the processor cause the processor to execute:

displaying an unconfigured data collectors configuration page with a list of configurable data collectors that are not currently configured, wherein the data collector is selected from the list of configurable data collectors.

9. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the data collector configuration page includes a first area for the exclude list of first class names and a second area for the exclude override list of second class names.