Automated software updating and distribution
Contents
1. HIMEM SYS QEMM 386 Unknown Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157616 F1 Help Space Select Deselect Enter Accept Esc Cancel FIG 2J U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 8 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 11 05 09am Create General Procedure General Procedure Actions INI file management DOS batch commands User notification message Status Procedure Active Yes Start Date 12 20 93 Start Time 11 02 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 158752 F1 Help Esc Previous Menu Enter Select FIG 2K Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1995 11 05 17am Create General Procedure No files specified Press INSERT to add a file Select Option file Replace file Create file Delete 2 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 158752 F1 Help Enter Accept Esc Cancel FIG 2L U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 9 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1999 11 07 08am Create General Procedure File Replace Moma Search Path Search Subdirectories Search Boot Drive2. 30 35 40 50 55 60 65 2 of data transmission protocol such as ethernet token ring etc Within this disclosure the term update is meant to refer broadly to any type of operation that may be performed on software in a workstation or in a file server directly Update thus includes operations such as replacing deleting installing managing revising and creating software files Also within this disclosure the terms workstation and per sonal computer PC are meant broadly to refer to any type of computer that may be connected to a computer network The present invention represents an entirely new class of network management software It combines the classic con cepts of software distribution with new approaches to file management Automatic software distribution and installation as well as automatic file updating and or replacement are performed without requiring end user inter vention The present invention reduces complicated support and maintenance issues to a simple model This model is called a procedure A procedure includes two elements The first element is called criteria Criteria are specified by the user and are used to create a filter that determines which workstations workstation directories workstation files users and or file server directories are to be updated The user may specify various types of hardware configurations software configurations file sizes and so on as criteria The
3. Search Local Drives Create Backup Search Only Drives In Search Path Replace First Copy Found Replace All Copies Found Source Directory FCSNSYS FRYE MAIN SOURCE Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 158752 Fi Help Tab Shift Tab Next Previous Space New Value Enter Accept Escape Cancel FIG 2M Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 11 11 22am Create General Procedure File Create File Name poe Create Backup If File Already Exists Copy To Boot Drive To All Local Drives Copy To Drives Specified In The Destination Path Destination Path Source Directory FCSNSYS FRYE MAIN SOURCE Decompression Application Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 158752 Fi Help Tab Shift Tab Next Previous Space New Value Enter Accept Escape Cancel FIG 2N U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 10 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 11 12 56am Create General Procedure Text File Edit Commands No edit commands specified Press INSERT to add an edit command Select Edit Command search and Replace search and Insert add text to Top add text to Bottom search and replace Line 2 Criteria Defined
4. configuration of each workstation or file server on the computer network is compared to the list of criteria If a particular workstation workstation directory workstation file user and or file server contains all of the specified criteria then that workstation will be updated The second element of a procedure is called an action Actions are used to specify what steps are to be taken automatically at the selected workstations or file server directories Some examples of actions might be to update certain files delete certain files edit specified files or execute DOS batch commands The present inventor has realized that all software updat ing and distribution operations can be reduced to this two element paradigm The user simply needs to specify through criteria the relevant characteristics of a workstation or file server directory that qualify the workstation or file server directory for updating As soon as a workstation or file server directory meets the specified criteria the specified action is automatically carried out Any type of process that can be done from the workstation keyboard can be auto mated using an action One embodiment of the invention provides a system for updating software on at least one computer connected to a computer network including means for defining at least one procedure the at least one procedure including a set of criteria specifying a predetermined condition of the at least one computer
5. the system updates the software on a work station or in a file server directory by executing the actions specified by the user in for example the menus illustrated in FIGS 2K 2P From step 72 the system proceeds to step 70 and processing continues as previously described The present invention provides a number of advantages It can automatically check workstation configurations on a computer network If configurations of workstations change this can be reported to the system administrator and or automatically corrected in many cases Additionally when new workstations are added to the network the system can automatically configure them to have a standard software configuration thus avoiding the need to individually pro gram each workstation as it is added to the network For example the present invention can be used to ensure that the CONFIG SYS files of all workstations on the network are standardized The present invention advantageously allows computer network administrators to maintain the most up to date versions of their standard software applications thus pro viding network users with the benefit of the newest features of programs The invention also reduces the time during which a computer network is unavailable due to installing updating and fixing software that presently results in the inability of the network users to make use of the computer network Furthermore the present invention reduces the actual time that can b
