HK1177806B - Email-based automated recovery action in a hosted environment - Google Patents

Description

Email-based automated recovery actions in a hosted environment

Technical Field

The present application relates to automated recovery actions, and in particular to email-based automated recovery actions in a hosted environment.

Background

An email-based automated recovery action may provide a mechanism for authorizing operations in a hosted environment. In conventional systems, engineers and operators are typically allowed to perform only certain read-only operations in a managed environment to minimize service disruption. However, when a service incident occurs, engineers are not allowed to perform certain automated recovery actions in the environment through automated frameworks. Thus, in some cases, the limitations imposed by the automation framework may result in greater service disruption because engineers or operators are unable to fix the problem in force.

Disclosure of Invention

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. This summary is also not intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An email-based recovery action may be provided. A request from a user to perform an action may be received. If it is determined that the user does not have permission to perform the action, a message is sent to the second user to approve the requested action. If the second user approves the requested action, the requested action is performed.

Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description provide examples, and are explanatory only. Accordingly, the foregoing general description and the following detailed description should not be considered to be restrictive. Further, other features or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, embodiments may be directed to various feature combinations and sub-combinations described in the detailed description.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operating environment;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for providing email-based recovery actions; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system including a computing device.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like elements. While embodiments of the invention may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense. Rather, the proper scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Email-based recovery actions may allow engineers (e.g., product developers) as well as operators (e.g., support personnel, IT, and/or technicians) to perform normally prohibited destructive actions on application servers, such as email and/or web servers. For example, an engineer may need to restart an email processing service to apply critical updates, but he does not normally have permission to take such product services offline. Upon receiving the engineer's condition, the automated framework may recognize that the engineer does not have the required permissions. Rather than rejecting the request, the automation framework may forward the request to an approval manager. For example, an email, instant message, text message, and/or web alert may be sent to and/or displayed to the approval manager. The approval manager may evaluate the request and subsequently approve or deny the engineer's ability to perform the destructive action. Such approval may include a one-time approval, may approve an engineer for performing the same action within a limited time window, and/or may grant the engineer permanent permission to perform such action in the future.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operating environment 100 including an automation framework 110. The automation framework 110 may include an access controller 112, a permissions database 114, and a log server 116. The automation framework 110 may receive action requests from the engineers 120 and/or operators 125 over the network 130. The access controller 112 may evaluate the action request against the permission database 114. Subsequently, the approval request may be sent to approval manager 135. Upon receiving an approval or denial of the request from approval manager 135, the results may be reported to log server 116. If the action request is approved, the action may be performed on one or more of the plurality of application servers 140(A) - (C).

FIG. 2 is a flow chart setting forth the general stages involved in a method 200 consistent with an embodiment of the invention for providing email-based recovery actions. The method 200 may be implemented using a computing device 300, as described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3. The manner in which the stages of method 200 are implemented will be described in greater detail below. Method 200 may begin at starting block 205 and continue to stage 210 where computing device 300 may receive an action request from a first user. For example, the first user may include operator 125 or engineer 120, who only has permission to perform read-only operations on application servers 140(a) - (C). The engineer 120 may, for example, request that a restart operation be performed on the application server 140(a) to update the application.

From stage 210, method 200 may advance to stage 215 where computing device 300 may determine whether the first user has permission to perform the action. For example, automation framework 110 may determine whether operator 125 belongs to an administrative user group. Each user group may include a set of permissions recorded in permissions database 114 that may control what actions the users associated with the group may perform. For example, users belonging to a group of operator users may be allowed to read log entries associated with application servers 140(a) - (C), but not allowed to start or stop these services. According to embodiments of the present invention, different users and/or groups may have different permissions for different application servers. Users belonging to an administrative user group may have increased permissions, including the ability to perform actions that may result in service disruption.

