JP2018014039A - Information processing device, information processing system, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device, information processing system, information processing method, and program capable of obtaining sufficient information for solving problems while suppressing the amount of log collection.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes an acquisition unit, a storage unit 133, and a collection unit 134. The acquisition unit obtains, when a failure occurs in an own device or the other one or more information processing device, failure management information in which device identification information for identifying the own device or the other one or more information processing devices, a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred, or log identification information for identifying logs related to the failure are associated. The storage unit stores the failure management information obtained by the acquisition unit. The collection unit collects logs identified by the log identification information for each of all pieces of log identification information associated with a failure identifier for identifying a specified failure.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program.

  For example, an information processing device such as a printer device or a fax communication device pauses an operation state in which an operation request can be made in response to an external operation request such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a communication line, and some functions. It operates by a complicated program, such as transitioning to a standby state waiting for an operation request. For this reason, in the unlikely event that a failure occurs in an information processing device, the operation information, status information, and error information of the information processing device are stored and collected as a log within the information processing device in order to quickly determine the cause of the failure. The technology to do is known.

  Here, in the log storage / collection technology for a plurality of information processing apparatuses (for example, MFPs), the log collection amount increases when the amount of log data or the number of MFPs increases. There is a problem that it takes a long time. In order to solve such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which the log recording frequency is dynamically changed for each terminal to reduce the log collection amount as a whole.

  However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 solves the problem when a problem occurs in a terminal set to “not record log” because the log recording amount has been reduced too much to reduce the log collection amount. There is a problem that the log cannot be recorded and the problem cannot be solved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and an information processing apparatus capable of obtaining sufficient information for solving a problem while suppressing the amount of collected logs The purpose is to provide a program.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a self-device or one or more other information processing devices when a failure occurs in the self-device or one or more other information processing devices. Acquired by the acquisition unit is an acquisition unit for acquiring fault management information in which at least device identification information for identifying, a fault identifier for identifying a fault that has occurred, and log identification information for identifying a log relating to the fault are associated with each other. A storage unit that stores the failure management information; and a collection unit that collects the log identified by the log identification information for every log identification information associated with the failure identifier that identifies the specified failure. , An information processing apparatus comprising:

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program capable of obtaining sufficient information for solving a problem while suppressing the amount of collected logs.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the MFP. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a program configuration of the MFP. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of each of Master and Slave. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of MFP log management information. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of individual information. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of failure information. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an event of a notification program included in the slave. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a list of requests. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the function of the management data display program. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functions of each of Master and Slave. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information processing system. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information processing system. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation of the Master.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, as an example of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) that is an aspect of the image forming apparatus will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Note that a multifunction peripheral is a device having a plurality of different functions such as a copy function, a scanner function, a print function, and a fax function.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing system 100 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system 100 includes a plurality of MFPs 1 that are connected to each other via a network 2 such as the Internet. For convenience of explanation, only two MFPs 1 are illustrated in the example of FIG. 1, but the number of MFPs 1 included in the information processing system 100 is not limited to this and is arbitrary. The two MFPs 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 have a master / slave relationship. The MFP 1 that functions as a master functions as a “first information processing apparatus”, and the MFP 1 that functions as a slave (Slave) It functions as a “second information processing apparatus”.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the MFP 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 1 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, an HDD (hard disk drive) 14, an SD memory card 15, a communication I / F (interface) 16, an operation panel 17, an engine unit. 18, and these are connected to each other via a system bus 19.

  The CPU 11 controls the overall operation of the MFP 1. The CPU 11 controls the overall operation of the MFP 1 by executing a program stored in the ROM 12 or the like using the RAM 13 as a work area (work area), and various functions such as the copy function, the scanner function, the fax function, and the printer function described above. Is realized.

