JP2019148885A - Information processing system and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a system capable of preventing erroneous collection of information.SOLUTION: A managing server includes an information group DB which stores information group collected from an image formation device, and an information group registration unit which registers the information group collected from the image formation device to the information group DB. The image forming device includes an information group providing unit which returns information requested by an information processing device, a storage unit which stores identification information for uniquely identifying the image forming device having acquired the information group, an information group acquisition unit which acquires an information group containing the identification information from the image forming device, an identification information storage unit which allows the storage unit to store the identification information contained in the information group acquired from a newly searched image forming device, and an information group update requesting unit which, when identification information contained in the information group of update acquired from the image forming device coincides with the stored identification information, transfers the acquired information group of update to the managing server as information group of update from the image forming device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method for acquiring and managing information from an image forming apparatus (MFP, Multifunction Peripheral).

  In recent years, printers and multifunction peripherals (hereinafter referred to as image forming apparatuses) are widely used in offices, and there is an increasing need to manage image forming apparatuses in an integrated manner. By being able to manage them centrally, it is possible to grasp and compare the degree of use of each image forming apparatus, the error status, or setting information.

  In order to manage the image forming apparatus in an integrated manner, it is necessary to collect information from the image forming apparatus, and SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is known as the technique. Information can be acquired from the image forming apparatus using a protocol called SNMP (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-271363 A

  The problem when acquiring information from an image forming apparatus by SNMP is that the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the image forming apparatus is determined by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). This means that the IP address may be replaced with the IP address of another image forming apparatus.

  As a result, there is a possibility that information acquired from another image forming apparatus may be erroneously recognized as information of the intended image forming apparatus. As a result, there is a problem that the image forming apparatus is managed using incorrect information.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system and an information processing method capable of preventing erroneous collection of information.

  To achieve the above object, an information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes one or more image forming apparatuses connected to a network, a management server that manages the one or more image forming apparatuses, and the one or more image forming apparatuses. An information processing apparatus that transfers an information group acquired from the image forming apparatus to the management server. The management server includes: a first communication unit capable of communicating with the information processing apparatus; and the one or more image forming apparatuses. A first storage unit storing an information group database storing the information group collected from each and transferred by the information processing apparatus for each image forming apparatus; and the information processing from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses An information group registration unit for registering the information group collected via the apparatus in the information group database for each image forming apparatus, and the information processing apparatus from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses. An information group update unit that updates the information group that has already been registered in the information group database with the information group that has been collected via the update, and each of the one or more image forming apparatuses includes the information processing unit. A second communication unit capable of communicating with the apparatus; and an information group providing unit that returns information requested from the information processing apparatus, wherein the information processing apparatus includes the management server and the one or more image forming apparatuses. A third communication unit capable of communication, a second storage unit capable of storing identification information, which is information capable of uniquely identifying the image forming apparatus that has acquired the information group, and a new image forming apparatus on the network A search section for searching for information, an information group acquisition section for acquiring the information group in a form including the identification information from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses, and the information group acquired from a newly searched image forming apparatus Included in An identification information storage unit that stores the identification information to be stored in the second storage unit, an information group registration request unit that requests the management server to register the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus, When the updated information group is acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses, the identification information included in the updated information group and the identification information stored in the second storage unit An identification information comparison unit that compares the identification information included in the updated information group acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses with the stored identification information. And an information group update requesting unit that transfers the updated information group to the management server as an updated information group from the image forming apparatus.

  Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous collection of information.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention, the identification information may be at least one of a serial number and a physical address of each of the one or more image forming apparatuses.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention, the information group acquisition unit may acquire the information group by a GetBulk command of a Simple Network Management Protocol.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention includes one or more image forming apparatuses connected to a network, a management server that manages the one or more image forming apparatuses, and the one or more image forming apparatuses. An information processing method in an information processing system including an information processing device that transfers an information group acquired from an image forming device to the management server, wherein the first storage unit of the management server includes the one or more image forming devices. An information group database in which the information group collected from each of the apparatuses and transferred by the information processing apparatus is stored for each image forming apparatus is stored, and the search unit of the information processing apparatus forms a new image on the network By searching for the device, the information group acquisition unit of the information processing device uses information that can uniquely identify the image forming device that acquires the information group from the new image forming device. The information group is acquired in a form including the identification information, and the identification information storage unit of the information processing apparatus acquires the identification information included in the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus. The information group registration request unit of the information processing apparatus requests the management server to register the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus, and stores information on the management server. A group registration unit registers the information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses via the information processing apparatus in the information group database for each image forming apparatus, and an information group acquisition unit of the information processing apparatus The updated information group is acquired in a form including the identification information from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses, and an identification information comparison unit of the information processing apparatus receives the information from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses. update When the information group is acquired, the identification information included in the updated information group is compared with the identification information stored in the second storage unit, and the information group update request of the information processing apparatus is compared. If the identification information included in the updated information group acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses matches the stored identification information, the updated information group is displayed as an image. The update information from the forming apparatus is transferred to the management server as an update information group, and the update information collected by the information server update unit of the management server from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses via the information processing apparatus. The information group already registered in the information group database is updated by group.