6. 16 and transmis sion protocol used thereon and file server 12 A printer 32 may be attached to file server 12 to provide reports and permanent copies of data on file server 12 Work stations 14 1 through 14 N typically contain the same components as file server 12 File server 12 and workstations 14 being PC s typically use a version of the DOS operating system Additionally file server 12 may run shell software that provides an additional command layer between software being executed on work stations 14 and the DOS operating system running on file server 12 An example of a shell and network software that may be run on computer network 10 is Novell Netware available from Novell Incorporated FIG 2 is useful for illustrating the general concept of a procedure All of the operations relating to updating soft ware on a computer network can be modeled using the procedure paradigm As shown in FIG 2 the procedure includes two parts criteria and actions Criteria are used to specify which workstations or file server directories are to be updated Actions are the events which take place at the selected workstations or file server directories when the criteria for a particular software update are satisfied Reference is now made to FIGS 2A 2P which are user interface menus that are generated by the program of the 10 15 20 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 present invention and are displayed on the d
7. and means responsive to the means for defining for executing a predetermined action such as a program when the set of criteria are true The features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood and apparent from the following detailed description of the invention which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and from the claims which are appended at the end of the detailed description BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings which are incorporated herein by refer ence and in which like elements have been given like reference characters FIG 1 illustrates a general purposes computer network that may be used in conjunction with the program of the present invention to update software 6 038 586 3 FIG 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the procedure paradigm of the present invention FIGS 2A 2P are user interface menu screens that may be used by a user to specify criteria and actions that may be then operated upon by the program of the present invention FIGS 3 and 4 are flow charts illustrating the operation of the method of the present invention for automatically updat ing software Appendix A is a user manual for the program of the present invention which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and Appendix B is a list of references that contain information concerning how to gather information about hardware and software configurations from
8. the user returns to the menu illustrated in FIG 2A and chooses the Actions selection Choosing Actions causes file server 12 to display the menu illustrated in FIG 2K to the user The Specify Files to Replace Create or Delete selection replaces workstation files with master copies from the network creates new files by copying from master files or deletes files from the workstation The Text File Edit Commands selection allows modification of an existing file on the workstation by adding text to the beginning or end searching for a specified string and adding new text after it or searching for a specified string and replacing it with new text The INI File Manage ment selection allows the user to automatically perform most of the common modifications made on INI files includ ing those INI files used by Microsoft Windows such as 6 038 586 5 Win INI and System INI The DOS Batch Commands selection allows any DOS commands to be run on the workstation during the software updating process The User Notification Message allows a message to be displayed to a user on display 22 1 of workstation 14 1 for example informing the user that software on the workstation is about to be updated If the user selects the Specify Files to Replace Create or Delete option file server 12 presents the menu illustrated in FIG 2L on display 22 The File Replace selection in the menu illustrated in FIG 2L causes file server 12 to display menu 2M on d
9. All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 158752 F1 Help Enter Accept Esc cancel FIG 20 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 11 13 05am Create General Procedure Search And Replace Search Path Search Subdirectories Search Boot Drive Search Local Drives Create Backup Search Only Drives In Search Path Case Sensitive Use Regular Expressions f ee To Search i Fi Help Tab Shift Tab Next Previous Space New Value Enter Accept Escape Cancel FIG 2P U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 11 of 12 6 038 586 INTERROGATE EACH WORKSTATION ON NETWORK STORE CONFIGURATION INFORMATION IN DATABASE WAIT FOR EVENT THAT TRIGGERS UPDATE PROGRAM TO START RUNNING FIG 3 6 038 586 Sheet 12 of 12 Mar 14 2000 U S Patent SNOLOV y 3svavi1va 935009 NI VIMALIYO JL V YIVA3 L N N 135 OL QNno4 34nQ3903d QNNO4 LON 34n03903d QV34 6 038 586 1 AUTOMATED SOFTWARE UPDATING AND DISTRIBUTION This application is a division of application Ser No 08 176 429 filed Dec 30 1993 entitled AUTOMATED SOFTWARE UPDATING AND DISTRIBUTION and now abandoned BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to the control of software
