JP2007156669A - Remote maintenance system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote maintenance system allowing maintenance operation of a maintenance target disposed in a network restricted with a transmission protocol, and capable of preventing misoperation or extra-contract operation of a maintenance person. <P>SOLUTION: This remote maintenance system has: a maintenance management part 1000 transmitting the maintenance operation of the maintenance person to the maintenance target, receiving an operation result of the maintenance target, and managing the maintenance operation; a maintenance instruction part 5000 instructing approval or denial of the maintenance operation of the maintenance person; and a maintenance relay part 3000 deciding whether the maintenance operation from the maintenance management part is approved in the maintenance instruction part or not, and executing the maintenance operation to the maintenance target when it is approved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote maintenance system that performs maintenance from a remote location on a maintenance target that is physically installed at a remote location.

  For example, there is a case in which maintenance is performed remotely on equipment equipment installed in a remote place periodically or in the event of a failure. The remote maintenance system is a system that performs maintenance from a remote place on such a maintenance target that is physically installed at a remote place.

  Conventional remote maintenance systems using public lines include those using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) function and those equipped with a WWW server function and a firewall that allows only HTTP protocol to pass.

As a conventional remote maintenance system using the VPN function, a cash processing machine installed over a wide range can be safely and inexpensively maintained remotely (for example, see Patent Document 1), or an Internet VPN from a maintenance center A plurality of information GW terminals that allow duplication of subordinate local network addresses and their extension terminals can be remotely maintained as much as possible (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of conventional remote maintenance using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) function. The maintenance object 110 is connected to the wide area network 140 via the router 130a having the VPN function 120a, and the maintenance terminal 150 is also connected to the wide area network 140 via the router 130b having the VPN function 120b. Then, the network between the remote locations is encrypted and connected using the routers 130a and 130b, so that the maintenance terminal 150 and the maintenance target 110, which are protected against data eavesdropping and falsification, are connected and maintenance is performed. Remote maintenance of the maintenance object 110 is realized from the terminal 150.

  In the method of FIG. 3, the physical positions of the routers 130a and 130b having the VPN functions 120a and 120b are fixed, so that the installation position of the maintenance terminal 150 is limited. In addition, when a change or addition of the base of the maintenance target 110 occurs, it is necessary to change the settings of the routers 130a and 130b having the VPN functions 120a and 120b on both the maintenance terminal 150 side and the maintenance target 110 side.

  On the other hand, as a conventional remote maintenance system with a WWW server function and a firewall that allows only HTTP protocol to pass, there is one that facilitates the exchange of files contained in applications in any location ( For example, see Patent Document 3).

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional remote maintenance system in which a WWW server function is provided and a firewall that allows only HTTP protocol to pass is installed. A WWW server 160 is arranged in the maintenance target 110, and the WWW server 160 has a maintenance function 170. The maintenance object 110 on which the WWW server 160 is arranged is connected to the wide area network 140 via the firewall 180a, and the maintenance terminal 150 is connected to the wide area network 140 via the firewall 180b. The maintenance terminal 150 connects to the maintenance target 110 WWW server 160 using the HTTP protocol, and executes the maintenance function 170 of the maintenance target 110 to realize remote maintenance of the maintenance target 110 from the maintenance terminal 150.

  In the method of FIG. 4, when the data transmitted on the public line is encrypted by the HTTPS protocol, the maintenance terminal 150 trusts the WWW server 160 of each maintenance target 110, so A certificate signed by a certificate authority is required. Normally, this certificate has an expiration date, and it is necessary to renew all the maintenance target 110 certificates before the expiration date.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of another example of a conventional remote maintenance system in which a WWW server function is arranged and a firewall permitted to pass only the HTTP protocol is installed. The maintenance object 110 is connected to the wide area network 140 via the firewall 180a, and the maintenance terminal 150 is connected to the wide area network 140 via the firewall 180b. A WWW server 160 having a relay function 190 is connected to the wide area network 140 via the firewall 180b.

