JP2003015973A - Network device management device, management method and management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To give information by an electronic mail when a network device is restored. SOLUTION: A transmission means 1601 transmits a Get Request packet to a printer 133, which responds thereto to return Get Response packet. A receiving means 1602 receives the Get Response packet, and a content analysis means 1603 extracts errors A, B as error information contained in the Get Response packet. A comparison and detection means 1605 compares preceding error information held in a holding means 1604 with this error information to detect a new error and restoration of the error. As the result of the comparison and detection, it is detected that an error B is new, an error B is successive and an error C is restored, an electronic mail concerning the detection result is prepared by an electronic mail preparation means 1606 and transmitted by an electronic mail transmission means 1607. Contents of the error are renewed by a renewal means 1608.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for managing various network devices connected to a computer network, and more particularly to a network device management apparatus, management method and management program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various network devices have been introduced as computers are connected to networks. In a network such as a LAN, a network device such as a printer is often arranged at a position distant from a computer, and therefore it is desirable to be able to manage the network device remotely. As a protocol used for this management, for example, S
There is a protocol called NMP.

SNMP (Simple Network Management Pro
is a protocol for managing a network such as a LAN, and is not limited to a network based on the TCP / IP protocol at present, but is not limited to TCP / IP.
It is also widely used as a network management protocol for networks based on protocols other than IP.

[0004] Normally, network management based on SNMP uses MIB (Management
Management is performed by accessing a tree-structured information database called Information Base).

On the other hand, as a method for efficiently finding and using various resources (printer, server, scanner, etc.) on the network, what is called a directory service is provided.

[0006] A directory service is like a telephone directory related to a network. As a specific example of this directory service, for example, RFC1777.
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Acc
ess Protocol) and Novell's NDS (NetWare Dire
There is a ctory service).

In the conventional network device management system, for example, a network device connected to the network is searched by using SNMP / MIB and a directory service, and the status of the network device and various information set in the network device. Can be displayed and changed.

By the way, recently, a Web application capable of displaying a list of network devices connected to the network and displaying the state of the network device and various information set in the network device by the Web browser of the PC. Development is flourishing.

Further, by enclosing the Web server in the network device, a network device providing a function of displaying the status of the network device and various information set in the network device from the Web browser of the PC is provided. Being developed.

[0010]

Here, such W
As one of the functions of the eb application, a function of notifying the network administrator or the like by e-mail that an error has occurred in the network device is considered. When the Web application detects that an error has occurred in the network device, this function converts the name of the network device, the address, and the content of the error that has occurred, from the network device into an email format. It is a function of converting and notifying to a preset e-mail address.

However, in the above-mentioned study example, the electronic mail is notified only when an error occurs in the network device. That is, no email is sent in the normal state. Therefore, even if the error that occurred is recovered after that, the fact was not notified by e-mail, so the user must go directly to the network device and confirm whether or not the error has been recovered. I had to do it.

Further, in the above-described study example, every time the Web application detects that an error has occurred in the network device, the error of the network device is notified by e-mail. Had the drawback of delivering the same email and unnecessarily increasing network traffic.

Further, in the case where the network device in which the first error has already occurred and the second error having a lower importance than the first error occurs, the network device is restored unless the first error is resolved. Although it is not possible to do so, there is also a drawback in that the fact that the second error has been detected is delivered by electronic mail, and network traffic is unnecessarily increased.

Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention, it is an object to notify the user of the recovery of a network device by electronic mail in order to eliminate such annoyance.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the Web application detects that the same error occurs in the network device, the Web application does not deliver the electronic mail, so that the network traffic It is an object of the present invention to provide a network device management system capable of reducing the above.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention,
An error of lower importance than an error that has already occurred is We
It is an object of the present invention to provide a network device management system capable of reducing network traffic by preventing an electronic mail from being delivered by a Web application when the b application detects it.

[0017]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems,
The present invention is a network device management apparatus that manages a network device connected to a network, wherein the network device transmits a status request at a predetermined timing to the network device, and the network device sends the status request. In response to the status information, the receiving means receives the status information, the first status information received by the receiving means at the first time, and the first status information after the first time. Detecting means for comparing the second status information received at the second time with the second status information to detect a change in the content of the status information; and the detecting means for detecting the content of the first status information and the second status. An electronic mail transmitting means for transmitting an electronic mail regarding a change in the status information to a predetermined mail address when it is detected that the information content changes. Provides management apparatus for network devices, wherein the door.

Further, when the detecting means detects that there is a change in the contents of the first state information and the contents of the second state information, an electronic mail for creating an electronic mail relating to the change of the status information. The e-mail sending means may further include a creating means, and the e-mail sending means may configure a management device of the network device to send the e-mail created by the e-mail creating means to a predetermined mail address.

Further, the first status information indicates normality,
When the second state information indicates an abnormality, the detection unit detects that the network device has changed from the normal state to the abnormal state, and the electronic mail creation unit causes the network device to be abnormal. The management device of the network device may be configured to create an electronic mail indicating that the status has changed.

Further, the first state information indicates an abnormality,
When the second state information indicates normality, the detection unit detects that the network device has changed from an abnormal state to a normal state, and the electronic mail creation unit causes the network device to operate normally. The management device of the network device may be configured to create an email indicating that the state has been recovered.

Further, it further comprises storage means for storing the state information received by the receiving means in time series, and the detecting means stores the first and second temporally stored data stored in the storage means. The management device of the network device may be configured to detect a change in content between the status information and the second status information.

Further, the detecting means further comprises a storage means for storing the first state information received by the receiving means at the first time, and the detecting means has the first state stored in the storage means. The management device of the network device may be configured to detect a change in content between the information and the second state information received by the receiving means.

Here, the predetermined timing is, for example,
It may be a regular timing or an arbitrary timing. In short, the present invention only needs to be able to determine whether or not a reply will be returned to the transmitted response request command. However, maintenance is often performed on a regular basis, so the former may be more convenient.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a network device management apparatus comprising a holding means for holding the content of an error that has occurred in a network device, wherein an error has occurred in the network device. Observing means for observing whether or not there is a first error when the observing means has observed that the first error has occurred in the network device, and the contents of the first error and the past held in the holding means. When the determination unit that determines whether the content of the second error that has occurred and the content of the second error do not match, the determination unit that determines whether the content of the second error that has occurred and the content of the second error do not match, Updating means for updating the content of the error held in the holding means to the content of the first error; and the first means by the judging means.
And an e-mail sending means for sending an e-mail about the content of the first error to a predetermined mail address when it is determined that the content of the second error does not match the content of the second error. A management device for a network device is provided.

