JP2000311136A - Remote operation control method, computer system for remote operation and storage medium storing program for remote operation control - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform operation similar to the case of remote log-in with electronic mail. SOLUTION: This method is provided with a text extraction process S1 for extracting the text of electronic mail when that electronic mail is received and the destination of this electronic mail is a predetermined address for remote operation, a command execution control process S5 for changing the standard output of an operating system(OS) into predetermined file name and dispatching the mail text to the above OS when that mail text is extracted in this text extraction process S1 and a standard output return process S7 for returning the file of the file name storing the standard output of the OS corresponding to a command, the execution of which is controlled in this command execution control process, to the transmission source of that mail text.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a remote control method and a remote control computer, and more particularly to a remote control method and a remote control computer for remotely controlling another computer by using electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a terminal (computer) of a user who operates and operates a remote device is connected to an operation target terminal directly connected via a network, and an operation command is input from a remote place to remotely control the terminal. The operation was being carried out. In other words, the user's terminal and the terminal to be operated are directly connected by LAN, network, or other communication means, and then, for example, rlog
Establish a connection using a command such as in (remote login). After that, execute command input on the user terminal side,
The operation target terminal immediately receives it, analyzes and executes it, immediately returns the result to the user terminal, and displays the result on the user terminal as it is.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there is an inconvenience that the user terminal and the operation target terminal must be logically directly connected via a network. Then, the objects that can be remotely controlled are limited. Further, in the above conventional example, operation cannot be performed unless the user side terminal and the operation target terminal are always available at the same time. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the time of remote control is also limited.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-334002 discloses a method of operating a file in an operation target terminal using electronic mail. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 187172 discloses a method in which, in an electronic mail driven job execution system, the start of job execution and the designation of a completion request time are executed in the form of electronic mail to a user who does not have knowledge of the host computer.

However, in the methods described in the above publications, a special command is newly prepared as a command for remote control, and therefore, there is an inconvenience that various remote controls cannot be performed by e-mail. there were. In particular, there is an inconvenience that a list of processes executed on a remote computer and a log file of various programs or daemons cannot be confirmed by e-mail.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control method and a remote control computer which can solve the disadvantages of the prior art and, in particular, can perform the same operation as in the case of remote login by e-mail. Is its purpose.

[0007]

Therefore, the present invention uses a computer system having a mail server for sending and receiving electronic mail via a network, and an operating system for controlling execution of processes and input / output of data. A remote control method for operating the process based on the electronic mail when the electronic mail is received. In addition, when the e-mail is received, if the destination of the e-mail is a predetermined remote operation address, a main body extraction step of extracting the main body of the e-mail, and the main body extraction step extracts the main body of the e-mail. A command execution control step of changing the standard output of the operating system to a predetermined file name and transferring the mail text to the operating system when the command is executed, A standard output return step of returning a file having the file name storing the standard output of the operating system to the sender of the mail body. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

Here, in the body text extraction step, the mail body of the e-mail to a specific destination is extracted, and then, in the command execution control step, the standard output of the operating system is changed to a predetermined file name. And send the body of the mail to the operating system, for example, UNIX.
If it is a trademark, hand it over to the shell. Since the standard output has a predetermined file name, the execution result message is redirected to the file. Then, in a standard output return step, the execution result of the command described in the mail body is returned to the sender of the electronic mail. Here, the external command is passed to the shell etc. as it is, so if you write a command that can be operated in the shell or command prompt by e-mail, it will be executed on the remote computer, and further, the standard output will be changed to a file, Since the execution result file is returned by e-mail, the execution result of the command is notified by e-mail.

