Image forming apparatus capable of managing configuration information of multiple modules

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of application modules configured to perform image processing including scanning, printing, and copying of an image;
• a plurality of service modules configured to perform an image forming operation and to control the image forming apparatus, the plurality of service modules including at least a certificate control service (CCS) module for performing authentication, an operation control service (OCS) module for controlling an operation panel, and system control service (SCS) module for performing system control including controlling the CCS module and OCS module;
• a nonvolatile configuration information storage part configured to contain first configuration information of the application modules and the service modules;
• a configuration information comparison part configured to read second configuration information of the application modules and the service modules from the application modules and the service modules included in the image forming apparatus before starting the application modules and the service modules during a current startup operation of the image forming apparatus, and configured to compare the first configuration information and the second configuration information before starting the SCS module, the first configuration information being configuration information obtained during a previous startup operation of the image forming apparatus;
• and
• a notification part configured to notify a user of the image forming apparatus of a difference between the first configuration information and the second configuration information in response to detection of the difference.