Exportable encoded identifications of networked machines

• US 9,772,834 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2010
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Vidal, Seth Kelby, Antill, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Wei
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wu, Junchun
• Application Number:
  US12/768,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20110265074A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,709 Days
• Field of Search: 717177, 717171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for generating exportable encoded identifications of networked machines based on installed package profiles. A physical or virtual client machine can host a set of installed software packages, including operating system, application, and/or other software. A package manager tracks the set of installed packages and updates available for the installed set. The package manager can be configured to capture an inventory of the installed packages, and generate an encoded identification of the entire package complement and/or selected subsets of those packages. In aspects, the encoded identification can be based on a set of attributes of the installed packages and/or their constituent files, such as file names, version numbers, size, and/or other attributes. The encoded identification for the client machine can be transmitted to one or more remote management platforms, such as package servers, network management servers, or others for remote operations on the client machine.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying, by a processor, a software package installed on a client machine managed by a remote management platform;

generating, by the processor, an encoded identification of the client machine in response to identifying the software package residing on the client machine, wherein the encoded identification is a first hash value based at least in part of the software package in a first state;

registering, by the processor with the remote management platform, the encoded identification of the client machine;

generating, by the processor, an update to the encoded identification of the client machine to obtain an updated encoded identification in response to a detected change in the software package on the client machine, wherein the updated encoded identification is a second hash value based at least in part of the software package in a second state;

receiving, by the processor, a request from the remote management platform to execute an operation on the client machine, the request comprising an identification;

determining, by the processor, whether there is a match between the identification in the request and the updated encoded identification; and

executing, by the processor, the operation on the client machine in response to the match.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the encoded identification of the client machine comprises generating the encoded identification in view of a set of attributes associated with the software package.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of attributes comprises at least one of a package name identifier, a package version identifier, a package epoch identifier, a package timestamp identifier, a package size identifier, a file name identifier, a file version identifier, a file timestamp identifier, or a file size identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the generating the encoded identification comprises generating the first hash value using a hash function applied to the set of attributes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the generating the first hash value comprises generating the first hash value in view of a value of a text string associated with the set of attributes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote management platform comprises at least one of a package management platform or a network management platform.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the remote management platform comprises a package management platform, and the client machine and the software package are identified to the package management platform via the encoded identification of the client machine.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating a software package update for the client machine via the package management platform using the encoded identification of the client machine.

9. A system, comprising:

a data store to store a software package to be installed on a client machine; and

a processor, operatively coupled with the data store, to;

identify the software package on the client machine managed by a remote management platform,

generate an encoded identification of the client machine in response to identifying the software package, wherein the encoded identification is a first hash value based at least in part of the software package in a first state;

register, with the remote management platform, the encoded identification of the client machine;

generate an update to the encoded identification of the client machine to obtain an updated encoded identification in response to a detected change in the software package on the client machine, wherein the updated encoded identification is a second hash value based at least in part of the software package in a second state;

receive a request from the remote management platform to execute an operation on the client machine, the request comprising an identification;

determine whether there is a match between the identification in the request and the updated encoded identification; and

execute the operation on the client machine in response to the match.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further to generate the encoded identification in view of a set of attributes associated with the software package.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the set of attributes comprises at least one of a package name identifier, a package version identifier, a package epoch identifier, a package timestamp identifier, a package size identifier, a file name identifier, a file version identifier, a file timestamp identifier, or a file size identifier.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further to generate the first hash value using a hash function applied to the set of attributes.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further to generate the first hash value in view of a value of a text string associated with the set of attributes.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the remote management platform comprises a package management platform.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

identify a software package installed on a client machine managed by a remote management platform;

generate, by the processor, an encoded identification of the client machine in response to identifying the software package, wherein the encoded identification is a first hash value based at least in part of the software package in a first state;

register, with the remote management platform, the encoded identification of the client machine;

generate, by the processor, an update to the encoded identification of the client machine to obtain an updated encoded identification in response to a detected change in the software package on the client machine, wherein the updated encoded identification is a second hash value based at least in part of the software package in a second state;

receive, by the processor, a request from the remote management platform to execute an operation on the client machine, the request comprising an identification;

determine, by the processor, whether there is a match between the identification in the request and the updated encoded identification; and

execute, by the processor, the operation on the client machine in response to the match.