JP2000305776A - Software use authorization check system and computer readable storage medium for storing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a check system for efficiently operating the managing work of the install information of software. SOLUTION: The collection of the information of installed programs is requested from a server 71 to a client 91. The client 91 starts an information requesting tool, collects the list of the programs installed in the client 91, and transfers it to the server 71. The server 71 registers the transferred install information in a data base, and checks the presence or absence of the illegal use of the programs by comparison with preliminarily registered program use authorization.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for collecting information on software installed in each personal computer from a remote location and checking the right to use each software with respect to personal computers connected to a network. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, personal computers (hereinafter referred to as P
C) was manually collected. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a user executes an information collection tool on a client PC, saves an output result on a flexible disk or the like, calls the flexible disk on a server, and the server
I was able to know the name of the installed program used by. Then, the server can check whether the software installed on the client has a usage right. In addition, the server checks only simple processing such as listing information collected on a flexible disk or the like, and the administrator cannot effectively check the usage right.

[0003]

Conventionally, the collection of software installation information is performed manually, and the collected information is not sufficiently checked in the server.
Eventually, the administrator manually checked the usage rights.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a check system capable of efficiently managing software installation information. The invention also provides
It is an object of the present invention to provide a check system capable of checking software installation status whenever necessary, that is, enabling real-time management. Another object of the present invention is to provide a check system capable of outputting a check result to a manager efficiently and clearly.

[0005]

A software use right check system according to the present invention includes a first computer for managing the presence or absence of a use right of software, and a network connected to the first computer, wherein one or more software are installed. A second computer installed,
The first computer obtains, via a network, a list of software installed on the second computer, checks whether or not the user has a right to use the software installed on the second computer, and outputs the result. It is characterized by the following.

The second computer receives from the first computer an installation information collecting unit for examining software installation status and collecting the installation status as installation information, and an execution request of the installation information collecting unit. And a result transmitting unit for transmitting the installation information of the software collected by the installation information collecting unit to the first computer, wherein the first computer has the installation information of the second computer. An execution requesting unit for requesting collection of software installation information by a collection unit, an installation information collection unit for collecting installation information transmitted from a result transmission unit of the second computer, and a collection of the installation information collection unit Software An installation information storage unit for storing installation information; a usage right information storage unit for previously storing usage right information for confirming whether or not the software has a usage right; The use right information is compared with the install information stored in the install information storage unit to check whether the software has the use right, and the checked result is stored in the install information storage unit. It is characterized by comprising a use right confirmation unit and an output processing unit that outputs a confirmation result stored in the installation information storage unit by the use right confirmation unit together with the installation information.

[0007] The execution request unit of the first computer includes:
It operates at an arbitrary timing.

[0008] The request receiving unit of the second computer,
By resident in the main memory of the second computer, an execution request is accepted from the execution request unit of the first computer as needed.

[0009] The software usage right check system includes a plurality of second computers, and the output processing unit of the first computer selects at least one computer from the plurality of second computers and checks the result of the selection. The installation information stored in the stored installation information storage unit is output.

[0010] The output processing unit of the first computer includes:
When the software installation information stored in the installation information storage unit is output, the software having the right to use and the software not having the right to use are separately output.

The first computer includes a computer information storage unit for storing computer information for managing a plurality of second computers connected via a network, and the use right confirmation unit for the first computer includes The second computer confirms whether or not the software has the right to use for each computer, and stores the confirmation result in the computer information storage unit. The output processing unit of the first computer is stored in the computer information storage unit. The second computer using the software with the right to use and the second computer using the software without the right to use are output by using the confirmation result obtained.

[0012] A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to the present invention includes an installation information collecting unit for examining a software installation status and collecting the installation status as installation information; Execution request
It is characterized by recording a program including a request receiving unit for receiving from another computer and a result transmitting unit for transmitting the installation information of the software collected by the installation information collecting unit to another computer.

A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to the present invention includes an execution requesting unit for requesting another computer to collect software installation information, and an installation request transmitted from another computer. An installation information collection unit that collects information and stores installation information of the collected software in an installation information storage unit, and usage right management information that is stored in advance to check whether the software has usage rights, Comparing the installation information stored in the installation information storage unit to determine whether the software has the right to use, and storing the result of the check in the installation information storage unit; The confirmation result stored in the installation information storage unit by the right confirmation unit. And characterized by recording a program and an output processing unit that outputs together torr information.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of the present invention. The server 71 (an example of a first computer) is connected to the network 61. Further, a client 91 (an example of a second computer) is also connected to the network 61. A plurality of clients 91 may exist and are managed by the server 71, respectively.