When a plurality of errors have occurred in the network device, the holding means holds the contents of the plurality of errors, and the judging means holds the first error observed by the observing means. And the contents of a plurality of errors held in the holding means, to determine whether the contents of the first error is already held in the holding means, the result of the determination in the determination means, When it is determined that the content of the first error is stored in the storage unit, the electronic mail transmission unit suppresses transmission of an electronic mail related to the content of the first error. Item 17. A network device management apparatus according to Item 17.

The determining means determines whether the level of the first error is higher than the level of the second error, and the determining means determines that the level of the first error is the second level. When it is determined that the error level is higher than the error level, the updating unit updates the content of the error held in the holding unit to the content of the first error, and the electronic mail transmitting unit sets the first error content to the first error content. The management device of the network device may be configured to send an email regarding the content of the error to a predetermined email address.

Further, when a plurality of errors occur as the second error in the network device, the holding means holds the contents of the plurality of errors, and the judging means observes in the observing means. The level of the first error is compared with the respective levels of the plurality of errors held in the holding means, and whether the level of the first error is higher than the respective levels of the plurality of errors. If it is determined that the level of the first error is higher than each level of the plurality of errors as a result of the determination by the determination unit, the email transmission unit determines that the first error The management device of the network device may be configured to send an email regarding the content.

Further, as a result of the judgment by the judgment means,
When it is determined that an error having a higher level than the level of the first error is included in the plurality of errors,
The e-mail sending unit may configure a management device of the network device so as to suppress the sending of the e-mail regarding the content of the first error.

Further, the determination means further comprises storage means for storing data representing a correspondence relationship between an error occurring in the network device and a level of the error.
The management device of the network device is configured to obtain the error level of the first error and the error level of the second error from the data stored in the storage means and compare the error levels of both. May be.

Further, the network device management apparatus may be configured so as to further include deletion means for deleting an error which is no longer observed by the observation means from the holding means.

The observing means sends the status request to the network device at a predetermined timing, and the observing means sends status information in response to the status request. The management device of the network device may be configured to include a receiving unit that receives the status information.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [Common Embodiment] An example of a large-scale network that requires management will be described below.
FIG. 1 shows a printer 133 with an open architecture.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a situation in which an NB (network board) 101 is connected to the. The NB 101 is, for example, an Ethernet interface 10Base including a coaxial connector.
-2, LA such as 10Base-T equipped with RJ-45
It is connected to the LAN 100 via the N interface.

Further, a PC (personal computer) 103, a PC 104, etc. are also connected to the LAN 100, and these PCs can communicate with the NB 101 under the control of the network operating system. To manage network devices, use PC 1
For example, the PC 103 may be designated as the network management device and the network management software may be installed. The printer 130 may be connected to the PC 104.
When connecting, parallel port, serial port, U
Any interface such as SB, IEEE 1394, or Bluetooth may be used.

The LAN 100 has a file server 106.
And a large capacity network disk 107 is connected to the file server 106. A plurality of files are stored in the network disk 107, and when the PC accesses these files, the file server 106 manages these accesses. The print server 104 includes printers 131 and 1
33 or a printer such as the MFP 132 located at a remote place to perform printing. Here, the MFP (Multi Function P
eripheral) is a so-called multifunction machine, which is a combination of functions as a copy machine and a network printer. The e-mail server 117 is a server having a role of collecting and delivering e-mail, and when a user having an e-mail address connects to the e-mail server from a client such as the PC 103, the e-mail sent from the user is transferred to another electronic device. It functions to send to a mail server and to distribute emails delivered from other email servers to each user. Further, other peripheral devices (not shown) may be connected to the LAN 100.

More specifically, the network shown in FIG. 1 can use network software such as Novell OS and UNIX (registered trademark) OS in order to efficiently communicate between various network members. The present invention does not depend on the network software and any network software can be used, but here, as an example, NetWare (N
A trademark of ovell. The description will be omitted assuming that software is used. For detailed instructions on this software package, refer to the online documentation included in the NetWare package. It can be purchased with the NetWare package from Novell.

Briefly, the file server 106
Plays a role of a file management unit when performing transmission / reception, storage, queuing or caching of a data file between LAN members. For example, PC103
The data file created by is the file server 1
06, the file server 106 arranges these data files in order, and according to the command from the print server 104, transmits the arranged data files to the printer 131.

The PC 103 is a personal computer, which generates a data file, transmits the generated data file via the LAN 100, and the LAN 100.
Receive files through or view files. Although a personal computer is shown in FIG. 1, other computer equipment running network software may be included. For example, if the network software is UNIX OS, a UNIX workstation is connected to the network as another computer device.

Generally, the LAN 100 or the like provides services to a somewhat local user group such as a user group existing on one floor or a plurality of consecutive floors in a building. On the other hand, if the user exists in another building or another prefecture, a WAN (wide area network) may be configured. WAN basically ISDs several LANs
It is an aggregate formed by connecting digital lines such as N (high speed service integrated digital network). WA
An example of N is shown in FIG.
, And LAN 120 are connected to each other via a MODEM (modulation / demodulation) / router 130 and a backbone 140 to form a WAN. These connections are simple electrical connections with several buses.

The LAN may include a file server, a print server, and an electronic mail server, though it is not always necessary. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The AN 110 includes a PC 111 and a file server 113.
The network disk 114 and the MFP 132 are included. The LAN 120 also includes at least a PC 122. Devices connected to the LAN 100, the LAN 110, and the LAN 120 are connected to each other via the WAN connection.
The functions of the AN device can be accessed.

As a method for managing the devices on the large-scale network as described above, several attempts have been made by many standard organizations so far. For example, ISO
The International Organization for Standardization provides a generic reference framework called the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. The OSI model of network management protocol is called CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol).
CMIP is a European common network management protocol.

In the United States, there is a variant of CMIP called SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) as a more common network management protocol. Regarding SNMP, “Introduction to TCP / IP network management: Aiming for practical management” M. T. See Rose, written by Takeshi Nishida, published by Toppan Co., Ltd. August 20, 1992, first edition. According to the SNMP network management technology, a network management system includes at least one network management station, a managed node, an agent provided in the managed node, and a network used by the network management station and agents for exchanging management information. Includes management protocol. The user can obtain and change the data on the network by communicating with the agent software on the managed node using the network device management software on the network management station.

