Resolving and preventing computer system failures caused by changes to the installed software

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9594624-B2
Application number	US-201514737652-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2015
Priority date	Jun 12, 2015
Publication date	Mar 14, 2017
Grant date	Mar 14, 2017

Abstract

A method to resolve or prevent a computer system failure is provided. The method may include capturing a plurality of snapshots associated with a computer system installation environment during a plurality of key times. The method may also include measuring each snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots according to a measure of system health. The method may further include using each measured snapshot to develop a plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations. The method may additionally include providing a probability associated with a proposed installation operation based on the developed plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations. The method may also include providing at least one installation recommendation in response to a recovery from a system failure, whereby the provided at least one installation recommendation is based on the developed plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method to resolve or prevent a computer system failure, the method comprising:
capturing a plurality of snapshots associated with a computer system installation environment during a plurality of key times;
measuring each snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots according to a measure of system health, wherein the measuring is determined using an online database of system snapshots;
using each measured snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots to develop a plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations, wherein the plurality of learned patterns are automatically recorded and uploaded in the online database of system snapshots;
providing a probability associated with a proposed installation operation based on the developed plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations and based on a matching of the proposed installation operation to a problem snapshot contained in the online database of system snapshots, wherein the online database of system snapshots is updated automatically and includes a plurality of automatic system snapshots associated with a plurality of users and a plurality of user environments, and wherein the provided probability is determined based on a calculated percentage of a longest common plurality of subsequences being greater than a predetermined, user-defined threshold;
in response to the provided probability associated with the proposed installation operation exceeding the predetermined, user-defined threshold, providing a pre-emptive warning to a user, via a graphical user interface, that the computer system installation environment is predicted to deteriorate, wherein the pre-emptive warning is displayed prior to a system failure occurring; and
providing at least one installation recommendation in response to a recovery from a system failure, wherein the provided at least one installation recommendation is based on the developed plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations and based on the matching of the proposed installation operation to the problem snapshot contained in the online database of system snapshots.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer system failure is caused by at least one change to at least one installed software.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer system failure is resolved or prevented based on the plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of key times includes prior to an installation of a software, just after an installation of a software, during the recovery from a system crash, or during a scheduled sampling period.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measure of system health includes a rating of good, a rating of bad, or a rating of to be determined (TBD).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provided probability includes a determination as to whether the proposed installation operation is a stable system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provided at least one installation recommendation can improve stability of a system associated with the recovery of the system failure.

8. A computer system to resolve or prevent a computer system failure, the computer system comprising:
one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherein the computer system is capable of performing a method comprising:
capturing a plurality of snapshots associated with a computer system installation environment during a plurality of key times;
measuring each snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots according to a measure of system health, wherein the measuring is determined using an online database of system snapshots;
using each measured snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots to develop a plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations, wherein the plurality of learned patterns are automatically recorded and uploaded in the online database of system snapshots;
providing a probability associated with a proposed installation operation based on the developed plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations and based on a matching of the proposed installation operation to a problem snapshot contained in the online database of system snapshots, wherein the online database of system snapshots is updated automatically and includes a plurality of automatic system snapshots associated with a plurality of users and a plurality of user environments, and wherein the provided probability is determined based on a calculated percentage of a longest common plurality of subsequences being greater than a predetermined, user-defined threshold;
in response to the provided probability associated with the proposed installation operation exceeding the predetermined, user-defined threshold, providing a pre-emptive warning to a user, via a graphical user interface, that the computer system installation environment is predicted to deteriorate, wherein the pre-emptive warning is displayed prior to a system failure occurring; and
providing at least one installation recommendation in response to a recovery from a system failure, wherein the provided at least one installation recommendation is based on the developed plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations and based on the matching of the proposed installation operation to the problem snapshot contained in the online database of system snapshots.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system failure is caused by at least one change to at least one installed software.

10. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system failure is resolved or prevented based on the plurality of learned patterns of good and bad software installations.

11. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of key times includes prior to an installation of a software, just after an installation of a software, during the recovery from a system crash, or during a scheduled sampling period.

12. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the measure of system health includes a rating of good, a rating of bad, or a rating of to be determined (TBD).

13. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the provided probability includes a determination as to whether the proposed installation operation is a stable system.

14. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the provided at least one installation recommendation can improve stability of a system associated with the recovery of the system failure.

15. A computer program product to resolve or prevent a computer system failure, the computer program product comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage devices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage devices, the program instructions executable by a processor, the program instructions comprising:
program instructions to capture a plurality of snapshots associated with a computer system installation environment during a plurality of key times;
program instructions to measure each snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots according to a measure of system health, wherein the measuring is determined using an online database of system snapshots;
program instructions to use each measured snapshot within the captured plurality of snapshots to develop a plural

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Charters Graham C
• Kirke Travis J
• Poga Alexander H
• Shewell Mark A

Classifications

• G06F11/1469

  Backup restoration techniques · CPC title

• G06F11/0751

  Error or fault detection not based on redundancy (power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06) · CPC title

• G06F11/1433 Primary

  during software upgrading · CPC title

• G06F2201/805

  Real-time · CPC title

• G06F11/008

  Reliability or availability analysis · CPC title