Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to techniques for monitoring whether a program installed on an information processing apparatus is running properly. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0002]    According to an aspect of the present invention, a recording medium readable by an information processing apparatus, has recorded thereon a monitoring program for monitoring an operation status of a monitoring target program that runs on an information processing apparatus having a processor and a memory. The monitoring program causes the information processing apparatus to obtain, at a time of installation of a program, information indicating a status where the program is executed in the information processing apparatus and becomes a monitoring target program. The program monitors, on the basis of the information obtained, whether the monitoring target program exists in a memory in which the monitoring target program has been loaded. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a scheme of an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an agent server; 
           [0005]      FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of the agent server; 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the agent server; 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a manager server; 
           [0008]      FIG. 6  is a diagram showing a configuration of a configuration management database; 
           [0009]      FIG. 7  is a diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring policy database; 
           [0010]      FIG. 8  is a functional block diagram of the manager server; 
           [0011]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the manager server; 
           [0012]      FIG. 10  is a diagram showing a configuration of the configuration management database after an additional program has been registered; 
           [0013]      FIG. 11  is a diagram showing a configuration of the monitoring policy database after an additional process has been registered; 
           [0014]      FIG. 12  is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a supplying server; 
           [0015]      FIG. 13  is a diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring target database; 
           [0016]      FIG. 14  is a functional block diagram of the supplying server; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 15  is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the supplying server. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Before describing an embodiment of the present invention, situations where the present invention is needed will be described. A monitoring target program in the present invention relates to a mission-critical task of a user, and is constantly in operation. If an abnormality occurs in the operation of the program, the user is very likely to suffer a severe damage. Thus, it is essential for the user to detect such an abnormality in the operation of the program as soon as it occurs. One method for detecting such an abnormality in the operation of the program is to monitor a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus. According to this method, it is assumed that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the program if information indicating the status of execution is absent. However, a plurality of statuses exist for an installed program. Therefore, the user has to manually check the status of execution of a selected monitoring target program by an information processing apparatus, and to register, as a monitoring target, information indicating a status of execution of a selected monitoring target program by an information processing apparatus. According to the present invention, information indicating the relationship between each program that is installed and information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus is prepared. This information is referred to when a program is newly installed. This facilitates a procedure of registration of a monitoring target by a user. Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 
       1. Scheme of the Embodiment 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing the scheme of an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a program monitoring system  0  includes a plurality of agent servers  1 , a plurality of manager servers  3 , a supplying server  5 , and a communication network  7  that connects these servers with each other. The number of the agent servers  1  and the number of the manager servers  3  may be changed arbitrarily by an administrator of the system. Each of these servers stores addresses of the other servers so that the servers can carry out communications with each other using the addresses. Now, the operations of the agent servers  1 , the manager servers  5 , and the supplying server  5  will be described briefly. Each of the agent servers  1 , manager servers  3 , and the supplying server  5  can act as an information processing apparatus. 
         [0020]    (1) The agent server  1  reports the name of a program newly added to installed program data  13  and identification information identifying the agent server  1  to the manager server  3  via an agent program. 
         [0021]    (2) The manager server  3  stores the program name reported in (1) in a configuration management database  33  via a manager program  31 . This allows the manager server  3  to manage the agent server  1  that is to be monitored and programs installed on the agent server  1 . Then, the program name reported in (1) is reported to the supplying server  5 . 
         [0022]    (3) The supplying server  5  extracts information indicating a status of execution of the program corresponding to the program name reported in (2) (i.e., extracts a process name), from a monitoring target database  53  via a supplying program  51 . Then, the supplying server  5  reports the extracted process name to the manager server  3 . 
         [0023]    (4) The manager server  3  stores the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus (i.e., the process name), reported in (3), in a monitoring policy database  35  via the manager program  31 . Then, the manager server  3  reports the process name reported in (3) to the agent server  1 . The agent server  1  stores the process name reported from the manager server  3  in monitoring target data  15  via the agent program  11 . The process name is stored automatically by the manager server  3  or manually by a user. When the process name is stored automatically, advantageously, the user is freed from the task of manually registering a monitoring target. On the other hand, when the process name is stored manually, the user need not check the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus. The agent server  1  executes monitoring on the basis of the monitoring target data  15 . More specifically, the agent server  1  regularly monitors whether a process corresponding to the process name stored in the monitoring target data, i.e., a process corresponding to the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, exists in a memory of the agent server  1 . 