At stage 215, if computing device 300 determines that the user does not have permission to perform the action, method 200 proceeds to stage 220 where computing device 300 may send an approval request to at least one second user. For example, the approval request may include a question summary received from the first user and command text associated with the requested action. Automated framework 110 may send an approval request to approval manager 135 over network 130 via email.

Method 200 may then proceed to stage 225 where computing device 300 may receive a response to the approval request from the at least one second user. For example, approval manager 135 may reply with an email that approves or denies the request. For another example, approval manager 135 may simply select a user interface control associated with the email message that indicates whether they approve or reject the request, e.g., may accept or reject the meeting request.

Method 200 may then proceed to stage 230 where computing device 300 may determine whether the at least one second user approves the requested action. For example, approval manager 135 may review the details of the requested action and approve the performance of the requested action.

In response to determining that the at least one second user has approved the requested action, or after determining that the user has sufficient permission to perform the requested action, method 200 may advance to stage 235 where computing device 300 may perform the requested action. For example, automation framework 110 may perform the requested action of restarting on application server 140 (a).

After the action is performed at stage 235, or if the action is rejected at stage 230, method 200 may advance to stage 240 where the computing device may create a log entry associated with the requested action. For example, the journal entry may include a name of the first user, a name of the second user, a question summary received from the first user, command text associated with the requested action, and/or results associated with performing the requested action.

Embodiments consistent with the invention may comprise a system for providing email-based recovery actions. The system may include a memory storage and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage. The processing unit may be operative to receive a request from a user to perform an action, determine whether the user has permission to perform the action, and send a message to a second user to approve the requested action in response to determining that the user does not have permission to perform the action. The processing unit may be further operative to determine whether the second user has approved the requested action, and perform the requested action in response to the second user having approved the requested action. The approval message may be sent as, for example, an email message, an instant message, a web page notification, and/or a text message. The approval or denial of the request may be received by the same and/or different route as the request was originally sent. Operating to determine whether the user has permission to perform the action may include operating to determine whether the user is associated with an administrative user group. Approval and/or denial of the request may be logged along with the user requesting the action, the user approving/denying the action, and/or the results of performing the action.

Another embodiment consistent with the invention may comprise a system for providing email-based recovery actions. The system may include a memory storage and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage. The processing unit may be operative to receive a request from a first user to perform an action, determine whether the first user has permission to perform the action, and in response to determining that the user does not have permission to perform the action, send an approval request to at least one second user by email to approve the requested action, receive a response to the approval request from the at least one second user by email, and determine whether the at least one second user has approved the requested action. The processing unit may be operative to perform the requested action in response to determining that the at least one second user has approved the requested action. The approval request may include impact analysis associated with performing the action request, a question summary associated with the action request received from the first user, and/or command text associated with the requested action. For example, the approval request may include the exact wording of the command associated with performing the requested action. The action request may be associated with an application server, such as a web server and/or an email server. The approval request may be sent to a plurality of users, each of which may be associated with an administrative user group.

Yet another embodiment consistent with the invention may comprise a system for providing email-based recovery actions. The system may include a memory storage and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage. The processing unit may be operative to receive an action request from a first user, determine whether the first user has permission to perform the action, and in response to determining that the user does not have permission to perform the action, send an approval request to at least one second user to approve the requested action, receive a response to the approval request from the at least one second user, and determine whether the at least one second user has approved the requested action. In response to determining that the at least one second user has approved the requested action, the processing unit may be operative to perform the requested action and create a log entry associated with the requested action. The log entry may include the name of the first user, the name of the second user, a question summary received from the first user, command text associated with the requested action, and results associated with performing the requested action. In response to determining that the user has permission to perform the action, the processing unit may be operative to perform the action and log the performance of the action.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a system including a computing device 300. According to one embodiment of the invention, the above-described memory storage and processing unit may be implemented in a computing device, such as computing device 300 of FIG. 3. The memory storage and processing unit may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware, software, or firmware. For example, the memory storage and processing unit may be implemented with computing device 300 or any of the other computing devices 318, in combination with computing device 300. The above-described systems, devices, and processors are examples, and other systems, devices, and processors may include the above-described memory storage and processing unit, according to embodiments of the invention. Further, computing device 300 may include operating environment 100 as described above. The methods described in this specification may operate in other environments and are not limited to computing device 300.

