Maintenance of distributed computing systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10277615-B2
Application number	US-201615258488-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 7, 2016
Priority date	Sep 11, 2015
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media providing build and deploy a known file and identify unknown files found on the system. The method provides, deploying a file, creating a unique hash tag identifier and metadata associated with the file. A database entry is created for the hash tag identifier and metadata associated with the file. An unknown file is discovered on the system, a unique hash code identifier is generated and searched for in the database. If the unique hash code identifier is found the metadata is retrieved and returned for display, however if the hash code identifier is not found the unknown file is marked as a candidate for removal and deleted from the system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for improved maintenance of a distributed computing system including software servers hosting one or more computer files, the system comprising:
one or more data storage devices including a non-transitory computer-readable media storing a deployment database and a binary repository, wherein the deployment database and binary repository are separate and distinct from each other;
a build system executed by a selected one of the servers including a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more data storage devices to facilitate communication between the processor and the deployment database and between the processor and the binary repository, execution of the build system by the selected one of the servers, in response to receiving a known computer file to be deployed, (i) generates unique signature for the known computer file, (ii) generates metadata for the known computer file, (iii) creates an entry in the deployment database including the unique signature for the known computer file, (iv) associates the metadata with the unique signature in the deployment database, and (v) deploys the known computer file into the binary repository to distribute the known computer file to one or more of the software servers in the distributed computing system, wherein the binary repository stores an instance of the deployed known computer file;
an identification system executed by the selected one of the servers or a different one of the servers including a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more data storage devices to facilitate communication between the processor and the deployment database, execution of the identification system by the selected one of the servers or a different one of the servers, in response to receiving a problematic computer file that is deployed in the distributed computing system and causing an issue in the distributed computing system, (i) generates a unique signature for the problematic computer file, and (ii) submits a query including the unique signature for the problematic computer file to determine whether the problematic computer file is the known computer file,
wherein, in response to the signature of the problematic computer file matching the signature of the known computer file, the deployment database returns the metadata providing information for resolving the issue, and, in response to determining that the database contains no matches for the signature of the problematic computer file, the identification system determines that the problematic computer file is unidentifiable and a candidate for removal from the distributed system to resolve the issue.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the metadata includes, filename, version date of creation, vendor name, programmer name, build identification parameter, information associated with deployment the known computer file, or information associated with a user or group responsible for maintenance of the known computer file or the one or more of the software servers to which the known computer file is distributed.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein a known computer file or the problematic computing file is an executable file.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the identification system provides command line prompt to query the database.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the metadata is displayed on a display for a user in response to the deployment database retrieving the metadata for the problematic computer file.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signature for the problematic computer file is not found in the deployment database.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the identification system removes the problematic computer file in response to determining the problematic computer file is a candidate for removal.

8. A method for improved maintenance of a distributed computing system including software servers hosting one or more computer files, the method comprising:
executing a build system, by a selected one of the servers that includes a processor communicatively coupled to one or more data storage devices to facilitate communication between the processor and a deployment database stored on the one or more data storage devices and between the processor and a binary repository stored on the one or more data storage devices, in response to receiving a known computer file to be deployed, wherein the deployment database and binary repository are separate and distinct from each other;
generating, via the build system, a unique signature and metadata for the known computer file;
creating, via the build system, an entry in the deployment database including the unique signature for the known computer file;
associating, via the build system, the metadata with the unique signature in the deployment database;
deploying, via the build system, the known computer file into the binary repository to distribute the known computer file to one or more of the software servers in the distributed computing system, wherein the binary repository stores an instance of the deployed known computer file;
executing an identification system, by a selected one of the servers including a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more data storage devices to facilitate communication between the processor and a deployment database and between the processor and a binary repository, in response to receiving a problematic computer file that is deployed in the distributed computing system and causing an issue in the distributed computing system;
generating, via the identification system, a unique signature for the problematic computer file; and
submitting, via the identification system, a query including the unique signature for the problematic computer file to the deployment database to determine whether the problematic computer file is the known computer file;
wherein, in response to the signature of the problematic computer file matching the signature of the known computer file, the deployment database returns the metadata providing information for resolving the issue, and, in response to determining that the database contains no matches for the signature of the problematic computer file, the identification system determines that the problematic computer file is unidentifiable and a candidate for removal from the distributed system to resolve the issue.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising displaying the metadata on a display for a user in response to the deployment database retrieving the metadata for the problematic computer file.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the signature for the problematic computer file is not found in the deployment database.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising removing the problematic computer file by the identification system in response to determining the problematic computer file is a candidate for removal.

12. The method in claim 8 , wherein the metadata includes, filename, version date of creation, vendor name, programmer name, build identification parameter, information associated with deployment the known computer file, or information associated with a user or group responsible for maintenance of the known computer file or the one or more of the software servers to which the known computer file is distributed.

13. The method in claim 12 , wherein the known computer file or the problematic computing file is an executable file.

14. The method in claim 12 , wherein the identification system provides command line prompt to query the database.

15. A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing instructions for improved maintenance of a distributed computing system

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Clark Jimmie Russell
• Johnson Christopher Soames
• Stone Jeffrey

Classifications

• H04L63/1416 Primary

  Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection · CPC title

• G06F21/564

  by virus signature recognition · CPC title

• H04L63/1425

  Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection · CPC title

• H04L63/145

  the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms · CPC title