In the embodiment, the command execution control step includes: a command separation step of separating an internal command having a predetermined control code and an external command not having the control code in the mail text; The internal command separated by the separation step includes an internal command execution step of executing the command as a command for the command execution control, and an external command execution control step of transferring the external command to the shell before and after the internal command execution step. Good. In this case, in addition to a general command for a shell or a command prompt, an internal command for performing a special process such as designation of the execution time of the command and user authentication is defined.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the configuration of the remote operation control method according to the present invention. Here, when the e-mail is received using a computer system including a mail server that sends and receives e-mail via a network, and an operating system that controls the execution of processes and the input and output of data, the e-mail is received. Operate the process based on When the mail server receives the e-mail, it checks the destination address of the e-mail. If the destination of the e-mail is a predetermined remote control address, the main body of the e-mail is extracted (step S1, main body extraction step). Subsequently, if the mail is encrypted, it is decrypted by a predetermined method (step S2,
Decoding process).

Then, for each command described in the mail text, the command is separated into an internal command having a predetermined control code and an external command not having the control code (step S3, command separation step). The internal command is, for example, a command for user authentication of a remote operator, a command for specifying the execution time of an external command,
Fig. 1 shows the settings for editing the execution result file, etc.
Is a command for the inside of the program for executing the processing shown in FIG. On the other hand, external commands are a group of commands that can be generally executed in a shell or command prompt.

If an external command is included, the standard output of the shell or command prompt, which is an interface to the operating system, is changed from the display to a file having a predetermined file name (step S4). For this, a command for changing the standard input / output may be used, or redirection may be added to an external command in the mail body. After setting the standard output to a specific file (execution result file), an internal command is executed as an step S5 (execution control step) (internal command execution step).
And an external command is transferred to a shell or a command prompt (external command execution step). Then, the execution result of the external command, which is output to the screen that is normally the standard output, is stored in the execution result file.
This execution result file is returned to the sender of the mail text (step S7, standard output return step).

The standard output returning step S7 may include an encryption step for encrypting the contents of the standard output by a predetermined method. Further, an editing step of editing the contents of the file storing the standard output may be provided. In this editing step, for example, when a plurality of commands are described in one mail text, editing is performed by adding each command name to the execution result, and execution date and time and execution time are added.
Related information related to the execution of the external command, such as a description of the executed external command itself, is added. What information is added depends on the setting by the internal command.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the remote control computer according to the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the remote operation is safely performed without actually operating the computer 2 for remote operation using an electronic mail system. From an operation computer 1 (not shown),
Describe the command to be input to the operated computer as an e-mail text, and send an e-mail to a specific destination (address) on the operated computer. The command is automatically analyzed and executed, and the result is returned. Bounce back to sender. The operated computer performs encryption / decryption in conjunction with the mail system. In this way, remote operation of the machine using the mail system is enabled.

[0015] Specifically, the remote control computer comprises:
It is a computer that is remotely controlled by e-mail.
As the computer on the remote control side, a personal computer or the like may be used as long as it can be connected to the Internet and can transmit and receive general electronic mail.

First, a computer system for remote operation includes a mail server 2 for sending and receiving electronic mail via a network, an operating system (OS) 10 for controlling execution of processes and input / output of data, and depends on the OS 10. And remote control operating means that operates. The mail server and the operating system may operate on the same computer, or the operating system of a computer connected to the computer serving as the mail server via a LAN may be subjected to remote control. In this case, the computer system includes two computers. In addition, an OS that drives another computer other than the OS on which the remote control operation unit that supports the execution of the command received by the e-mail depends may be set as the monitoring target.

The operating system includes a kernel for performing actual processing, and a shell or a command prompt serving as an interface to the kernel. When UNIX is adopted as the operating system, each component shown in FIG. 2 accesses a shell.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, when the mail server 2 receives the e-mail and the destination of the e-mail is a predetermined address for remote control, the mail server 2 sends the e-mail to the remote control operation means. A remote operation mail extraction function 9 for inputting a text is provided. Then, the remote control operation means includes a mail body decoding section 4 for decoding the mail body output by the mail server 2 in a predetermined manner, and each command compounded by the mail body decoding section 4. A command separating unit 6 for separating an internal command with a predetermined control code from an external command without a control code, and a standard output of an operating system when the mail body includes an external command. A standard output changing unit for changing the file name to a predetermined file name.