10. US006038586A United States Patent Frye Patent Number 6 038 586 45 Date of Patent Mar 14 2000 54 AUTOMATED SOFTWARE UPDATING AND DISTRIBUTION 76 Inventor Russell Frye 1 Longfellow Pl Boston Mass 02114 21 Appl No 08 850 204 22 Filed 2 1997 Related U S Application Data 62 Division of application No 08 176 429 Dec 30 1993 abandoned 51 gt Int CLE tete G06F 9 00 52 UI SS CL aa tenete 709 100 709 102 58 Field of Search 395 670 674 709 100 102 104 103 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 974 149 11 1990 Valenti 709 712 5 212 789 5 1993 414 728 5 361 360 11 1994 Ishigami et al a 395 712 5 381 534 1 1995 Shi w 395 200 5 838 918 11 1998 Prager et 395 200 51 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Ellison C LAN Automatic Inventory PC Magazine June 30 1992 V11 n12 p 305 3 Hart M Control change from the ground up Configura tion Management can keep your network flying LAN Technology Nov 1991 V7 n11 p 26 7 Pulaski E Choosing the right audit inventory product Tips to help you select the tool that best fits your individual needs LAN Times Jul 6 1992 V9 n12 p 37 2 Krohn N Frye unwraps LAN software updating pack age PC Week Oct 26 1992 V9 n43 gor 28 18 El
11. a workstation on a computer network and how to remotely execute various commands at workstation All of the references listed in Appendix B are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety DETAILED DESCRIPTION For purposes of illustration only and not to limit generality the present invention will now be explained with reference to its use for updating software on PC worksta tions connected to a file server in a local area network One skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not so limited and may be applied to updating software on any type of network having any type of computer connected to it FIG 1 illustrates a generalized computer network that may be used as part of the present invention A computer network 10 typically includes a file server 12 and worksta tions 14 1 through 14 N Each workstation and file server 12 is coupled together by a transmission medium 16 The file server 12 typically includes a system unit 18 having a keyboard 20 and a display device 22 such as a CRT connected to the system unit The system unit 18 typically contains a central processing unit CPU 24 a working memory 26 which is typically a RAM or ROM and some type of mass data storage device 28 Mass storage device 28 may be for example a disk drive System unit 18 also contains a network interface device 30 that provides any necessary hardware interface and software handshaking between the network transmission medium
12. and files on computer networks More particularly the present invention relates to a system for automatically distributing software to and updating software and files on workstations on a computer network 2 Discussion of the Related Art Currently one of the primary barriers to software i e computer programs sales is the cost of installation and maintenance Services support distribution installation updating and administration make up the largest expendi ture of total personal computer PC software costs while the cost of the software itself accounts for only a small portion of these total costs According to the Gartner Group s study of personal computer software costs for a 2 000 node local area network LAN over a five year life cycle 91 of the costs are for services such as administration distribution installation and support Only 9 of the cost is allocated to the cost of the software itself e g initial licenses upgrades acquisition costs and programming As a result many organizations update their software infrequently due to the costs involved Additionally one must consider the impact on users since their computers are unavailable during this process and productivity is reduced Some organizations have not networked their personal com puters due to these problems Yet the expenses of supporting standalone personal computers are very high since a stan dalone computer requires that a support person actual
13. e spent manually installing software across a network Once a master copy of the software is loaded on file server 12 the present invention can automati cally distribute and maintain the program on all the work stations connected to the computer network Having thus described one particular embodiment of the invention various alterations modifications and improve ments will readily occur to those skilled in the art Such alterations modifications and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention Accordingly the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended as limiting The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto What is claimed is 1 method of maintaining a computer network including at least one file server and at least one computer without intervention by a user of the at least one computer the method comprising the steps of 6 038 586 7 receiving in the file server from a network manager a specified 1 procedure including at least one step by which software on the at least one computer is updated 2 set of criteria and 3 relationship issuing from the file server over the computer network an interrogation of the at least one computer to determine a system configuration comparing the specified set of criteria with the system configuration determined to establis