         [0024]    Now, the configurations and operations of the servers described above will be described in detail. 
       2. Hardware Configuration of the Agent Server 
       [0025]      FIG. 2  is a diagram showing an example of hardware configuration of the agent server  1 . The agent server  1  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  101 , a storage unit  103 , a bus  105 , a communication unit  107 , an input unit  109 , and an output unit  111 . The CPU  101  controls other components of the agent server  1  and executes various operations. The storage unit  103  stores the agent program  111 , the installed program data  13 , and the monitoring target data  15 . Furthermore, the storage unit  103  also operates as a random access memory (RAM), in which programs are executed and data is stored, a read-only memory (ROM), in which programs and data are stored, and an external storage device that can store a large volume of programs and data. The agent program  11  obtains from the manager server  3  information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus, the program corresponding to a program newly installed on the agent server  1 . Furthermore, using this information indicating the status of execution of the program, the agent program  11  monitors whether the newly installed program is running properly. The installed program data  13  includes names of programs installed on the agent server  1 . The installed program data  13  is used when the agent server  1  detects a newly installed program and when the agent server  1  outputs a result of monitoring a program. The monitoring target data  15  includes information indicating a status of execution of a monitoring target program by an information processing program. The information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus is used when the agent server  1  identifies a monitoring target. The communication unit  107  carries out communications with the manager server  3 . The input unit  109  supplies a request from outside regarding monitoring of a program to the agent server  1 . The input unit  109  corresponds to a keyboard, a mouse, or the like. The output unit  111  sends out information regarding monitoring of a program. The output unit  111  corresponds to a monitor, a speaker, or the like. The bus  105  allows data exchange between the CPU  101  and the storage unit  103 , the communication unit  107 , the input unit  109 , and the output unit  111 . 
         [0026]    2.1. Functions of the Agent Server 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing an example of functions of the agent server  1  in this embodiment. The functions of the agent server  1  are realized by execution of the agent program  11 . The agent program  11  includes a detecting sub-routine  2 , sending sub-routine  4 , receiving sub-routine  6 , registering sub-routine  8 , storage sub-routine  12 , and monitoring sub-routine  14 . These sub-routine will be described below. 
       Detecting Sub-routine 
       [0028]    The detecting sub-routine  2  regularly monitors the installed program data  13  to detect the name of a program that has been newly installed, if any. 
       Sending Sub-routine 
       [0029]    The sending sub-routine  4  sends the program name detected by the detecting sub-routine  2  and identification information identifying the agent server  1  to the manager server  3 . This processing serves to obtain information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus, the program corresponding to the name of the newly installed program. 
       Receiving Sub-routine 
       [0030]    The receiving sub-routine  6  receives the information sent from the manager server  3 , indicating the state of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus. The information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus corresponds to the program name sent by the sending sub-routine  4 . 
       Registering Sub-routine 
       [0031]    The registering sub-routine  8  stores the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, received by the receiving sub-routine  6 , in the storage sub-routine  12 . 
       Storage Sub-routine 
       [0032]    The storage sub-routine  12  stores the monitoring target data  15 , in which the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, received by the receiving sub-routine  6 , is stored. 
       Monitoring Sub-routine 
       [0033]    The monitoring sub-routine  14  regularly monitors whether a process corresponding to the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, registered by the registering sub-routine  8 , exists in a memory. 
       2.2. Procedure of Processing Executed by the Agent Server 
       [0034]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the agent server  1  in this embodiment. 
         [0035]    In step S 101 , the detecting sub-routine  2  regularly monitors the installed program data  13  to detect the name of a program that has been newly installed, if any. In the following description, it is assumed that the agent server  1  has detected a newly installed program B. 