An agent is software that runs as a background process for each target device. When a user requests management data from a device on the network, the management software sends the object identification information in a management packet or frame to the target agent. The agent interprets the object identification information, extracts the data corresponding to the object identification information, puts the data in a packet, and sends it back to the user. Sometimes the corresponding process is called to retrieve the data.

The agent holds data regarding its own status in the form of a database. This database is called MIB (Management Information Base)
Call. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the MIB. As shown in FIG. 2, the MIB has a tree-structured data structure, and all nodes are uniquely numbered. In FIG. 2, the number written in parentheses is the identifier of that node. For example, in FIG. 2, the identifier of the node 401 is “1”. The identifier of the node 402 is node 4
Since it is "3" under 01, it is written as "1.3". Similarly, the identifier of the node 403 is "1.3.6.
It is expressed as 1.2 ". The identifier of this node is
It is called an object identifier. The structure of this MIB is SM
RFC 1155 "Struct"
ure and Identification of Management Information f
or TCP / IP-based Internets ”.

FIG. 2 shows MI defined as a standard.
Only a part of B is extracted and described.
Reference numeral 404 is a node called a standard MIB, which is a node serving as a vertex of an object group. The standard MIB is an object group that is standardly provided in a device managed by SNMP.
For the detailed structure of the object located under the node 404, refer to RFC1213 “Management Information
Base for Network Management of TCP / IP-based Inter
nets: MIB-II ”.

Reference numeral 405 is a printer MIB, which is a node serving as a vertex of an object group. Printer MIB
Is an object group that is standardly provided in a printer managed by SNMP. For detailed structure of objects located under node 405, see RFC1759.
It is specified in the "Printer MIB".

Further, reference numeral 406 is called a private MIB, and is a node at the top for companies and organizations to define their own MIB. Reference numeral 407 is called a company extension MIB, and is a node at the top of the private MIB for the company to perform its own extension. 1602 is assigned to a certain company as a company number in order to make its own definition, and a vertex node 408 for defining a MIB unique to that company is under the node 407 which is a node meaning the company. Is located in. The object identifier of the vertex node of the MIB unique to the company is "1.3.6.
1.4.1.1602 ".

As an example of agent implementation, it is possible to implement the agent on a network board for connecting the printer to the network. As a result, the printer can be targeted for management by the network device management software. The user can use the network device management software to obtain information about the printer to be controlled and change the status. More specifically, for example, the character string displayed on the liquid crystal display of the printer can be acquired, and the default paper feed cassette can be changed.

An embodiment in which an NB (network board) on which an agent is mounted is connected to a printer will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state in which the NB 101 is installed in the printer 133. As shown in FIG. 3, the NB 101 is composed of a printed circuit board 101a on which a face plate 101b for network connection is installed, and is connected to the printer interface card 150 via a connector 170. The printer interface card 150 directly controls the printer engine of the printer 133. The print data and the printer status command are input from the NB 101 to the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170,
Printer status information is also obtained from the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170.
The NB 101 communicates this information on the LAN 100 via the network connector of the face plate 101b. At the same time, the printer 133 can also receive print data from the conventional serial port 102a and parallel port 102b.

As shown in FIG. 3, preferably NB10
1 is built in the internal expansion I / O slot of the printer 133, and the NB 101 is an “embedded” network node having the processing and data storage functions shown below.

The configuration of the NB 101 provides a characteristic auxiliary function for controlling and managing a large multi-area WAN network. These auxiliary functions include, for example, a printer control function from a remote place on the network (such as an office of a network administrator),
Status monitoring, automatic printer configuration management to provide a guaranteed initial environment for the next user after each print job, and through the network to characterize printer load or schedule toner cartridge replacement Includes features to access, printer logs or features for recording usage statistics.

What is important in the NB design is that the NB 101 is connected via the bidirectional interface such as the shared memory 200.
This is a function to access the printer control function from the. In addition to the shared memory, an interface such as SCSI interface can be used. As a result, printer operation information can be sent to the NB 101 or an external network node, and a number of convenient auxiliary function programs are executed based on this printer information. The blocks of print image data and control information are created by the microprocessor 301 on the NB 101,
Written in shared memory 200 and then printer 13
Read by 3. Similarly, the printer status information is sent from the printer 133 to the shared memory 200 and read from there by the microprocessor 301 on the NB.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the NB 101, the printer 133 and the LAN 100. N
The B 101 is directly connected to the LAN 100 via a LAN interface and to the printer 133 via a printer interface card 150.
A microprocessor 301 for controlling the NB 101, a ROM 303 for storing an operation program of the microprocessor 301, a RAM 302 used as a work area when the microprocessor 301 executes the program, an NB 101 and a printer interface. There is a shared memory 200 for exchanging data with the card 150, and they are connected to each other through an internal bus. The program for the NB 101 to operate as an SNMP agent is ROM3
It is stored in 03. The microprocessor 301
Operates according to the program stored in ROM 303,
The RAM 302 is used as a work area. The shared memory 200 is used as a buffer area for communicating with the printer interface card 150.

The microprocessor 151 on the printer interface card 150 accesses the data with the NB 101 to access the shared memory 20 installed in the NB 101.
Through 0. Printer interface card 150
The upper microprocessor 151 also communicates with the printer engine 160, which actually drives the printing mechanism.

On the other hand, the PC side on which the network device management software operates will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a PC capable of operating the network device management software.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 500 denotes a PC on which the network device management software operates, which is equivalent to 103 in FIG. PC500 is ROM50
2 or a hard disk (HD) 511, or a CPU 501 that executes a network management program supplied from an FD (floppy (registered trademark) disk drive) 512.
4 controls each device connected to 4.

Reference numeral 503 is a RAM, which functions as a main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 501. 505 is KBC
(Keyboard controller), KB (keyboard) 5
09 or an instruction input from a pointing device (not shown) or the like. A CRTC (CRT controller) 506 controls the display of a CRT (CRT display) 510. 507 is a DKC (disk controller)
Then, access to the HD 511 and the FD 512, which stores a boot program, various applications, edit files, user files, a network management program, and the like, is controlled. A NIC (Network Interface Card) 508 bidirectionally exchanges data with an agent or a network device via the LAN 100.