The general operation of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The server 71 requests the client 91 to collect the names of the software installed in the client 91.

Next, the client 91 activates the information collection tool 90 based on the request. Information collection tool 9
0, the information collection tool 90 starts the client 9
Collect the names of the programs installed in 1. Then, the information collection tool 90 transfers the name of the collected program to the server 71 as installation information.
The server 71 registers the transferred information in a database,
Used for tabulation or management.

FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the server 71 and the client 91. The server 71 includes a control unit 73 including a CPU and firmware. The communication control unit 83 manages an interface with the network 61. The disk control unit 84 manages an interface with the disk device 87. The display controller 85 controls display on the display device 88. The keyboard 86 and the mouse 89 perform input processing to the server 71. The execution requesting unit 74 determines whether the client 9
1 for installation information. The installation information collecting unit 75 collects installation information from the client 91. The installation information collected by the installation information collection unit 75 is stored in the software installation information storage unit 67 of the disk device 87. The use right registration unit 76 registers the use right of the software in advance using the keyboard 86 and the mouse 89. The usage right registered by the usage right registration unit 76 is registered in the usage right information storage unit 65 of the disk device 87. The client registration unit 77 registers information of the client 91 in advance as computer information using the keyboard 86 and the mouse 89. The client information registered by the client registration unit 77 is stored in the client information storage unit 66 of the disk device 87. The usage right confirmation unit 78 compares the installation information collected by the installation information collection unit 75 and stored in the software installation information storage unit 67 of the disk device 87 with the usage right information stored in the usage right information storage unit 65, Check if you have the right to use the software. Then, the confirmation result is stored in the software installation information storage unit 67 again. The display processing unit 79
The result of the confirmation by the use right confirmation unit 78 is displayed on the display device 88 via the display control unit 85.

The client 91 has a control unit 93 composed of a CPU and firmware. The communication control unit 98 controls an interface with the network 61. The disk control unit 99 controls an interface with the disk device 63. A request receiving unit 95 and an information collection tool 90 are stored in the disk device 63 in advance. Request receiving unit 95
Is loaded from the disk device 63 to the main memory of the client 91 when the power of the client 91 is turned on, and becomes a memory resident program 94. The information collection tool 90 includes a result transmission unit 96 and an installation information collection unit 97.
It has. The request receiving unit 95 receives an information collection request from the execution requesting unit 74 of the server 71 at any time. The information collection tool 90 is started from the disk device 63 based on the request reception of the request reception unit 95. The installation information collection unit 97 of the information collection tool 90 includes a client 91
Collects information on software installed on the server as installation information. The collected installation information is stored in the disk device 63 as software installation information 64. Installation information collection unit 9
7 obtains a list of program names recorded in, for example, a registry (a database for managing system configuration information; a database in which application program names and file types are recorded) of the client 91;
This is used as installation information. Alternatively, if the program cannot be uniquely determined only by the program name stored in the registry, additional information such as the version of the program, the date and time when the program was created, or the size of the program is also acquired, and the information is included in the installation information. include. Further, the installation information collecting unit 97 includes the information collection date when these pieces of information are collected as part of the installation information. Result transmission unit 9 of information collection tool 90
6 transmits the software installation information 64 collected by the installation information collecting unit 97 and recorded in the disk device 63 to the server 71 via the network 61. Since the memory resident program 94 (request receiving unit 90) is always attached to the main memory of the client 91 from power ON to power OFF of the client 91, the server 7
When one execution request unit 74 sends a request, information can be collected at any time, that is, in real time. If the client 91 cannot immediately respond to the request from the execution request unit 74, the power of the client 91 is turned off.
F.