         [0036]    In step S 103 , the sending sub-routine  4  sends the program name detected in step S 101  and identification information identifying the agent server  1  to the manager server  3  via the communication unit  107 . The identification information is information stored in the storage unit  103 , and more specifically, the identification information represents a server name. In this example, “Agent server  1 ” representing a server name and “Program B” representing a program name are sent to the manager server  3 . 
         [0037]    In step S 105 , the receiving sub-routine  6  receives information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus, sent from the manager server  3 . The information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus corresponds to the program name sent in step S 103 . In this example, process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are received as the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus. The process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are stored as information corresponding to the program B in the monitoring target database  53  of the supplying server  5 , which will be described later. 
         [0038]    In step S 107 , the registering sub-routine  8  stores in the monitoring target data  15  the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus. In this example, the process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are stored in the monitoring target data  15 . 
         [0039]    In step S 109 , using the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, registered in step S 107 , the monitoring sub-routine  14  regularly monitors whether processes corresponding to the information exist in the memory. This monitoring is executed using a function (command or API (application program interface)) for obtaining a list of processes running on the agent server  1 . If the processes exist in the memory, the monitoring sub-routine  14  assumes that a normal status exists, so that no special processing is executed. On the other hand, if the processes do not exist in the memory, the monitoring sub-routine  14  assumes an abnormal state, so that the monitoring sub-routine  14  sends the process names of the absent processes to the manager server  3  via the communication unit  107 . In this example, the monitoring sub-routine  14  regularly monitors whether the process b 1  and the process b 2  exist in the memory. 
       3. Hardware Configuration of the Manager Server 
       [0040]      FIG. 5  is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the manager server  3 . The manager server  3  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  301 , a storage unit  303 , a bus  305 , a communication unit  307 , an input unit  309 , and an output unit  311 . The CPU  301  controls other components of the manager server  3  and executes various operations. The storage unit  303  stores a manager program  31 , the configuration management database  33 , and the policy management database  35 . Furthermore, the storage unit  303  also operates as a random access memory (RAM), in which programs are executed and data is stored, a read-only memory (ROM), in which programs and data are stored, and an external storage device that can store a large volume of programs and data. The manager program  31  controls the operation of the manager server  3  as follows. The manager server  3  stores the name of the newly added program, reported from the agent server  1 , in the configuration management database  33 . Then, the manager server  3  obtains information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus from the supplying server  5 , the program corresponding to the name of the newly added program. Then, the manager server  3  stores the information in the monitoring policy database  35 . Then, the manager server  3  sends the information to the agent server  1  via the communication unit  307 . 
         [0041]    The configuration management database  33  serves to manage programs that have been installed on the agent server  1  and that are managed by the manager server  3 . The monitoring policy database  35  serves to manage information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus, the program being a program monitored by the agent server  1  managed by the manager server  3 . The communication unit  307  carries out communications with the agent server  1  or the supplying server  5 . The input unit  309  supplies a request from outside regarding monitoring of a program to the agent server  1 . The input unit  309  corresponds to a keyboard, a mouse, or the like. The output unit  311  sends out information regarding monitoring of a program. The output unit  311  corresponds to a monitor, a speaker, or the like. The bus  305  allows exchange of data between the CPU  301  and the storage unit  303 , the communication unit  307 , the input unit  309 , and the output unit  311 . 
       3.1. Configuration of the Configuration Management Database 
       [0042]      FIG. 6  shows the configuration management database  33  storing program names reported from the agent server  1 . Information elements of the configuration management database  33  are server name  331  and program name  333 . The server name  331  is used when the manger server identifies a server that is managed. The program name  333  is used when the manager server  3  identifies a program installed on the server that is managed. The program name  333  is also used when the manager server  3  obtains a process name corresponding to the program from the supplying server  5 . 
       3.2. Configuration of the Monitoring Policy Database 
       [0043]      FIG. 7  shows the monitoring policy database  35  storing process names reported from the supplying server  5 . Information elements of the monitoring policy database  35  are server name  351  and process name  353 . The server name  351  is used when the manager server  3  identifies a server that is managed. The process name  353  is information indicating a status of execution of a program corresponding to the server. 
