JP2005130178A - Maintenance method of communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a maintenance method for the remote maintenance of a communication apparatus via a firewall which regulates an access based on the telnet/ftp. <P>SOLUTION: A terminal 10 sends an electronic mail of described maintenance commands addressed to a communication apparatus 24 to an external mail server 12. The external mail server 12 transfers the electronic mail to an internal mail server 22 via a firewall 20 which normally closes a telnet/ftp port but normally opens a port for the Smtp/Pop3, allowing the electronic mail to pass. The communication apparatus 24 receives the electronic mail from the internal mail server 22, extracts and executes the maintenance commands, and sends a reply mail addressed to the terminal 10 with the description that the commands have been executed. The internal server 22 transfers the reply mail to the external mail server 12. From the external mail server 12 the terminal 10 receives the reply mail sent from the communication apparatus 24. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device maintenance method, and more particularly, to a communication device maintenance method for remotely maintaining a communication device operating on an IP (Internet Protocol) network using a maintenance terminal operating on the same IP network. .

  When maintaining a communication device that operates on an IP network, a maintenance person of the communication device normally performs maintenance using a maintenance terminal that operates on the same IP network. Communication devices operating on an IP network generally communicate according to protocols defined in RFC (Request for Comments), such as the telnet protocol for virtual terminals and the ftp protocol for file transfer. Therefore, when it is necessary for the maintenance person to change the device information in the communication device to be maintained, the maintenance device connects to the communication device by telnet from a terminal such as a personal computer, and enters the maintenance command from the terminal to the communication device. When it is necessary to execute a command and transfer / change a file, connect to the communication device by ftp from a terminal such as a personal computer and transfer the file from the terminal to the communication device. I was updating.

JP-A-9-198328

  However, in a general corporate network (local area network), in order to prevent unauthorized access from the external network, a firewall is provided between the local area network and the external network to limit the ports that can be used from the external network. May limit the protocols that can be used. For example, if the firewall closes the port used for telnet / ftp, the maintainer tries to connect from the maintenance terminal on the external network to the communication device installed in the local area network using telnet / ftp. Because access is restricted by this, connection is blocked and remote maintenance cannot be performed.

  The present invention eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art, and even when a firewall that restricts telnet / ftp access is installed between the external network and the local area network, the communication device in the local area network is connected to the external network. An object of the present invention is to provide a maintenance method for a communication device that can be remotely maintained from a maintenance terminal.

  In order to solve the above problems, a communication device maintenance method according to the present invention maintains a communication device operating on an IP network with a maintenance terminal operating on the same IP network. An e-mail transmission process that creates an e-mail including maintenance information necessary for the communication and transmits it to the communication device, and a maintenance that receives the e-mail by the communication device, extracts the maintenance information, and performs maintenance based on the maintenance information And a process.

  In this case, it is preferable to include a reply mail transmission step of creating a reply mail including the execution result and transmitting it to the maintenance terminal when the maintenance based on the maintenance information is performed.

  According to the communication device maintenance method of the present invention, since the device to be maintained is maintained from the maintenance terminal using e-mail, the telnet / ftp port is closed between the maintenance terminal and the device to be maintained. Even if a firewall is installed, if the firewall opens the port for Smtp / Pop3, maintenance commands and maintenance data can be transmitted to the maintenance target device. Since the maintenance terminal may be any device having a mail transmission / reception function, for example, a mobile communication device such as a mobile phone having a mail transmission / reception function can be used as the maintenance terminal.

  Next, an embodiment of a communication apparatus maintenance method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network to which a maintenance method according to the present embodiment is applied. This network is a network using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), and includes an external network 1 and a local area network 2. A firewall 20 is connected between the external network 1 and the local area network 2, the external network 1 includes a terminal 10 and an external mail server 12, and the local area network 2 includes an internal mail server 22 and a communication device 24. included.

  The terminal 10 is a maintenance terminal having a function of transmitting and receiving electronic mail, and remotely maintains the communication device 24. Specifically, the maintenance person uses the terminal 10 to create an e-mail including maintenance information necessary for maintenance of the communication device 24. The terminal 10 transmits the created electronic mail to the external mail server 12. In addition, an e-mail addressed to the terminal 10 is received from the external mail server 12. The email address of the communication device 24 is the destination of the email header of the email to be sent, the title column indicates the type of maintenance request for the communication device 24 in the subject field, and the user name and password of the communication device 24 are in the email body. Are described respectively. The title is defined in advance for each type of maintenance request, such as a device information change request or a file update request.