Further, the remote control operating means executes the internal command and transfers the external command to the operating system.
And an encryption unit 14 for encrypting the contents of the file 12 storing the standard output of the shell 10 for the external command.
And an execution result returning unit 16 for returning the contents of the file encrypted by the encrypting unit 14 to the sender of the mail including the external command. The execution result returning unit 16 may perform a process of transferring the execution result file to the mail server 2. Then, the reply control to the mail sender is performed by the mail server 2. Mail server 2
Is a computer on which a mail server program such as sendmail operates. Se on UNIX systems
If it is something like the ndmail program, it is possible to input mail addressed to a specific destination into a specific process, for example, a specific shell program. Any mail system that can construct such a mechanism can be used, and it does not depend on the specifications of the operated computer and the program processing means on the operated computer at all. The construction by the mechanism to realize it is completely the same.

The command execution control unit 8 controls execution of an external command according to the internal command in the mail text. For example, at the date and time specified by the internal command,
Execute the external command in the mail body. Further, the authentication of the title of the remote operation by the electronic mail may be performed by an internal command in the mail text. Since the body of the mail is transmitted after being encrypted, there is no possibility that it will be known to the outside, and it is also possible to set a password different from the root password for login.

FIG. 3 shows the first, second, and third computers 10B ₁ , _2, and 3, which are located in different regions using one operating computer 1, a tenth computer 10A, and a twentieth computer. 10C is remotely operated. The mail servers 2A, 2B, and 2C are connected to the computers 10 for each region. The operation computer 1 has a mail transmission / reception function,
It consists of decryption and the function of actually creating and browsing email text. These elements may generally be provided as a single module, but the invention is not dependent on its implementation.

The operated computer first has a function of transmitting and receiving mail, a function for decrypting and encrypting the encryption of the mail, a function for interpreting a mail text generated as a composite as a command, Function to perform,
The function of passing the result to e-mail is configured in cooperation. Generally, the operated computer is often provided with a plurality of functions as the same module, but the present invention does not depend on its implementation.

[0023] At reference numeral 10B ₁ of FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a main hardware resources of a computer. Computer
It includes a central processing unit (CPU) for performing calculations, a RAM serving as a main storage device for the CPU, and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk. The remote operation control program is stored in the auxiliary storage device, and when the CPU reads the program into the main storage device and executes the program, the computer operates as the command execution control unit 8 shown in FIG.

The remote operation program includes, as commands for operating the remote operation computer, a mail text decryption command for decrypting a mail text output by the mail server in a predetermined manner, and a mail text decryption command. A command separation command to separate an internal command with a predetermined control code and an external command without a control code for each command compounded according to the command, and the mail body contains an external command. A standard output change command for changing the standard output of the operating system to a predetermined file name when the operation is performed.

Further, the program encrypts a command execution control command for executing the internal command and transferring the external command to the operating system, and a file storing a standard output of the operating system for the external command. An encryption command and an execution result return command for returning the contents of a file encrypted according to the encryption command to the sender of the mail including the external command are provided. When this program is executed by the central processing unit, the functional blocks shown in FIG. 2 are realized, and the processing shown in FIG. 1 is further performed. Here, the "command to cause" means that the central processing unit (computer) is operated only by each command and the computer is operated depending on another program such as an operating system stored in the arithmetic unit in advance. And / or both.

In the example shown in FIG.
May be a portable notebook computer or laptop computer connected to the Internet by dial-up. It is not necessary to connect the operation computer 1 to the network to which the computer to be remotely operated belongs. That is, since the command is written in the e-mail and transmitted via the Internet, the remote operation can be performed using a normal command without directly connecting the operation computer 1 and the computer to be remotely operated.

