JPH06149557A - Automatic firmware recovery system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable automatic recovery by setting a correction apply flag when a correction managing table is provided and correction is performed, setting a guarantee mark when the correction is normally started, and recovering abnormality while referring to the correction managing table when the abnormality is detected. CONSTITUTION:When turning on a power source or the like, an automatic patch 3 corrects a firmware based on correction data set to a correction managing table 2 and after the correction apply mark corresponding to the correction data is set to ON, the firmware is loaded and activated. When it is normal, the guarantee mark is set to ON, and the operation is started. On the other hand, when it is abnormal, an automatic recovery 5 recovers the firmware, for which the correction apply mark is turned on and the guarantee mark is turned off, with preserved old data while referring to the correction managing table 2 and the old firmware is loaded and activated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a firmware automatic recovery system for automatically recovering when correction data of firmware is applied.

[0002] Normally, when the power of the customer system is turned on, the firmware is automatically corrected by the automatic patch processing. However, if the correction data is deficient, the firmware may malfunction and the customer system may not start up. Therefore, automatic recovery is desired.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, the firmware of a customer system is automatically corrected by an automatic patch process to start up the system. However, the firmware may malfunction due to incorrect correction data, and the system may not start up. In order to restore this to the previous level, the firmware was re-installed, or the maintenance terminal was connected and repair work was performed by maintenance personnel. The configuration and operation of FIG. 6 will be briefly described below.

FIG. 6 shows an explanatory view of the prior art. FIG. 6A shows a configuration and operation explanatory diagram of the automatic patch processing. In FIG. 6A, the correction data 21 is the correction data stored from the maintenance center via the line or stored from the floppy.

F1 to Fn are firmware.
Next, the operation will be described. In FIG. 6A, S21
Power on the system.

At step S22, automatic patch processing is performed. This takes out the correction data in the magnetic disk device and corrects the firmware F1 to Fn. In S23, the corrected firmware is loaded and sequentially activated.

In step S24, in response to the activation in step S23, it is determined whether the system has started operating normally. If YES, the system operation is started in S25. On the other hand, in the case of NO, the corrected firmware is loaded and started up, but since it did not operate normally, the system is stopped in S26.

Next, a restoration method when the system is stopped in S26 will be described. FIG. 6B shows the restoration method. There is a method of re-installation as a restoration method. This is F1 with the original firmware from Floppy
To Fn, store the correction data from the floppy to the previous time, and restore the original state before the correction. Then, again, in S21 to S25 of FIG. 6A, loading and activation are performed, and system operation is started.

In the case of restoration by the maintenance terminal, the maintenance terminal is connected, the maintenance staff corrects the abnormal firmware (here, firmware n), and the system operation is started.

[0010]

Conventionally, as described above, when the power is turned on, the firmware is corrected by the automatic patch processing based on the correction data to load the firmware, and then the system is started and stopped. It was necessary to re-install the firmware in the same way or repair the firmware that was down by connecting a maintenance terminal. There was a problem of being lost.

The present invention solves these problems.
A fix management table is provided to set a fix application flag when an automatic patch is fixed, a warranty mark is set when the system starts up normally, and when the system monitoring process detects an error, the fix management table is referenced and an error is detected. The purpose is to restore the original firmware that has been saved with the original data and perform automatic recovery.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Means for solving the problems will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the correction management table 2 sets a correction application mark and a guarantee mark in association with correction data.

The automatic patch 3 refers to the correction management table 2 to apply a patch. The automatic recovery 5 refers to the correction management table 2 to perform recovery.

The system monitoring process 41 stores the program in the ROM 4 and makes it resident so as to monitor the system for abnormality.

[0015]

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, when the power is turned on, the automatic patch 3 corrects the firmware based on the correction data set in the correction management table 2 and saves the old data and After the correction application mark corresponding to the correction data is set to ON, the firmware is loaded and activated, and when the condition is normal, the corresponding guarantee mark is set to ON and operation is started. On the other hand, in the event of an abnormality, the automatic recovery 5 refers to the correction management table 2 and restores the old data saved for the firmware with the correction application mark turned on and the warranty mark turned off, and loads the old firmware. I'm trying to start.

