Asset management shell-based application software information management and distribution method

Abstract

An asset management shell-based application software information management and distribution method is provided. The application software management method, according to an embodiment of the present invention, generates an AAS information model of application software, and manages information of the application software using the generated AAS information model. Accordingly, it is possible to integrate fragmented information into one at each stage of the application software life cycle, and prevent the same information from being expressed in different ways, thereby reducing various costs consumed for maintenance and exchange of application software information. In addition, it is possible to logically automate the distribution process starting from the automatic generation of a distribution setting file related to application software distribution, such that consistent distribution is always possible without human error even if a DevOps engineer in charge is replaced.

Description

Asset Management Shell-Based Application Software Information Management and Distribution Method

[0001] The present invention relates to information integration management and distribution of application software, and more particularly, to a method for automating information integration management and distribution of application software recognized as assets in the smart manufacturing field by utilizing an Asset Administration Shell (AAS).

[0002] Today, the manufacturing industry is adopting application software that incorporates various ICT technologies to drive innovations such as process optimization, predictive maintenance, reduced equipment operating costs, and increased productivity. This process involves diverse stakeholders (software designers, developers, DevOps engineers, etc.), and information sharing among these stakeholders is often manual, resulting in inconsistent information. Furthermore, the complexity of deploying, installing, and operating these applications can lead to various issues.

[0003] A closer look at existing issues in terms of information management reveals that manually managing application software-related information leads to stakeholders at each stage of the application software lifecycle managing software information in different ways, resulting in information fragmentation and potential missing information. Furthermore, the same information is expressed in different ways, leading to errors in information perception.

[0004] Analyzing the challenges of application software deployment, we see that as the complexity of application software development increases, so too does the deployment process. The traditional manual method of deploying application software is time-consuming and frequently leads to deployment failures due to human error.

[0005] To address this issue, various frameworks for deployment automation are being used today. However, the process of creating deployment-related configuration files remains manual. Furthermore, if deployment staff changes and less skilled personnel are assigned to this task, significant effort and time are required.

[0006] The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method that enables accurate and consistent information (version, license, dependency, required resource specifications, distribution, maintenance, etc.) management for stakeholders at each stage in the application software life cycle by utilizing an asset management shell.

[0007] In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method for reducing the complexity of application deployment and preventing human error by automatically configuring a deployment configuration file during the application deployment process and simplifying the complex deployment process.

[0008] An application software management method according to one embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above purpose includes a step of creating an AAS information model of application software; and a first management step of managing information of the application software using the created AAS information model.

[0009] The AAS information model may include a first submodel containing basic information about the application software and basic information after installation; and a second submodel containing information about components that make up the application software.

[0010] The AAS information model may include a third submodel containing information about platform resources required for the operation of the application software; and a fourth submodel containing information about the container, options, and environment variables of the application software.

[0011] The AAS information model may include a fifth sub-model containing the maintenance history of the application software.

[0012] The first management step may include creating an AAS server instance that is linked to the AAS information model file and can be accessed via a REST API to manage information of the application software.

[0013] The first management step may include registering the created AAS server instance in the AAS registry to display a list of application software that can currently be managed.

[0014] The application software management method according to the present invention may further include a second management step of managing distribution of application software using the generated AAS information model.

[0015] The second management step may include a step of receiving deployment-related information from an AAS server instance and configuring a deployment configuration file; a step of loading the configured configuration file and executing a deployment command to deploy the application software.

[0016] Distribution-related information may be included in the fourth submodel of the AAS information model.

[0017] According to another aspect of the present invention, an application software management system is provided, characterized by including: a generation unit that generates an AAS information model of application software; and a first management unit that manages information of the application software using the generated AAS information model.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for managing application software is provided, comprising: a step of generating an AAS information model of application software; and a step of managing distribution of the application software using the generated AAS information model.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, an application software management system is provided, characterized by including: a generation unit for generating an AAS information model of application software; and a management unit for managing distribution of application software using the generated AAS information model.