  The communication I / F 16 is an interface for connecting to the network 2. Operation panel 17 accepts various operations from the user and displays information related to MFP 1. For example, the operation panel 17 includes a liquid crystal touch panel. The engine unit 18 is hardware that performs processing other than general-purpose information processing and communication for realizing a copy function, a scanner function, a fax function, and a printer function. For example, a scanner (image reading unit) that scans and reads an image of a document, a plotter (image forming unit) that performs printing on a sheet material such as paper, and a fax unit that performs fax communication are provided. Further, a specific option such as a finisher for sorting printed sheet materials or an ADF (automatic document feeder) for automatically feeding a document can be provided.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a program configuration on the MFP 1 alone. As shown in FIG. 3, the MFP 1 includes four layers: hardware, OS (operating system), service, and application. Of these, the OS, service, and application are software, and each has a memory area for recording a debug log. A numerical value written in parentheses together with each program name is an ID value indicating a debug log area. For example, “Copy” in the application has a number 2000, and the OS has a number from 100 to 150. An OS may have a plurality of IDs because a plurality of programs such as device drivers operate inside the OS.

  The hardware is a physical element constituting the MFP 1, and there are resources such as the engine unit 18, the HDD 14, the SD memory card 15, a memory including a debug log area, and other CPU 11.

  The OS is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes software of services and applications in parallel as processes. In the service layer, about several tens of service programs always operate to monitor and manage the state of the apparatus. For example, in FIG. 3, the service layer is divided into two layers. In the lower layer, service management that performs overall management of the service group, debug log recording that records the debug log area of each software on the HDD 14, and debug log that exchanges debug log information on the occurrence of a problem among a plurality of MFPs 1 on the network 2 Network management (Master or Slave) operates. The relationship between Master and Slave will be described later. In the upper layer, start / stop control that controls the start and end of services and applications, energy-saving control that controls the power-saving mode of devices, setting management that manages device settings, network management that manages device networks, and devices Fault management for managing the fault status of the apparatus, management for opening and closing the apparatus door for managing the paper tray of the apparatus and the door for paper feed / discharge, and application management for managing the application operating on the apparatus are operating.

  An application is a software group for realizing a function that a person who operates the apparatus wants to execute. For example, there are a copy operation that operates when it is desired to perform a copy operation, a printer operation, a scanner operation, a FAX operation, etc., a firmware update that operates when updating the firmware of the printer, scanner, FAX, and apparatus.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of each of Master-MFP 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as “Master”) and Slave-MFP 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as “Slave”). The information processing system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of MFPs 1 each arranged to be communicable on the network 2 and classifies the plurality of MFPs 1 into two types, Master and Slave, regarding log management. For convenience of explanation, each of the master and the slave is one here. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of masters and slaves may exist.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the Master includes Master management information 101, a notification reception program 102, a request program 103, and a management data display program 104. Although details of the master management information 101 will be described later, the master management information 101 includes failure information related to each of the managed slaves and the own device failure, and is managed in association with a failure related log (failure log).

  The notification receiving program 102 is a program that operates in cooperation with the slave notification program 112. Although details will be described later, in response to an event notification from the slave or master, an operation of adding information to the master management information 101 is performed.

  The request program 103 is a program that operates in cooperation with the slave request reception program 113. Although details will be described later, in response to a request by a UI operation from the user, an operation of transmitting a request from the master to the slave is performed. Depending on the content of the request, the acquired log is also written to a storage device such as the HDD 14 or the SD memory card 15. Further, depending on the content of the request, communication is performed with a plurality of slaves.

  The management data display program 104 is a program for browsing and operating the master management information 101 on the operation panel 17. Details will be described later.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the slave includes slave management information 111, a notification program 112, and a request reception program 113. Here, although omitted for simplification of explanation, the slave may further include a program corresponding to the management data display program 104 included in the master. In order to display the management data on the slave side, the management data is inquired of the master, and after the response is received, the management data is displayed on the slave side.

  Although details of the slave management information 111 will be described later, the individual identifier of the master that is the parent, a log relating to a failure that occurred in the own apparatus, and the like are managed. In a situation where communication with the Master is interrupted, it also functions as an area for temporarily storing unreported data. In the following description, the master management information 101 and the slave management information 111 may be collectively referred to as “MFP log management information”.