  As described above, according to the present invention, erroneous collection of information can be prevented.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information processing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram in case the management server 10 is comprised by a general computer. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus 20. FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram when the information processing apparatus 30 is configured by a general computer. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a flow of processing when a new image forming apparatus 20 is registered in the management server 10 in the information processing system 100. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a flow of processing after registration (at the time of operation) of the image forming apparatus 20 in the information processing system 100.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration and overview]
Initially, the whole structure of the information processing system 100 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information processing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The information processing system 100 includes a management server 10, an information processing apparatus 30, an image forming apparatus 20, and a terminal 40.

  The management server 10, the information processing apparatus 30, the image forming apparatus 20, and the terminal 40 are connected via a network. The management server 10 and the information processing apparatus 30 communicate with each other by HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and the image forming apparatus 20 and the information processing apparatus 30 communicate with each other by SNMP.

  The information processing apparatus 30 acquires an information group such as counter information, toner information, and error information from the image forming apparatus 20 by SNMP connection, and transfers the acquired information group to the management server 10 by HTTP connection. The device 20 is managed by the management server 10.

  The terminal 40 is used by a customer who is an end user of the image forming apparatus 20 to access the information processing apparatus 30 and give an instruction.

  In the information processing system 100, the information processing apparatus 30 specifies an IP address, acquires an information group from the image forming apparatus 20, transfers the information group to the management server 10, and is managed by the management server 10.

  When the information group is acquired from the image forming apparatus 20, identification information such as a serial number that can uniquely identify the image forming apparatus 20 is included in the acquired information group, as can be seen when the IP address is changed. The information processing apparatus 30 can confirm that the information group is from the intended image forming apparatus 20 by confirming the identification information when the information group is acquired.

  The overall configuration of the information processing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

[Management Server Configuration]
Next, the configuration of the management server 10 will be described. The management server 10 may be configured by dedicated hardware or software, or may be configured by a general computer. FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram when the management server 10 is configured by a general computer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the management server 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an operation input unit 14, a communication unit 15 (first communication unit). ), A display unit 16, and a storage unit 17 (first storage unit), and these blocks are connected via a bus 18.

  The ROM 12 stores a plurality of programs and data such as firmware for executing various processes. The RAM 13 is used as a work area for the CPU 11 and temporarily holds an OS (Operating System), various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

  The storage unit 17 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or other nonvolatile memory. The storage unit 17 stores an OS, various applications, various data, and an information group DB (database) 17a.

  The information group DB 17 a is a database in which information groups collected from the image forming apparatus 20 and transferred by the information processing apparatus 30 are stored for each image forming apparatus 20.

  The communication unit 15 is connected to a network for exchanging information with the information processing device 30 on the network.

  The CPU 11 develops a program corresponding to an instruction given from the operation input unit 14 among the plurality of programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 17 in the RAM 13, and the display unit 16 and the storage unit according to the expanded program. 17 is appropriately controlled.

  The operation input unit 14 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other operation devices.

  The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a plasma display, or the like.

  Next, functional blocks realized by executing a program in the CPU 11 will be described.

  The functional blocks realized in the CPU 11 of the management server 10 are an information group registration unit 11a and an information group update unit 11b.

  The information group registration unit 11 a registers the information group collected from the image forming apparatus 20 via the information processing apparatus 30 in the information group DB 17 a for each image forming apparatus 20.

  The information group update unit 11a updates the information group that has already been registered in the information group DB 17a with the information group newly collected from the image forming apparatus 20 via the information processing apparatus 30.