Next, the configuration of the network device management software of the present invention will be described. The network management apparatus of the present invention is realized by activating network device management software on a PC as shown in FIG. The HD 511 stores the network device management software program, and the CPU 50
In combination with 1, the main body of operation will be described later. In all the description below, the CPU 501 is the execution subject on hardware unless otherwise specified. On the other hand, the main body of control on the software is the network device management software stored in the HD 511. In this embodiment, the OS is assumed to be, for example, Windows (manufactured by Microsoft Corporation), but of course the present invention is not limited to this.

The network management program according to the present application may be supplied in the form of being stored in a storage medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM. In that case, the FD 512 shown in FIG. 5 or a CD-ROM (not shown) is provided. The program is read from the storage medium by the drive etc.,
It is installed on the HD 511.

FIG. 6 is a module configuration diagram of the network device management software according to the present invention. The network device management software according to the present invention is
The CPU 50 stored in the HD 511 in FIG.
Executed by 1. At that time, the CPU 501 uses the RAM 503 as a work area.

In FIG. 6, a device list module 601 provides a user interface for displaying a list of network devices connected to the network. Device list module 601
According to an instruction from the user, issues a processing request to the overall control module 602 described later, or a UIA described later.
Other user interfaces such as 606a and UI B606b are displayed. Further, the device list module 601 has a function of displaying a list of network devices, and also has a user interface for switching a protocol for searching for network devices, a search range of network devices, selection of managed devices, and the like. .

Reference numeral 602 denotes an overall control module, which controls other lower modules in response to a request from the device list module 601.

A device search module 603 searches for a network device connected to the network. As an example of a device search method, a GetRequest packet is broadcast to a predetermined MIB object on a network to which a PC having network device management software installed is connected by using an SNMP search module 609 described later, and The network device that received the GetRequest packet is GetResponses.
There is a method of transmitting an e-packet and receiving this GetResponse packet by the SNMP search module 609 of the PC. The network devices searched by the device search module 603 are displayed as a list by the device list module 601.

A device monitoring module 604 is for monitoring the status of a specific network device (hereinafter referred to as a managed device) selected by the device list module 601. There is a device monitoring module 604 that, when an abnormality occurs in the managed device state, creates an email for notifying the content of the abnormality that has occurred and notifies it to a preset destination. As for the state of the managed device, a method of inquiring a value of an appropriate MIB object indicating the state of each managed device with a GetRequest packet is generally used. For example, in the case of a network printer equipped with a company's own MIB, by acquiring the value of the MIB object indicating the status of the printer, an abnormality (no paper, paper jam, cassette open, toner out, etc.) occurs in the printer. I know whether or not.

An electronic mail control module 605 sends the electronic mail generated by the device monitoring module 604 to a preset destination. The email control module 605 uses the device monitoring module 6
The contents of the e-mail passed from 04 are converted into a predetermined e-mail data format, and WinSock 614 described later is used.
The electronic mail data is transmitted to the electronic mail server 117 via.

Reference numerals 606a and 606b denote UI modules (UI A and UI B), which relate to the selected network device when a specific network device is selected from the list of network devices displayed by the device list module 601. It provides a user interface for displaying and setting detailed information. In FIG. 6, UI A60 is used as a UI module.
6a and UI B606b are specified, but in reality, a dedicated UI for each type of network device supported by the network device management software.
Module exists.

Reference numerals 607a and 607b denote control modules, which perform model-specific control necessary for displaying and setting detailed information about network devices.
A control module exists for each UI module.

Reference numeral 608 denotes a MIB module, which is a module for converting an object key designated by the upper module into an object identifier. Here, the object key is a 32-bit integer that has a one-to-one correspondence with the object identifier. The object identifier is a variable-length identifier and is cumbersome to implement when implementing the network device management software. Therefore, in the network device management software according to the present application, a fixed-length identifier that corresponds to the object identifier one-to-one is internally I am using. Modules higher than the MIB module 608 use this object key to
Handles IB information. This eases the implementation of network device management software.

Reference numeral 609 is an SNMP module,
NMP packet (GetRequest, GetNex)
tRequest, SetRequest, Trap)
Send and receive.

Reference numeral 610 is a common transport module, which is a module for absorbing a difference between lower protocols for carrying SNMP data. In practice, either the UDP handler 611 or the IPX handler 612 is responsible for transferring data, depending on the protocol selected by the user during operation. The UDP handler 611 uses WinSock 614 as an implementation, and the IPX handler 612 implements NetWa as an implementation.
re615 is used. WinSock 614
For details, refer to the specifications of "Windows Socket API v1.1". This document is available from multiple places, but it is included in "Microsoft Visual C / C ++", which is a Microsoft compiler, for example. For NetWare 615, for example, N
"NetWare Program" issued by ovell
r's Guide for C ”etc. This book can be purchased from Novell, Inc.

A NetWare job module 613 uses the NetWare 615 to acquire the status of the print job from the network server.

The operation of the network device management software according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In all the following explanations, the hardware execution subject is the CPU 501, and the software control subject is the network device management software installed in the HD 511, unless otherwise specified. Further, in FIG. 1, a combination of the NB 101 connected to the network and the printer 133 in which the network board is mounted is called a network device.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a device state monitoring process in one embodiment of the network device management software of the present invention.

It should be noted that this processing is started when the network device management software is activated and stopped when the network device management software is terminated.
Further, in the present embodiment, the management target device is preset by the user interface for designating the management target device mounted in the device list module 601 of FIG. 6, and is stored in the HD 511 of FIG. A list of managed devices is displayed in the RAM 50 when the network device management software is started.
It is assumed that it is loaded in the work area above 3 in a format that allows index reference.

In the figure, in step S701, a timer (hereinafter referred to as a monitoring timer) for measuring the interval for acquiring the status from the managed device is activated, and the process proceeds to step S702.

In step S702, the step S7 is executed.
It is checked whether or not the monitoring timer activated in 01 has timed out, and if timed out, the process proceeds to step S703 (step S702: Yes), and if not timed out, the process proceeds to step S702 (step S70).
2: No).

In step S703, the variable i for referring to the index of the managed device is initialized to 0,
It proceeds to step S704.

In step S704, the value of the variable i is compared with the number of managed devices. If the value of the variable i is smaller than the number of managed devices, the process proceeds to step S705 (step S704: Yes), otherwise. In the case of, it progresses to step S701 (step S704: No).