[0020] As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, by collecting fragmented information into one at each stage of the application software life cycle and preventing the same information from being expressed in different ways, it is possible to reduce all costs incurred in maintaining and exchanging application software information.

[0021] In addition, according to embodiments of the present invention, by automating the deployment process from automatic creation of a deployment configuration file in relation to application software deployment, consistent deployment is always possible without human error even if the DevOps engineer in charge is replaced.

[0022] Figure 1. Basic structure of the AAS information model

[0023] Figure 2. AAS information model of application software

[0024] Figure 3. SBom (Software Bill of Materials) submodel UML

[0025] Figure 4. ComputingPlatformResoueces submodel UML

[0026] Figure 5. SoftwareDistribution submodel UML

[0027] Figure 6. SoftwareMaintenance Submodel UML

[0028] Figure 7. System architecture for integrated information management and distribution of application software.

[0029] Figure 8. AAS server instance creation process

[0030] Figure 9. Application software information management through AAS server instances

[0031] Figure 10. Application software deployment process through a master-agent-based CI / CD service.

[0032] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present invention, an asset management shell-based application software information management and distribution method is proposed.

[0034] This is a technology that models an information model (sub-model) dedicated to application software to express and manage information of application software, designs a separate system structure that can utilize it, and enables information management and automated distribution of application software through API.

[0035] The present invention presents the following detailed techniques in the embodiments.

[0036] - Application software information model based on Asset Administration Shell (AAS)

[0037] - System architecture for integrated information management and distribution of application software

[0038] - A method for managing information of application software through API by creating an AAS server instance that provides REST API access endpoints based on the AAS information model and the proposed system architecture.

[0039] - A method for automatically configuring a deployment configuration file by retrieving information for application software distribution from a previously created AAS server instance, and automatically deploying application software based on the configured deployment configuration file.

[0040] Each of these is explained below one by one.

[0041]

[0042] 1. AAS information model of application software

[0043] To address the problem of representing the same information differently at each stage of the application software life cycle, which leads to errors in information recognition, an application software AAS information model was defined based on AAS.

[0044] Prior to defining the AAS information model of application software, the basic structure of the AAS information model based on the standard metamodel is as shown in Figure 1.

[0045] - AAS can be composed of 1 to N submodels.

[0046] - A submodel can be composed of 1 to N submodel elements.

[0047] - A submodel element can be a property or file with one unique value, and can also be composed of an SMC (Submodel Element Collection) composed of 1 to N submodel elements.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present invention, an AAS information model consisting of five submodels is proposed for application software information management and distribution, the structure of which is illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is an AAS information model for application software. Each submodel is defined as follows.

[0049] - The SoftwareNamplate submodel contains software nameplate information, including basic information about the software, such as the software developer and release information, as well as basic information after installation (installation path, installation date, etc.). The SoftwareNamplate submodel uses version 1.0, officially provided by the IDTA (Industrial Digital Twin Association).

[0050] - SBom (Software Bill of Materials) expresses information (version, license, inter-component relationships, etc.) about all components that make up the software, and is similar to a material bill of materials for hardware assets (e.g., factory equipment). The SBoM submodel can express base information and component information for the SBoM document. The structure of the SBoM submodel is defined by referring to the minimum element fields for SBoM information specification required by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a U.S. government agency, and the required fields required by ISO / IEC 5962:2021 SPDX (Software Package Data Exchange), an international standard for expressing SBoM. Figure 3 shows the structure of the SBoM submodel as a UML diagram.

[0051] - The ComputingPlatformResources submodel represents platform (device) resources required for the operation of application software. The resource information defined in this submodel can indicate supported operating systems, minimum specifications, and recommended specifications. Figure 4 illustrates the structure of the ComputingPlatformResources submodel in a UML diagram.