  The notification program 112 is a program that operates in cooperation with the master notification reception program 102, and is a program that notifies the master of an event, details of which will be described later. When the Master does not exist, information is stored locally to prepare for resuming communication with the Master.

  The request reception program 113 is a program that operates in cooperation with the master request program 103. As will be described in detail later, the request reception program 113 receives a request from the master and performs a process of returning the result to the master. Depending on the content of the request, the log is pinned (setting not to permit erasure of the log), and thereafter processing for preventing the log from being erased is also performed.

  Also, the Master and Slave may be able to send a startup request to each other and make a transition from the stopped state to the started state. As a result, it is possible to acquire information of all MFPs 1 existing on the network 2 by starting up one nearby MFP 1.

  Next, MFP log management information included in each of Master and Slave will be described. The master management information 101 managed by the master and the slave management information 111 managed by the slave are expressed by this information.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the MFP log management information includes parent information (parent), the number of children, and an individual information group.

  The parent information is information of the MFP 1 that is the parent (Master) of the own device, and is expressed by individual information described later. In the case of Master, there is no parent information. The number of children represents the number of MFPs 1 that are children (Slaves) of the own apparatus. In the case of Slave, it is zero. The individual information group is a data string including a plurality of individual information described later, and is information for each child (Slave) of the own device. In the case of Slave, there is no individual information group.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the individual information includes an individual identifier and a failure information group. The individual identifier is an example of “device identification information” and is information for identifying the MFP 1 existing on the network 2. For example, the individual identifier may be an IP address. The failure information group is a data string including a plurality of failure information described later.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the failure information includes an occurrence time, an occurrence source log ID, a failure identifier, and pin stop on / off information. The occurrence time indicates the time when the failure occurred. The generation source log ID is an example of “log identification information”, and is a log ID (information for identifying a log) for each program illustrated in FIG. 3. The failure identifier is information for identifying a failure that has occurred. In this example, numbers are assigned such as “S100” when the print information cannot be correctly generated at the time of copying, and “S001” when the program ends improperly. The pin stop on / off information is an example of “erase permission / inhibition information”, and is information indicating whether or not log erasure is permitted. In this example, the pin stop on information means a setting that does not permit the log erasure, and the pin stop off information means a setting that permits the log erasure.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an event of the notification program 112 included in the slave. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8A, there are three types of events: “E1. Start notification”, “E2. Stop notification”, and “E3. Fault occurrence notification”. “E1. Activation notification” is a notification for notifying the master that the slave has been activated. “E2. Stop notification” is a notification for notifying the master that the slave has stopped. “E3. Failure occurrence notification” is a notification for notifying the master that a failure has occurred in Slave, and as shown in FIG. 8B, the occurrence time, the origin log ID, the failure identifier, the pin stop on / off information and so on. More specifically, an individual identifier or the like is also included. Upon receiving this, the master searches for the individual information of the corresponding MFP 1 from the master management information 101 and adds it to the failure information group. When the notification is received as pin stop off, the master searches for failure information having the same failure identifier, and checks whether there is failure information including pin stop on information from the failure information. If there is failure information including stop on, a request requesting to set pin stop to on is transmitted to the slave of the occurrence. As a result, any MFP 1 group connected on the same network 2 that has the same failure can be detected and managed as having the same failure.

  Next, a request that is one of commands transmitted from the master to the slave will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a list of requests. As shown in FIG. 9, the requests include “R1. Management information collection”, “R2. Log collection—collective”, “R3. Log collection—single”, “R4. Log collection—pin unit”, “R5. There are five types of requests for “pin stop setting”.

  “R1. Management information collection” is a request for the master to suck up information stored locally when the slave cannot communicate with the master. Used when the Master is restarted.

  The requests R2 to R4 are requests for collecting the actual status of logs, not log management information. In normal operation, the master grasps information on the occurrence of a failure by event notification. This request is used when collecting a log at the time of failure occurrence based on the grasped information.