In step S705, a request for inquiring the status of the i-th managed device is issued, and the flow advances to step S706. In this embodiment, a GetRequest packet for acquiring the MIB object indicating the state of the managed device is transmitted. The GetRequest packet is merely an example of a status request that requests the managed device to send back its status, and of course, other types of request signals may be transmitted.

In step S706, for the i-th managed device, a timer for measuring the response waiting time from the managed device to the inquiry request in the state issued in step S705 (hereinafter referred to as the response wait timer). Is started and step S70
Proceed to 7.

In step S707, for the i-th managed device, it is checked whether or not there is a response from the managed device to the inquiry request in the state issued in step S705, and if there is a response, it is checked in step S708. (Step S707: Y
es), and if there is no response, the process proceeds to step S711 (step S707: No). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the presence or absence of a response from the managed device is determined by receiving a GetResponse packet from the managed device. This GetResponse packet is a response to the status request from the management device, and includes information on the status of the device (status information). Of course, the data format may be another format as long as it is information that conveys the device status.

In step S708, the response wait timer started in step S706 is stopped for the i-th managed device, and the flow advances to step S709.

In step S709, the latest state of the i-th managed device is stored in the work area on the RAM 503 (state acquisition step), and the process proceeds to step S710. In this embodiment, the latest information on the managed device can be obtained by analyzing the value of the MIB object stored in the GetResponse packet received in step S707. The data stored in the work area on the RAM 503 may be the value of the MIB object itself, or the value of the MIB object may be analyzed and the result after analysis may be stored.

In step S710, a device state change notification process shown in FIG. 8 to be described later is executed for the i-th managed device, and the flow advances to step S711.

In step S711, for the i-th managed device, the latest state acquired in step S709 is overwritten and stored in the previous state stored in the RAM 503 (state holding step), and in step S713. Proceed to.

In step S712, it is checked whether or not the response waiting timer started in step S706 has timed out for the i-th managed device, and if timed out, the process proceeds to step S713 (step S712: Yes), and the time is out. If not, the process proceeds to step S707 (step S712: No).

In step S713, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1, and the process proceeds to step S704.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of the device status change notification processing started in step S710 of FIG. 7 in the embodiment of the network device management software of the present invention.

In the figure, in step S801, R
The previous state of the managed device stored in the AM 503 is read out, and the process proceeds to step S802. RAM
It is assumed that the previous state of the i-th managed device is stored in step 711 in step 711.

In step S802, the previous state acquired in step S801 is checked for the i-th managed device, and if the previous state is normal, the process proceeds to step S803 (step S802: Y
es), if the previous state is abnormal, step S
The process proceeds to 805 (step S802: No).

In step S803, the i-th managed device is inspected for the latest state acquired in step S709 of FIG. 7 (abnormal state detection step), and if the latest state is the abnormal state, step S8.
04 (step S803: Yes), and if the latest state is the normal state, this process ends (step S803).
803: No).

In step S804, an electronic mail indicating that an abnormality has occurred in the i-th managed device is generated (state abnormal mail generation step), and the flow advances to step S807. Here, for example, an electronic mail having the content shown in FIG. 9 is generated.

In step S805, the i-th managed device is inspected for the latest state acquired in step S709 of FIG. 7 (device abnormality recovery detection step), and if the latest state is a normal state, step S806. (Step S805: Yes), and if the latest state is an abnormal state, this process ends (Step S805: No).

In step S806, an electronic mail indicating that the abnormality has been recovered is generated for the i-th managed device (state abnormality recovery mail generation step), and step S806
Proceed to 807. Here, for example, an electronic mail having the content shown in FIG. 10 is generated.

In step S807, the above-mentioned step S8 is performed.
04 or the e-mail generated in step S806 is transmitted to a preset destination (e-mail transmission step), and this processing ends.

In this way, step S802 and step S
By the determination step of 803 and step S805, the change between the state detected last time and the state detected this time is detected, and an error has occurred in the device or the device has recovered from the error according to the change in the state. You can judge. As a result, the user can be notified by e-mail even when the device is recovered.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment,
When the contents of a plurality of response information transmitted from the network device are different, an e-mail regarding the occurrence / recovery of the failure is notified.

In the second embodiment, the error information is held only when an error has occurred, and the error information is cleared when the error is recovered, thereby suppressing the distribution of unnecessary electronic mail. And

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing, in a tabular form, data relating to network devices stored in the PC 103, PC 104, etc., or the network devices 131, 133 (or NB 101), etc.

In the figure, the network device (11
Network device 131, 1 shown in 01)
For 33 etc., each MAC address (110
2), IP address (1103), device name (110
4) and the installation location (1105).

The information shown in FIG. 11 is merely an example, and it goes without saying that the information stored in the PC 104, the network device 131, etc. may further include additional information such as the product name of the network device. Yes.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the desktop PC 111 or the like. The determination and execution of the series of processes is performed by the CPU inside the PC (for example, the PC 111 or the like) that is the management device of the network device.
501.

When the desktop PC 111 is activated, first, in step S1201, the network device 10
For 1 or 131, a process for acquiring information about a network device such as a MAC address, an IP address, a device name, and an installation location is executed.

By this operation, the desktop PC 111
In SNMP, using the SNMP / MIB, the MAC address, I
When requesting information acquisition regarding a network device such as a P address, a device name, an installation location, etc., the network devices 131 to 136 respectively return information as shown in each row of FIG.

Next, in step S1202, the RAM 50 stores information about the network device such as the acquired MAC address, IP address, device name, and installation location.
Store in 3.

In the next step S1203, it is monitored (observed) whether or not an error has occurred in each network device. The method of observing this error is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted. If no error has occurred in the network device, the process advances to step S1204. If an error has occurred in the network device, the process proceeds to step S1205.

In step S1204, the past error information stored in RAM 503 is cleared, and step S1
Return to 203. It should be noted that a plurality of pieces of error information are stored in the RAM 503.
If held in, all will be cleared.

In step S1205, it is determined whether there is a previously generated error. As a discrimination method,
The determination may be made depending on whether or not the error information is already stored in the RAM 503, or may be made by using another method.

If it is determined in step S1205 that there is an error that occurred before this step, step S1.
Proceed to 206. If it is determined that there is no previously generated error, it is determined that a new error has occurred and the process proceeds to step S1207.

In step S1206, step S12
Information of the error detected in 03 and RAM 503
It is determined whether or not the error information stored in is the same. Incidentally, the fact that the error information is stored in the RAM 503 means that the error has not been recovered at the time of the previous error detection. This is because if the error has been recovered at the previous time, step S1204
This is because the error information should have been cleared in.

