JP2023056360A - Log management method due to replacing device monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a monitoring device capable of solving a problem; that is, there are two methods in the log management method; i.e., a method for managing devices by acquiring data through periodic polling (polling method) and a mechanism for managing a device with a self-monitoring function capable of collecting operational information required for a service within the device and sending the same to the management server using its own proxy function (proxy method), in which since the device itself is capable of managing log information, there is no need to manage log information on the management server side, therefore, since the log management information cannot be inherited when the device monitoring method is switched from the polling method to the proxy method, there is a risk of missing log information.SOLUTION: A disclosed monitoring device collects log data until monitoring by a new method becomes valid even after switching due to switching the monitoring method, using a method before switching, and transmit the same to a management server.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a log management method by replacing a device monitoring apparatus.

There is a device management system that manages and analyzes data collected from devices represented by MFPs. A device management system may have a configuration of a monitoring device that collects device information and a management server that manages the information collected by the monitoring device. When replacing the monitoring device, the collected log information must be inherited correctly. As a means to realize this, by managing the location information of the logs obtained from the device on the management server side, it is possible to monitor from the correct log information without missing logs from the device in the monitoring device after replacement. is proposed. (Patent document 1)

JP 2018-097619 A

The monitoring apparatus has a mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a polling method) that acquires data by periodic polling and manages the device. On the other hand, a device with a self-monitoring function that can collect operating information necessary for services within the device and send it to the management server is managed using its own proxy function (hereafter referred to as the proxy method). ) is also available. In the case of the proxy method, since log information can be managed by the device itself, there is no need to manage log management information on the management server side. Therefore, when the device monitoring method is switched from the polling method to the proxy method, the log management information cannot be handed over as in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, and log information may be lost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a log management method that enables continuous monitoring without losing log information even when the device monitoring method is changed in a monitoring apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a monitoring apparatus that collects monitoring information including log information from devices connected via a network and transmits the monitoring information to a management server on an external network. , the monitoring apparatus comprises an acquisition means for acquiring information of a device to be monitored, a transmission means for transmitting the information collected by the acquisition means to a management server, the information collected by the acquisition means, managed device information, and a monitoring method. etc., receiving means for aggregating data transmitted from devices with self-monitoring functions, and instruction means for instructing monitoring to devices with self-monitoring functions. and the instruction means monitors a device having a self-monitoring function when a device monitoring method is switched from a method of monitoring using the obtaining means to a method of monitoring using the receiving means. After the instruction is issued, the acquisition means collects log information from the device to which the monitoring instruction is issued, and starts monitoring by the self-monitoring function from the time of occurrence of the last acquired log information. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not log information generated before the time exists, and if it exists, the transmission means transmits the log information to the management server.

According to the present invention, even if the device monitoring method is changed in the monitoring apparatus, it is possible to continue monitoring without losing log information.

1 is an overall view of a system showing an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of an internal structure of the monitoring apparatus in this invention, and a management server. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure of the monitoring apparatus in this invention, and a management server. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of operation processing of the monitoring device in Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a device management information table managed by the monitoring apparatus according to the first embodiment; FIG.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The system of this embodiment is a management system for image forming apparatuses, and is a system including a monitoring device that collects data from the image forming devices and a management server that manages the data collected by the monitoring device.

In FIG. 1, a management server 101 is connected to a monitoring apparatus 102 via a WAN 104 and centrally manages data of the monitoring apparatus 102 and the image forming apparatus 103 . A monitoring apparatus 102 monitors the image forming apparatus 103 via the LAN 105 and acquires various data from the image forming apparatus 103 . The image forming apparatus 103 is an LBP or MFP (multi-function peripheral) and is monitored by the monitoring apparatus 102 . Although the management server 101 is connected to the monitoring device 102 via the WAN 104 here, the management server 101 may be connected via the LAN 105 . The image forming apparatus 103 is also connected to the monitoring apparatus 102 via the LAN 105 , but may be directly connected to the management server 101 via the LAN 105 or WAN 104 .

<Internal Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 103. As shown in FIG.

A CPU 201 executes software stored in a ROM 202 or a hard disk (HDD) 205 for overall control of the image forming apparatus, and centrally controls each device connected to a system bus 206 . The RAM 203 functions as a work area for the CPU 201 and the like. HDC 204 is a hard disk controller that controls HDD 205 . A reader I/F 207 and a printer I/F 208 are connected to the reader unit 212 and printer unit 213, respectively, and control these devices. An operation unit I/F 209 is connected to the operation unit 214 and controls display on the operation unit 214 and user input from the operation unit 214 . An operation unit 214 is composed of buttons for operation, a display unit, and the like.

The switch I/F 210 is connected to the switch section 215 and controls operations from the switch section 215 . A switch unit 215 is composed of switches and the like for operation. A network interface card (NIC) 216 exchanges data with an external device such as a host computer via a network 217 . Here, the part surrounded by the dashed line in the figure is called the overall control section 211. As shown in FIG. The overall control unit 211 is a part that controls various devices and interfaces connected to the image forming apparatus and controls the operation of the entire image forming apparatus. A reader unit 212 reads an image of a document, and outputs image data corresponding to the document image to a printer unit 213 or stores it in a storage device of the image forming apparatus according to an instruction from a user. Furthermore, it is also possible to transmit image data to a host computer connected to the network 217 via the network I/F 216 .

A printer unit 213 prints a document read by the reader unit 212 and image data stored in the storage device 205 in the main body of the image forming apparatus. Further, a print job from a host computer connected to the network 217 is received via the network I/F unit 216 and printed. Network I/F section 216 is connected via network 217 and used by general control section 211 to mutually communicate with other information devices on network 217 . The operation unit 214 displays information to the user from the general control unit 211 and notifies the general control unit 211 of user input by means of buttons and a display device, a liquid crystal display screen with touch panel input, or a combination thereof. The switch unit 215 controls the power ON/OFF state of the overall control unit 211 .