  In “R2. Log collection—batch”, logs when failures occur for all MFPs 1 on the network 2 are collected based on the master management information 101. In “R3. Log collection—single unit”, the MFP 1 and the issuer log ID are specified to collect logs. By operating the Master, it is possible to collect logs of the targeted MFP 1. In “R4. Log collection—pin unit”, logs are collected for all MFPs 1 on the network 2 based on the Master management information 101 for the target for which pin stop has been turned on. As a result, information (logs) about failures that are expected to have the same content can be collected in a batch. “R5. Pin stop setting” is a request that requests the target Slave to change the pin stop on / off information to on.

  Next, the management data display program 104 will be described with reference to FIG. The management data display program 104 displays a screen for displaying “Fault information on MFP network” shown in FIG. 10A and a screen for displaying “Same fault information” shown in FIG. .

  First, the screen displaying “Fault information on MFP network” in FIG. 10A will be described from the left element of the screen. In the “machine list”, the names of MFPs 1 in which a failure has occurred even once are displayed in a list based on the master management information 101. When the “collective collection” button at the bottom of the table is pressed, all the logs related to the failure are collected from all the MFPs 1 displayed in the list through the network communication and stored in the storage device of the master. For example, the user can handle the failure log by storing it in a USB memory or the like.

  When the name of any MFP 1 displayed in the “machine list” is touched, a list of faults that have occurred in the touched MFP 1 is displayed in the “failure list” on the right side. When the “collective collection” button at the bottom of the table is pressed, failure logs for all failures displayed in the “failure list” are collected by network communication and stored on the storage device of the master.

  Further, when any failure displayed in the “failure list” is touched, detailed information (failure information) of the touched failure is displayed in “details” on the right side. Among the details, for “pin stop”, a button for switching on / off is displayed on the right side. The user can instruct whether or not to stop the pin by operating this button. “Pin stop” refers to an operation of locking the corresponding failure log so as not to be deleted from the MFP 1. Normally, since the log recorded in the MFP 1 is constantly output, it is common to adopt a mechanism in which the log is overwritten or deleted after a certain period. For this reason, if the log at the time of failure (failure log) is erased, it becomes difficult to analyze. In this system, the failure identifier of the pinned target becomes the same failure detection target, and when the master receives the failure identifier targeted for pinning from the notification program 112, a pin stop request is immediately issued to Slave. When a “collect” button at the bottom of the table is pressed, a log relating to the corresponding failure is collected by network communication and saved on the storage device of the master. Further, when the failure displayed in detail indicates “pin stop on”, by pressing the “same failure display” button below the table, the screen shifts to a screen displaying “same failure information” in FIG.

  The screen displaying “same failure information” in FIG. 10B will be described from the left element of the screen. On this screen, it is possible to search for failure information including the same failure identifier as that included in the failure information displayed on the left end from all MFPs 1 connected to the network 2. In the “machine list” in the center of the screen, all MFPs 1 on the network 2 where the same failure has occurred are displayed. When the MFP 1 is selected, a list of occurrence times is displayed in the “failure list” on the right side. Also in this example, logs can be collected by pressing the button below each table.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functions of each of Master and Slave. For convenience of explanation, the example of FIG. 11 mainly illustrates only the functions related to the present invention, but the functions of each of Master and Slave are not limited to these. These functions are realized by the CPU 11 executing a program stored in a storage device such as the ROM 12, but not limited to this. For example, at least a part of these functions is a dedicated hardware circuit (for example, It may be realized by a semiconductor integrated circuit or the like.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the slave includes a first generation unit 121, a transmission unit 122, and a pin stop setting change unit 123. When a failure occurs, the first generation unit 121 associates at least device identification information for identifying the own device, a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred, and log identification information for identifying a log relating to the failure. Generated fault management information. In this example, the combination of the above-described individual identifier and the above-described failure information (see FIG. 7) corresponds to the failure management information. In this example, the failure management information includes an individual identifier, a failure identifier, an issuer log ID, and pin stop on / off information (an example of “erase enable / disable information”) indicating whether or not to allow log deletion. Can be considered at least as linked information. The first generation unit 121 generates failure management information every time a failure occurs in the own device.