  Further, a maintenance command is described as maintenance information in the mail body as necessary, and data such as a file is attached as maintenance information. For example, if the maintenance request is a device information change request, a change instruction for changing the device information (for example, an IP address change instruction) is described in the body of the email. A file for update is attached. In the case of a file update request, a command for instructing execution of file update may be described in the mail body. The attached file is converted into a data format suitable for electronic mail. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal 10 transmits an electronic mail according to the Smtp protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) defined in RFC and receives the electronic mail according to the Pop3 protocol (Post Office Protocol Version 3).

  In this embodiment, the external mail server 12 forwards the e-mail addressed to the communication device 24 received from the terminal 10 to the internal mail server 22 in the local area network 2, and is sent to the terminal 10 transmitted by the internal mail server 22. Receive e-mails and store them in a mailbox. Further, the external mail server 12 transmits electronic mail addressed to the terminal 10 stored in the mail box to the terminal 10 in response to a request from the terminal 10. In this embodiment, the external mail server 12 transfers the e-mail to the internal mail server 22 using Smtp / Pop3.

  The firewall 20 prevents unauthorized access from the external network 1 to the local area network 2. In this embodiment, the telnet port (port number 23) and the ftp port (port number 21) are closed with respect to the external network 1, but the Smtp port (port number) used for e-mail. 25) Port for Pop3 (port number 110) is assumed to be open. Therefore, the firewall 20 allows the e-mail transferred from the external mail server 12 to pass.

  The internal mail server 22 is basically the same as the external mail server 12 included in the external network 1, and transfers the e-mail addressed to the terminal 10 received from the communication device 24 to the external mail server 12. The e-mail addressed to the communication device 24 sent by 12 is received and stored in the mailbox. The internal mail server 22 includes a POP3 server 100 and an SMTP server 102. The POP3 server 100 transmits an email addressed to the communication device 24 stored in the mailbox to the communication device 24 according to the Pop3 protocol. The e-mail addressed to the terminal 10 output from is received by the SMTP server 102 according to the Smtp protocol.

  The communication device 24 is a maintenance target device having an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and is remotely maintained by the terminal 10. The communication device 24 includes an information management unit 200 that executes a maintenance command (command) instructed by the terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the information management unit 200 includes a mail receiving unit 202, a command executing unit 204, and a mail transmitting unit 206. In FIG. 2, reference numerals attached to the connection lines represent signals appearing on the connection lines.

  The mail receiving unit 202 controls mail reception. Specifically, the POP3 server 100 of the internal mail server 22 in FIG. 1 is periodically inquired about the existence of an electronic mail, and the electronic mail 208 addressed to the communication device 24 is received from the POP3 server 100. Then, the title, user name, and password described in the electronic mail 208 are checked, and if a command is described in the mail body, the command is checked. Then, the checked command 210 is output to the command execution unit 204. If an update file is attached to the mail body, the update file is extracted and converted into the original data format, and the converted update file 212 is output to the command execution unit 204. If the title, user name, password, command, etc. are not normal, the reason (error reason) 214 is output to the mail transmitting unit 206.

  The command execution unit 204 executes commands. Specifically, when a command 210 is given from the mail receiving unit 202, the command 210 is executed, and an execution result 216 is generated and output to the mail transmitting unit 206. When the update file 212 is given from the mail receiving unit 202, the update target file is updated to the given update file 212, and the execution result 216 is output to the mail sending unit 206.

  The mail transmission unit 206 controls mail transmission and has a function of creating a reply mail. Specifically, when the execution result 216 is received from the command execution unit 204 or the error reason 214 is received from the mail receiving unit 202, the mail address of the terminal 10 is described in the destination, and the execution result 216 or the error reason 214 is described in the mail body. Is sent to the SMTP server 102 of the internal mail server 22 in FIG. The reply mail 218 is transferred to the external mail server 12 of the external network 1 via the internal server 22 and the firewall 20 and stored in a mailbox. The maintenance person of the terminal 10 reads the reply mail from the mailbox and knows the execution result or the reason for the error.

  In the operation of the network of FIG. 1 configured as described above, when the IP address change is instructed to the communication device 24 included in the local network 2 (operation example 1) and when the software file is updated (operation) Example 2) will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 5 and the sequences of FIGS.

  First, the operation example 1 will be described. The maintenance person creates an e-mail using the terminal 10 and transmits the created e-mail to the external mail server 12. When creating an e-mail, in this embodiment, the e-mail address describes the e-mail address of the communication device 24, the subject field describes the title of the device information change request, and the e-mail text contains the communication Describe the user name, password, and IP address change command (command) of the device 24.