Each section of the server 71 and the client 91 described above may be constituted by hardware, may be constituted by software, or may be constituted by a combination of hardware and software. Preferably, it is good to be constituted by a program module. These programs are recorded on the disk device 87 or the disk device 63, and are loaded into the main memory of the server 71 or the client 91 and executed as needed or when the power is turned on. Alternatively, it may be a program transmitted from another computer via the network 61 and executed by the server 71 or the client 91. The request receiving unit 90 does not need to be the memory resident program 94, but may be a normal program loaded and started from the disk device 63 in response to a request.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a file format of the usage right information storage unit 65. FIG. 3 shows a record of the “software name” that can be used with the “client machine name” as a key. For example, the first record indicates that the use of the first record is permitted for the client C1. , Programs A, B, E, and F. The program X is a free program regardless of whether or not the user has the right to use. The use right information storage unit 65 shown in FIG. 3 is registered by the use right registration unit 76. The usage right registration unit 76 is registered in advance by a person in charge of the material department or the management department who purchased the program. For example, if three programs A are bought and installation is permitted for the clients C1 to C3, registration as shown in the first line of the clients C1 to C3 in FIG. 3 is performed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a file format of the client information storage unit 66. The client information storage unit 66 indicates, for example, that the user of the client C1 is Mr. Suzuki. The “client machine name” and “user” are registered in advance by the client registration unit 77. The “client machine name” is an identifier of the client, and may be, for example, a network address of the client. The “confirmation result” of the client information storage unit 66 is recorded by the usage right confirmation unit 78. The execution requesting unit 74 requests the client stored in the client information storage unit 66 to collect installation information using the client machine name.

FIG. 5 shows a file format of the software installation information storage section 67. The software installation information storage unit 67 stores “client machine name”
The installed software name is recorded based on the information collection date. The “client machine name”, “information collection date” and “software name” in the software installation information storage 67
Software installation information 64 sent from 1
It is. "Presence / absence of use right" (part of the confirmation result) in the software installation information storage unit 67 is used by the use right confirmation unit
8 is stored.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the server 71. First, when the execution request unit 74 is instructed by the operator to collect information, the execution request unit 74 requests an information collection request to the client PC registered in the client information storage unit 66. Next, the installation information collecting unit 75 waits for reception of installation information from each client PC. Then, the software installation information 64 of each client 91
Is received, and the reception result is registered in the software installation information storage unit 67 of the disk device 87. The usage right confirmation unit 78 compares the software installation information 64 stored in the software installation information storage unit 67 with the usage right stored in the usage right information storage unit 65 in advance, and compares the comparison result with the software installation information storage unit 67 and the client. The information is stored in the information storage unit 66.
The display processing unit 79 displays a list of the comparison results.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the client 91. The request receiving unit 95 waits for a collection request from the server 71 and receives the collection request. The installation information collection unit 97 collects installation information from the registry of the client 91 and records the installation information as software installation information 64 on the disk device 63. The result transmitting unit 96 transmits the software installation information 64 stored in the disk device 63 to the server 71.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the result receiving operation of the installation information collecting unit 75 shown in FIG. The installation information collecting unit 75 waits for reception from the client 91, and generates a reception process as a child process when the reception is received. The child process receives the software installation information 64 as a result file and registers it in the software installation information storage unit 67 of the disk device 87. The main process waits for the termination of the child process.
1 and waits for reception from all clients 91. When reception from all clients 91 ends, the result reception operation ends.

If the software installation information 64 cannot be received from a certain client 91 within a certain period of time, a timeout is applied and the reception from that client 91 is abandoned. If there is a client that cannot be received, the installation information collecting unit 75 notifies the client information storage unit 6 that the client has not been received.
6 is stored. For example, in the client information storage unit 66 of FIG. 4, since the power of the client C3 is OFF,
The fact that reception was not possible from the client C3 is stored.

FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart showing the comparison processing operation of the usage right confirmation unit 78. First, the disk device 8
7, the installation information stored in the software installation information storage unit 67 is input. Next, use right information (also referred to as license information) recorded in the use right information storage unit 65 is input. Next, the installation information and the license information are compared. If the license information exists, OK is set for the presence or absence of the right to use the software installation information storage unit 67. If the license information does not exist, nothing is set in the presence or absence of the right to use the software installation information storage unit 67. Next, the above operation is repeated for all programs. Finally, it is checked whether or not all the programs installed in the client 91 have the usage right. If any one of the programs does not have the usage right, a mismatch is recorded in the confirmation result of the client information storage unit 66. If the usage rights have been granted to all the programs, it is determined that they all match, and nothing is set in the check result of the client information storage unit 66.