Referring to FIG. 3, a system according to an embodiment of the invention may include a computing device, such as computing device 300. In a basic configuration, computing device 300 may include at least one processing unit 302 and system memory 304. Depending on the configuration and type of computing device, system memory 304 may include, but is not limited to, volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)), non-volatile (e.g., read-only memory (ROM)), flash memory, or any combination. System memory 304 may include an operating system 305, one or more programming modules 306, and may include automation framework 110. For example, operating system 305 may be suitable for controlling the operation of computing device 300. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in conjunction with a graphics library, other operating systems, or any other application program and is not limited to any particular application or system. This basic configuration is illustrated in fig. 3 by those components within dashed line 308.

Computing device 300 may have additional features or functionality. For example, computing device 300 may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 3 by removable storage 309 and non-removable storage 310. Computing device 300 may also contain communication connections 316 that may allow device 300 to communicate with other computing devices 318, such as over a network in a distributed computing environment (e.g., an intranet or the internet). Communication connection(s) 316 is one example of communication media.

The term computer readable media as used herein may include computer storage media. Computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. System memory 304, removable storage 309 and non-removable storage 310 are all examples of computer storage media (i.e., memory storage). Computer storage media may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store information and which can be accessed by computing device 300. Any such computer storage media may be part of device 300. Computing device 300 may also have input device(s) 312 such as keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Output device(s) 314 such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also be included. The above devices are examples, and other devices may be used.

The term computer readable media as used herein may also include communication media. Communication media may be embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, and/or program modules and includes any information delivery media. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, Radio Frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media.

As mentioned above, a number of program modules and data files may be stored in system memory 304, including operating system 305. When executed on processing unit 302, programming modules 306 (e.g., automation framework 110) may perform processes including, for example, one or more of the stages of method 300 as described above. The above process is one example, and processing unit 302 may perform other processes. Other programming modules that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention may include email and contacts applications, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications, slide presentation applications, drawing or computer-aided application programs, and the like.

Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that may perform particular tasks or that may implement particular abstract data types in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Moreover, embodiments of the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in a circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, AND NOT, including but NOT limited to mechanical, optical, fluidic, AND quantum technologies. In addition, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in a general purpose computer or any other circuits or systems.

For example, embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a computer process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer program product or computer readable media. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). In other words, embodiments of the invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. A computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, of otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Embodiments of the present invention are described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention, for example. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described, other embodiments are possible. In addition, although embodiments of the present invention have been described as being associated with data stored in memory and other storage media, data may also be stored on or read from other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices (like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM), a carrier wave from the Internet, or other forms of RAM or ROM. In addition, steps of the disclosed methods may be modified in any manner, including by reordering steps and/or inserting or deleting steps, without departing from the invention.

All rights in the code included herein, including copyrights, are attributed to and are the property of the applicant. The applicant retains and reserves all rights in the code included herein and grants permission to reproduce the material only in connection with reproduction of the granted patent and for no other purpose.

Although the description includes examples, the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims. Furthermore, although the specification has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, the claims are not limited to the features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as examples of embodiments of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. A method (200) for providing an email-based recovery action, the method (200) comprising:

receiving (210) a request from a first user to perform an action that results in a service interruption on a server;

determining (215), based on a permissions database, whether the first user has permission to perform the action, wherein determining whether the first user has permission to perform the action comprises:

determining a user group to which the first user belongs;

determining whether a determined group of users to which the first user belongs has permission to perform the action;

in response to determining (215) that the first user does not have permission to perform the action, sending (220) an approval request to a second user associated with an administrative user group to approve the requested action, wherein the approval request includes an impact analysis associated with performing the action, a problem summary associated with the action, and command text associated with the action;

receiving a response to the approval request from the second user;

determining (230) whether the second user approves the requested action; and

in response to determining (230) that the second user has approved the requested action, performing (235) the requested action.