[0052] The SoftwareDistribution submodel is defined based on Docker, a technology available for deploying application software. This submodel is structured to represent container information, various options, and environment variables included in the docker-compose.yml configuration file. Figure 5 illustrates the structure of the SoftwareDistribution submodel in a UML diagram.

[0053] - The SoftwareMaintenance submodel is defined to express the maintenance history of application software. Multiple MaintenanceHistory submodel elements defined in this submodel can be configured, and the MaintenanceType property in the corresponding submodel element can indicate the maintenance type (function addition / modification / removal, bug fix, etc.) and related information of the application software. Figure 6 shows the structure of the SoftwareMaintenance submodel as a UML diagram.

[0054]

[0055] 2. System architecture for integrated information management and distribution of application software

[0056] In an embodiment of the present invention, the system architecture of FIG. 7 is presented for integrated management and distribution of application software information. As illustrated, the application software information integrated management / distribution system according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a Management Server (110), an AAS service module (120), and a CI / CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery) service module (130).

[0057]

[0058] 2.1 Management Server (110)

[0059] The Management Server (110) has the following modules for information management and distribution management.

[0060] - The software information management module (SW Information Manager) provides an import function of an application software AAS information model file via REST API, a function of transferring the imported AAS information model file to the system's internal AAS service module (120), and a CRUD (add / search / modify / delete) function of application software information.

[0061] - The software distribution management module (SW Distribution Manager) can send a distribution-related task request to the CI / CD service module (130) of the system's internal master and agent structure via REST API.

[0062] - It may further include a generation module for generating an AAS information model.

[0063]

[0064] 2.2 AAS Service Module (120)

[0065] The AAS service module (120) provides the following functions through the AAS SDK, which is an AAS service framework.

[0066] - Receive the AAS information model file from the software information management module and create an AAS server instance via the AAS SDK. The created AAS server instance is linked to the AAS information model file and can be accessed via the REST API to manage application software information.

[0067] - AAS SDK creates an AAS server instance and provides an AAS Registry to register the created AAS server instance and display a list of application software that can currently manage information.

[0068]

[0069] 2.3 CI / CD Service Module (130)

[0070] The CI / CD service module (130) is a master, agent-based CI / CD tool that performs tasks related to application software distribution in this system.

[0071] - The Master is a type of server that provides a REST API. When it receives a distribution request task from the software distribution management module, it assigns the task to each of the two Agents.

[0072] - The configuration agent performs tasks assigned by the master. It receives deployment-related information from the master in the AAS server instance previously created in the AAS service module (120) and configures a deployment configuration file (docker-compose.yml).

[0073] - The Distribution Agent is executed when the configuration agent task is completed, and retrieves distribution command information from the AAS server instance based on the previously configured configuration file and performs the task.

[0074]

[0075] 3. Information management method for application software based on the AAS information model

[0076] The related information is modeled using the application software AAS information model structure defined above. The AASX Package Explorer can be used as an AAS modeling editor, and the application AAS information model (.aasx) can be modeled through the editor. The AAS information model modeled in this way can be imported into the AAS SDK, an AAS server instance creation framework, to create the corresponding AAS server instance. Figure 8 illustrates the AAS server instance creation process.

[0077] Most AAS SDKs currently available as open source follow the AAS standard (the embodiments of the present invention also assume the use of an AAS SDK that follows the AAS standard). This allows access to AAS server instances at each stage of the application software lifecycle without the need to pass separate API information, allowing the use of APIs specified in existing standards.

[0078] The created AAS server instance is linked to the AAS information model, so that information of the application software can be managed through the REST API, as shown in Fig. 9.

[0079]

[0080] 4. AAS Information Model-Based Application Software Distribution Method

[0081] To deploy AAS-based application software, a system with the architecture of "2." and an AAS server instance created for information management in "3." are required. Figure 10 describes a method for deploying application software based on the AAS information model.