<Internal configuration of monitoring device and management server>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the monitoring device 102 and the management server 101. As shown in FIG.

A communication I/F unit 301 is a network interface for communicating with an external system or device. The storage device 302 stores an OS (Operating System), programs, management data, data collected from external systems and devices, and the like. The CPU 303 loads the program from the storage device 302 to the memory 304 and executes it. The output I/F unit 305 connects an output device such as a display, and outputs execution results of programs and the like.

<Functional configuration of monitoring device>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the monitoring device 102. As shown in FIG.

An acquisition unit 401 acquires various data including log information from the image forming apparatus 103 . The transmission unit 402 transmits the acquired data and the like to the management server 101 . A data management unit 403 stores acquired data, manages device information to be managed, a device monitoring method, and the like. A receiving unit 404 receives data transmitted from a device having a self-monitoring function. The instruction unit 405 issues a monitoring instruction to a device having a self-monitoring function.

<Operation processing of the monitoring device in the first embodiment>
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of operation processing of the monitoring device 102 in this embodiment.

In S501, the data management unit 403 determines whether the monitoring method has switched from the polling method to the proxy method. The switching of the monitoring method may be realized by displaying a screen for selecting the monitoring method in the output I/F unit 305 and allowing the user to select one. When switched to the proxy method, the process proceeds to S502. On the other hand, if it is not switched to the proxy method, the process returns to S501.

In S502, the acquisition unit 401 determines whether or not all devices under management have been identified as having a self-monitoring function. If it is determined that the separation has been completed for all managed devices, the process advances to S506. If it is determined that the separation has not been completed for all managed devices, the process advances to S503.

In S503, the acquisition unit 401 acquires information for determining whether or not the device has a self-monitoring function for one device that has not been determined whether or not it has a self-monitoring function.

In S504, based on the information obtained in S503, it is determined whether the device has a self-monitoring function. If it is determined that the device has a self-monitoring function, the process proceeds to S505. If it is determined that the device does not have a self-monitoring function, the process returns to S502.

In step S<b>505 , the data management unit 403 changes the device monitoring method to “proxy method” as the device management information.

Device management information will now be described.

FIG. 6 is an example of a device management table that manages device management information.

Device information is information for managing managed devices.

A device ID 601 is information for identifying a device.

A device name 602 is the name of the device.

An IP address 603 is IP address information set in the device.

A MAC address 604 is information of the MAX address set in the device.

A monitoring method 605 is information indicating a method by which the monitoring apparatus monitors the device. In this embodiment, it is assumed that there are two methods, a polling method and a proxy method. Of course, device management information is not limited to these. Returning to the description of the flowchart diagram.

In step S<b>506 , the acquisition unit 401 determines whether an instruction to monitor the self-monitoring function and whether or not a log has been lost have been checked for all devices having the self-monitoring function. If it is determined that confirmation has not been performed for all devices having a self-monitoring function, the process proceeds to S507.

In S507, the instruction unit 405 issues a monitoring instruction to one device having a self-monitoring function.

In S508, the acquisition unit 401 acquires a log for the device instructed in S507.

In S<b>509 , the acquisition unit 401 determines that in the log information acquired in S<b>508 , during the period from the time of occurrence of the log information last acquired before the instruction to monitor the self-monitoring function to the start time of the self-monitoring function, Check for log information. If it is determined that there is generated log information, the process proceeds to S510.

In S510, the transmission unit 402 transmits the generated log information to the management server 101 during the period from the generation time of the last acquired log information before the instruction to monitor the self-monitoring function to the start time of the self-monitoring function.

As described above, after switching the monitoring method, the log data until monitoring by the new method becomes possible is collected by the method before switching and sent to the management server. can be managed without

In Embodiment 1 above, generated log information is transmitted to the management server during the period from the time of occurrence of the last acquired log information before the self-monitoring function is instructed to start monitoring to the start time of the self-monitoring function. However, if a log occurs at the same timing as the start time of the self-monitoring function, there is a possibility that the same log will be sent by the old monitoring method and the new monitoring method. In order to inform the administrator of this fact, the management server may be notified.

101 management server 102 monitoring device 103 image forming device 104 WAN
105 LANs
201 CPUs
202 ROMs
203 RAM
204 HDC
205 HDDs

Claims (2)

A monitoring device that collects monitoring information including log information from devices connected via a network and transmits the monitoring information to a management server on an external network,
The monitoring apparatus includes acquisition means for acquiring information on a device to be monitored, transmission means for transmitting information collected by the acquisition means to a management server, information collected by the acquisition means, managed device information, a monitoring method, and the like. data management means for managing, receiving means for aggregating data transmitted from devices with self-monitoring functions, and instruction means for giving monitoring instructions to devices with self-monitoring functions,
The instruction means instructs the device having a self-monitoring function to monitor when the monitoring method of the device is switched from the method of monitoring using the obtaining means to the method of monitoring using the receiving means. and
After the instruction means issues a monitoring instruction, the acquiring means collects log information from the device that issued the monitoring instruction, and collects log information from the time when the last acquired log information occurs to the time when the self-monitoring function starts monitoring. and determining whether or not there is log information generated in the above, and if there is, the transmission means transmits the log information to the management server. In the monitoring device,
The sending means of the monitoring device notifies the management server that there is a possibility that the log information is duplicated when there is a log generated at the same time as the monitoring start time of the self-monitoring function in the acquisition means. 2. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device is for

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