  That is, the maintenance object 110 and the maintenance terminal 150 are connected via the relay function 190 of the WWW server 160, so that the firewalls 180a and 180b permitted to pass only the HTTP protocol are connected between the networks 140. In addition, the maintenance operation of the maintenance terminal 150 is transmitted to the maintenance target 110 by the relay function 190 of the WWW server 160, and remote maintenance of the maintenance target 110 from the maintenance terminal 150 is realized.

In the method of FIG. 5 also, when data transmitted on the public line is encrypted by the HTTPS protocol, the individual maintenance target 110 is in order to trust the certificate of the WWW server 160 having the relay function 190. The certificate of the certification authority that authenticated the certificate of the WWW server 160 having the relay function 190 is required. Usually, the certificate of this certification body has an expiration date, and it is necessary to update all the maintenance target 110 certificates before the expiration date.
JP 2002-183435 A JP 2002-335273 A JP 2003-122597 A JP 2001-344129 A

  However, in any of the conventional examples of Patent Documents 1 to 4, the transmission path is encrypted and remote maintenance of the maintenance target 110 is realized from the maintenance terminal 150. However, the network 140 to which a plurality of maintenance targets 110 are connected is used. It is cumbersome to construct an encrypted transmission path. In addition, it is possible to prevent unauthorized access by a third party during remote maintenance only by encrypting the transmission path, but it is possible to prevent erroneous operation from the maintenance terminal 150 of maintenance personnel or operation outside the contract with malicious maintenance personnel. Can not.

  In other words, a firewall 180 is installed between the maintenance terminal 150 operated by the maintenance staff and the maintenance target 110 to prevent unauthorized access, and operations other than the maintenance operation implemented by a transmission protocol that can pass through the firewall 180 are executed. There is a restriction that it cannot be done. In addition, when managing a plurality of maintenance objects 110, if the transmission protocol that can pass through each firewall 180 is different, it is necessary to perform a specific implementation for each, and the development cost increases. Further, when it is desired to obtain cross-sectional information from a plurality of maintenance targets 110, the maintenance staff needs to repeatedly perform a maintenance operation corresponding to the setting of each firewall 180.

  If the maintenance target 110 has a different device type, the maintenance staff needs to perform different maintenance operations according to the device type. Therefore, the burden on maintenance personnel increases every time the device type increases. Although the maintenance operation itself performed by the maintenance staff is correct, if the maintenance operation procedure is not appropriate, the maintenance target 110 apparatus may be adversely affected. Since it is not possible to refer to the results of past maintenance operations performed by maintenance personnel, it is not only difficult to confirm the operation procedure, but maintenance personnel at other locations may perform the same operation.

  Further, since the customer cannot confirm the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff, there arises a problem that the work of the maintenance staff outside the contract cannot be monitored. That is, since the customer cannot monitor the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff, the maintenance operation without the customer's agreement may be performed.

  Furthermore, when a maintenance person wants to cancel a maintenance operation once performed, the maintenance person takes a backup of the apparatus state of the maintenance target 110 in advance, and when a problem occurs in the apparatus of the maintenance object 110 due to the maintenance operation, the backup is performed. It will be recovered using. Therefore, the procedure becomes complicated, and problems such as backup leakage may occur due to the complexity. When the maintenance operation is periodically repeated on the maintenance object 110, the maintenance staff needs to perform the same operation each time. As a result, a burden is placed on maintenance personnel, and problems due to omissions may occur.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a remote maintenance system capable of performing maintenance operations for maintenance objects arranged in a network with a limited transmission protocol and preventing maintenance personnel from performing erroneous operations and out-of-contract operations.

  The remote maintenance system of the present invention transmits a maintenance operation of a maintenance worker to a maintenance target, receives a result of the maintenance target operation and manages the maintenance operation, and approves or denies the maintenance operation of the maintenance worker. A maintenance instruction unit for instructing, and a maintenance relay unit for determining whether or not the maintenance operation from the maintenance management unit is approved by the maintenance instruction unit and executing the maintenance operation for the maintenance target when it is approved. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, the maintenance relay unit determines whether or not the maintenance operation from the maintenance management unit is approved by the maintenance instruction unit, and when it is approved, the maintenance relay unit executes the maintenance operation on the maintenance target. , It is possible to prevent maintenance operations without customer agreement.