[0082] In the CI / CD service module (130) of the system, the master manages agents (assigns tasks to agents, receives events for completed tasks, and passes tasks to the next agent). When assigning tasks to a configuration agent, the master passes information related to the deployment settings of the SoftwareDistribution submodel through the AAS server instance created, thereby causing the agent to create a configuration file (docker-compose.yml) for deployment.

[0083] Once this task is complete, the master assigns the application software deployment task to the deployment agent. The deployment agent then loads the configuration file created in the previous configuration step and stored in a temporary storage (Conf File Repository) and executes the deployment command, completing the deployment task.

[0084]

[0085] So far, a preferred embodiment of an asset management shell-based application software information management and distribution method has been described in detail.

[0086] In the above embodiment, the asset management shell is utilized to enable accurate and consistent information management (version, license, dependency, required resource specifications, distribution, maintenance, etc.) to stakeholders at each stage in the application software life cycle.

[0087] Compared to the existing paper or electronic document (PDF) format information management method, the embodiment of the present invention utilizes an asset management shell, which is a standard-based, standardized information model, to express information and provides a server instance that references this information model, thereby enabling consistent and continuous information integration and management.

[0088] In addition, in the above embodiment, the application deployment process automatically configures the deployment configuration file and simplifies the complex deployment process, thereby reducing the complexity of application deployment and preventing human error.

[0089] Unlike conventional application software distribution that requires a manual process of creating a configuration file for distribution, the embodiment of the present invention automatically configures a distribution configuration file by referencing distribution-related information in the asset management shell information model and logicalizes the distribution process, thereby enabling simple and automated distribution without a separate, complex process.

[0090] Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the technical idea of ​​the present invention can also be applied to a computer-readable recording medium containing a computer program that performs the functions of the device and method according to the present embodiment. In addition, the technical idea according to various embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in the form of computer-readable code recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium can be any data storage device that can be read by a computer and store data. For example, the computer-readable recording medium can be a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a hard disk drive, etc. In addition, the computer-readable code or program stored on the computer-readable recording medium can be transmitted through a network connected between computers.

[0091] In addition, although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the claims, and such modifications should not be understood individually from the technical idea or prospect of the present invention.

Claims

1. Step of creating an AAS information model of application software; and An application software management method, characterized by including a first management step for managing information of application software using the generated AAS information model.

2. In claim 1, The AAS information model is, The first sub-model contains basic information about the application software and basic information after installation; A method for managing application software, characterized by including a second sub-model containing information on components constituting application software.

3. In claim 1, The AAS information model is, A third submodel containing information about platform resources required for the operation of the application software; A method for managing application software, characterized by including a fourth sub-model containing information on containers, options, and environment variables of application software.

4. In claim 1, The AAS information model is, A method for managing application software, characterized by including a fifth sub-model containing maintenance history information of application software.

5. In claim 3, The first management step is: A method for managing application software, comprising: a step of creating an AAS server instance that is connected to an AAS information model file and can manage information of application software by accessing it through a REST API; 6. In claim 5, The first management step is: An application software management method characterized by including a step of registering a generated AAS server instance in an AAS registry and displaying a list of application software that can currently be managed.

7. In claim 5, An application software management method, characterized by further including a second management step of managing distribution of application software using the generated AAS information model.

8. In claim 7, The second management stage is: A step for receiving deployment-related information from an AAS server instance and configuring a deployment configuration file; A method for managing application software, characterized by comprising the step of loading a configured configuration file and executing a deployment command to distribute application software.

9. In claim 8, For distribution information, An application software management method characterized by being included in the fourth sub-model of the AAS information model.

10. A generation unit that generates an AAS information model of the application software; and An application software management system, characterized by including a first management unit that manages information of application software using the generated AAS information model.

11. Step of creating an AAS information model of application software; and An application software management method, characterized by including a step of managing distribution of application software using the generated AAS information model.

12. A generation unit that generates an AAS information model of the application software; and An application software management system, characterized by including a management unit that manages distribution of application software using the generated AAS information model.

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