  The e-mail transmitted from the terminal 10 is transferred to the internal mail server 22 through the external mail server 12 and the firewall 20, and stored in a mailbox managed by the internal mail server 22. In this case, the firewall 20 closes the ports for telnet and ftp, but opens the ports for Smtp and Pop3. Accordingly, the electronic mail transmitted from the external mail server 12 passes through the firewall 20 and reaches the internal mail server 22.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the mail receiving unit 202 of the information management unit 200 included in the communication device 24 periodically inquires the POP3 server 100 of the internal mail server 22 about the existence of an e-mail, and sends the communication device to the mailbox. When an email addressed to 24 is stored, the email is received. Pop3 is used for reception. Note that the mail receiving unit 202 checks the size of the mail when receiving the mail, and discards the remaining part when the mail exceeds the preset allowable amount.

  Further, the mail receiving unit 202 sequentially checks the normality of the user name, password, and command described in the title and the mail text described in the mail header of the received e-mail (step S300 in FIG. 3). ~ S306). Specifically, first, the title is checked (step S300). If the title is defined in the communication device 24 (OK), the process proceeds to step S302. If the title is not defined in the communication device 24 (NG), the process proceeds to step S312. When the process proceeds to step S312, the error reason 214 is output to the mail transmitting unit 206.

  In step S302, the mail receiving unit 202 checks the user name and password. If both the user name and password are defined in the communication device 24 (OK), the process proceeds to step S304, and if at least one of the user name and password is not defined in the communication device 24 (NG) Control goes to step S312. When the process proceeds to step S312, the error reason 214 is output to the mail transmission unit 206.

  When the process proceeds to step S304, the mail receiving unit 202 checks the command (in this case, the IP address change command). If the command is normal (OK), the process proceeds to step S306, and the command for which the checked command does not exist. If the title and the command do not match (for example, if the title is a file update request and the command is an IP address change), the process proceeds to step S312 as NG. When the process proceeds to step S306, the checked command 210 is output to the command execution unit 204, and when the process proceeds to step S312, the error reason 214 is output to the mail transmission unit 206.

  In step S306, the command execution unit 204 executes the command received from the mail reception unit 202, generates an execution result, and outputs the execution result to the mail transmission unit 206. In this example, since the command is an IP address change request, the IP address is changed, and an execution result 216 indicating that the IP address has been changed is output to the mail transmission unit 206. The process proceeds from step S306 to step S308.

  The mail transmission unit 206 describes the execution result 216 received from the command execution unit 204 in the mail body, creates a reply mail 218 to reply to the transmission source (Reply-To), and sends it to the SMTP server 102 of the internal mail server 22 Transmit (steps S308 and S310). However, when the process proceeds from step S300, S302, or S304 to step S312, the mail transmission unit 206 creates a reply mail 218 in which the error reason 214 received from the command execution unit 204 is described in the mail body, and the internal mail server 22 To the SMTP server 102 (steps S312 and S310). Smpt is used for email replies.

  The reply mail transmitted from the communication device 24 is transferred to the external mail server 12 of the external network 1 via the internal mail server 22 and the firewall 20, and stored in the mailbox. The maintenance person reads the reply mail from the external mail server 12 using the terminal 10 and checks whether or not the communication device 24 has executed the instructed command.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the terminal 10 transmits the command to the communication device 24 by electronic mail, the firewall 20 interposed between the external network 1 and the local area network 2 is provided with telnet or ftp. Even if the communication port is closed, if the port used for e-mail such as Smtp or Pop3 is opened, the maintenance command transmitted from the terminal 10 reaches the communication device 24, and the communication device 24 Can be instructed to execute a command.

  Next, the operation of the network in FIG. 1 (operation example 2) will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 5, taking as an example the case where the update file is transferred from the terminal 10 to the communication device 24 to update the software file in the communication device 24. This will be described with reference to the sequence of FIG. The maintenance person creates an e-mail using the terminal 10 in the same manner as in the operation example 1 and transmits the created e-mail to the external mail server 12. In this case, since the request for the communication device 24 is a file update, an update file is attached to the e-mail. The file update request can be determined by the title, but a command for instructing file update may be described in the mail body.

  The e-mail transmitted from the terminal 10 is transferred to the internal mail server 22 through the external mail server 12 and the firewall 20 in the same manner as in the operation example 1, and stored in a mailbox managed by the internal mail server 22. The As shown in FIG. 6, the mail receiving unit 202 of the information management unit 200 in the communication device 24 periodically inquires the POP3 server 100 of the internal mail server 22 about the existence of an e-mail, and sends a mail box to the communication device 24. When an e-mail is stored, the e-mail is received.

  The mail receiving unit 202 sequentially checks the normality of the user name and password described in the title and the mail text described in the mail header of the electronic mail 208 received from the internal mail server 22 (FIG. 5). Steps S400 to S402). If the title, user name, and password are all defined in the communication device 24 (OK), the process proceeds to step S404, and at least one of the title, user name, and password is not defined in the communication device 24. For (NG), the process proceeds to step S412. When the process proceeds to step S412, the error reason 214 is output to the mail transmission unit 206.