  The transmission unit 122 transmits the failure management information generated by the first generation unit 121 to the master. In this example, the transmission unit 122 transmits the generated failure management information to the Master every time the first generation unit 121 generates the failure management information.

  The pin stop setting changing unit 123 changes the pin stop off information included in the failure management information transmitted to the master to the pin stop on information in response to a request from the change control unit 135 on the master side described later. Information reflecting the change is returned to the change control unit 135. Specific contents of the change control unit 135 will be described later.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the Master includes a second generation unit 131, a reception unit 132, a storage unit 133, a collection unit 134, and a change control unit 135.

  When a failure occurs, the second generation unit 131 generates failure management information (in this example, a combination of the aforementioned individual identifier and the aforementioned failure information). The second generation unit 131 generates failure management information every time a failure occurs in the own device.

  The receiving unit 132 receives failure management information from the slave. The storage unit 133 stores the failure management information generated by the second generation unit 131 or the failure management information received by the reception unit 132. The storage unit 133 may be considered to store the above-described master management information 101.

  In this example, the above-described second generation unit 131 and the above-described reception unit 132 are configured to identify an individual identifier (“” that identifies the device or the slave when a failure occurs in the device or at least one other slave. Failure management information in which at least an example of “device identification information”, a failure identifier that identifies a failure that has occurred, and an issuer log ID that identifies a log related to the failure (an example of “log identification information”) are associated with each other It can be considered to function as an “acquisition unit” to acquire.

  The collection unit 134 collects a log identified by the log identification information for every piece of log identification information associated with the failure identifier that identifies the designated failure. In this example, the collection unit 134 refers to the storage unit 133 and identifies combinations of all issuer log IDs and individual identifiers associated with the failure identifier that identifies the failure specified by the user. Then, for each identified combination, the collection unit 134 acquires (collects) the log identified by the issuer log ID included in the combination from the Slave identified by the individual identifier included in the combination. The collection target by the collection unit 134 of this embodiment is a log identified by an issuer log ID associated with pin stop on / off information (pin stop on information) indicating that log deletion is not permitted.

  The change control unit 135, when failure management information including pin stop on / off information (pin stop off information) indicating that log deletion is permitted is generated by the second generation unit 131, or the failure management When the information is received by the receiving unit 132, pin stop on / off information indicating that log erasure is not permitted for the failure identifier that matches the failure identifier included in the failure management information in the storage unit 133 When (pin stop on information) is linked, control is performed to change the pin stop off information included in the failure management information to pin stop on information. In this example, the change control unit 135 requests the slave identified by the individual identifier included in the failure management information to change the pin stop on / off information to on (pin stop setting request). Send. Then, a response to the pin stop setting request is received from Slave and reflected in the Master management information 101.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information processing system 100 when a failure occurs in Slave. In FIG. 12, the flow on the slave side and the flow on the master side are described separately.

  First, the flow on the slave side will be described. When detecting the occurrence of a failure (step S1), the first generation unit 121 generates the above-described failure management information (step S2). Then, the failure management information generated in step S2 is stored in a failure management information buffer for temporary storage (step S3).

  If the notification program 112 has been activated (step S4: Yes), the process is continued as it is, and the process proceeds to step S6 described later. When the notification program is not activated (step S4: No), the OS activates the notification program 112 (step S5). Then, the notification program 112 establishes communication with the Master (Step S6). Next, the notification program 112 (transmission unit 122) checks whether or not there is failure management information in the failure management information buffer (step S7).

  When the result of step S7 is affirmative (step S7: Yes), the notification program 112 (transmission unit 122) transmits the failure management information stored in the failure management information buffer to the master (step S8). And reception of the response from Master is confirmed (step S9) and the process after step S7 is repeated.

  If the result of step S7 is negative (step S7: No), the communication program 112 closes the communication path with the master (step S10).