14. ecember 20 1993 10 50 14am Create General Procedure testing Unknown Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157712 F1 Help Space Select Deselect Enter Accept Esc Cancel FIG 2F U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 6 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 55 45am Create General Procedure Software Criteria 1 No software items specified Press INSERT to add an item 3 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157616 F1 Help Ins Insert Del Delete Enter Modify Space Toggle True False FIG 2G Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 56 37am Create General Procedure Select Field Buffers DOS file BUFFERS allocated CommandVersion COMMAND COM VER Text String DosTrueVersion Actual DOS Version DosVersion Reported DOS Version Emm Expanded Memory Manager Y N EmmbDriverName Expanded Memory Driver Name QEMM etc Emm Version Expanded Memory Specification Version EnvironmentFree DOS Environment Block Free Size Bytes EnvironmentSize DOS Environment Block Size Bytes LdDriverText LAN Driver Description LdVersion LAN Driver Version MouseVersion Mouse Driver Versi
15. endedRam RAM Located Above 1024K HardDisks Number of Hard Disks LdloDriverNum LAN Driver Used O Driver Number LdloRange LAN Driver Used IO Range Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157712 F1 Help Enter Select Esc Cancel FIG 2D U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 5 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 49 46am Create General Procedure Select Field ExtendedRam RAM Located Above 1024K K HardDisks Number of Hard Disks LdloDriverNum LAN Driver Used IO Driver Number LdloRange LAN Driver Used IO Range LdloType LAN Driver Used IO Type DMA IRQ etc LdLanType LAN Driver LAN Type NetWare etc MachineMfr Machine Manufacturer IBM etc Mouse Mouse Installed Y N MouseButtons Number of Mouse Buttons Mouselrq Mouse Interrupt Number MouseType Mouse Type Serial Bus etc ParallelPorts Number of Parallel Ports Processor Processor Type 8086 etc ProcessorMhz Processor Speed Mhz SerialPorts Number of Serial Ports 5 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157712 F1 Help Enter Select Esc Cancel FIG 2E Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C D
16. exist that must match date or size specifications or that contain a specific set of characters or words for a procedure to be run The Disk Space Requirements criteria allows the user to specify an amount of disk storage space that must be available on a target disk drive for a procedure to run If the user selects Hardware Criteria for example the menus illustrated in FIGS 2C 2E are presented on display 22 The menu illustrated in FIG 2E is a continuation of the menu illustrated in FIG 2D As illustrated in FIG 2E the user can select the Machine Manufacturer criterion which causes file server 12 to display the machine manufacturer menu illustrated in FIG 2F By checking off the appropriate manufacturer the user is able to specify as one criterion the type of computer for a particular procedure If the user selects Software Criteria for example the menus of FIGS 26 21 are presented on display 22 by file server 18 The menu illustrated in FIG 21 is a continuation of the menu illustrated in FIG 2H If the user selects the XMMdrivername file server 12 presents the menu of FIG 2J in which the user can specify the extended memory driver name as a criterion Pages 189 195 of the user manual of Appendix A specify examples of criteria that can be used by the program of the present invention Once the user has specified the criteria needed to deter mine which workstation or file server directory on the network will be updated
17. h whether the specified relationship is met and performing the specified procedure to maintain the com puter network by updating software on the at least one computer when the specified relationship is met 2 Amethod of maintaining a computer network as recited in claim 1 wherein the specified relationship is that the specified set of criteria match the system configuration 3 Amethod of maintaining a computer network as recited in claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the step of awaiting a trigger event before performing any other steps of the method 4 Amethod of maintaining a computer network as recited in claim 3 the step of awaiting a trigger further comprising the step of repeatedly timing an interval after which the trigger event is generated 5 A computer network including at least one file server operated by a network manager and at least one computer operated by a user maintained without intervention by the user the network comprising a first software program module executing in the file server which receives from the network manager a specified 1 procedure including at least one step by 10 15 20 25 8 which software on the at least one computer is updated 2 set of criteria and 3 relationship a network connection between the file server and the at least one computer over the computer network through which the file server interrogates the at least one computer to determine a sys
18. invention carries out In step 50 the program is loaded onto file server 12 and begins executing From step 50 the system proceeds to step 52 In step 52 the system interrogates each workstation on the network to determine its configuration such as hardware and software configura tions This may be done using available interrogation pro grams and commands such as described in the references listed in Appendix B From step 52 the systems proceeds to step 54 In step 541 the system stores the information gathered in step 52 about the configuration of each workstation and file server on the network in a database on file server 12 Any type of standard database format may be used to store configuration information For example the information may be stored as a simple list of codes for each workstation where each code represents a particular item of hardware or software specified in the criteria menus From step 54 the system proceeds to step 56 in which the system waits for an event that causes the update program to be executed The update program aspect of the present invention can be set to run continuously to run at specified times to run only when the network is rebooted etc Reference is now made to FIG 4 illustrating the steps the update program carries out according to the present inven tion In step 60 the update program starts running as a result of a starting trigger From step 60 the system proceeds to step 62 in which a
