Method and apparatus for authorizing and reporting changes to device configurations

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.: 60/269,017 filed on Feb. 15, 2001.

[0002] This application is related to the following co-pending application, the disclosures of which are incorporated into this specification by reference.

[0003] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/950,725, entitled AUTHENTICATION AND AUTHORIZATION FOR ACCESS TO REMOTE PRODUCTION DEVICES.(USi 4)

[0004] The present invention relates to methods of file configuration management, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reporting and certifying changes to device configuration files.

[0005] In IT environments it is customary for a plurality of software developers and/or administrators to work with a particular computing system. For example, many software projects are too large for a single developer, and thus there are a plurality of developers writing the source code for such projects. In such environments, measures must be taken to avoid conflicts between two or more developers. In particular, source code is usually divided into a plurality of source files, and thus only one developer should be able to work on a given component/source file at a time. Otherwise, two or more developers could simultaneously make changes to the same portion of the source code, and when these developers save the changes to permanent storage (e.g., disk), only the changes made by one of these developers would actually be stored. Consequently, it is standard practice to use a software configuration management system, in which developers must “check out” a particular source file before they can make changes to the file. Once checked out, the source file becomes “locked” in the configuration management system, and accordingly no other person can check out the file to make changes until the developer who checked out the file checks the file back in.

[0006] Furthermore, modem software engineering practice often involves a formal process for making software changes, since haphazard changes can potentially introduce bugs or adversely affect the functionality of the overall software. Accordingly, a developer or team of developers typically must submit a formal request before actually performing changes to the software. Such “change requests” typically describe desired behavioral changes to the system (referred to as figurative changes), and identify exactly what will be changed in which files (literal changes) to accomplish the proposed change in functionality. Change requests are typically submitted to a designated group of individuals with the authority to review the proposed change, and approve or reject the change. This designated group, often referred to as a review board, commonly comprises an administrator and a plurality of subject matter experts.

[0007] Two problems can occur in such an environment. First, the approved change can be performed improperly (e.g., a developer may change a file that was not specified in the change request). Second, a developer could circumvent the approval process and make changes without ever submitting a change request. (It is not uncommon for developers to view the process of change requests as a “hassle”.) In either case the potential for total system failure can be very large, and it can be very difficult if not impossible to identify the cause of failures due to such undocumented changes.

[0008] The present invention is directed toward the automatic identification of unauthorized changes to a distributed computing system. In particular, the invention tracks and monitors changes to configurations of devices in the computing system. Exemplary devices in a distributed computing system include routers, switches, firewalls, and servers. The configuration for a device is typically stored in a set of persistent text files.

[0009] The monitoring system of the present invention employs a software that downloads configurations of each device being monitored, and stores the configuration in a version control repository. The software, for example, can be a version control tool called CVS. The configurations can change over time, and accordingly the version control repository keeps track of each subsequent version and allows “rollback” to a prior configuration. When the monitoring system detects a change in a configuration, an alert is sent to two individuals: the system administrator of the particular device to which the configuration pertains, and a member of the change review board. Thus, the configuration changes can be certified or the original configuration can be restored, where appropriate.

[0010] As part of the invention changed device configurations are stored temporarily along with original device configurations to provide approving authority without opportunity to “rollback” to an original configuration. If changes are approved the original configuration is dropped from a memory and the changed configuration replaces the original device configuration in memory.

[0011] By reporting back to the appropriate subject matter expert(s) of the review board, literal changes can be mapped to the figurative change requests. Additionally, the effectiveness of the change review board in controlling change can be ascertained.

[0017] The method of the present invention involves two tasks which are performed sequentially: changing the configuration of a device, and reporting completed changes to designated individuals of the review board. Each of these two tasks comprises a plurality of steps.

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a process flow diagram for first task 10, changing the configuration of a device. First, a team of two individuals called the submitter and the performer submits a change request to the review board (20). The change request proposes to change the configuration C of a particular device D, where C consists of file set F. The review board, comprising a change control administrator and a plurality of subject matter experts, decides whether to approve or reject the change request (30). If the review board rejects the change request, the method of the present invention terminates 40 (i.e., the first task terminates, and the second task is never performed.) If the review board approves the change request, the performer makes the appropriate changes to files F, resulting in a new set of files F′ (50). Step 50 marks the end of first task 10.

[0019] FIG. 2 shows the steps involved in second task 100, reporting completed changes to designated individuals of the review board. Second task 100 is initiated automatically when first task 10 completes. A collector agent downloads the device configuration files (110), and stores these files in a version control repository (120). A comparison agent consults the version control repository to determine whether there are any configuration files for which the most recent version differs from the previous version (130). If any such version differences are detected, the comparison agent creates an HTML page visually highlighting these version differences (140); otherwise, the second task terminates (145). The comparison agent then determines the device corresponding to the changed configuration files (150), and consults a table mapping each device to a list of one or more subject matter experts on the review board (160). The comparison agent subsequently consults a table mapping subject matter experts to email addresses (170), and sends an email to the proper addresses (180). The email notifies the subject matter experts of which configuration files were changed, and includes a URL to the created HTML page, thereby allowing the experts to conveniently view the exact changes made. In the last step (190) of second task 100, and accordingly the method of the present invention, the subject matter experts check whether the changes made had been approved beforehand by the review board.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment, the comparison agent can report only changes of interest to the review board. For example, a change in which only the timestamp of a file has been updated, but the contents of the file remain the same, would not be reported.

[0021] A block diagram for an exemplary system 200 is shown in FIG. 3. The system comprises: a plurality of devices 210¹ . . . 210ⁿ, each having a set of configuration files 210¹ . . . 220ⁿ, a version control repository 230; a collector agent 240 that collects device configuration files and populates the repository with these files; and a comparison agent 250. Comparison agent 250 compares versions of configuration files in the repository, constructs an HTML page highlighting the version differences in files that have changed, and emails the appropriate subject matter experts, as enumerated in steps 130-190 of the method of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows the interactions among exemplary system 200, submitter 300, performer 310, and review board 320 according to the method of the present invention.

[0022] The present invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments discussed herein. Rather, the invention includes other variations thereof. For example, the collector agent and comparison agent could be combined into a single software module. Similarly, the exact manner in which the comparison agent determines to whom email should be sent could be implemented differently, while retaining the same functionality.

[0023] The drawings and their description are only intended to illustrate the idea of the present invention. The details of the reporting configuration and the comparison agent that determines version differences as well as the specific method disclosed for verifying correctness may vary within the scope of the following claims. However, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.