  In addition, when maintenance operations are sent and received via SOAP, the transmission protocol that can be passed can be selected according to the firewall settings of the network where the maintenance target is placed, and it is necessary to change the firewall settings and implement each transmission protocol. Disappears.

  In addition, since the access to a plurality of maintenance targets is unified by the SOAP interface, it is possible to perform maintenance operations in parallel or sequentially and collect maintenance operation result data collectively.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The remote maintenance system includes a maintenance management unit 1000 that transmits a maintenance operation and reports a result to a maintenance staff, one or a plurality of maintenance relay units 3000 that receive the maintenance operation and perform an operation on the device 4001 of the maintenance target 4000, From the maintenance instruction unit 5000 for instructing the approval or denial of the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff, and the public network 2000 that connects the maintenance management unit 1000 and the maintenance instruction unit 5000 and connects the maintenance relay unit 3000 via the firewall 2001. Composed.

  The maintenance management unit 1000 transmits the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff to the maintenance target, receives the operation result of the maintenance target 4000 from the maintenance relay unit 3000, and manages the maintenance operation. (Simple Object Acces Protocol) A maintenance operation transmission unit 1001 for making a request, a transmission protocol selection unit 1002 for selecting a transmission protocol for transmitting a maintenance operation to the maintenance relay unit 3000, and a maintenance operation to a plurality of maintenance relay units 3000 A maintenance operation crossing transmission unit 1003 that performs a cross-sectional operation, a device crossing maintenance information generation unit 1004 that generates a report by analyzing a maintenance operation result that has been crossed, and a maintenance relay unit 3000 And a maintenance operation execution history reference unit 1005 obtains the operation execution history line has been maintenance operation from the maintenance relay unit 3000.

  Here, SOAP is a protocol (communication protocol) for calling data and services in other computers based on XML and HTTP, etc. In SOAP communication, incidental information called an envelope (envelope) in an XML document Messages with are exchanged using a protocol such as HTTP. Both the client that uses the service and the server that provides the service have SOAP generation / interpretation engines, enabling object calls between different environments.

  The maintenance instructing unit 5000 instructs the maintenance personnel to approve or reject the maintenance operation. The transmission protocol selecting unit 5001 selects a transmission protocol for communication using SOAP, and the maintenance operation execution history from the maintenance relay unit 3000. Maintenance operation execution history reference means 5002 for acquiring the maintenance operation approval transmission means 5003 for transmitting the approval or denial of the maintenance operation to the maintenance relay unit 3000.

  The maintenance relay unit 3000 determines whether or not the maintenance operation from the maintenance management unit 1000 has been approved by the maintenance instruction unit 5000, and executes the maintenance operation on the maintenance target 4000 if it has been approved. .

  The maintenance operation response unit 3001 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 receives and responds to the maintenance operation between the maintenance operation transmission unit 1001 and the maintenance operation crossing transmission unit 1003 of the maintenance management unit 1000. The maintenance approval status information change unit 3009 receives from the maintenance operation approval transmission unit 5003 of the maintenance instruction unit 5000 that the customer has approved the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff, and updates the approval status of the approval status information 11 to “approved”. It is something to be made. The maintenance operation approval unit 3010 diagnoses whether the maintenance operation is approved by a customer or the like based on the approval status information 11.

  The maintenance operation determination unit 3003 confirms whether the security and procedure of the maintenance operation are appropriate based on the predetermined determination rule information 12, and in addition to the determination rule of the determination rule information 12, the operation execution history of the maintenance operation 14, whether or not the maintenance operation procedure approved by the maintenance instruction unit 5000 is appropriate is determined.