  Next, the flow on the Master side will be described. The notification reception program 102 (reception unit 132) connects to the slave in response to a request from the slave (step S11). Next, the notification receiving program 102 (receiving unit 132) receives the failure management information from the slave (step S12). Next, the notification receiving program 102 stores the failure management information received in step S12 in the failure management information buffer (step S13). Then, a response to the failure management information received in step S12 is returned to the slave (step S14). Thereafter, the notification receiving program 102 repeats the processing of Steps S12 to S14 unless it receives a request (disconnection request) to close the communication path from Slave. When the disconnection request is received from the slave, the notification receiving program 102 disconnects communication with the slave (step S15).

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information processing system 100 after the master receives the failure management information from the slave. In FIG. 13, the master-side flow and the slave-side flow are described separately.

  First, the flow on the Master side will be described. As shown in FIG. 13, the Master checks whether or not there is failure management information in the failure management information buffer (step S21). When failure management information exists in the failure management information buffer (step S21: Yes), the master checks whether there is slave data corresponding to the MFP log management information (master management information 101) (step S22). . Specifically, the master determines whether or not a failure information group associated with the individual identifier that matches the individual identifier included in the failure management information existing in the failure management information buffer exists in the master management information 101. Confirm.

  If the result of step S22 is negative (step S22: No), the master creates new slave data (step S23). After step S23 or when the result of step S22 is affirmative (step S22: Yes), the master adds data to the failure information group in the slave data (step S24). More specifically, the Master is included in the failure management information in the failure information group associated with the individual identifier that matches the individual identifier included in the failure management information read from the failure management information buffer. Add failure information.

  Next, in the Master management information 101, the Master includes failure information including pin stop on information among one or more pieces of failure information including a failure identifier that matches the failure identifier included in the failure management information read from the failure management information buffer. Is checked (step S25). If the result of step S25 is affirmative (step S25: Yes), data (pin stop setting request) is stored in the pin stop setting request buffer (step S26), and the process proceeds to step S27. On the other hand, when the result of step S25 is negative (step S25: No), the process directly proceeds to step S27.

  In step S27, the OS activates the request program 103 and establishes communication with the slave (step S28). Then, the request program 103 checks whether or not data exists in the pin stop setting request buffer (step S29). If the result of step S29 is affirmative (step S29: Yes), the request program 103 (change control unit 135) transmits the pin stop setting request stored in the pin stop setting request buffer to the target slave (step). S30). And reception of the response from Slave is confirmed (step S31), and the process after step S29 is repeated.

  If the result of step S29 is negative (step S29: No), the request program 103 closes the communication path with the slave (step S32).

  Next, the flow on the slave side will be described. The request reception program 113 connects to the master in response to a request from the master (step S33). Next, the request reception program 113 receives a pin stop setting request from the master (step S34). Next, the request reception program 113 (pin stop setting changing unit 123) sets the pin stop off information included in the target failure management information (failed management information already transmitted) according to the pin stop setting request received in step S34. , Change to pin stop on information (step S35), and return a response to the master (step S36). Thereafter, the request reception program 113 repeats the processing of Steps S34 to S36 unless it receives a request (disconnection request) for closing the communication path from the Master. When receiving a disconnection request from the master, the request reception program 113 disconnects communication with the master (step S37).

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation of the Master when collecting logs. As shown in FIG. 14, first, the management data display program 104 accepts a fault designation from the user (step S41). For example, it may be considered that acceptance of pressing the “collective collection” button below each table on the screen of FIG. 10B corresponds to acceptance of step S41. Next, the request program 103 (collection unit 134) refers to the Master management information 101 and specifies all issuer log IDs associated with the failure identifier for identifying the failure specified in Step S41 (Step S42). . Next, the request program 103 (collection unit 134) collects logs for each issuer log ID specified in step S42 (step S43). In this example, a request for requesting a log is transmitted to Slave and a log is received as a response.

