JP2002063035A - Remote maintenance method for information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute a maintenance program on an information processor from a remote place, when requiring execution of the maintenance program. SOLUTION: A remote control process 21 of a remote control server 20 indicates to an information processor 40, so as to set a communication device 58 as a start-up device by indication from a control terminal 10. A control agent 41 rewrites start-up device information 57 according to this indication, and sets the communication device 58 as the start-up device. When the remote control server 20 indicates reset of the information processor 40, the information processor 40 is reset by the control agent 41. The information processor 40 acquires the maintenance program 30 from the remote control server 20 via a remote rising process 28, starts up a system, and starts the execution of the maintenance program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for maintaining an information processing apparatus from a remote location, and more particularly, to a method in which a program loaded when the information processing apparatus is started up on a network in response to a request from an operator. The present invention relates to a method for performing maintenance by switching to a maintenance program stored in a server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is necessary to execute a maintenance program on an information processing apparatus while an operating system is not running. For this reason, for maintenance of an information processing apparatus that requires execution of a maintenance program, a maintenance person usually starts up a system from a portable medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk and stores the system in the portable medium. This was done by running a maintenance program.

As an example of remote maintenance, for example,
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 0-214183 discloses a technique for updating firmware of an information processing apparatus from a remote place. According to the technology disclosed herein, a firmware update from a remote location for an information processing device is realized by always causing the information processing device to acquire a startup program from a remote startup process on a network. .

More specifically, when the information processing apparatus is started, a remote start-up process compares the version of the firmware installed in the information processing apparatus with the latest firmware version. When an old version of firmware is installed in the information processing apparatus, the remote start-up process automatically transmits a firmware update program. When the latest version of firmware is installed in the information processing device, the remote start-up process transmits a start-up program for normal operation to the information processing device.

With such a configuration, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In Japanese Patent No. 4183, after new firmware is prepared in the server, the firmware of the information processing apparatus can be updated to the latest version of the firmware upon a system reset of the target information processing apparatus.

[0006]

As in the past, when a maintenance worker goes to the site and executes a maintenance program, a lot of time is required from the time a request is actually made to the end of the execution of the maintenance program. spend. In addition, there is a problem that as the number of target machines increases, the workload of maintenance personnel increases proportionately.

[0007] In addition, the firmware update in the prior art described above has a problem in that the system must be reset on the information processing apparatus side, and the firmware update cannot be performed by control from a remote place.

A main object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and to make it possible to execute a maintenance program for an information processing apparatus by controlling from a remote place when it becomes necessary to execute the maintenance program. It is in.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a remote management subsystem, comprising:
In a computer system having an information processing device having a communication device for performing the communication via a network, a maintenance program is executed on the information processing device under the control of a remote management subsystem.

[0010] In a preferred aspect of the present invention, a start-up device for acquiring a communication device from the remote management subsystem to the information processing device when the information processing device is started up, in order to execute the maintenance program. Is instructed to be set. The information processing device sets the communication device as the start-up device according to the instruction. Thereafter, the remote management subsystem instructs the information processing apparatus to perform a system reset. In the information processing device, an agent operating on the information processing device resets the information processing device in response to a system reset instruction. When the information processing device is reset, the communication device is set as a startup device,
Requests a program to be executed to the remote management subsystem. The remote management subsystem transfers the maintenance program to the information processing device in response to a request from the information processing device, starts up the information processing device using the maintenance program, and starts executing the maintenance program.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing a connection relation of devices constituting a system in one embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the management terminal 10 is connected to the remote management server 20 via a communication path 70. The remote management server 20 is connected to the information processing device 40 via the communication path 70. A remote management subsystem is configured by the management terminal 10 and the remote management server 20, and the information processing device 40 is maintained under the control of the remote management subsystem.

The system according to the present embodiment enables the firmware of the information processing apparatus 40 to be updated as one of remote maintenance. In this embodiment, in order to update the firmware of the information processing device 40, the information processing device 40 is installed in a remote management server 2 provided in a remote location.
From 0, a firmware update program is acquired and executed as a maintenance program.