19. isplay 22 In the menu illustrated in FIG 2M the user enters certain information such as the file name and the search path to identify the file to be replaced In the same manner if the user had selected the File Create selection in the menu illustrated in FIG 2M the menu illustrated in FIG 2N would be displayed and the user enters information such as the file name destination path and source directory for the file to be created Returning to FIG 2K if the user has selected the Text File Edit Commands option file server 12 would display the menu illustrated in FIG 20 Selecting the Search and Replace option causes file server 12 to display the menu illustrated in FIG 2P in which the user specifies for example the file name search path the text to search for and the new text to replace Once skilled in the art will appreciate that the preceding menu selections and organization are meant to be exemplary only and other implementations of the criteria actions para digm of the present invention can be envisioned by those skilled in the art Specifically other types of criteria could be specified in other ways Additionally although DOS opera tions have been illustrated clearly any operation that could be performed at the workstation keyboard can be an action that may be performed by the present invention Reference is now made to FIG 3 which is a flow chart illustrating the steps that one aspect of the program of the present
20. isplay 22 and guide the user through the process of creating a procedure The program of the present invention is typically installed on and run from file server 12 Generation of menus entering data via windows on display and executing com mands and programs from menus are well understood by those skilled in the art and will not be discussed in detail In FIG 2A the user is presented with a general procedure menu In the select option box the user can choose to run the procedure for all computers which would result in software on all computers on the computer network being updated or can specify criteria to select certain computers for updating Choosing the option of Specify Criteria to Select Computers results in the menu of FIG 2B being presented In FIG 2B the Node User selection allows specific workstations to be selected to run a procedure The Network Group selection allows selection of user groups for which the procedure will be run The Hardware Criteria selection allows the user to specify physical characteristics of the workstation or file server and other equipment installed in the workstation or file server The Software Criteria selec tion allows the user to specify key characteristics of the software installed on the workstation or file server The Miscellaneous Criteria selection allows the user to specify other types of criteria The File Criteria selection allows the user to specify files that must exist or not
21. l Procedure Nodes Network Group Hardware criteria Software criteria Miscellaneous criteria File criteria Disk space requirements Status Procedure Active Yes Start Date 12 20 93 Start Time 10 33 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157616 F1 Help Esc Previous Menu Enter Select FIG 2B U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 4 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 47 52am Create General Procedure Hardware Criteria p No hardware items specified Press INSERT to add an item Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Procedure Saved Yes Actions Specified No User Message Defined No Memory Available 157712 Fi Help Ins Insert Del Delete Enter Modify Space Toggle True False FIG 2C Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 48 14am Create General Procedure Select Field oo BaseRam RAM Located Below 640K BiosClass BIOS Class PC XT PS 2 etc 1 BiosDate BIOS Date BiosMfr BIOS Manufacturer IBM etc BiosModel BIOS Model Code BiosRevision BIOS Revision Number BootDrive Boot Drive Letter Coprocessor Math Coprocessor Type 8087 etc DdDriveLetter DOS Drive Letter DisplayAdapter Display Adapter Type MDA etc DisplayMonitor Display Monitor Type Mono etc Ext
22. lison C LAN Inventory Software PC Magazine Jun 30 1992 V11 n12 p 297 15 Exhibit A Press Release dated Oct 9 1992 four pages Exhibit B Direct mail peice one page mailed in Oct 1992 Exhibit C Specification sheet distributed at NetWorld Dallas Oct 13 15 1992 two pages Exhibit D Specification sheet distributed at Comdex Las Vegas Nov 16 20 1992 three pages Primary Examiner Majid A Banankhah Attorney Agent or Firm Wolf Greenfield amp Sacks 57 ABSTRACT The present invention reduces complicated support and maintenance issues to a simple model This model is called a procedure A procedure includes two elements The first element is called criteria Criteria are specified by the user and are used to create a filter that determines which workstations workstation directories workstation files users and or file server directories are to be updated The second element of a procedure is called an action Actions are used to specify what steps are to be taken automatically at the selected workstations or file server directories Any type of process that can be carried out from the workstation keyboard can be automated using an action One embodi ment of the invention provides a system for updating soft ware on at least one computer connected to a computer network including hardware and software for defining at least one procedure the at least one procedure includi