For example, the programs A, B, and E of the client C1 shown in FIG. 5 refer to the usage right information storage unit 65 shown in FIG.
Has been found to have the right to use, indicating that all programs have the right to use. Also, the client C2 has the right to use the programs A and C as shown in FIG. 3, but does not have the right to use the programs B and D. In addition, as shown in the use right information storage unit 65 in FIG. 3, the program X is a free program regardless of the presence or absence of the use right. Since the client C3 has not received the data this time, the data of the previous information collection date is recorded.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the list display operation of the display processing section 79. The display processing unit 79 refers to the client information storage unit 66 and sets a color for displaying the icon of the client. For example, when nothing is set in the confirmation result of the client information storage unit 66 (when the use right has been confirmed for all programs), it is displayed in blue. If there is a discrepancy in which the use right has not been confirmed in at least one program, it is displayed in red. In addition, non-received clients for which information was not obtained this time are displayed in yellow. As shown in FIG. 11, each client 91 is displayed as an icon, and is displayed in different colors according to the type of the confirmation result. When an icon is selected for this display, detailed information of the client corresponding to the selected icon is displayed as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 shows the client C2.
Is selected and the installation information is displayed. This installation information is read from the software installation information storage unit 67 shown in FIG. 5 and displayed. Also in the case of this display, it is desirable to display the programs B and D for which there is no right to use a red display or to perform a blink display. The administrator can immediately know the program illegally installed in each client by checking the installation information and the presence or absence of the usage right shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the user can return to FIG. 11 by pressing the end button. In FIG. 11, the operation of the display processing unit 79 can be ended by pressing the end button.

The main points of the above-described embodiment will be described below. 1. System configuration (1) PC connected to network and information collection tool running on PC (client side) (2) Server connected to network, running on server, request for information collection and collection 1. Management program for managing information (server side) Function Multiple client PCs connected to the network
In an environment where the server exists, the software usage status of the client PC is collected and transferred to the server in response to a request from the server. The transferred information is registered and managed in a database of the server. 3. Implementation method (1) A request for information collection is made from a server to a client via a network. The client is specified by the client machine name registered in the server. (2) Upon receiving the information collection request, the client PC activates an information collection tool and collects information. (3) The information collection tool collects the usage status of the activated PC and outputs the result to a file. (4) The output file is transferred to the server via the network. (5) The server registers and manages the collected information in the database using the client machine name and the information collection date.

The request to the client and the exchange of files between the server and the client can be designated by FTP, electronic mail, folder sharing, or the like. This specification is specified by a definition file on the client side, and the information collection tool performs processing according to the specification.

Embodiment 2 FIG. In the above embodiment, a plurality of clients 91 exist.
There may be a case where there is only one “1”. Further, in the above embodiment, the case of the server and the client has been described, but the first computer and the second computer may be used. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the list is displayed on the display device 88 has been described, but the case where the list is output to a printing device (not shown) may be used. The output location may be output to another computer via a network.

Some prior arts will be described below, and differences from the present invention will be described.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-321150 discloses a technique for requesting remote execution in a network system and transmitting the result based on the request.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-91556 discloses that a usage information storage program is installed in a client, a usage information totalizing program is installed in a server, and the usage status of the client is stored in a usage information file. It discloses a technique for transferring data to a server and performing total analysis on the server.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-274596 discloses that in a distributed system composed of a plurality of servers, operation information of each server is acquired, stored in an operation information file upon completion of the acquisition, and the operation server is checked after the information collection status of each server is confirmed. Discloses a technique for sequentially collecting information and performing statistical analysis.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-284558 discloses a technique for storing the operation status of a plurality of data processing devices connected to a network system in a log file, transferring the operation status to a specific data processing device, and collectively confirming the status on the device. Is disclosed.

The above four prior art documents collect information from a remote place, but do not acquire the name of the installed software and check the usage right as in the present invention. Conventionally, there is a technology for acquiring the operating status, failure status, and operating status of a computer located at a remote place. However, as in the present invention, the name of an installed program is acquired and its use right is acquired. Is not disclosed at all.
In recent years, the copyright of the program or the license to use the program has been regarded as one of the intellectual properties,
It has become necessary for companies and organizations that use programs and software to check whether employees and members in the companies and organizations are using the programs and software correctly. Whereas these checks were conventionally performed manually, the present invention can be performed automatically and in real time, and the present invention is not easily invented based on the prior art. Absent.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently manage software use status, to collect information when necessary, and to perform real-time management. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a usage right information storage unit 65 according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a client information storage unit 66 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a software installation information storage unit 67 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the server 71 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the client 91 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a result receiving operation of the installation information collecting unit 75 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a comparison processing operation of the usage right confirmation unit 78 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a list display operation of the display processing unit 79 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a client information display screen of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a license information display screen of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a conventional installation information collecting method.

