Method, system and program product for verifying configuration of a computer system

A system for checking configuration of a server on a computer network, comprising:

• a plurality of servers coupled to a computer network, each server of said plurality of servers comprising of one or more relevant components for performing an intended function of said each server;
• and
• a configuration snapshot tool for creating an initial point-in-time configuration snapshot of a server of said plurality of servers in said computer network, said configuration snapshot tool being configured to run on said server and to exclude in creating said initial point-in-time configuration snapshot any non-relevant components of said one or more relevant components of said server that do not effect said intended function of said remote server, said configuration snapshot tool being configured to compare said initial point-in-time configuration snapshot to a later point-in-time configuration snapshot in order to identify any critical configuration changes and any significant configuration changes in said one or more relevant components that may affect said intended function of said server;
• wherein said initial point-in-time configuration snapshot is before a reboot of said server and wherein said later point-in-time configuration snapshot is after a reboot of said server.

A computer program product for checking configuration of a computer system, said computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium;
• first program instructions to generate, using a configuration checking tool running on said computer system, an initial point-in-time configuration snapshot of said computer system among a plurality of networked computer systems connected via a network, said configuration checking tool including in said initial point-in-time configuration snapshot each relevant component among a set of relevant components of said computer system that affects a functional level of operation of said computer system;
• second program instructions to run said configuration checking tool at a later time to generate a later point-in-time configuration snapshot of said computer system, said second program instructions include instructions to compare said later point-in-time configuration snapshot to said initial point-in-time configuration snapshot to identify one or more critical configuration changes and to identify one or more significant configuration changes to any relevant component among said set of relevant components from said initial point-in-time configuration snapshot to said later point-in-time configuration snapshot;
• third program instructions to alert, using specific error messages, of said one or more critical configuration changes identified and to inform, using specific warning messages, of said one or more significant configuration changes identified for said computer system, said instructions excluding identifying any insignificant configuration changes that do not significantly affect said functional level of operation of said computer system;
• and wherein said first, second and third program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium for execution by a central processing unit of said computer system.