Techniques for compliance testing

A network configuration management system comprising:

• a device server collecting configuration information from one or more devices managed using the network configuration management system;
• one or more application servers which store the configuration information in a database and perform compliance testing on the configuration information using one or more compliance tests comprising compliance queries and compliance rules, the compliance queries used to retrieve portions of the configuration information from the database forming one or more result sets which are tested for compliance in accordance with the compliance rules;
• and
• a computer readable medium comprising code stored thereon for performing processing including:
• receiving, at said device server, configuration state information in a first form for each of said one or more devices, said first form of the configuration state information for said each device including information in one of a plurality of formats that vary with said each device;
• performing, by said one or more application servers, a plurality of conversions to convert the first form of configuration state information for each of the one or more devices to a database representation of the configuration state information;
• storing the database representation of the configuration state information in the database;
• determining whether a first of the one or more devices fails a first of the compliance tests, said first compliance test using one or more compliance rules;
• and
• responsive to determining that the first device fails the first compliance test, automatically generating a corresponding remedial action including one or more device commands to make the first device compliant with an expected configuration state based on a portion of the compliance criteria of the first compliance test, wherein first metadata describes a hierarchical object model including a first object and a second object nested in the first object, the first metadata including a first remedial action atomicity level indicator for the first object indicating it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the first object, the first metadata including a second remedial action atomicity level indicator for the second object indicating whether it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the second object, said second object including a first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said automatically generating the corresponding remedial action includes performing first processing comprising:
• generating an object representation of expected configuration state information corresponding to successful compliance with the first compliance test, the expected configuration state information including the first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said generating the object representation uses the first metadata and includes:
• determining whether the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object;
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is not allowable to generate the second object, generating the first object including the second object;
• and
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object, generating the second object without requiring generation of other portions of the first object;
• and
• converting the object representation of the expected configuration state information
• to the one or more device commands.

A method for performing compliance testing comprising:

• receiving configuration state information in a first form for each of one or more devices managed using a configuration management system;
• performing a plurality of conversions to convert the first form of configuration state information for each of the one or more devices to a database representation of the configuration state information;
• storing the database representation of the configuration state information in a database;
• performing one or more compliance tests using the configuration state information to determine if the one or more devices are compliant, wherein said configuration state information is represented in accordance with a data representation described using metadata, wherein said performing uses the metadata in connection with processing at least one of:
• one or more compliance queries for retrieving data from the database for compliance testing, and one or more compliance rules specifying compliance criteria;
• determining whether a first of the one or more devices fails a first of the compliance tests;
• and
• responsive to determining that the first device fails the first compliance test, automatically generating a corresponding remedial action including one or more device commands to make the first device compliant with an expected configuration state based on a portion of the compliance criteria of the first compliance test, wherein first metadata describes a hierarchical object model including a first object and a second object nested in the first object, the first metadata including a first remedial action atomicity level indicator for the first object indicating it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the first object, the first metadata including a second remedial action atomicity level indicator for the second object indicating whether it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the second object, said second object including a first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said automatically generating the corresponding remedial action includes performing first processing comprising:
• generating an object representation of expected configuration state information corresponding to successful compliance with the first compliance test, the expected configuration state information including the first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said generating the object representation uses the first metadata and includes:
• determining whether the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object;
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is not allowable to generate the second object, generating the first object including the second object;
• and
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object, generating the second object without requiring generation of other portions of the first object;
• and
• converting the object representation of the expected configuration state information
• to the one or more device commands.

A method for performing reporting on a configuration state of one or more devices comprising:

• receiving configuration state information in a first form for each of one or more devices managed using a configuration management system, said first form of the configuration state information for said each device including information in one of a plurality of formats that vary with said each device;
• performing a plurality of conversions to convert the first form of configuration state information for each of the one or more devices to a database representation of the configuration state information
• storing the database representation of the configuration state information in a database;
• performing one or more database queries using metadata, wherein the metadata identifies one or more relational database tables of the database describing the data representation of said configuration state information, identifies one or more columns in the one or more relational database tables describing a data representation of the configuration state information, and identifies one or more relationships between different types of objects in said configuration state information;
• forming, in response to said performing, one or more query results;
• using the one or more query results in a report;
• determining whether a first of the one or more devices fails a first compliance test;
• and
• responsive to determining that the first device fails the first compliance test, automatically generating a corresponding remedial action including one or more device commands to make the first device compliant with an expected configuration state based on a portion of compliance criteria of the first compliance test, wherein first metadata describes a hierarchical object model including a first object and a second object nested in the first object, the first metadata including a first remedial action atomicity level indicator for the first object indicating it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the first object, the first metadata including a second remedial action atomicity level indicator for the second object indicating whether it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the second object, said second object including a first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said automatically generating the corresponding remedial action includes performing first processing comprising:
• generating an object representation of expected configuration state information corresponding to successful compliance with the first compliance test, the expected configuration state information including the first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said generating the object representation uses the first metadata and includes:
• determining whether the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object;
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is not allowable to generate the second object, generating the first object including the second object;
• and
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object, generating the second object without requiring generation of other portions of the first object;
• and
• converting the object representation of the expected configuration state information
• to the one or more device commands.