At this time, the system monitoring processing 41 for monitoring the system abnormality is made resident in the ROM 4, and when the system monitoring processing 41 detects the system abnormality, the automatic recovery 5 is activated, restored and loaded. , Is trying to start.

Therefore, the correction management table 2 is provided to set the correction application flag when the automatic patch 3 is corrected,
Set the warranty mark when you start up normally. On the other hand, when the resident system monitoring process 41 detects an abnormality, the automatic recovery 5 is activated, and the automatic recovery 5 refers to the correction management table 2 and restores the original data saved for the abnormal firmware. By performing automatic recovery, it is possible to automatically avoid a system stop due to a bug in the correction data and start the system in the state before correction and operate it.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the construction and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, an SVP 1 is a service processor that provides various services, and is composed of a correction management table 2, an automatic patch 3, a ROM 4, an automatic recovery 5, a sensor register 6, and the like here. Is.

The modification management table 2 is for setting modification data, a modification application mark and a guarantee mark associated with this modification data. The modification data is data for modifying the firmware, and is stored remotely via a line or stored by a maintenance person from a floppy.

The correction applied mark is P when the automatic patch 3 corrects the firmware based on the correction data.
It is set to (ON). The warranty mark is based on the correction data and the
It is set to M (ON) when it starts up and operates normally.

The automatic patch 3 refers to the modification management table 2, extracts the modification data stored therein, modifies the corresponding firmware, and sets the modification application mark to P.
It is stored by setting to and the fact that the correction has been made.

Here, the ROM 4 stores the system monitoring process 41 and makes it resident. The system monitoring process 41 is resident and monitors the operating state of the system. In particular, when the automatic patch 3 corrects the firmware based on the correction data to load and activate the system, an abnormality occurs in the system, for example, when the stopped state is 5 When it continues for a minute, it detects that a system abnormality has occurred. When the system abnormality is detected, the automatic recovery 5 is activated.

The automatic recovery 5 is a system monitoring process 41.
The firmware is activated from the following, refers to the modification management table 2, and determines that the firmware for which the modification application mark is P and the warranty mark is not set to have a failure, restores the saved original data, loads and starts up. .

The sensor register 6 is for detecting a system abnormality and is turned off at the beginning of system startup.
And is turned on when the system is normally operating. When the system monitoring process 41 checks the contents of the sensor register 6 and the one that is set to OFF at system startup is not set to ON even after 5 minutes elapse, the firmware is corrected based on the correction data. This is for judging that the system is abnormal if the system does not start up normally.

Next, the operation of FIG. 1 will be described. In FIG. 1, at the same time as P-ON, the sensor register 6 is turned OFF (system stop signal). This is the sensor register 6 when the system power is turned on.
Set to OFF. This sensor register 6 is turned off by the system monitoring processing 41 resident when the system is stopped when the sensor register 6 is not turned on due to system operation even if a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has elapsed. This is because it is determined and the automatic recovery 5 is activated.

[0027] The automatic patch 3 is started, the correction management table 2 is referred to, and the correction data is stored and the unapplied portion for which P is not set in the correction application mark is
Correct the corresponding firmware based on the correction data,
Set the correction application mark to P.

[0038] is loaded with firmware and activated. Responds to the startup of and determines whether the system startup was successful. In the case of YES, the system normally starts up, and the system starts to operate normally. In this, the guarantee mark in the correction management table 2 is M
Is set to indicate that the system has started up normally, and the sensor register 6 is set to ON to keep the system in an operating state. On the other hand, if the answer is NO, and the system is not successfully started up, and the system is in the stopped state, the guarantee mark is not set. Therefore, in R
When the resident system monitoring process 41 in the OM 4 remains OFF for a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes from P-ON), the system register fails and the system is stopped. Then, the automatic recovery 5 is started with. The activated automatic recovery 5 refers to the correction management table 2 and restores the firmware of the correction data for which the correction application mark is set to P and the guarantee mark is not set with the saved old data. Clear the setting of the fix application mark, load the firmware with and start. In this case, since the old firmware is restored, the system is successfully started up with, the system is started up, the sensor register 6 is set to ON in this, and the operation is started.