  The device type maintenance operation conversion unit 3004 converts the execution command based on the conversion rule information 13 determined in advance according to the device type of the maintenance target 4000 before executing the maintenance operation. That is, the device type maintenance operation conversion unit 3004 converts the maintenance operation determined to be appropriate as a result of the determination by the maintenance operation determination unit 3003 into a command specific to the device based on the conversion rule information 13. The command is input to the maintenance operation execution unit 3002 and executed by the maintenance operation execution unit 3002 to the corresponding device 4001 of the maintenance target 4000.

  Next, the periodic maintenance operation instructing unit 3007 performs a specific maintenance operation on the maintenance target 4000 periodically based on the predetermined periodic maintenance information 16. For example, the periodic maintenance operation instructing unit 3007 acquires setting information from the periodic maintenance information 16 on a regular basis, such as a daily cycle, and executes a specific maintenance operation.

  The operation execution history storage unit 3005 stores the operation execution history 14 that is the execution history of the maintenance operation execution unit 3002, and accumulates the operation execution history of the maintenance operation for each device 4001 of the maintenance target 4000. For example, the maintenance operation execution history storage unit 3005 stores in the operation execution history 14 information such as time information when the maintenance operation execution unit 3002 executes the maintenance operation and a response message of the device 4001.

  The maintenance operation execution history transmission unit 3008 transmits the operation execution history 14 to the maintenance operation execution history reference unit 1005 of the maintenance management unit 1000 and the maintenance operation execution history reference unit 5002 of the maintenance instruction unit 5000. The execution history 14 can be referred to remotely.

  The maintenance operation canceling means 3006 cancels the processing executed for the maintenance target 4000 based on the predetermined cancel operation information 15 and the operation execution history 14. As a result, the previous process executed for each device 4001 of the maintenance target 4000 can be canceled.

  Next, the operation of the remote maintenance system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the remote maintenance system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The solid line in FIG. 2 is the flow of processing, the solid line arrow is the data flow, and the dotted line arrow is the message flow.

  First, a flow until a maintenance operation is transmitted from the maintenance instruction unit 5000 to the maintenance relay unit 3000 will be described. The customer approves the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff through the maintenance instruction unit 5000. When the customer approves the maintenance operation of the maintenance staff (S001), the maintenance operation approval transmission unit 5003 of the maintenance instruction unit 5000 notifies the maintenance approval status information change unit 3009 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 to that effect. Upon receiving this notification, the maintenance approval status information changing unit 3009 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 updates the approval status of the approval status information 11 to “approved” (S002).

  The maintenance staff selects a transmission protocol (HTTPS, FTP, etc.) that can be passed by the transmission protocol selection means 1002 of the maintenance management unit 1000 (S003). Since the transmission protocol (HTTPS, FTP, etc.) differs for each setting of the firewall 2001, a transmission protocol that can be passed is selected. When a passable transmission protocol is selected, the maintenance operation transmission unit 1002 transmits a SOAP request with the transmission protocol (S004).

  Here, when a maintenance operation is collectively transmitted to a plurality of maintenance target devices 4001 and the result is to be obtained as cross-sectional data, the maintenance operation is performed by the device crossing maintenance information creating unit 1003 of the maintenance management unit 1000. Send.

  Next, a flow until the maintenance operation is received by the maintenance relay unit 3000, the maintenance operation is executed on the device 4001, and the operation execution history is stored in the operation execution history 14 will be described. The maintenance operation transmitted by the maintenance management unit 1000 is received by the maintenance operation response unit 3001 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 via the firewall 2001 (S005).

  The maintenance operation approval unit 3010 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 determines whether the maintenance operation is “approved” with reference to the approval status of the approval status information 11 (S006). If the result of the determination is denial, it is transmitted to the maintenance management unit 1000 (S007). That is, if it is not “approved”, the maintenance operation is rejected, and the maintenance operation for the apparatus 4001 is not executed, and a response indicating a processing failure is returned to the maintenance management unit 1000.