The management terminal 10 is a terminal for realizing the function of a remote management console 11 for providing a user interface to an operator. The remote management server 20 has a remote management process 21 for transmitting a request from the remote management console 11 to the information processing device 40 and a remote startup process 28 for providing the information processing device 40 with the firmware update program 30. The information processing device 40 stores the firmware update program 30 from the non-volatile memory 56 storing the boot device information 57, the management agent 41 for rewriting the content of the boot device information 57 in the non-volatile memory 56, and the remote management server 20. It has a communication device 58 having a remote start-up unit 61 to acquire, and a service processor 53 having a power control unit 55 for performing power on / off control of the main body in response to a request from the remote management server 20.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing the configuration of the management terminal 10.

As the terminal device 10, specifically, a computer such as a so-called personal computer (PC) or a workstation (WS) can be used.
The terminal device 10 has a remote management console 11, which is a program that executes a console function and is operated by an operator who performs remote maintenance.

The remote management console 11 has an information processing device management unit 12, a firmware information acquisition unit 13, and a firmware update execution unit 14 as function processing units related to the present invention.

The information processing apparatus management unit 12 displays a list of information processing apparatuses 40 to be managed on a screen, and allows the operator to determine which information processing apparatus 40 to update the firmware. To help. The firmware information acquisition unit 13 displays a list of firmware mounted on the target information processing device 40, and an updatable version of each firmware.
This assists the operator in determining which version of firmware to update. After transmitting a request to update the firmware to the determined version to the remote management server 20, the firmware update execution unit 14 monitors the progress of the firmware update on the information processing device 40, and confirms that the update has succeeded. Or help detect failure.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram showing the logical configuration of the remote management server 20.

As the remote management server 20, specifically,
A computer such as a PC or WS is used. The remote management server 20 has a remote management process 21, a remote start-up process 28, and a firmware update program 30 as programs operating on the remote management server 20. Further, the remote management server 20 holds a certificate file 31 used for authentication of the firmware update program 30 in a memory (not shown).

The remote management process 21 includes, as its function processing units, a firmware information acquisition unit 22, a communication device identification information acquisition unit 24, a remote startup process detection unit 25, a startup device setting unit 26, and a remote power control unit 27. It has.

The firmware information acquisition unit 22 acquires information about the version of the firmware installed therein from the information processing device 40 to be maintained. The firmware information acquisition unit 22 also acquires a list of firmware versions that can be updated by referring to the firmware management information 23, and
Send to The firmware management information 23 is information for managing a type, a version, an updatable version, and a file name of a corresponding firmware update program of the firmware. Firmware information acquisition unit 2
2 acquires the version information of the firmware to be updated specified by the operator from the management terminal 10 and passes the information to the remote start-up process 28.

The communication device identification information acquiring means 24 acquires the communication device identification information from the information processing device 40 to be maintained, and passes it to the remote start-up process 28.

The communication device identification information is identification information uniquely determined by the information processing device. In the present embodiment, a MAC (Media Access Control) address is used as the communication device identification information.

The remote start-up process detecting section 25 transmits a request for acquiring a pseudo firmware update program to all the machines on the network and confirms whether or not there is a reply. If there is a reply to the pseudo firmware update program acquisition request, the information processing device 40
The machine that responds to the firmware update program acquisition request transmitted by the remote management server 20 exists outside the remote management server 20. In such a case, the remote startup process detection unit 25 transmits an error to the management terminal 10.

The start-up device setting section 26 sets the start-up device of the target information processing device 40 as a communication device when updating the firmware.

After the execution of the firmware update program 29 is completed, the remote power supply control unit 27 controls the power of the target information processing apparatus 40 to be turned on / off.