By the way, there may be a plurality of existing errors or a plurality of errors that have occurred this time. In such a case, it is determined whether or not all the errors this time are included in the existing errors, and if there is even one new error, the process proceeds to step 1207, and the new error is added to the RAM 503. It will be.

By the way, it is possible to proceed to step 1207 even when a part of the plurality of error information stored in the RAM 503 is recovered this time. In this case, the RAM 503 stores only error information about the error that is occurring this time. Alternatively, the error information regarding the recovered error may be deleted. Then, in step 1208, only the recovered part or both the recovered part and the ongoing error may be notified by e-mail.

If it is determined in step 1205 that they are the same, the process returns to step S1203. This can suppress duplicate email notifications. if,
If it is determined that they are different, the process proceeds to step S1207.

In step S1207, step S12
The error information detected in 03 is stored in the RAM 503. By the way, if there are multiple errors,
All of these are stored in the RAM 503. As a result, the error information is updated to the latest one.

In the next step S1208, step S
1202, the MAC address stored in the RAM 503,
Information about the corresponding network device such as the IP address, device name, and installation location, and step S1203.
Converts the content of the error occurring in the network device detected in step 2 into an error message and creates email data to notify the preset destination that the network device has an error. .

At the next step S1209, step S
Email the email data created in 1208 (SMT
P) Send to the server 117.

The flowchart of FIG. 12 may be executed inside the network devices 131 to 136.

In this case, the information shown in each row of FIG. 11 is individually stored in each of the network devices 131 to 136 or the network board 101, and the network in which the error actually occurred is stored. The electronic mail data is created only in the device, and the electronic mail data is directly transmitted from the network device in which the error has occurred to the mail (SMTP) server. FIG. 9 shows an example of the notified electronic mail data. This e-mail displays information and status of the network device that has the error.

With the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to suppress the situation where the electronic mail is repeatedly delivered when the same error occurs continuously, and thus, it is possible to prevent the unnecessary increase of the network traffic. There is.

When a plurality of errors have occurred in the past and some of them have been recovered, only the recovered part, or both the recovered part and the ongoing error are sent by e-mail. Notification can also be given, and the user can grasp the error more accurately.

[Third Embodiment] In the third embodiment,
The importance of the error is divided into levels, and an e-mail is sent when an error that is more important than the last time occurs.

Network configuration in this embodiment,
The internal configuration of the personal computer and the data representation format of the network device are the same as those described in the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the desktop PC 111. The determination and execution of the series of processes is performed by the CPU 201 inside the desktop PC 111 in terms of hardware. Note that another PC may function as a network device management apparatus.

In step S1306, it is determined whether the most important error information stored in the RAM 503 in step S1308, which will be described later, is included in the one or more errors detected in step S1203. If it is determined to be included, step S1
Proceed to 307. If it is determined that it is not included,
It proceeds to step S1308.

In step S1307, the most important error information stored in the RAM 503 in step S1308, which will be described later, and the most important error information of the one or more errors detected in step S1303 are important. Compare degrees.

FIG. 14 shows a table used for comparison of error levels. This table 1400 contains an error ID
1401 and error level 1402 are associated with each other. Therefore, the error level for each error is acquired by referring to this table 1400. There are various methods of comparing the importance of errors using this table. For example, the error having the highest error level among the previous errors may be held as the most important error level parameter, and this parameter may be compared with the error level related to the error that has occurred this time. For each of the plurality of errors stored in the RAM 503, the table 1400 is referenced each time to determine the most important error level. For this error, the table 1400 is also referenced to determine the most important error. You may make it determine a level and compare both most important error levels. By the way, the former process may be easier.

Now, as a result of the comparison, step S1 described later will be described.
If the most important error information stored in the RAM 503 is higher in importance at 308, the process returns to step S1203.

Of the one or more errors detected in step S1203, the error having the highest importance is the RAM 5
If it is higher than the importance of the error held in 03, the process proceeds to step S1308. Step S130
In step 8, the most important error information of the one or more errors detected in step S1203 is stored in the RAM 503.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since an e-mail is sent when an error of a higher level than the existing error occurs, it is possible to suppress the delivery of unnecessary e-mails and thus prevent unnecessary increase in traffic.

[Other Embodiments] Although the respective embodiments have been described above, they may be used individually,
You may use it combining suitably.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of devices (eg host computer, interface device, reader, etc.)
The present invention may be applied to a system or an integrated device configured by or a device configured by a single device.

A program in which a storage medium recording a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the code. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, C
D-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape,
A non-volatile memory card, ROM or the like can be used.

Further, the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, and the OS running on the computer actually executes the processing based on the instruction of the program code. The function of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing a part or all of the above.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, A CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing can also realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

The present invention is applicable to the case where the program code of the software which realizes the function according to the above-mentioned embodiment stored in the storage medium is distributed to the requester through the communication line such as personal computer communication. It goes without saying that it is also applicable.

As described above, when the program is supplied to the computer in order to realize the present invention, the process according to the flowchart of FIG. 7, 8, 12 or 13 is realized by executing the program. .

To describe specific examples of other embodiments, the network device management software according to the present invention described above is a program installed from the outside, that is, the network device management software is executed by the PC 500. In that case,
The program is a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory or a floppy disk, or an information group including the program from an external storage medium via a network such as e-mail or personal computer communication.
The invention of the present application is applied even when it is supplied to the PC 500 by being loaded on top.

FIG. 15 shows a CD-R which is an example of a storage medium.
It is a figure which shows the memory map of OM. An area 9999 stores directory information, an area 9998 in which subsequent installation programs are stored, and an area 99 in which network device management software is stored.
The position of 97 is shown. 9998 is an area in which an installation program is stored. Reference numeral 9997 is an area in which network device management software is stored. When the network device management software of the present invention is installed in the PC 500, first, the installation program stored in the area 9998 storing the installation program is loaded into the system and executed by the CPU 501. Next, CP
The installation program executed by U501 reads out the network device management software from the area 9997 in which the network device management software is stored and stores it in the hard disk 511. In this way, the network device management software stored in the hard disk 511 is activated at an appropriate timing to implement the present invention.

FIG. 16 shows a functional block diagram when the network device management software is activated on the PC.