In addition, since electronic mail is used, a task of collectively managing a large number of computers is required. For example, if the tenth computer is in the United States and the second computer is
If the computer 0 is in the United Kingdom and the first to third computers are in Tokyo and you want to run various programs while correlating them, the same method is used regardless of the time difference or regional difference Remote control from a portable computer or the like at hand. In particular,
When operating a computer that operates only from morning to evening instead of running continuously for 24 hours, remote operation is not possible unless the operation target is activated. However, in the present embodiment, since the electronic mail is used, the operation target computer is not used. Need not be running.

As an example of the remote operation, in the case of UNIX, the display of the running process (ps), the display of the disk space (df), and the display of a log file of the execution result (cat xxx.log) And so on. In addition to the shell command itself, commands for controlling the WWW server, display and change of a setting file, and the like can be performed via electronic mail. That is, when cat xxx.log is described as an external command, the contents of the log file are output to the standard output. Since the contents of the standard output are stored in the execution result file 12, the contents are Returned as email. Also, to display the setting file such as xxx.conf and change the contents, similarly check the contents of the setting file by returning the e-mail,
When a command for searching a specific file and replacing a character string is described in an e-mail and transmitted, the external command is executed and the setting file is rewritten.

Further, since the UNIX command is transmitted by e-mail and can be executed, complicated processing can be executed by combining the command by pipe and redirect. For example, a shell script can display a list of processes, extract only those having a specific character string from the list, and display a log file if any. Therefore, by setting various routine tasks as a combination of a series of commands, operations on different computers can be performed by mail. In addition, monitoring of the end of the process, such as numerical calculation and driving of the analyzer, can be performed remotely. In addition, when a trouble occurs in a computer that is not normally connected directly, such as maintenance of a server at a customer site, it is possible to easily view a log file by sending an e-mail. Then, since the command execution control unit 8 controls the execution time of the external command, it is possible to easily monitor the state at midnight and the overseas operation state with a time difference.

Next, the overall operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the specific example of FIG. A user who wants to remotely control an operation computer first creates an e-mail. Since the format of the command depends on the means for interpreting the command executed on the operated computer 2, it is described in a form conforming to the command (step A1). Then, encryption is performed to ensure security (step A2), and the mail is transmitted (step A3). Here, encrypting the body of the email is S
It is advisable to use generally available encryption / decryption mechanisms such as / MIME and PGP. There is no dependency on the specifications of the encryption / decryption processing as long as the encryption / decryption processing can be performed correctly by the operating computer 1 and the operated computer 12. Of course, in an environment where security is sufficient,
It is also possible to omit the encryption / decryption processing in each of the operation computer and 2.

The operated computer 12 receives the mail (step B1), determines whether it is addressed to the command processing request destination (step B2), and if it is a command mail, decrypts the encryption. (Step B3)
Is passed to the command execution control unit 8 (step B).
Four). The result processed by the command execution control unit 8 is directly created as a mail text (step B5), and the mail is encrypted (step B6) and returned to the transmission source (step B7). After receiving the e-mail returned to the operation computer (step A4), it decrypts the encryption (step A5) and displays the result to the sender, so that commands can be input to the computer from a remote location and operated. It becomes possible. Thus, in this embodiment, usually,
Since there is no need to go to the target device and the cost and time are improved, the operation can be performed even at a position where the target device cannot be directly operated.

[0032]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to this, in the command execution control step, the standard output of the operating system is changed to a predetermined file name and the mail text is changed to the operating system. If you write a command that can be run in a shell or command prompt by e-mail, it will be executed on a remote computer, and the standard output will have a predetermined file name. The resulting message is redirected to the file and the execution result is sent back to the sender of the e-mail so that the execution result of the command can be notified by e-mail and a direct connection is required for remote management There are no commands, and you can use commands that you are Te, it is possible to provide a superior remote operation control method and remote control computer unprecedented that the correspondence or the like to the sudden trouble computer not belong directly can be performed quickly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a configuration of an embodiment of a remote operation control method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a computer system for remote operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship between the remote operation computer system and the operation computer shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the remote operation computer system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of an electronic mail and the like corresponding to the processing shown in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation computer 2 Mail server 4 Mail text decoding part 6 Command separation part 7 Standard output change part 8 Command execution control part 10 Operating system having an interface such as shell or command prompt 12 Execution result file with a predetermined name 14 Encryption unit 16 Execution result return unit