The remote start-up process 28 includes the version information of the updated firmware from the remote management process 21,
The communication device identification information of the information processing device 40 is received as a parameter, and the communication device identification information is registered in the communication device registration information 29 for managing a list of the information processing devices 40 to be updated. Thereafter, the remote start-up process 28 transmits the specified version of the firmware update program 30 in response to the acquisition request from the target information processing device 40. At this time, the remote startup process 28 responds to a request from the information processing device 40,
The certificate file 31 corresponding to the firmware update program 30 is transmitted.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 40.

The information processing apparatus 40 includes a PC and a W which execute application programs for performing various business processes.
S and other computers. The information processing device 40 operates on hardware 52, firmware 49 necessary for operating the hardware 52, and hardware,
It includes an operating system 45 that controls the execution of application programs and the like, and a management agent 414.

The management agent 41 includes a firmware information acquisition unit 42, a start-up device setting unit 43, and a communication device identification information acquisition unit 44. Under the environment where the operating system 45 is operating, the management agent 41 can call the firmware input / output routine via the operating system 45 and update the startup device information.

The firmware information acquisition section 42 acquires version information 50 of the main firmware 49 in response to a request from the remote management server.

In response to a request from the remote management server 20, the start-up device setting section 43 sets so as to obtain a start-up program from the communication device 58 when starting up after a system reset.

The communication device identification information acquisition section 44 is provided with identification information (MAC address) assigned to the communication device 58.
And sends it to the remote management server.

The operating system 45 includes a firmware information acquisition driver 46, a boot device setting driver 47,
And a communication device driver 48. These drivers are configured as a part of the operating system 45, or are configured as program modules started by the operating system 45 at the time of execution.

The firmware information acquisition driver 46
From the firmware 49, the version information 50 stored therein is acquired. Startup device setting driver 4
7 rewrites the startup device information 57 stored in the non-volatile memory 56 by calling the input / output routine 51 on the firmware 49.

The communication device driver 48 accesses the communication device 58 through a bus (not shown) and acquires the communication device identification information 59.

The hardware 52 includes a service processor 53, a non-volatile memory 56, and a communication device 58 in order to realize a firmware update function.

The service processor 53 includes a communication processing unit 5
4 and a power supply control unit 55 for performing on / off control of the power supply of the information processing apparatus 40 main body. The power supplied to the service processor 53 is controlled independently of the power supplied to the information processing device 40.

The non-volatile memory 56 stores start-up device information 57 describing the order of the devices that obtain the start-up program at the time of start-up. The setting of the startup device information 57 is performed by an input / output routine 51 on the firmware 49.

The communication device 58 is uniquely assigned a MAC address used as the communication device identification information 59 in this embodiment. The communication device 58 includes a communication processing unit 6 for communicating with another machine on the network.
0, a remote startup unit 61 for acquiring and executing a startup program from a machine on the network, and
It has a file authentication unit 62 that acquires an authentication file corresponding to the startup program and checks whether there is a difference between the original startup program and the acquired startup program.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing performed between the management terminal 10 and the remote management server 20 at the time of remote firmware update processing.

First, the management terminal 10 communicates with the remote management server 2
0 requests acquisition of the information processing device list. In response to this request, the remote management server 20 acquires a list of information processing devices from the firmware management information 23 and
Send to 0.

The management terminal 10 displays a list of information processing devices received from the remote management server on a display screen. The operator updates the firmware from the list displayed on the screen of the display.
Is determined, and the information processing device 40 is
Perform the operation to identify the When the operator determines an information processing device for updating the firmware, the terminal device 10 transmits a request for acquiring information on the firmware installed in the information processing device 40 to the remote management server 20.

In response to the information acquisition request, the remote management server 20 acquires the type of firmware installed from the information processing device 40 and its version. After that, the remote management server 20 refers to the data stored in the firmware management information 23 and determines the version of the firmware that can be updated. Remote management server 2
0 transmits the determined information on the version of the firmware that can be updated to the management terminal.

In the management terminal 10, a list of firmware mounted on the information processing device 40 determined by the operator, the version of each firmware, and
The firmware version that can be updated is displayed on the screen. The operator determines the version of the firmware to be updated and inputs it to the management terminal 10.