[Explanation of symbols]

61 network, 63,87 disk device, 64
Software installation information, 65 usage right information storage unit, 66 client information storage unit, 67 software installation information storage unit, 71 server, 73, 93
Control unit, 74 execution requesting unit, 75 installation information collecting unit, 76 usage right registration unit, 77 client registration unit, 78 usage right confirmation unit, 79 display processing unit, 83, 9
8 Communication control unit, 84, 99 Disk control unit, 85
Display control unit, 86 keyboard, 88 display device, 89
Mouse, 90 information collection tool, 91 client, 94 memory resident program, 95 request receiving unit,
96 Result transmission unit, 97 Installation information collection unit.

Claims (9)

[Claims] A first computer that manages the presence or absence of a right to use software; a second computer that is connected to the first computer via a network and has one or more software installed therein; The computer acquires a list of software installed on the second computer via a network, checks whether the user has a right to use the software installed on the second computer, and outputs the result. Software usage right check system. 2. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the second computer checks an installation status of the software, and collects the installation status as installation information. And a result transmitting unit that transmits the installation information of the software collected by the installation information collecting unit to the first computer. An execution request unit that requests that the installation information collection unit collect software installation information; an installation information collection unit that collects installation information transmitted from a result transmission unit of the second computer; and an installation information collection unit Software collected by (A) an installation information storage unit that stores installation information of the software, a usage right information storage unit that stores usage right information for confirming whether or not the software has the usage right in advance; The stored usage right information,
Comparing the installation information stored in the installation information storage unit to check whether the software has the right to use, a use right confirmation unit to store the confirmed result in the installation information storage unit; 2. The software usage right check system according to claim 1, further comprising: an output processing unit that outputs a result of the check stored in the installation information storage unit by the usage right checking unit together with the installation information. 3. The software use right check system according to claim 2, wherein the execution request unit of the first computer operates at an arbitrary timing. 4. The request receiving section of the second computer, wherein the request receiving section of the second computer is resident in a main memory of the second computer to receive an execution request from the execution requesting section of the first computer at any time. Item 2. A software use right check system according to item 2. 5. The software usage right check system includes a plurality of second computers, and the output processing unit of the first computer selects and confirms at least one computer from the plurality of second computers. 3. The software usage right check system according to claim 2, wherein the installation information stored in the installation information storage unit storing the result is output. 6. The output processing unit of the first computer, when outputting the software installation information stored in the installation information storage unit, outputs the software with the right to use and the software without the right in distinction. The software use right check system according to claim 2 or 5, wherein 7. The first computer includes a computer information storage unit that stores computer information for managing a plurality of second computers connected via a network, and the usage right confirmation unit for the first computer includes: The second computer checks whether or not the software has the right to use for each second computer, and stores the check result in the computer information storage unit. The output processing unit of the first computer stores the software in the computer information storage unit. A second computer using software for which the user has the right to use, using the stored confirmation result;
6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the output is distinguished from a second computer that uses software without the right to use.
Software usage right check system described. 8. An installation information collection unit for examining an installation status of software and collecting the installation status as installation information; a request receiving unit for receiving an execution request of the installation information collection unit from another computer; A storage medium readable by a computer storing a program including a result transmission unit for transmitting installation information of software collected by the installation information collection unit to another computer. 9. An execution requesting unit for requesting another computer to collect software installation information, collecting installation information transmitted from another computer, and transmitting the collected software installation information to the installation information. The installation information collection unit stored in the storage unit is compared with the usage right management information stored in advance to check whether the software has usage right, and the installation information stored in the installation information storage unit. hand,
A use right confirmation unit for confirming whether or not the software has a use right, and storing a confirmation result in the installation information storage unit; and a confirmation result stored in the install information storage unit by the use right confirmation unit as the install information. And a computer-readable storage medium storing a program including an output processing unit for outputting the program.