23. ly visit the user to determine the nature of a problem or to update the software on the PC As a result a bottleneck currently exists for organizations that do not have their PC s connected to a computer network since each PC must have its software updated individually The same bottleneck exists in organizations that do have networked PC s due to the already discussed high cost of maintenance and support of software on the network Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a system for automatically distributing software from a file server to workstations located on a computer network Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for automatically updating from a central location on a computer network software installed in workstations connected to the computer network SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a new analytical paradigm and system for implementing the paradigm for updating and distributing software on a computer network Within this disclosure the term computer network is meant generally to include any type of computer network such as a local area network or a wide area network In addition the term computer network is meant to encompass any type of network typology such as star or ring type networks Also the term computer network is meant to generally include any type 10 15 20 25
24. ng a set of criteria specifying a predetermined condition of the at least one computer hardware and software responsive to the hardware and software for defining for executing a prede termined action such as a program when the set of criteria are true 8 Claims 12 Drawing Sheets 26 MASS 32 STORAGE MEMORY PRINTER CPU 24 jen kereoaral DISPLAY 20 22 716 14 1 18 1 LO 28 1 26 1 16 20 1 22 1 U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 1 of 12 6 038 586 yor 32 PRINTER ge U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 2 of 12 6 038 586 PROCEDURE CRITERIA ACTIONS WHICH COMPUTERS WHAT IS TO BE ARE TO BE UPDATED UPDATED FIG 2 U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 3 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 45 31am Create General Procedure General Procedure Criteria Actions Select Option Procedure procedure for All Computers Save proce specify Criteria to select computers Status Procedure Active Yes Start Date 12 20 93 Start Time 10 33 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 159056 F1 Help Enter Accept Esc Cancel FIG 2A Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 54 14am Create Genera
25. on NwlpxRevision NetWare IPX Revision NwlpxVersion NetWare IPX Version NwSpxRevision NetWare SPX Revision 3 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157616 F1 Help Enter Select Esc Cancel FIG 2H U S Patent Mar 14 2000 Sheet 7 of 12 6 038 586 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1993 10 59 01am Create General Procedure Select Field oo EnvironmentSize DOS Environment Block Size Bytes LdDriverText LAN Driver Description Ld Version LAN Driver Version MouseVersion Mouse Driver Version NwlpxRevision NetWare IPX Revision NwlpxVersion NetWare IPX Version NwSpxRevision NetWare SPX Revision NxSpxVersion NetWare SPX Version NwsRevision NetWare Shell Revision NwsVersion NetWare Shell Version ShareLoaded SHARE Loaded Y N Xmm Extended Memory Manager Y N XmmDriverName Extended Memory Driver Name HIMEM etc XmmDriverRev Extended Memory Driver Version XmmvVersion Extended Memory Specification Version 6 Criteria Defined All Computers Selected Actions Specified No Procedure Saved Yes User Message Defined No Memory Available 157616 F1 Help Enter Select Esc Cancel FIG 21 Software Update and Distribution System 1 00C December 20 1995 10 59 11am Create General Procedure 386MAX
26. tem configuration a second software program module executing in the file server which compares the specified set of criteria with the system configuration determined to establish whether the specified relationship is met and a third software module executing in the file server which performs the specified procedure including the at least one step by which software on the at least one computer is updated to maintain the computer network when the specified relationship is met 6 The computer network as recited in claim 5 wherein the specified relationship is that the specified set of criteria match the system configuration 7 The computer network as recited in claim 5 further comprising a fourth software program module executing in the file server which awaits a trigger event and controls for mation of the network connection and controls execu tion of the second and third software program modules 8 The computer network as recited in claim 7 the software program module which awaits a trigger further comprising a sequence of software instructions which repeatedly times an interval after which the trigger event is gen erated
27. variable N representing the first proce dure to be run is set equal to one From step 62 the system proceeds to step 64 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 In step 64 the system determines if there is a procedure N If a procedure N is found the system then determines when that procedure is to run based upon previously speci fied criteria such as date time whether a user is logging in and so on Procedures can be set to execute at a certain time for example when the network is down to avoid disturbances when a user logs on when a workstation is booted etc If step 64 determines that the procedure exists and is to run the system proceeds to step 68 On the other hand if the system is not able to locate procedure N the system proceeds to step 66 in which the program terminates In step 68 the system evaluates the criteria selected by the user through the menus illustrated in FIGS 2B 2J for example The system may do this by comparing the con figuration of each workstation stored in the database with the criteria specified by the user If all of the criteria specified by the user for a particular procedure are satisfied the system proceeds to step 72 On the other hand if all the criteria are not satisfied the system proceeds to step 70 in which the procedure number is incremented From step 70 the system proceeds to step 64 and processing continues as previously described In step 72
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search