  Next, in the case of “approved”, the maintenance operation determination unit 3003 determines whether the approved maintenance operation procedure is appropriate from the determination rule of the determination rule information 12 and the operation execution history 14. Perform (S008). As a result of the determination, if it is determined that it is not valid, a maintenance operation for the device 4001 is not executed and a response indicating fraud is returned to the maintenance management unit 1000. On the other hand, if it is determined to be valid, the maintenance operation is converted into a device-specific command by the device type maintenance operation conversion means 3004 based on the conversion rule information 13 (S009).

  The command is executed by the maintenance operation execution unit 3002 for the corresponding device 4001 that is the maintenance target 4000 (S010), and the maintenance operation execution history storage unit 3005 performs time information of the operation, a response message of the device 4001, and the like. Is stored in the operation execution history 14 (S011). The maintenance operation result is transmitted to the maintenance management unit 1000 and responds (S012).

  Next, a flow of receiving a maintenance operation result and referring to a past operation execution history will be described. When the maintenance staff wants to confirm past maintenance operations, the transmission protocol selection unit 1002 of the maintenance management unit 1000 selects a transmission protocol (S013), and the maintenance operation execution history reference unit 1005 transmits a reference request (S014). . Then, the response of the maintenance operation execution history transmission means 3008 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 is received (S015), and the past operation execution history is referred to for confirmation.

  When the customer confirms the operation of the maintenance staff, similarly, the transmission protocol is selected by the transmission protocol selection unit 5001 of the maintenance instruction unit 5000 (S016), and the reference request is transmitted by the maintenance operation execution history reference unit 5002. (S017).

Then, the response of the maintenance operation execution history transmission means 3008 of the maintenance relay unit 3000 is received (S018), and the past operation execution history is referred to for confirmation.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is determined whether or not the maintenance operation is approved by the customer, and if it is approved, the maintenance operation is executed for the maintenance target. Maintenance operations without customer consent can be prevented. In addition, since maintenance operations are sent and received via SOAP, the transmission protocol that can be passed can be selected according to the firewall settings of the network where the maintenance target 4000 is arranged, and the settings of the firewall 180 can be changed and the implementation for each transmission protocol can be performed. There is no need to do it.

  Further, since access to a plurality of maintenance targets is unified by the SOAP interface, it is possible to execute maintenance operations in parallel or sequentially and collect maintenance operation result data collectively. Maintenance operation information is converted into an execution command corresponding to each maintenance target device type for each maintenance target device. Can be suppressed. In addition, since the maintenance operations can be managed collectively based on the results obtained by the maintenance operation, manageability is improved.

  Since this can be determined when the maintenance operation itself is accurate but the procedure is not appropriate, an erroneous operation that adversely affects the maintenance target apparatus can be prevented. Further, since the maintenance operation execution history for each maintenance target apparatus is stored, both maintenance personnel and customers can refer to the maintenance operation execution history, and the completion status of the maintenance operation can be confirmed.

  Furthermore, if there is an error in the maintenance operation for the maintenance target device, the maintenance operation for the maintenance target device can be returned to the previous state, and there is no need to perform a backup before the maintenance operation is performed. This reduces the burden on maintenance personnel and protects maintenance objects from procedural mistakes such as backup leaks. Further, when it is necessary to periodically perform maintenance operations on an apparatus to be maintained, it is not necessary for maintenance personnel to perform maintenance operations each time, and this can be automated. When a customer approves, denies, or restricts maintenance operations by maintenance personnel, it is possible to prevent maintenance personnel from performing out-of-contract operations or erroneous operations.

The block diagram of the remote maintenance system concerning embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the remote maintenance system concerning embodiment of this invention. Configuration diagram of conventional remote maintenance using the VPN function. Configuration diagram of a conventional remote maintenance system that has a WWW server function and a firewall that allows only HTTP protocol to pass through. The block diagram of another example of the conventional remote maintenance system which installed the firewall which arrange | positioned the WWW server function and was allowed to pass only HTTP protocol.