First, the transmitting means 1601 uses GetReq.
The west packet is transmitted to the printer 133 that is the management target. The printer 133 responds to this by GetRe
Returns a response packet. It is assumed that this packet contains error information. Receiving means 160
2 receives the GetResponse packet, and the content analysis unit 1603 analyzes the error information included in the GetResponse packet. Here, it is assumed that the printer includes information that the errors A and B have occurred. The comparison / detection means 1605 is a holding means 1604.
The content of the previous GetResponse packet held in the above is compared with the content of the current GetResponse packet, and if there is a change in the printer status, it is detected. Here, it is assumed that the errors A and C were previously detected and held. As a result of the comparison / detection, it is detected that the error B is newly generated, the error A is continuing, and the error C is recovered. In order to notify the user of the detection result, the email creating means 1606 creates an email based on the detection result, and the email sending means 1607.
Will send this email. Also, updating means 1608
To update the error content.

[0142]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, not only when an error occurs in the network device but also when the network device recovers from the error, it is possible to notify by e-mail. This allows the user to know the recovery of the network device by e-mail, eliminating the need to visit the network device.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the web application detects that the same error has occurred in the network device, the web application does not deliver the electronic mail.
This makes it possible to reduce network traffic.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention,
An error of lower importance than an error that has already occurred is We
The b application does not deliver the e-mail when the b application detects it. This makes it possible to reduce network traffic.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration according to a common embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of MIB.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a printer to which a network board on which an agent is mounted is connected.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing electrical connections with a network board, a printer, and a LAN.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a PC capable of operating network device management software.

FIG. 6 is a module configuration diagram of network device management software.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a device response status monitoring process according to a common embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of device response status notification processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an email notified when there is no device response.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an email notified when the response of the device is recovered.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing data in the network device according to the second and third embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an error level table according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a memory map of a CD-ROM which is an example of a storage medium in which the program of the present invention is stored.

FIG. 16: Network device management software is P
3 shows a functional block diagram when activated on C. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... LAN (local area network) 101 ... NB (network board) 103 ... PC (personal computer) connected to LAN100 104 ... PC (personal computer) connected to LAN100 106 ... File connected to LAN100 Server 107 ... Network disk 110 included in LAN 100 ... LAN (local area network) 111 ... PC (personal computer) connected to LAN 110 113 ... File server 114 connected to LAN 110 ... Network disk 120 included in LAN 110 ... LAN (local area network) 122 ... PC (personal computer) 130 connected to LAN 120 ... MODEM (modulation / demodulation) / Router 131 ... Printer 132 connected to PC 104 ... MFP (multifunction device) 133 ... Printer 136 having open architecture ... Scanner 140 ... Backbone 501 ... CPU 503 ... RAM 1601 ... Sending means 1602 ... Receiving means 1603 ... Content analysis Means 1604 ... Holding means 1605 ... Comparison / detection means 1606 ... E-mail creating means 1607 ... E-mail sending means 1608 ... Updating means

Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B085 AC01 AC11 AC12 AC13 AC14 AC14                       BA07 BG07                 5B089 GA04 GB02 JA35 KA12 KA13                       KB03 LA01 MC11                 5K033 BA04 EA04 EC00

Claims (34)