  In step S404, the mail receiving unit 202 knows that an update file is attached to the e-mail from the title described in the mail header, and extracts the update file. Since the extracted file is converted into a data format suitable for electronic mail, it is decoded and returned to the original file 212 and output to the mail transmission unit 206. The process proceeds from step S404 to step S406.

  In step S406, the command execution unit 204 updates the update target file to the update file 212 received from the mail reception unit 202. Then, after the file is updated, an execution result 216 indicating that the file update is completed is output to the mail transmission unit 206. The process proceeds from step S406 to step S408.

  In the mail transmission unit 206, in the same manner as in the operation example 1, the execution result 216 received from the command execution unit 204 is described in the mail body, and a reply mail 218 is sent back to the sender (Reply-To). The message is transmitted to the SMTP server 102 of the internal mail server 22 (steps S408 and S410). However, when the process proceeds from step S400 or S402 to step S412, the mail transmission unit 206 creates a reply mail 218 in which the error reason 214 is described in the mail body as in the case of the operation example 1, and the internal mail server It transmits to 22 SMTP servers 102 (steps S412 and S410).

  The reply mail transmitted from the communication device 24 is forwarded to the external mail server 12 of the external network 1 through the internal mail server 22 and the firewall 20 as in the case of the operation example 1, and the mailbox of the external mail server 12 Stored in. The maintenance person reads the reply mail from the external mail server 12 using the terminal 10 and checks whether or not the communication device 24 has executed the instructed command.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the terminal 10 transmits the file update instruction and the update file to the communication device 24 by electronic mail, it is interposed between the external network 1 and the local area network 2. Even if the firewall 20 to be closed closes the port for telnet or ftp, if the port used for e-mail such as Smtp or Pop3 is open, the file update instruction and update file sent from the terminal 10 Reaches the communication device 24, and the communication device 24 can update the file.

  Further, in the conventional method of transmitting a command from the maintenance terminal by telnet, the maintenance terminal needs to have a telnet function. Therefore, the devices that can be used as the maintenance terminal are limited to personal computers and workstations. On the other hand, the maintenance terminal (terminal 10) in the present embodiment may be a device having a mail transmission / reception function, and is not limited to a personal computer / workstation, for example, a mobile phone having a mail transmission / reception function. It becomes possible to maintain the apparatus to be maintained by a mobile communication device such as the above.

  If the maintenance terminal (terminal 10) and the device to be maintained (communication device 24) have existing application software for maintenance operation management, install the mail interface in the application software for maintenance operation management. The same effects as in this embodiment can be obtained.

  In addition, in the case of a device that has maintenance operation management application software that uses telnet / ftp for command execution and file transfer / update, this maintenance operation management application software should now use Smpt / Pop3 for command execution and file transfer / update. If changed, the existing user interface can be used, and the firewall can be passed.

It is a block diagram which shows the network to which the maintenance method of the communication apparatus by this invention was applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information management part contained in the communication apparatus of the network shown in FIG. It is a command execution flowchart which shows operation | movement when the information management part shown in FIG. 2 performs a command. It is a command execution sequence which shows operation | movement when the information management part shown in FIG. 2 performs a command. It is a file update flowchart which shows operation | movement when the information management part shown in FIG. 2 updates a file. It is a file update sequence which shows operation | movement in case the information management part shown in FIG. 2 updates a file.

Explanation of symbols

1 External network 2 Local area network
10 devices
12 External mail server
20 Firewall
22 Internal mail server
24 Communication equipment
100 POP3 server
102 SMTP server
200 Information Management Department
202 Mail receiver
204 Command execution part
206 Mail sending part

Claims (5)

In a maintenance method for a communication device that maintains a communication device that operates on an IP network with a maintenance terminal that operates on the IP network, the method includes:
An e-mail transmission step of creating an e-mail including maintenance information necessary for maintenance by the maintenance terminal and transmitting the e-mail to the communication device;
A maintenance method for a communication device, comprising: a maintenance step of receiving the electronic mail by the communication device, extracting maintenance information, and executing maintenance based on the maintenance information. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes a reply mail transmission step of creating a reply mail including an execution result and transmitting the reply mail to the maintenance terminal when the maintenance based on the maintenance information is performed. How to maintain the device. 3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the reply mail transmitting step includes a step of creating a reply mail including an error reason and transmitting the reply mail to the maintenance terminal when an error is included in the maintenance information. Maintenance method. The method according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance information includes a command for instructing specific maintenance. The method according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance information includes a file update instruction and a file used for the update.

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