Patent ID: 7640245

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for auditing a web server configuration, comprising: selecting a set of configuration settings and expected values associated with the configuration settings; selecting a target server from a group of servers on a network to be audited; wherein other servers on the network remain unselected; wherein the audit compares the configuration values currently set on the target server with the expected values; wherein the configuration values are static values; loading a metabase for each of the target servers to be audited; wherein the metabase includes metadata corresponding to the currently set configuration values for the selected configuration settings on the target server; retrieving metadata values from the metabase for the target server that correspond to the currently set configuration values for the selected configuration settings for the target server; comparing the metadata values associated with the target server to the expected values associated with the configuration settings; and producing an output based upon the comparison, wherein the output includes a representation of whether the selected configuration settings and expected values match the settings and the metadata values associated with the target server.