[Claims] 1. A network device management apparatus for managing a network device connected to a network, comprising: a transmission means for transmitting a status request to the network device at a predetermined timing; Receiving means for receiving the status information when the status information is transmitted in response to the request, first status information received at the first time by the receiving means, and after the first time. Detecting means for comparing the second status information received at the second time of the second status information with the second status information, and detecting a change in the content of the status information; When it is detected that there is a change in the content of the status information, an email sending means for sending an email about the change in the status information to a predetermined email address. Management device of the network device characterized by Mukoto. 2. An electronic mail for creating an electronic mail regarding the change of the status information when the detecting means detects that the content of the first status information and the content of the second status information are changed. The management of the network device according to claim 1, further comprising a creating unit, wherein the electronic mail sending unit sends the electronic mail created by the electronic mail creating unit to a predetermined mail address. apparatus. 3. When the first state information indicates normality and the second state information indicates abnormality, the detecting means determines that the network device has changed from a normal state to an abnormal state. 3. The network device management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic mail creating means creates an electronic mail indicating that the network device has changed to an abnormal state. 4. When the first state information indicates an abnormality and the second state information indicates a normal state, the detecting means determines that the network device has changed from an abnormal state to a normal state. 3. The network device management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail creating unit creates an electronic mail indicating that the network device has recovered to a normal state. 5. The storage means further stores the status information received by the receiving means in time series, wherein the detecting means stores the first and second temporally stored data stored in the storage means. The network device management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a change in content between the state information and the second state information is detected. 6. The storage device further comprises storage means for storing the first state information received by the receiving means at the first time, and the detecting means stores the first state stored in the storage means. The management of the network device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a change in content between the information and the second state information received by the receiving unit is detected. apparatus. 7. The network device management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing is a regular timing. 8. The management device for a network device according to claim 7, wherein the first time and the second time are two timings that are adjacent to each other in the regular timing. . 9. A network device management method for managing a network device connected to a network, comprising: a transmitting step of transmitting a status request to the network device at a predetermined timing; A receiving step of receiving the status information when the status information is transmitted in response to the request, a first status information received at a first time in the receiving step, and a time after the first time. Detecting the change in the content of the state information by comparing it with the second state information received at the second time, and in the detecting step, the content of the first state information and the second state information. When it is detected that there is a change in the content of the status information, an electronic mail that sends an e-mail about the change in the status information to a predetermined mail address. A method for managing a network device, comprising: an email sending step. 10. An e-mail for creating an e-mail regarding the change of the status information when it is detected in the detecting step that the contents of the first status information and the contents of the second status information are changed. 10. The network according to claim 9, further comprising a creating step, wherein the email sending step is a step of sending the email created by the email creating step to a predetermined email address. How to manage devices. 11. When the first state information indicates normality and the second state information indicates abnormality, the detecting step is that the network device has changed from a normal state to an abnormal state. 11. The method of managing a network device according to claim 9, wherein the step of creating an email creates an email indicating that the network device has changed to an abnormal state. 12. When the first state information indicates an abnormality and the second state information indicates a normal state, the detecting step determines that the network device has changed from an abnormal state to a normal state. 11. The method of managing a network device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the step of creating an email creates an email indicating that the network device has recovered to a normal state. 13. The method further comprises a storage step of storing the state information received by the reception step in time series, wherein the detection step includes the first temporally sequential steps stored in the storage step. State information and the second
13. The method for managing a network device according to claim 9, wherein a change in content between the status information and the status information is detected. 14. The method further comprises a storing step of storing the first state information received at the first time in the receiving step, wherein the detecting step includes the first state stored in the storing step. 13. Management of a network device according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein a change in content between information and the second state information received in the receiving step is detected. Method. 15. The method according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined timing is a regular timing.
4. The network device management method according to any one of 4 above. 16. The first time and the second time are:
16. The method of managing a network device according to claim 15, wherein the periodical timing is two timings that are consecutive to each other. 17. A management device for a network device, comprising: a holding unit for holding the content of an error that has occurred in a network device, the observation unit observing whether an error has occurred in the network device; First in said network device
When it is observed that the error occurs, the content of the first error and the content of the second error that occurred in the past held in the holding unit are determined to be determined. Means for determining the content of the first error and the content of the second error when the determination means determines that the content of the first error does not match the content of the second error. If the update means for updating the first error and the content of the second error do not match with each other, the first
An e-mail sending unit for sending an e-mail about the content of the error of (1) to a predetermined mail address, and a management device of the network device. 18. The holding unit holds the contents of the plurality of errors when a plurality of errors have occurred in the network device, and the judging unit is the first unit observed by the observing unit. Error content and the contents of a plurality of errors held in the holding unit, to determine whether the content of the first error is already held in the holding unit, the determination of the determination unit As a result, when it is determined that the content of the first error is held in the holding unit,
18. The network device management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the e-mail transmission unit suppresses transmission of an e-mail regarding the content of the first error. 19. The determination means determines whether or not the level of the first error is higher than the level of the second error, and the determination means determines that the level of the first error is the second level. When it is determined that the error level is higher than the error level, the updating unit updates the content of the error held in the holding unit to the content of the first error, and the electronic mail transmitting unit sets the 18. The network device management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein an electronic mail regarding the content of the error is transmitted to a predetermined mail address. 20. When the plurality of errors occur as the second error in the network device, the holding unit holds the contents of the plurality of errors, and the judging unit observes the data in the observing unit. The level of the first error that has been generated is compared with the respective levels of the plurality of errors held by the holding means, and the first level of the first error is compared.
Is determined to be higher than each level of the plurality of errors, and the result of the determination by the determination means is that the first error level is higher than each level of the plurality of errors. 18. The network device management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the electronic mail transmitting means transmits an electronic mail regarding the content of the first error. 21. If the result of the determination by the determining means is that an error of a level higher than the level of the first error is included in the plurality of errors, the electronic mail transmitting means 21. The network device management apparatus according to claim 20, wherein transmission of an electronic mail regarding the content of the first error is suppressed. 22. A storage unit is further provided for storing data representing a correspondence relationship between an error occurring in the network device and a level of the error, and the determination unit includes an error level of the first error,
22. The error level of the second error is acquired from the data stored in the storage unit, and both error levels are compared with each other. Network device management device. 23. The network device management apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising deleting means for deleting from the holding means an error that is no longer observed by the observing means. 24. The observing means transmits the status request to the network device at a predetermined timing, and transmits the status information in response to the status request when the network device responds to the status request. The network device management apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 23, further comprising: receiving means for receiving status information. 25. A method of managing a network device in a management device, comprising a holding means for holding the content of an error that has occurred in a network device, the observation step comprising observing whether or not an error has occurred in the network device. If the first error is observed to have occurred in the network device in the observing step, the content of the first error and the content of the second error that has occurred in the past and is retained in the retaining means. A determination step for determining whether or not and the first error and the second error in the determination step.
If it is determined that the content of the error does not match the content of the error, the updating step of updating the content of the error held in the holding means to the content of the first error, and the first error in the determining step. And the second
An electronic mail transmission step of transmitting an electronic mail regarding the content of the first error to a predetermined mail address when it is determined that the content of the error does not match the content of the error. Management method. 26. When a plurality of errors occur in the network device, the holding means holds the contents of the plurality of errors, and the determination step includes the first observation observed in the observation step. Error content and the contents of a plurality of errors held in the holding means, to determine whether the contents of the first error is already held in the holding means, the determination of the determination step As a result, when it is determined that the content of the first error is held in the holding unit, the e-mail transmission step suppresses transmission of an e-mail regarding the content of the first error. The method for managing a network device according to claim 25. 27. The determining step determines whether or not the level of the first error is higher than the level of the second error, and in the determining step, the level of the first error is the second level. If it is determined that the error level is higher than the error level, the updating step updates the content of the error held in the holding means to the content of the first error, and the electronic mail transmitting step includes the first error content. 26. The method for managing a network device according to claim 25, wherein an email about the content of the error is sent to a predetermined email address. 28. When a plurality of errors occur as the second error in the network device, the holding means holds the contents of the plurality of errors, and the judging step observes in the observing step. Comparing the level of the first error generated and each level of the plurality of errors held in the holding means,
It is determined whether the level of the first error is higher than each level of the plurality of errors, and as a result of the determination in the determination step, the level of the first error is higher than each level of the plurality of errors. 26. The network device management method according to claim 25, wherein if it is determined to be high, the e-mail sending step sends an e-mail regarding the content of the first error. 29. The result of the judgment in the judgment step,
When it is determined that an error having a higher level than the level of the first error is included in the plurality of errors,
29. The method of managing a network device according to claim 28, wherein the step of transmitting an email suppresses the transmission of an email regarding the content of the first error. 30. A storage step of storing data representing a correspondence relationship between an error occurring in the network device and a level of the error, wherein the determining step includes an error level of the first error and the error level of the first error. 30. The error level of a second error is acquired from the data stored in the storing step, and both error levels are compared, and the error level of both is compared. How to manage network devices. 31. The method of managing a network device according to claim 25, further comprising a deleting step of deleting from the holding means an error that is no longer observed in the observing step. 32. The observing step comprises: a transmitting step of transmitting a status request to the network device at a predetermined timing; and a step of transmitting status information in response to the status request of the network device. 32. The method for managing a network device according to claim 25, further comprising a receiving step of receiving status information. 33. A network device management program for causing a computer to function by all of the means described in any one of claims 1 to 8 and claim 17 to 24. 34. A network device management program for causing a computer to execute each of the steps described in any one of claims 9 to 16 and claim 25 to 32.