As described above, with respect to the correction data stored in the correction management table 2, the firmware is corrected based on the correction data for which the correction application mark is not set, the firmware is loaded and activated, and the system is successfully started. If so, the warranty mark of the modification management table 2 is set to M and the sensor register 6 is set to ON during the system operation, and the operation is performed. On the other hand, if the system startup fails, the system monitoring process 41 resident in the ROM 4 does not switch from OFF to ON even after a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has passed with respect to the sensor register 6 and the system startup process is started. If it fails and it is judged that the system is stopped, the automatic recovery 5 is started. The activated automatic recovery 5 refers to the correction management table 2 and restores and starts up with the old data in which the firmware of the correction data with the correction application mark P and the guarantee mark not set is stored, and this time, Since the system is successfully started up, the guarantee mark is set to M and the sensor register 6 is set to ON during the operation of the system, and the operation is started. As a result, it is possible to automatically patch the correction data and automatically restore the data when the system fails to start up, which eliminates the need for the recovery operation by the conventional maintenance personnel.

The details will be sequentially described below. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention. In FIG. 2, S1
Stores the correction data from the maintenance center (line) or floppy. This stores the correction data in the correction management table 2 of FIG. 1 from the maintenance center via the line, or stores the correction data from the floppy disk.

In step S2, it is determined whether it is P-ON. This determines whether the system of FIG. 1 has been powered on. If yes, then continue with S3. On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to S4.

In step S3, since the power is turned on in YES in step S2, the firmware is modified based on the modified data and the old data is saved. At this time, P is set to the correction application mark in the correction management table 2.

In step S4, the firmware is loaded and activated. In S5, it is determined whether the system has normally started up. If YES, the system starts operating in S6,
The guarantee mark in the correction management table 2 is set to M and the sensor register 6 is set to ON. On the other hand, in the case of NO, in S7, the automatic recovery process (the process of FIG. 3 described later) restores the firmware of the corrected data that failed to start the system with the old data stored,
Return to 4.

As described above, the modification data is stored in the modification management table 2, the firmware is modified based on the modification data by referring to the modification management table 2 when the power is turned on, and the modification application mark is set to P. When the firmware is loaded and activated, and when it starts up normally, the guarantee mark is set to M and the sensor register 6 is set to ON, and the operation is started. On the other hand, when the system does not start normally and the sensor register 6 is not set to ON even after a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has passed, the system monitoring process 41 detects this fact and starts the automatic recovery 5,
Restored with the old data saved according to the flowchart of FIG. 3 described later, loaded / started, set the guarantee mark to M and set the sensor register 6 to ON when starting normally, and start operation. .

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention. This is processing by the automatic recovery 5. In FIG. 3, S11 determines whether the sensor register 6 is OFF. This determines whether the sensor register 6 of FIG. 1 remains off when the power is turned on. If YES, the system monitoring process 41 starts monitoring in S12,
For example, when 5 minutes have elapsed, the firmware is loaded and activated, it is determined that the system does not start up normally, it is determined that the system is stopped, and the automatic recovery 5 is activated in S13.

In step S14, it is determined whether P is present and M is not present in the correction management table 2. In the case of YES, the firmware is corrected based on the correction data, and it is found that there is firmware that is not in the operating state yet. Therefore, in S15, the old data is taken out and P of the restoration and correction application mark is deleted. And it returns to S14 and repeats. On the other hand, if NO in S14, the firmware is loaded and activated in S17. And S in FIG.
The processing after 5 is performed.

