Patent ID: 8543671

Claim:
A system for grouped computing device configuration management, comprising: a first number of computing devices having processors and memory thereon for the storage of executable instructions and data, wherein the instructions are executed to: establish a computing device baseline configuration at both a command level and a file level for use in comparing the baseline configuration with a second number of computing devices; execute a first set of executable instructions on the first number of computing devices to send a second set of executable instructions to the second number of computing devices and that execute on the second number of computing devices to collect current and historical data regarding command and file level configuration of the second number of computing devices; receive, on the first number of computing devices, the current and historical data collected from the second number of computing devices; purge the current and the historical data collected based upon whether the data collected was received by the first number of computing devices prior to a purge date; compare the nonpurged current data collected with data from the baseline configuration to determine one or more differences; compare the nonpurged current data with the nonpurged historical data to determine one or more differences; and initiate at least one action selected from the group including: issuing an alert, flagging the differences in a database, generating a report listing the differences, identifying a solution to resolve the differences, and executing instructions to resolve the differences.