  The configuration of the management server 10 has been described above.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus will be described. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The image forming apparatus 20 includes a control unit 21. The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and governs overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 21 includes a document reading unit 22, an image processing unit 23, an image memory 24, an image forming unit 25, an operation unit 26, a display unit 26a, a facsimile communication unit 27, a communication unit 28 (second communication unit), and a storage unit. 29 and the like. The control unit 21 performs operation control of each of the above connected units, and transmission / reception of signals or data to / from each unit.

  The control unit 21 performs operation control on each function such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, and a facsimile transmission / reception function in accordance with a job execution instruction input from the user through the operation unit 26 or a network-connected PC. Controls the drive and processing of the mechanisms necessary to execute.

  Moreover, the control part 21 has the information group provision part 21a. The information group providing unit 21a is a functional block realized by the CPU loading a program loaded from the ROM or the like into the RAM.

  The information group providing unit 21 a returns information requested and specified by the OID (Object ID) by SNMP from the information processing device 30 to the information processing device 30. When the information processing apparatus 30 is instructed to acquire information by the SNMP GetBulk command, a plurality of pieces of information are returned as an information group within the specified OID range.

  The document reading unit 22 reads an image from a document.

  The image processing unit 23 performs image processing on the image data of the image read by the document reading unit 22 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 23 performs image processing such as shading correction in order to improve the quality after the image read by the document reading unit 22 is formed.

  The image memory 24 is an area for temporarily storing data of a document image obtained by reading by the document reading unit 22 and temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming unit 25.

  The image forming unit 25 forms an image such as the image data read by the document reading unit 22.

  The operation unit 26 includes a touch panel unit and operation key units that receive instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 20. The touch panel unit includes a display unit 26a such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided with a touch panel.

  The facsimile communication unit 27 includes an encoding / decoding unit, a modulation / demodulation unit, and an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown), and performs facsimile transmission using a public telephone line network.

  The communication unit 28 includes a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits / receives various data to / from devices on the network (such as the information processing device 30) via the LAN connected to the communication unit 28.

  The storage unit 29 stores a document image read by the document reading unit 22. The storage unit 29 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

[Configuration of information processing device]
Next, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 30 will be described. The information processing apparatus 30 may be configured by dedicated hardware or software, or may be configured by a general computer. FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram when the information processing apparatus 30 is configured by a general computer.

  As shown in the figure, the information processing apparatus 30 includes a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, an operation input unit 34, a communication unit 35 (third communication unit), a display unit 36, and a storage unit 37 (second storage unit). These blocks are connected via a bus 38.

  The ROM 32 stores a plurality of programs and data such as firmware for executing various processes. The RAM 33 is used as a work area for the CPU 31, and temporarily holds the OS, various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

  The storage unit 37 is, for example, an HDD, a flash memory, or other nonvolatile memory. The storage unit 37 stores an OS, various applications, various data, and identification information 37a. The identification information 37a is information for uniquely identifying the image forming apparatus 20 that has acquired the information group, and is stored in the storage unit 37 by the identification information storage unit 31c. Specifically, the identification information 37a is a serial number, a physical address, or the like of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The communication unit 35 is connected to a network for exchanging information with the management server 10, the image forming apparatus 20, the terminal 40, and the like on the network.

  The CPU 31 expands a program corresponding to an instruction given from the operation input unit 34 among the plurality of programs stored in the ROM 32 and the storage unit 37 in the RAM 33, and in accordance with the expanded program, the display unit 36 and the storage unit 37 is appropriately controlled.

  The operation input unit 34 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other operation devices.

  The display unit 36 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL display, a plasma display, or the like.

  Next, functional blocks realized by executing a program in the CPU 31 will be described.

  The functional blocks realized in the CPU 31 of the information processing apparatus 30 are a search unit 31a, an information group acquisition unit 31b, an identification information storage unit 31c, an information group registration request unit 31d, an identification information comparison unit 31e, and an information group update request unit 31f. It is.

  The search unit 31a searches for a new image forming apparatus 20 on the network.

  The information group acquisition unit 31b acquires an information group from the image forming apparatus 20 in a form including identification information.

  The identification information storage unit 31 c stores the identification information included in the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus 20 in the storage unit 37.

  The information group registration request unit 31d requests the management server 10 to register the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus 20.

  When the update information group is acquired from the image forming apparatus 20, the identification information comparison unit 31 e compares the identification information included in the update information group with the identification information stored in the storage unit 37.

