TRACKING AND IMPLEMENTING WORKAROUNDS TO COMPUTER-RELATED ISSUES

• US 20180359142A1
• Filed: 06/12/2017
• Published: 12/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: White, JR., David C., Johnston, Jay Kemper, Mortensen, Magnus
• Granted Patent: US 10,439,874 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0636 based on a decision tree analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

In one embodiment, a supervisory device in a network identifies a workaround for a symptom exhibited by a particular device in the network by traversing a path in a symptom-problem graph. The path in the graph includes a symptom vertex that represents the symptom, a problem vertex that shares an edge with the symptom vertex and represents a problem that causes the symptom, and a workaround vertex that shares an edge with the problem vertex and represents the workaround for the symptom. The supervisory device causes the identified workaround to be applied to the particular device and updates the path in the graph to replace the workaround vertex with a fix vertex that represents a fix for the problem that causes the symptom exhibited by the particular device. The supervisory device causes the fix to be applied to the particular device based on the updated path in the graph.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by a supervisory device in a network, a workaround for a symptom exhibited by a particular device in the network by traversing a path in a symptom-problem graph, wherein the path in the graph comprises a symptom vertex that represents the symptom, a problem vertex that shares an edge with the symptom vertex and represents a problem that causes the symptom, and a workaround vertex that shares an edge with the problem vertex and represents the workaround for the symptom;

causing, by the supervisory device, the identified workaround to be applied to the particular device;

updating, by the supervisory device, the path in the symptom-problem graph to replace the workaround vertex with a fix vertex that represents a fix for the problem that causes the symptom exhibited by the particular device; and

causing, by the supervisory device, the fix for the problem to be applied to the particular device based on the updated path in the symptom-problem graph.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the fix for the problem comprises a software update for the particular device.

3. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

tracking, by the supervisory device, application of the identified workaround to the particular device; and

causing, by the supervisory device, the workaround applied to the particular device to be rolled back based on the tracking of the application of the identified workaround to the particular device.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein tracking the application of the identified workaround to the particular device comprises:

maintaining, by the supervisory device, a device tree that is based on the symptom-problem tree.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein the path in the symptom-problem graph comprises a plurality of workaround and problem vertices, and wherein an edge between a particular workaround vertex and a particular problem vertex in the path represents a problem that would arise as a result of the particular workaround being applied to a device.

6. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

causing, by the supervisory device, the workarounds represented by the plurality of workaround vertices in the path to be applied to the particular device, wherein the workarounds are applied according to an ordering of the workaround vertices in the path.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein identifying the workaround for the symptom exhibited by the particular device further comprises:

selecting, by the supervisory device, the path in the symptom-problem graph from among a plurality of paths in the symptom-problem graph that include the symptom vertex, based on the selected path being the shortest path among the plurality of paths.

8. The method as in claim 1, wherein identifying the workaround for the symptom exhibited by the particular device further comprises:

selecting, by the supervisory device, the path in the symptom-problem graph from among a plurality of paths in the symptom-problem graph that include the symptom vertex, based on the selected path having a lowest associated path cost among the plurality of paths.

9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the workaround applied to the particular device comprises at least one of:

disabling a particular software module on the particular device or adjusting a setting of the particular device.

10. The method as in claim 1, wherein the particular device comprises at least one of:

a network switch, a network router, or a network firewall.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate with a network;

a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed configured to;

identify a workaround for a symptom exhibited by a particular device in the network by traversing a path in a symptom-problem graph, wherein the path in the graph comprises a symptom vertex that represents the symptom, a problem vertex that shares an edge with the symptom vertex and represents a problem that causes the symptom, and a workaround vertex that shares an edge with the problem vertex and represents the workaround for the symptom;

cause the identified workaround to be applied to the particular device;

update the path in the symptom-problem graph to replace the workaround vertex with a fix vertex that represents a fix for the problem that causes the symptom exhibited by the particular device; and

cause the fix for the problem to be applied to the particular device based on the updated path in the symptom-problem graph.

12. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the fix for the problem comprises a software update for the particular device.

13. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the process when executed is further configured to:

track application of the identified workaround to the particular device; and

cause the workaround applied to the particular device to be rolled back based on the tracking of the application of the identified workaround to the particular device.

14. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the apparatus tracks the application of the identified workaround to the particular device by:

maintaining a device tree that is based on the symptom-problem tree.

15. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the path in the symptom-problem graph comprises a plurality of workaround and problem vertices, and wherein an edge between a particular workaround vertex and a particular problem vertex in the path represents a problem that would arise as a result of the particular workaround being applied to a device.

16. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the process when executed is further configured to:

cause the workarounds represented by the plurality of workaround vertices in the path to be applied to the particular device, wherein the workarounds are applied according to an ordering of the workaround vertices in the path.

17. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the apparatus identifies the workaround for the symptom exhibited by the particular device by:

selecting the path in the symptom-problem graph from among a plurality of paths in the symptom-problem graph that include the symptom vertex, based on the selected path being the shortest path among the plurality of paths.

18. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the apparatus identifies the workaround for the symptom exhibited by the particular device by:

selecting the path in the symptom-problem graph from among a plurality of paths in the symptom-problem graph that include the symptom vertex, based on the selected path having a lowest associated path cost among the plurality of paths.

19. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the workaround applied to the particular device comprises at least one of:

disabling a particular software module on the particular device or adjusting a setting of the particular device.

20. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that cause a supervisory device in a network to perform a process comprising:

identifying, by the supervisory device, a workaround for a symptom exhibited by a particular device in the network by traversing a path in a symptom-problem graph, wherein the path in the graph comprises a symptom vertex that represents the symptom, a problem vertex that shares an edge with the symptom vertex and represents a problem that causes the symptom, and a workaround vertex that shares an edge with the problem vertex and represents the workaround for the symptom;

causing, by the supervisory device, the identified workaround to be applied to the particular device;

updating, by the supervisory device, the path in the symptom-problem graph to replace the workaround vertex with a fix vertex that represents a fix for the problem that causes the symptom exhibited by the particular device; and

causing, by the supervisory device, the fix for the problem to be applied to the particular device based on the updated path in the symptom-problem graph.