Continued on the front page F-term (reference)

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail system comprising: a mail server that sends and receives electronic mail via a network; and an operating system that controls the execution of processes and the input and output of data. In a remote operation control method for operating the process based on an e-mail, extracting a body of the e-mail if the destination of the e-mail is a predetermined remote operation address when the e-mail is received A text execution step, and a command execution control step of changing the standard output of the operating system to a predetermined file name when the mail text is extracted in the text extraction step and transferring the mail text to the operating system; , Execution is controlled in this command execution control process Remote operation control method is characterized in that a standard output returning step of returning a file of the file name of the standard output stored in the operating system to the corresponding mail text of the source for the command. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a decoding step of decoding the mail text extracted in the text extraction step in a predetermined manner, following the text extraction step. Remote control method. 3. The remote operation control method according to claim 1, wherein the standard output returning step includes an encryption step of encrypting the contents of the standard output by a predetermined method. 4. The command execution control step includes: a command separation step of separating an internal command having a predetermined control code and an external command not having the control code in the mail body; The internal command separated by the command execution control as a command for the command execution control, and an external command execution control step of transferring the external command to the operating system before and after the internal command execution step The remote control method according to claim 1, wherein 5. The remote operation control method according to claim 4, wherein the internal command is a command for user authentication of a remote operator. 6. The remote operation control method according to claim 4, wherein the internal command is a command for specifying a date and time when the external command is executed. 7. The remote control method according to claim 1, wherein said standard output returning step includes an editing step of editing the contents of a file storing said standard output. 8. A mail server that sends and receives e-mails via a network, an operating system that controls execution of processes and input / output of data, and a remote control unit that operates the processes based on the e-mails. In the computer system for remote control provided, when the mail server receives an electronic mail, and the destination of the electronic mail is a predetermined remote control address, the text of the electronic mail is sent to the remote control operating means. The remote control operation means includes a mail body decryption section for decrypting a mail body output by the mail server by a predetermined method, and a mail body decryption section. Internal command with a predetermined control code for each command A command separating unit for separating commands and external commands without control codes, and a standard output change unit for changing the standard output of the operating system to a predetermined file name when the external command is included in the mail body. A command execution control unit that executes the internal command and transfers the external command to the operating system; and a file that stores a standard output of the operating system for the external command. A remote operation computer, comprising: an encryption unit for encrypting the file, and an execution result return unit for returning the contents of the file encrypted by the encryption unit to the sender of the mail including the external command. system. 9. A remote control computer comprising a mail server that sends and receives e-mails via a network and an operating system that controls execution of processes and input / output of data. A storage medium storing a remote operation control program for operating a process, wherein the mail server, when receiving an electronic mail, sends the electronic mail to a predetermined remote operation address. A remote operation mail extraction function for extracting a body of the mail, wherein the program is a command for operating the remote operation computer, a mail for decrypting a mail body output by the mail server in a predetermined manner. Full Text Duplicate Directive,
A command separation command to separate an internal command with a predetermined control code and an external command without a control code for each command compounded according to the mail text decryption command, A standard output change command for changing the standard output of the operating system to a predetermined file name when an external command is included, and the program executes the internal command, and executes the external command according to the operating system. A command execution control command to be transferred to the system, an encryption command for encrypting the contents of a file storing the standard output of the operating system for the external command, and a file content to be encrypted in accordance with the encryption command. Sending mail containing commands A storage medium storing a remote operation control program, comprising: an execution result return instruction for returning to an original.