METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESS ENFORCED CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

• US 20120290827A1
• Filed: 07/25/2012
• Published: 11/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: McAfee, LLC
• Original Assignee: McAfee, Inc. (McAfee, LLC)
• Inventors: Bhargava, Rishi, Vittal, Chiradeep, Sayeram, Swaroop
• Granted Patent: US 8,707,422 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules

Abstract

A system for and method of automatically enforcing a configuration change process for change requests of one or more configurable element within one or more configurable computation systems. The system comprises means for managing a configuration change process for one or more configurable elements within a corresponding configurable computation system, means for generation a configuration request, means for applying a set of authorization rules to the configuration change requests to generate selective authorization of the CEs, and means for selectively locking and unlocking changes to configurable elements within the configurable computational systems.

Claims

1-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A method comprising:

selectively monitoring configuration changes to one or more configurable elements (CEs) within a configurable computation systems (CCS), wherein the selective monitoring generates configuration change status information;

managing a configuration change process for the one or more CEs, wherein the managing generates one or more configuration change requests; and

processing the configuration change status information, the one or more configuration change requests, and one or more configuration change rules for the one or more CEs, wherein the processing determines whether one or more configuration changes are associated with the one or more configuration change requests and whether the one or more configuration changes complied with the one or more configuration change rules.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the processing the configuration change status information utilizes one or more current conditions.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the one or more current conditions include at least one of:

a current time, a date, a day of the week, an inventory level, and a state of a mechanical device.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the configuration change status information contains at least one of:

the status of a CE configuration change, the status of a CCS configuration change, and information associated with success or failure of the one or more configuration changes.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising associating the configuration change status information with the one or more configuration change requests.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the associating the configuration change status information further associates the configuration change status information with the CCS of the associated one or more configuration change requests.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the associating the configuration change status information further associates the configuration change status information with the corresponding one or more CEs of the associated one or more configuration change requests.

33. The method of claim 26, further comprising generating a report, wherein the report contains the configuration change status information, wherein the configuration change status information is associated with at least one of corresponding CEs and the corresponding CCS.

34. Logic encoded in non-transitory media that includes instructions for execution and when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

selectively monitoring configuration changes to one or more configurable elements (CEs) within a configurable computation systems (CCS), wherein the selective monitoring generates configuration change status information;

managing a configuration change process for the one or more CEs, wherein the managing generates one or more configuration change requests; and

processing the configuration change status information, the one or more configuration change requests, and one or more configuration change rules for the one or more CEs, wherein the processing determines whether the one or more configuration changes are associated with the one or more configuration change requests and whether the configuration changes complied with the one or more associated configuration change rules.

35. The logic of claim 34, wherein the processing the configuration change status information utilizes one or more current conditions.

36. The logic of claim 35, wherein the one or more current conditions include at least one of:

a current time, a date, a day of the week, an inventory level, and a state of a mechanical device.

37. The logic of claim 34, the operations further comprising associating the configuration change status information with the one or more configuration change requests.

38. The logic of claim 34, wherein the configuration change status information contains at least one of:

the status of a CE configuration change, the status of a CCS configuration change, and information associated with success or failure of the one or more configuration changes.

39. The logic of claim 34, the operations further comprising generating a report, wherein the report contains the configuration change status information, wherein the configuration change status information is associated with at least one of corresponding CEs and the corresponding CCS.

40. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate, such that the apparatus is configured for;

selectively monitoring configuration changes to one or more configurable elements (CEs) within a configurable computation systems (CCS), wherein the selective monitoring generates configuration change status information;

managing a configuration change process for the one or more CEs, wherein the managing generates one or more configuration change requests; and

processing the configuration change status information, the one or more configuration change requests, and one or more configuration change rules for the one or more CEs, wherein the processing determines whether the one or more configuration changes are associated with the one or more configuration change requests and whether the configuration changes complied with the one or more associated configuration change rules.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the processing the configuration change status information utilizes one or more current conditions.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the one or more current conditions include at least one of:

a current time, a date, a day of the week, an inventory level, and a state of a mechanical device.

43. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the configuration change status information contains at least one of:

the status of a CE configuration change, the status of a CCS configuration change, and information associated with success or failure of the one or more configuration changes.

44. The apparatus of claim 40, further configured for associating the configuration change status information with the one or more configuration change requests.

45. The apparatus of claim 40, further configured for generating a report, wherein the report contains the configuration change status information, wherein the configuration change status information is associated with at least one of corresponding CEs and the corresponding CCS.