  When the identification information included in the updated information group acquired from the image forming apparatus 20 matches the stored identification information, the information group update requesting unit 31f intends the acquired updated information group. Then, the information is transferred to the management server 10 as an updated information group from 20.

  The configuration of the information processing apparatus 30 has been described above.

[Processing flow (when registering image forming device)]
Next, the flow of processing when registering a new image forming apparatus 20 in the management server 10 in the information processing system 100 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when registering a new image forming apparatus 20 in the management server 10 in the information processing system 100.

  First, the customer instructs the search unit 31a of the information processing apparatus 30 to search for a new image forming apparatus 20 via the terminal 40 (step S1).

  Next, the search unit 31a searches for a new image forming apparatus 20 on the network (step S2).

  Next, the customer issues an instruction to register the searched image forming apparatus 20 in the management server 10 via the terminal 40 (step S3).

  Next, the information group acquisition unit 31b specifies a range including identification information from the newly searched image forming apparatus 20, and acquires the information group by SNMP GetBulk (step S4).

  Next, the identification information storage unit 31c extracts the identification information 37a from the information group acquired in the previous step and stores it in the storage unit 37 (step S5).

  Next, the information group registration request unit 31d cooperates with the information group registration unit 11a of the management server 10 to register the information group acquired in step S4 in the information group DB 17a of the management server 10 (step S6).

  As described above, a new image forming apparatus (information group) is registered in the information group DB 17a, and thereafter, whenever the information group for update is acquired from the registered image forming apparatus 20, the information group DB 17a is updated. The

  The processing flow when registering a new image forming apparatus 20 in the management server 10 in the information processing system 100 has been described above.

[Processing flow (after registering image forming device (during operation))]
Next, a flow of processing in the information processing system 100 after registration of the image forming apparatus 20 (during operation) will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing after registration (in operation) of the image forming apparatus 20 in the information processing system 100.

  First, the information group acquisition unit 31b of the information processing apparatus 30 specifies a range including identification information from the image forming apparatus 20 that is already registered in the information group DB 17a, and acquires the information group by SNMP GetBulk (Step S1). S10).

  Next, the identification information comparison unit 31e compares the identification information included in the information group acquired in the previous step with the identification information 37a stored in the storage unit 37 (step S11).

  Next, the identification information comparison unit 31e determines whether the identification information included in the information group acquired in step S10 is the same as the identification information 37a stored in the storage unit 37 (step S12). ).

  When the identification information is the same (Y in Step S12), the information group update request unit 31f updates the corresponding information group in the information group DB 17a in cooperation with the information group update unit 11b of the management server 10 (Step S12). S13).

  The processing flow after registration (during operation) in the information processing system 100 has been described.

[Additional notes]
As described above, the information processing system 100 according to the present invention includes one or more image forming apparatuses 20 connected to a network, the management server 10 that manages the one or more image forming apparatuses 20, and the one or more images. An information processing device 30 that transfers the information group acquired from the forming device 20 to the management server 10, and the management server 10 includes a first communication unit 15 capable of communicating with the information processing device 30, and the one or more A first storage unit 17 storing an information group database 17a storing the information group collected from each of the image forming apparatuses 20 and transferred by the information processing apparatus 30 for each image forming apparatus 20; The information group collected from each of the image forming apparatuses 20 via the information processing apparatus 30 is registered in the information group database 17a for each image forming apparatus 20. The information group that has already been registered in the information group database 17a by using the information group registration unit 11a and the updated information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 via the information processing apparatus 30. Each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 includes a second communication unit 28 capable of communicating with the information processing apparatus 30 and information requested from the information processing apparatus 30. The information processing apparatus 30 acquires a third communication unit 35 that can communicate with the management server 10 and the one or more image forming apparatuses 20, and the information group. A second storage unit 37 capable of storing identification information 37a, which is information that can uniquely identify the image forming apparatus 20, and a search unit 31a that searches for a new image forming apparatus 20 on the network; An information group acquisition unit 31b that acquires the information group from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 including the identification information 37a, and the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus 20 Requests the management server 10 to register the identification information storage unit 31c that stores the identification information 37a included in the second storage unit 37 and the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus 20. When the updated information group is acquired from each of the information group registration requesting unit 31d and the one or more image forming apparatuses 20, the identification information 37a included in the updated information group and the second storage The identification information comparison unit 31e that compares the identification information 37a stored in the unit 37, and the identification included in the updated information group acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 When the information 37a matches the stored identification information 37a, an information group update request unit 31f that transfers the acquired update information group as an update information group from the image forming apparatus to the management server 10; Is provided.

  Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous collection of information.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course, various changes can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

10 ... Management server 11 ... CPU
11a ... Information group registration unit 11b ... Information group update unit 12 ... ROM
13 ... RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Operation input part 15 ... Communication part 16 ... Display part 17 ... Memory | storage part 17a ... Information group DB
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Bus 20 ... Image forming apparatus 21 ... Control part 21a ... Information group providing part 22 ... Document reading part 23 ... Image processing part 24 ... Image memory 25 ... Image forming part 26 ... Operation part 26a ... Display part 27 ... Facsimile communication part 28 ... Communication unit 29 ... Storage unit 30 ... Information processing device 31 ... CPU
31a ... Search unit 31b ... Information group acquisition unit 31c ... Identification information storage unit 31d ... Information group registration request unit 31e ... Identification information comparison unit 31f ... Information group update request unit 32 ... ROM
33 ... RAM
34 ... Operation input unit 35 ... Communication unit 36 ... Display unit 37 ... Storage unit 37a ... Identification information 38 ... Bus 40 ... Terminal 100 ... Information processing system

Claims (4)

One or more image forming apparatuses connected to a network, a management server that manages the one or more image forming apparatuses, and an information processing apparatus that transfers a group of information acquired from the one or more image forming apparatuses to the management server Including
The management server is
A first communication unit capable of communicating with the information processing apparatus;
A first storage unit storing an information group database storing the information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses and transferred by the information processing apparatus for each image forming apparatus;
An information group registration unit that registers the information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses via the information processing apparatus in the information group database for each image forming apparatus;
An information group update unit that updates the information group that has already been registered in the information group database with the updated information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses via the information processing apparatus,
Each of the one or more image forming apparatuses includes:
A second communication unit capable of communicating with the information processing apparatus;
An information group providing unit that returns information requested from the information processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus includes:
A third communication unit capable of communicating with the management server and the one or more image forming apparatuses;
A second storage unit capable of storing identification information, which is information that can uniquely identify the image forming apparatus that has acquired the information group;
A search unit for searching for a new image forming apparatus on the network;
An information group acquisition unit that acquires the information group in a form including the identification information from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses;
An identification information storage unit for storing the identification information included in the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus in the second storage unit;
An information group registration requesting unit that requests the management server to register the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus;
When the updated information group is acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses, the identification information included in the updated information group, and the identification information stored in the second storage unit, An identification information comparison unit for comparing
When the identification information included in the updated information group acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses matches the stored identification information, the acquired updated information group is transmitted from the image forming apparatus. And an information group update requesting unit that transfers the information as an update information group to the management server. The information processing system according to claim 1,
The identification information is at least one of a serial number and a physical address of each of the one or more image forming apparatuses. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2,
The information group acquisition unit
An information processing system that acquires the information group by a GetBulk command of a Simple Network Management Protocol. One or more image forming apparatuses connected to a network, a management server that manages the one or more image forming apparatuses, and an information processing apparatus that transfers a group of information acquired from the one or more image forming apparatuses to the management server An information processing method in an information processing system including
A first storage unit of the management server stores an information group database in which the information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses and transferred by the information processing apparatus is stored for each image forming apparatus;
A search unit of the information processing apparatus searches for a new image forming apparatus on the network;
The information group acquisition unit of the information processing apparatus acquires the information group from the new image forming apparatus in a form including identification information that is information that can uniquely identify the image forming apparatus that acquires the information group,
The identification information storage unit of the information processing apparatus stores the identification information included in the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus in the second storage unit,
An information group registration requesting unit of the information processing apparatus requests the management server to register the information group acquired from the newly searched image forming apparatus;
An information group registration unit of the management server registers the information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses via the information processing apparatus in the information group database for each image forming apparatus;
The information group acquisition unit of the information processing apparatus acquires the information group for the update in a form including the identification information from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses,
When the identification information comparison unit of the information processing apparatus acquires the updated information group from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses, the identification information included in the updated information group, and the second information group Compare the identification information stored in the storage unit,
Acquired when the information group update request unit of the information processing apparatus matches the identification information stored in the updated information group acquired from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses. The updated information group is transferred to the management server as an updated information group from the image forming apparatus,
The information group update unit of the management server stores the information group already registered in the information group database based on the updated information group collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses via the information processing apparatus. Information processing method to be updated.

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