Tagging Tool for Software Configuration History Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current software package management and configuration systems lack accurate and complete histories of software installations and configuration changes, making it difficult to track the reasons for these actions and their effects on computing systems, which can lead to misidentification of legitimate activity as malicious and hinder proper system verification and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A tagging tool is introduced to cooperate with package managers and configuration management systems to generate and maintain histories of actions, including reasons and affected software programs, files, and libraries, allowing administrators to verify and maintain the desired configuration of computing systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If package managers and configuration management systems are used to install and modify software, then software installation and configuration management are achieved, but accurate and complete history of actions and their effects is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a tagging tool as an intermediary component that works in conjunction with package managers and configuration management systems. This tagging tool captures metadata about software installation and configuration actions, including package names, versions, installation paths, and configuration changes. The tagging tool acts as a mediator between the existing management systems and the history tracking requirement, without fundamentally changing the complexity of the core systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the tagging tool capture and record information about software actions at the moment they occur, before the actual installation or configuration change is completed. This ensures that complete and accurate history information is preserved from the outset, eliminating the need for post-processing or reconstruction of action histories.
2Reliability
If comprehensive history tracking is implemented to monitor all software actions, then complete action history is achieved, but system complexity and overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by having the tagging tool focus on capturing specific, relevant metadata about software actions rather than attempting to track every possible system event. The tagging tool selectively records information such as package names, versions, installation paths, and configuration parameters - only the data necessary for accurate history tracking. This targeted approach maintains high reliability while avoiding unnecessary system complexity.
3Loss of information
If package managers track installation history, then installation records are maintained, but reasons for installation and effects on other software are not captured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by having the tagging tool not only record installation actions but also capture the reasons for installation (user requests, dependency requirements, configuration management decisions) and the effects of those actions (files created, dependencies installed, configuration changes). This comprehensive feedback loop provides complete information about the software action lifecycle, making system verification straightforward and easy to perform.
Data Source
AI summary
An administrator system can utilize a history generated by a tagging tool to determine the current configuration of computing systems. The administrator system can utilize the current configuration to verify that the computing systems have been configured properly and verify, over time, that the computing systems maintain the desired configuration. The administrator system can compare the current configuration with the desired configuration for the computing systems.