       3.3. Functions of the Manager Server 
       [0044]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing an example of functions of the manager sever  3  in this embodiment. The functions of the manager server  3  are realized by execution of the manager program  31 . The manager program  31  includes a receiving sub-routine  16 , obtaining sub-routine  17 , registering sub-routine  19 , storage sub-routine  21 , and sending sub-routine  23 . These sub-routine will be described below. 
       Receiving Sub-routine 
       [0045]    The receiving sub-routine  16  receives a program name and a server name sent by the sending sub-routine  4  of the agent server  1 . 
       Obtaining Sub-routine 
       [0046]    The obtaining sub-routine  17  registers the program name received by the receiving sub-routine  16  in the configuration management database  33 . Then, the obtaining sub-routine  17  sends the received program name to the supplying server  5 . This processing serves to obtain information indicating a status of execution of a program corresponding to the received program name by an information processing apparatus. 
       Registering Sub-routine 
       [0047]    The registering sub-routine  19  stores the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, received by the obtaining sub-routine  17 , in the storage sub-routine  21 . 
       Storage Sub-routine 
       [0048]    The storage sub-routine  21  stores the configuration management database  33  storing the program name received by the receiving sub-routine  16 , and the monitoring policy database  35  storing the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, obtained by the obtaining sub-routine  17 . 
       Sending Sub-routine 
       [0049]    The sending sub-routine  23  sends the information indicating the status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, stored by the registering sub-routine  19 , to the agent server  1 . 
       3.4. Procedure of Processing Executed by the Manager Server 
       [0050]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the manager server  3  in this embodiment. 
         [0051]    In step S 501 , the receiving sub-routine  16  receives a program name and a server name from the agent server  1  via the communication unit  307 . The following description will be given assuming that “Agent server  1 ” as the server name and “Program B” as the program name are received. 
         [0052]    In step S 503 , the receiving sub-routine  16  registers the received program name in the configuration management database  33 . In this example, the program name “Program B” is stored in the configuration management database  33 . 
         [0000]    3.5. Example of the Configuration Management Database with Added Information 
         [0053]      FIG. 10  shows an example of the configuration management database  33  after execution of step S 503 . The information elements of the configuration management database  33  are the server name  331  and the program name  333 , as described earlier with reference to  FIG. 6 . Referring to  FIG. 10 , a program name is additionally included as indicated by  335 , which corresponds to the program name registered in step S 503 . 
         [0054]    Now, the description of the procedure of processing executed by the manager server  3  will be continued referring back to  FIG. 9 . 
         [0055]    In step S 505 , the obtaining sub-routine  17  obtains a process name from the monitoring target database  53  stored in the supplying server  5  via the communication unit  307 , the process name obtained being a process name corresponding to the program name detected by the receiving sub-routine  16 . The process name serves as information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus. The status of execution refers to a status where a monitoring target program is loaded in a memory of the agent server  1 . Furthermore, the status of execution refers to a status where the program is constantly resident unless an abnormality occurs. The abnormality refers to, for example, accidental termination of the program by a user or forcible termination of the program due to a bug. Furthermore, a plurality of statuses of execution can exist for one monitoring target program. This is because an operating system (OS) that runs on the agent server  1  controls the program on a basis of individual units of the program loaded in the memory according to the specification of the CPU  101 . In this example, as information indicating a status of execution of the program by the information processing apparatus, process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are received. The process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are stored as information corresponding to the program B in the monitoring target database  53  of the supplying server  5 , which will be described later. 
         [0056]    In step S 507 , the registering sub-routine  19  stores the process names obtained by the obtaining sub-routine  4  in the monitoring policy database  35 . The process names serve as information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus. Furthermore, the process names are used when the manager server  3  identifies processes associated with a server that is managed. In this example, the process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are stored in the monitoring policy database  35 . 
         [0000]    3.6. Example of the Monitoring Policy Database with Added Information 
         [0057]      FIG. 11  shows an example of the monitoring policy database  36  after execution of step S 507 . The information elements of the monitoring policy database  35  are the server name  351  and the process name  353 , as described earlier with reference to  FIG. 7 . Referring to  FIG. 11 , the process names registered in step S 507  have been added, as indicated by  355 . The process names serve as information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus. 