As described above, when the system does not start up normally and the sensor register 6 remains off even after 5 minutes, the system monitoring process 41 judges that the system is stopped, and the automatic recovery 5 is activated. 5 refers to the correction management table 2 to retrieve and restore the old data stored for the firmware of the correction data in which the correction application mark has P and the warranty mark does not have M, load and start the system, Start up normally. As a result, even if the corrected data has a bug or the like and does not normally start up, the automatic recovery 5 can automatically restore the old data and automatically start up the system.

FIG. 4 shows a transition example of the modification management table 2 of the present invention. (1) shows before application of the automatic patch. This is a state in which the correction data C and D are stored in the correction management table 2 and is set as shown below.

Correction data → ABCCD Modification application mark → PP−− Guarantee mark → MM−− In this state, the correction data A and B have been corrected and the correction data C and D have not been corrected. is there.

(2) shows a state in which an automatic patch is applied. This is a state in which the firmware is corrected by the automatic patch 3 in FIG. 1 based on the correction data C and D, and is set as shown below.

Modified data → ABCCD Modified application mark → PPPP Guaranteed mark → MM-In this state, the firmware is modified based on the modified data C and D, and loading / starting is performed. .

(3) shows a system operating state.
This is because the automatic patch 3 in FIG. 1 corrects the firmware based on the correction data C and D, loads and activates the firmware,
The system starts up normally, the system operates, and the guarantee mark is M
Is set and is set as shown below.

Correction data → ABCCD Modification application mark → PPPP Guaranteed mark → MMMM In this state, the corrections of the correction data C and D are completed, and the system is in operation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the recovery process of the present invention. In FIG. 5, in step S21, the modification management table 2 is searched, and it is determined whether there is modification data of: modification application mark = P, guarantee mark = none. This is S in FIG.
In the determination of 14, the correction application mark is set to M when the automatic patch 3 corrects the firmware based on the correction data, and it is determined whether the system is in the stopped state. In the case of YES, the recovery process of S22 is performed.

At S22, the system is stopped at S21 and the system monitoring process 41 of FIG. 1 determines that the automatic recovery 5 is started and the recovery process is performed. That is, when the modification management table 2 is as shown in (2) of FIG. 4, the modification application mark M of the modification data C and D is deleted and saved as shown below. Load and boot the firmware restored with the old data, and put the system into operation.

Correction data → ABCCD Correction application mark → PP --- Guarantee mark → MM ---

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The correction management table 2 is provided to set the correction application flag to P when the automatic patch 3 corrects it, and to set the guarantee mark to M when it starts up normally, while the resident system monitoring process 41 detects an abnormality. When this happens, the automatic recovery 5 is started, and the automatic recovery 5 refers to the correction management table 2 to restore the old data in which the abnormal firmware is stored and to perform automatic recovery. , It is possible to automatically avoid the system stop due to the bug of the correction data and start the system in the state before the correction and operate it. As a result, troubles at system startup can be avoided, stable operation of the system can be realized, and maintenance personnel need not perform restoration work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a transition example of a modification management table of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of recovery processing of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: SVP 2: Correction management table 3: Automatic patch 4: ROM 41: System monitoring process 5: Automatic recovery 6: Sensor register

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a firmware automatic recovery method for automatically recovering when applying correction data of firmware, a correction management table (2) for setting a correction application mark and a guarantee mark in association with the correction data, and this correction management table (2). ) And an automatic patch (3) for automatically performing a patch and an automatic recovery (5) for automatically performing a recovery by referring to the correction management table (2). After the automatic patch (3) corrects the firmware based on the correction data set in the management correction table (2) and saves the old data and sets the correction application mark corresponding to the correction data to ON, When the firmware is loaded and booted, the appropriate warranty mark is set to ON when normal and the operation is started. In case of abnormality, the above automatic recovery (5)
Configured to restore the old data stored in the firmware for which the fix application mark is on and the warranty mark is off by referring to the fix management table (2) and load the old firmware to start A firmware automatic recovery method featuring. 2. A system monitoring process (41) for monitoring a system abnormality is resident in a ROM (4), and when the system monitoring process (41) detects the abnormality, the automatic recovery (5) is performed. An automatic firmware recovery method characterized by being configured to start up.