After the firmware version to be updated is determined by the operator, the management terminal 10 transmits an update execution request to the remote management server 20. In response to this request, the remote management server 20 starts a firmware update process.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the flow of processing until the remote management server 20 sets the communication device 58 as the boot device for the information processing device 40 during the remote firmware update process. .

In this process, first, the remote management server 20 requests the information processing device 40 for the communication device identification information 59 of the communication device 58 mounted on the information processing device 40. The information processing device acquires the communication device identification information 59 set in the communication device 58 in response to the request, and transmits the communication device identification information 59 to the remote management server 20.

The remote management server 20 sends a pseudo firmware update program acquisition request including the acquired communication device identification information 59 to all machines on the network, and checks whether there is a response to the acquisition request. I do.

When there is a response to the acquisition request from the network, when the information processing apparatus 40 transmits the firmware update program acquisition request, another machine responding to the request exists on the network. In such a case, the remote management server 20 transmits an error to the management terminal.

When there is no response to the acquisition request from the network, the remote management server 20 registers the acquired communication device identification information 59 in the communication information registration information 29. Thereafter, the remote management server 20 requests the information processing device 40 to set the communication device 58 as the boot device.

The information processing device 40 is connected to the remote management server 20
When the request for setting of the boot device is received from the device, the boot device information 57 in the nonvolatile memory 56 is rewritten by using the input / output routine 51 of the firmware 49, and the communication device 58 is set as the boot device.

After setting the communication device 58 as the start-up device, the information processing device 40 performs a system reset of the information processing device 40 itself.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing the flow of processing performed after the system reset of the information processing apparatus 40.

After the system reset, the information processing apparatus 40 starts the start-up process using the communication device 58 as a start-up device, and sends a firmware update program acquisition request including the communication device identification information 59 to all machines on the network. Send to.

Upon receiving the firmware update program acquisition request, the remote management server 20 stores the communication device identification information included in the received acquisition request in the communication device registration information 29.
Check if it is registered in. When the corresponding communication device identification information is registered, the firmware update program 30 is transmitted to the information processing device 40 of the transmission source.

When the information processing device 40 receives the firmware update program 30, the information processing device 40
0 requests the transmission of the certificate file 31. When the certificate file 31 is obtained from the remote management server 20, the information processing device 40 authenticates whether the firmware update program 30 obtained by the file authentication unit 62 is the same as the original firmware update program. If it is determined that the acquired firmware update program 30 is the same as the original program, the information processing device 40 starts executing the newly acquired firmware update program 30 and updates the firmware.

After the execution of the firmware update program 30 is completed, the information processing apparatus 40 sets the start-up device in the local storage device, and transmits a firmware update program execution completion notification to the remote management server 20.

When the remote management server 20 receives the notification of the completion of the execution of the firmware update program, the remote power control unit 27 controls the power of the information processing device 40 and turns off the power of the information processing device 40. The remote power control unit 27
After a predetermined time has elapsed, the information processing apparatus 40 is turned on again. As a result, the information processing apparatus 40 performs the startup process from the local storage device, loads the operating system according to the normal procedure, and can execute various applications, and the firmware update process ends.

FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, a system for transferring a diagnostic program for diagnosing the information processing device from a remote location to the information processing device and executing the diagnostic program as a maintenance program will be briefly described.

Basically, the present embodiment also includes a management terminal 10, a remote management server 20, and an information processing device 40, as in the system shown in FIG. In the system according to the present embodiment, on / off control of the power of the information processing apparatus 40 is not required before and after execution of the diagnostic program that is the maintenance program.
For this reason, unlike the first embodiment, the information processing device 40
There is no particular need to provide a service processor in the system.

In this embodiment, the information processing device 40
According to the instruction from the management terminal 10, the communication device is set as the start-up device, and the system of the information processing device is reset under the control of the remote management server 20.
The diagnostic program 80 is loaded into the information processing device 40 from the remote management server 20 and executed. When the execution of the diagnostic program ends, the startup device of the information processing device 40 is set in the local storage device under the control of the remote management server 20. Thereafter, the system is reset again under the control of the remote management server 20 to return to the normal processing, and the diagnostic processing ends.