Explanation of symbols

110: Maintenance target, 120: VPN function, 130: Router, 140: Wide area network, 150 ... Maintenance terminal, 160 ... WWW server, 170 ... Maintenance function, 180 ... Firewall, 190 ... Relay function, 1000 ... Maintenance management unit, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1001 ... Maintenance operation transmission means, 1002 ... Transmission protocol selection means, 1003 ... Maintenance operation crossing transmission means, 1004 ... Cross-device maintenance information creation means, 1005 ... Maintenance operation execution history reference means, 2000 ... Public line network, 2001 ... Firewall 3000 ... Maintenance relay unit, 3001 ... Maintenance operation response means, 3002 ... Maintenance operation execution means, 3003 ... Maintenance operation determination means, 3004 ... Device type maintenance operation conversion means, 3005 ... Maintenance operation Execution history storage means, 3006 ... maintenance operation canceling means, 3007 ... periodic maintenance operation instruction means, 3008 ... maintenance operation execution history transmission means, 3009 ... maintenance approval status information changing means, 3010 ... maintenance operation approval means, 4000 ... maintenance object, 4001 ... Device, 5000 ... Maintenance instruction section, 5001 ... Maintenance operation approval transmission means, 5002 ... Maintenance operation execution history reference means, 11 ... Approval status information, 12 ... Judgment rule information, 13 ... Conversion rule information, 14 ... Operation execution history , 15 ... Cancel operation information, 16 ... Regular maintenance information

Claims (12)

A maintenance manager that sends maintenance operations of maintenance personnel to the maintenance target, receives the operation results of the maintenance targets and manages the maintenance operations, a maintenance instruction unit that instructs the approval or denial of the maintenance operations of the maintenance personnel, A maintenance relay unit that determines whether or not the maintenance operation from the maintenance management unit is approved by the maintenance instruction unit, and performs a maintenance operation on the maintenance target when the maintenance operation is approved. And remote maintenance system. A maintenance manager sends maintenance operations to maintenance targets, receives the maintenance target operation results and manages maintenance operations, and receives maintenance operations from the maintenance management unit via SOAP and responds to the results. A remote maintenance system comprising a maintenance relay unit that outputs and executes the maintenance operation to a maintenance target using an appropriate protocol. A maintenance manager that sends maintenance operations of maintenance personnel to the maintenance target, receives the operation results of the maintenance targets and manages the maintenance operations, a maintenance instruction unit that instructs the approval or denial of the maintenance operations of the maintenance personnel, The maintenance operation from the maintenance management unit is received by SOAP and a result response is received, and the maintenance operation from the maintenance management unit is determined by the maintenance instruction unit to determine whether the maintenance operation is approved. A remote maintenance system comprising a maintenance relay unit that outputs to a maintenance target with an appropriate protocol and executes it. The remote maintenance system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the maintenance management unit selects a transmission protocol that can pass through a firewall with the maintenance relay unit. The remote maintenance system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the maintenance relay unit converts an execution command based on conversion rule information determined in advance according to the type of device to be maintained before executing a maintenance operation. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the maintenance relay unit confirms whether security or a procedure of maintenance operation is appropriate based on predetermined determination rule information. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance relay unit accumulates an operation execution history of a maintenance operation for each maintenance target device. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the maintenance relay unit cancels processing executed on the maintenance target based on predetermined cancellation operation information and operation execution history. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the maintenance relay unit periodically performs a specific maintenance operation on a maintenance target based on predetermined periodic maintenance information. The maintenance management unit transmits maintenance operations in parallel or sequentially to the maintenance targets of the plurality of maintenance relay units, receives the operation results of the plurality of maintenance targets, and provides cross-sectional maintenance operation result data to the maintenance staff. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the maintenance operation is managed. The maintenance relay unit updates and stores the approval or denial information of the maintenance operation from the maintenance instruction unit as approval status information, and restricts maintenance operations of maintenance personnel depending on the approval status of the approval status information. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the maintenance relay unit transmits an operation execution history of a maintenance operation to the maintenance target to the maintenance management unit and a maintenance instruction unit.

Images