2. The method (200) of claim 1, wherein the approval request is sent to the second user by at least one of: email messages, instant messages, web page notifications, and text messages.

3. The method (200) of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user has permission to perform the action comprises determining whether the first user is associated with the administrative user group.

4. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising creating (240) a log of the requested action, wherein the log includes the user requesting the action and whether the requested action is approved.

5. The method (200) of claim 4, wherein the log further comprises results associated with performing the requested action.

6. A method (200) for providing an email-based recovery action, the method (200) comprising:

receiving (210) an approval request from a first user to perform an action that would result in a service interruption on a server;

determining (215), based on a permissions database, whether the first user has permission to perform the action, wherein determining whether the first user has permission to perform the action comprises:

determining a user group to which the first user belongs; and

determining whether a determined group of users to which the first user belongs has permission to perform the action;

in response to determining (215) that the first user does not have permission to perform the action:

forwarding (220) the approval request to at least one second user associated with an administrative user group by email to approve the requested action, wherein the approval request includes an impact analysis associated with performing the action, a problem summary associated with the action, and command text associated with the action;

receiving (225) a response to the approval request from the at least one second user by e-mail,

determining (230) whether the at least one second user approves the requested action; and

in response to determining (230) that the at least one second user has approved the requested action, performing (235) the requested action.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the approval request is sent to a plurality of users, and wherein the plurality of users are each associated with the administrative user group.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising creating (240) a log comprising the action request, the first user, results associated with performing the requested action, and approval of the action request by the second user.

9. A system for providing email-based recovery actions, the system comprising:

a memory store (304); and

a processing unit (302) coupled to the memory storage (304), wherein the processing unit is to:

receiving (210) a request from a first user to perform an action that would result in a service disruption on a server, wherein the first user comprises at least one of: an operator (125) and an engineer (120),

determining (215), based on a permissions database, whether the first user has permission to perform the action, wherein operating to determine (215) whether the first user has permission to perform the action comprises operating to determine: determining a user group to which the first user belongs and whether the determined user group to which the first user belongs has permission to perform the action,

in response to determining (215) that the first user does not have permission to perform the action:

sending (220) an approval request to at least one second user associated with the administrative user group to approve the requested action by at least one of: an email message, an instant message, a web page notification, and a text message, wherein the approval request includes a question summary received from the first user and command text associated with the requested action;

receiving (225) a response to the approval request from the at least one second user;

determining (230) whether the at least one second user approves the requested action; and

in response to determining (230) that the at least one second user has approved the requested action, performing (235) the requested action; and

creating (240) a log entry associated with the requested action, the log entry including a first user's name, a second user's name, a question summary received from the first user, command text associated with the requested action, and a result associated with performing the requested action; and

in response to determining (215) that the first user has permission to perform the action, performing (235) the action.

10. A system for providing email-based recovery actions, the system comprising:

means for receiving (210) a request from a first user to perform an action that would result in a service interruption on a server;

means for determining (215) whether the first user has permission to perform the action based on a permission database, wherein means for determining whether the first user has permission to perform the action comprises:

means for determining a user group to which the first user belongs;

means for determining whether a determined group of users to which the first user belongs has permission to perform the action;

means for sending (220) an approval request to a second user associated with an administrative user group to approve the requested action in response to determining (215) that the first user does not have permission to perform the action, wherein the approval request includes an impact analysis associated with performing the action, a problem summary associated with the action, and command text associated with the action;

means for receiving a response to the approval request from the second user;

means for determining (230) whether the second user approves the requested action; and

means for performing (235) the requested action in response to determining (230) that the second user has approved the requested action.