A computer readable medium comprising code stored thereon for performing compliance testing, the computer readable medium comprising code stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, performs a method comprising:

• receiving configuration state information in a first form for each of one or more devices managed using a configuration management system, said first form of the configuration state information for said each device including information in one of a plurality of formats that vary with said each device;
• performing a plurality of conversions to convert the first form of configuration state information for each of the one or more devices to a data container representation of the configuration state information;
• storing the data container representation of the configuration state information in a data container;
• executing one or more compliance tests using the configuration state information to determine if the one or more devices are compliant, said one or more compliance tests being defined using one or more queries and one or more compliance rules, said one or more queries used for retrieving a portion of said configuration state information from said data container and generating one or more result sets, said one or more compliance rules specifying compliance criteria used for determining whether said one or more result sets include configuration state information which is compliant;
• determining whether a first of the one or more devices fails a first of the compliance tests;
• and
• responsive to determining that the first device fails the first compliance test, automatically generating a corresponding remedial action including one or more device commands to make the first device compliant with an expected configuration state based on a portion of the compliance criteria of the first compliance test, wherein first metadata describes a hierarchical object model including a first object and a second object nested in the first object, the first metadata including a first remedial action atomicity level indicator for the first object indicating it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the first object, the first metadata including a second remedial action atomicity level indicator for the second object indicating whether it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the second object, said second object including a first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said automatically generating the corresponding remedial action includes performing first processing comprising:
• generating an object representation of expected configuration state information corresponding to successful compliance with the first compliance test, the expected configuration state information including the first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said generating the object representation uses the first metadata and includes:
• determining whether the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object;
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is not allowable to generate the second object, generating the first object including the second object;
• and
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object, generating the second object without requiring generation of other portions of the first object;
• and
• converting the object representation of the expected configuration state information
• to the one or more device commands.

A computer readable medium comprising code stored thereon for performing compliance testing, the computer readable medium comprising code that, when executed by a processor, performs a method comprising:

• receiving configuration state information in a first form for each of one or more devices managed using a configuration management system, said first form of the configuration state information for said each device including information in one of a plurality of formats that vary with said each device;
• performing a plurality of conversions to convert the first form of configuration state information for each of the one or more devices to a database representation of the configuration state information;
• storing the database representation of the configuration state information in a database;
• performing one or more compliance tests using the configuration state information to determine if the one or more devices are compliant, wherein said configuration state information is represented in accordance with a data representation described using metadata, wherein said performing uses the metadata in connection with processing at least one of:
• one or more compliance queries for retrieving data from the database for compliance testing, and one or more compliance rules specifying compliance criteria;
• determining whether a first of the one or more devices fails a first of the compliance tests;
• and
• responsive to determining that the first device fails the first compliance test, automatically generating a corresponding remedial action including one or more device commands to make the first device compliant with an expected configuration state based on a portion of the compliance criteria of the first compliance test, wherein first metadata describes a hierarchical object model including a first object and a second object nested in the first object, the first metadata including a first remedial action atomicity level indicator for the first object indicating it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the first object, the first metadata including a second remedial action atomicity level indicator for the second object indicating whether it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the second object, said second object including a first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said automatically generating the corresponding remedial action includes performing first processing comprising:
• generating an object representation of expected configuration state information corresponding to successful compliance with the first compliance test, the expected configuration state information including the first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said generating the object representation uses the first metadata and includes:
• determining whether the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object;
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is not allowable to generate the second object, generating the first object including the second object;
• and
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object, generating the second object without requiring generation of other portions of the first object;
• and
• converting the object representation of the expected configuration state information
• to the one or more device commands.

A computer readable medium comprising code stored thereon for performing reporting on a configuration state of one or more devices, the computer readable medium comprising code that, when executed by a processor, performs a method comprising:

• receiving configuration state information in a first form for each of one or more devices managed using a configuration management system, said first form of the configuration state information for said each device including information in one of a plurality of formats that vary with said each device;
• performing a plurality of conversions to convert the first form of configuration state information for each of the one or more devices to a database representation of the configuration state information;
• storing the database representation of the configuration state information in a database;
• performing one or more database queries using metadata, wherein the metadata identifies one or more relational database tables of the database describing the data representation of said configuration state information, identifies one or more columns in the one or more relational database tables describing a data representation of the configuration state information, and identifies one or more relationships between different types of objects in said configuration state information;
• forming, in response to said performing, one or more query results;
• using the one or more query results in a report;
• determining whether a first of the one or more devices fails a first compliance test;
• and
• responsive to determining that the first device fails the first compliance test, automatically generating a corresponding remedial action including one or more device commands to make the first device compliant with an expected configuration state based on a portion of compliance criteria of the first compliance test, wherein first metadata describes a hierarchical object model including a first object and a second object nested in the first object, the first metadata including a first remedial action atomicity level indicator for the first object indicating it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the first object, the first metadata including a second remedial action atomicity level indicator for the second object indicating whether it is allowable for remedial action processing to generate the second object, said second object including a first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said automatically generating the corresponding remedial action includes performing first processing comprising:
• generating an object representation of expected configuration state information corresponding to successful compliance with the first compliance test, the expected configuration state information including the first portion corresponding to corrected configuration state information of the first device, wherein said generating the object representation uses the first metadata and includes:
• determining whether the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object;
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is not allowable to generate the second object, generating the first object including the second object;
• and
• if the second remedial action atomicity level indicator indicates it is allowable to generate the second object, generating the second object without requiring generation of other portions of the first object;
• and
• converting the object representation of the expected configuration state information
• to the one or more device commands.