         [0058]    Referring back to  FIG. 9 , the description of the procedure of processing executed by the manager server  3  will be continued. 
         [0059]    In step S 509 , the sending sub-routine  23  reports the process names obtained by the obtaining sub-routine  17  to the agent server  1  storing the program corresponding to the program name detected by the detecting sub-routine  2 . The process names serve as information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus. In this example, the process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are sent to an agent server  2 . 
       4. Hardware Configuration of the Supplying Server 
       [0060]      FIG. 12  shows an example of hardware configuration of the supplying server  5 . The supplying server  5  includes a CPU  501 , a storage unit  503 , a bus  505 , a communication unit  507 , an input unit  509 , and an output unit  511 . The CPU  501  controls other components of the supplying server  5  and executes various operations. The storage unit  503  stores a supplying program  51  and a monitoring policy database  53 . Furthermore, the storage unit  503  also operates as a random access memory (RAM), in which programs are executed and data is stored, a read-only memory (ROM), in which programs and data are stored, and an external storage device that can store a large volume of programs and data. The supplying program  51  returns a process name stored in the monitoring target database  53  in response to a request from the manger server  3 . The process name serves as information indicating a status of execution of the program by an information processing apparatus. 
         [0061]    The monitoring target database  53  serves to manage the relationship between program names and process names managed by the supplying server  5 . The communication unit  507  carries out communications with the manager server  3 . The input unit  509  supplies a request from outside regarding monitoring of a program to the agent server  1 . The input unit  509  corresponds to a keyboard, a mouse, or the like. The output unit  511  sends out information regarding monitoring of a program. The output unit  511  corresponds to a monitor, a speaker, or the like. The bus  505  allows exchange of data between the CPU  501  and the storage unit  530 , the communication unit  507 , the input unit  509 , and the output unit  511 . 
       4.1. Configuration of the Monitoring Target Database 
       [0062]      FIG. 13  shows the monitoring target database  53  storing the process names of processes associated with programs installed on the agent server  1 . Information elements of the monitoring target database  53  are program name  531  and process name  533 . The program name  531  represents the program names of programs installed on the agent server  1 . The program name  531  is used to obtain a process name  533  associated with the program name detected by the manager server  3 . The process name  533  serves as information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus. Furthermore, the process name  533  is used by the agent server  3  to monitor an installed program. 
       4.2. Functions of the Supplying Server 
       [0063]      FIG. 14  is a block diagram showing an example of functions of the supplying server  5 . The functions of the supplying server  5  are realized by execution of the supplying program  51 . The supplying program  51  includes a supplying sub-routine  25  and storage sub-routine  27 . These sub-routines will be described below. 
       Supplying Sub-routine 
       [0064]    The supplying sub-routine  25  receives a program name from the obtaining sub-routine  19  of the manager server  3 . Then, the supplying sub-routine  25  extracts from the monitoring target database  53  information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus, the program corresponding to the program name received. Then, the supplying sub-routine  25  sends the information to the obtaining sub-routine  19  of the manager server  3 . 
       Storage Sub-routine 
       [0065]    The storage sub-routine  27  stores the monitoring target database  53  storing relationship between program names and information indicating statuses of execution of programs by information processing apparatuses. 
       4.3. Procedure of Processing Executed by the Supplying Server 
       [0066]      FIG. 15  is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the supplying server  5  in this embodiment. 
         [0067]    In step S 701 , the supplying sub-routine  25  receives a program name from the manager server  3  via the communication unit  507 . The following description will be given assuming that “Program B” is received as the program name. 
         [0068]    In step S 703 , the supplying sub-routine  25  reads process names corresponding to the received program name from the monitoring target database  53 . The process names serve as information indicating a status of execution of a program by an information processing apparatus. In this example, process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are read as information corresponding to the program B. 
         [0069]    In step S 705 , the supplying sub-routine sends the process names that have been read to the manager server  3  via the communication unit  507 . In this example, the process names “Process b 1 ” and “Process b 2 ” are sent to the manager server  3 . 
         [0070]    Although the present invention has been described in the context of an embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and may be embodied in various manners within the scope of the appended claims.

Technology Category: g