  As described above, the MFP 1 functioning as the master of this embodiment has an individual identifier and a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred when a failure occurs in the own device or one or more other MFPs 1 (Slave). And the failure management information associated with at least the issuer log ID for identifying the log relating to the failure is acquired and stored in the storage unit 133. Then, a log identified by the issuer log ID is collected for every issuer log ID associated with the failure identifier that identifies the failure specified by the user operation. As a result, it is possible to obtain sufficient information for solving the problem while suppressing the amount of collected logs.

  Although the embodiments according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment.

  The program executed by the MFP 1 of the above-described embodiment is a file in an installable or executable format, and is a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), USB ( It may be configured to be recorded and provided on a computer readable recording medium such as Universal Serial Bus), or may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Various programs may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

1 MFP
2 Network 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 HDD
15 SD memory card 16 Communication I / F
17 Operation panel 18 Engine unit 101 Master management information 102 Notification reception program 103 Request program 104 Management data display program 111 Slave management information 112 Notification program 113 Request reception program 121 First generation unit 122 Transmission unit 123 Pin stop setting change unit 131 2 generation unit 132 reception unit 133 storage unit 134 collection unit 135 change control unit

Japanese Patent No. 5672491

Claims (7)

When a failure occurs in the own device or one or more other information processing devices, device identification information for identifying the own device or the one or more other information processing devices, a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred, An acquisition unit for acquiring failure management information associated with at least log identification information for identifying a log relating to a failure;
A storage unit for storing the failure management information acquired by the acquisition unit;
A collection unit that collects the log identified by the log identification information for each of the log identification information associated with the failure identifier that identifies a specified failure;
Information processing device. The failure management information is information associated with at least the device identification information, the failure identifier, the log identification information, and erasability information indicating whether or not to permit erasure of the log,
The collection target by the collection unit is the log identified by the log identification information associated with the erasability information indicating that erasure of the log is not permitted.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. When the failure management information including the erasure permission / inhibition information indicating that erasure of the log is permitted is acquired by the acquisition unit, the storage unit matches the failure identifier included in the failure management information. When the erasability information indicating that erasure of the log is not permitted is associated with a failure identifier, the erasability information included in the failure management information acquired by the acquisition unit is stored in the log. A change control unit that performs control for changing to the erasability information indicating that erasure is not permitted,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The relationship between the information processing device and the one or more other information processing devices is a master / slave relationship, and the information processing device functions as a master.
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. An information processing system including at least a first information processing apparatus and a second information processing apparatus,
When a failure occurs, the second information processing device has at least a link between device identification information for identifying the own device, a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred, and log identification information for identifying a log relating to the failure. A first generation unit for generating the attached failure management information;
A transmission unit that transmits the failure management information generated by the first generation unit to the first information processing apparatus,
The first information processing apparatus includes:
A second generation unit that generates the failure management information when a failure occurs;
A receiving unit that receives the failure management information from the second information processing apparatus;
A storage unit for storing the failure management information generated by the second generation unit or the failure management information received by the receiving unit;
A collection unit that collects the log identified by the log identification information for each of the log identification information associated with the failure identifier that identifies a specified failure;
Information processing system. When a failure occurs in the own device or one or more other information processing devices, device identification information for identifying the own device or the one or more other information processing devices, a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred, An acquisition step of acquiring fault management information associated with at least log identification information for identifying a log relating to a fault;
Referring to the storage unit storing the failure management information acquired by the acquisition step, specify all the log identification information associated with the failure identifier that identifies the specified failure, and specify the specified log identification information Collecting the log identified by the log identification information for each
Information processing method. On the computer,
When a failure occurs in the own device or one or more other information processing devices, device identification information for identifying the own device or the one or more other information processing devices, a failure identifier for identifying the failure that has occurred, An acquisition step of acquiring fault management information associated with at least log identification information for identifying a log relating to a fault;
Referring to the storage unit storing the failure management information acquired by the acquisition step, specify all the log identification information associated with the failure identifier that identifies the specified failure, and specify the specified log identification information And a collection step for collecting the log identified by the log identification information.

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