According to the above-described embodiment, the start-up device of the information processing apparatus such as a PC can be switched under the control of the remote management server connected via the network. The device can be started up with a maintenance program. Also, the power of the information processing device can be turned on / off from the remote management server as needed, and the
At the time of updating, maintenance requiring power control can be performed from a remote place.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and within the scope of the present invention,
Various aspects can be taken. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the management terminal and the remote management server are formed by independent devices connected to each other via a network. However, these may be configured by one computer.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention, when it becomes necessary to execute the maintenance program, the maintenance program for the information processing apparatus can be executed from a remote place.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing a connection relation of devices constituting a system in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a configuration of a management terminal.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote management server.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing device.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing performed between the management terminal 10 and the remote management server 20 at the time of remote firmware update processing.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a flow of a process until a remote management server sets a communication device as a start-up device for an information processing device during a remote firmware update process.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating a flow of processing performed after a system reset of the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing a connection relation of devices constituting the system in the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 management terminal 11 remote management console 20 remote management server 21 remote management process 28 remote start-up process 30 firmware update program 40 information processing device 41 ... Management agent 53 ... Service processor 55 ... Power control unit 56 ... Non-volatile memory 57 ... Start-up device information 58 ... Communication device

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Koji Ueda, Inventor 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in the Software Development Division of Hitachi, Ltd. 5B042 GA12 GA19 GA23 JJ02 KK02 LA26 5B076 AC01 BB06 EB03 FB01

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A computer system having a remote management subsystem and an information processing apparatus having a communication device for communicating with the management subsystem via a network, the system comprising: A maintenance method, wherein the remote management subsystem instructs the information processing device to set the communication device as a startup device for acquiring a program when the information processing device is started, The information processing device sets the communication device as a boot device in response to the instruction, instructs a system reset from the remote management subsystem to the information processing device, and responds to the system reset instruction, The information processing device is reset, and the information processing device sets the communication device as a start-up device, and To perform the launch of the system obtains the ram from the remote management subsystem, maintenance method characterized by initiating the execution of the maintenance program. 2. The maintenance program acquired from the remote management subsystem in the step of starting the execution,
The maintenance method according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance method is a program for updating firmware of the information processing apparatus. 3. The maintenance method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of turning on / off the information processing apparatus in response to an instruction from said remote management subsystem after the execution of said maintenance program.
A maintenance method characterized by performing off control. 4. The remote maintenance method according to claim 2, wherein the remote management subsystem acquires information about firmware included in the information processing apparatus from the information processing apparatus, and performs the information processing based on the information about the firmware. A maintenance method characterized by determining a program to be transferred to an apparatus. 5. The maintenance method according to claim 1, wherein the step of starting the execution includes a step of checking that the acquired maintenance program is an appropriate program. 6. The step of checking includes obtaining a certificate file corresponding to the maintenance program from the remote management subsystem, and performing a check of the maintenance program based on the certificate file. 6. The maintenance method according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The maintenance method according to claim 1, wherein the remote management subsystem acquires identification information used when the information processing apparatus acquires the maintenance program, and uses the identification information to generate pseudo information. A maintenance method comprising: transmitting a request for acquiring a maintenance program, and confirming whether or not there is a response to the acquisition request for the pseudo maintenance program. 8. The maintenance method according to claim 1, wherein identification information of an information processing apparatus to be maintained is registered in the remote management subsystem in advance, and prior to an instruction to set the start-up apparatus. A maintenance method comprising: receiving input of identification information for identifying the information processing apparatus; and determining whether the received identification information is included in the registered identification information. 9. The maintenance method according to claim 1, wherein the setting of the start-up device and the resetting are performed by a management agent operating on the information processing device. 10. The setting of the boot device is performed by the management agent calling an input / output routine of firmware in an environment where an operating system of the information processing device is operating. Item 9. The maintenance method according to Item 9.