Enforcing alignment of approved changes and deployed changes in the software change life-cycle
View Patent ↗On a host, host content change requests are intercepted in real-time. In a tracking mode, the change requests are logged and allowed to take effect on the host. In an enforcement mode, the change requests are logged and additionally compared against authorized change policies and a determination is made whether to allow the change to take effect or to block the changes, thereby enforcing the authorized change policies on the host. Tracking and enforcement can be done in real-time. In either mode and at any time, the logged changes can be reconciled against a set of approved change orders in order to identify classes of changes, including changes that were deployed but not approved and changes that were approved but not deployed.
1. A method to be executed by a processor, comprising:
intercepting, by a host computer, a host content change request indicating a change to a persistent object on the host computer;
determining whether the change is authorized, as indicated by a set of change authorization policies; and
allowing the change to take effect when the change is authorized;
allowing the change to take effect when the change is not authorized for an initial period;
logging information about the host content change request when the change is not authorized during the initial period; and
blocking the change from taking effect when the change is not authorized after the initial period,
wherein the set of change authorization policies is configurable to define whether the persistent object can be changed.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
logging information about the host content change request;
obtaining a log representing a set of host content change requests;
filtering the log to select change requests which meet a condition to form a filtered log;
comparing the filtered log to a set of approved change orders for any one or more of a plurality of persistent objects on the host;
identifying at least one correlation between the set of host content change requests and the set of approved change orders; and
providing user-readable data representing the at least one correlation.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the condition is selected from a group consisting of:
change requests related to a specified set of hosts;
change requests generated in a time window; and
change requests that represent a change in one or more specified host capabilities.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
logging information about the host content change request from a plurality of time windows;
obtaining a log for each time window of the plurality of time windows;
identifying a bug during a time window of the plurality of time windows; and
identifying a set of persistent objects from the log of the time window of the bug.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
logging information about the host content change request; and
filtering the host content change request to prevent logging the host content change request if the host content change request is non-material.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the host content change request is nonmaterial if the host content change request includes one or more of:
creation of specified registry entries;
modification of specified registry entries; and
creation, deletion, or modification of temporary objects.
7. Logic encoded in one or more non-transitory computer readable media having computer-executable instructions and when executed by a processor is operable to perform operations comprising:
intercepting a host content change request indicating a change to a persistent object on a host;
determining whether the change is authorized, as indicated by a set of change authorization policies; and
allowing the change to take effect when the change is authorized;
logging information about the host content change request;
obtaining a log representing a set of host content change requests;
filtering the log to select change requests which meet a condition to form a filtered log;
comparing the filtered log to a set of approved change orders for any one or more of a plurality of persistent objects on the host;
identifying at least one correlation between the set of host content change requests and the set of approved change orders; and
providing user-readable data representing the at least one correlation,
wherein the set of change authorization policies is configurable to define whether the persistent object can be changed.
8. The logic of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
allowing the change to take effect when the change is not authorized for an initial period;
logging information about the host content change request when the change is not authorized during the initial period; and
blocking the change from taking effect when the change is not authorized after the initial period.
9. The logic of claim 7 , wherein the condition is selected from a group consisting of:
change requests related to a specified set of hosts;
change requests generated in a time window; and
change requests that represent a change in one or more specified host capabilities.
10. The logic of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
logging information about the host content change request from a plurality of time windows;
obtaining a log for each time window of the plurality of time windows;
identifying a bug during a time window of the plurality of time windows; and
identifying a set of persistent objects from the log of the time window of the bug.
11. The logic of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
logging information about the host content change request; and
filtering the host content change request to prevent logging the host content change request if the host content change request is non-material.
12. The logic of claim 11 , wherein the host content change request is nonmaterial if the host content change request includes one or more of:
creation of specified registry entries;
modification of specified registry entries; and
creation, deletion, or modification of temporary objects.
13. A host, comprising:
a memory element for storing data; and
a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate when the processor executes the instructions, such that the host is configured to:
intercept a host content change request indicating a change to a persistent object on the host;
determine whether the change is authorized, as indicated by a set of change authorization policies; and
allow the change to take effect when the change is authorized;
log information about the host content change request from a plurality of time windows;
obtain a log for each time window of the plurality of time windows;
identify a bug during a time window of the plurality of time windows; and
identify a set of persistent objects from the log of the time window of the bug,
wherein the set of change authorization policies is configurable to define whether the persistent object can be changed.
14. The host of claim 13 , wherein the host is further configured to:
allow the change to take effect when the change is not authorized for an initial period;
log information about the host content change request when the change is not authorized during the initial period; and
block the change from taking effect when the change is not authorized after the initial period.
15. The host of claim 13 , wherein the host is further configured to:
log information about the host content change request;
obtain a log representing a set of host content change requests;
filter the log to select change requests which meet a condition to form a filtered log;
compare the filtered log to a set of approved change orders for any one or more of a plurality of persistent objects on the host;
identify at least one correlation between the set of host content change requests and the set of approved change orders; and
provide user-readable data representing the at least one correlation.
16. The host of claim 15 , wherein the condition is selected from a group consisting of:
change requests related to a specified set of hosts;
change requests generated in a time window; and
change requests that represent a change in one or more specified host capabilities.
17. The host of claim 13 , wherein the host is further configured to:
log information about the host content change request; and
filter the host content change request to prevent logging the host content change request if the host content change request is non-material.
18. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored therein, and when executed by a host computer, cause the host computer to:
intercept a host content change request indicating a change to a persistent object on the host computer;
determine whether the change is authorized, as indicated by a set of change authorization policies; and
allow the change to take effect when the change is authorized;
allow the change to take effect when the change is not authorized for an initial period;
log information about the host content change request when the change is not authorized during the initial period; and
block the change from taking effect when the change is not authorized after the initial period,
wherein the set of change authorization policies is configurable to define whether the persistent object can be changed.
19. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored therein, and when executed by a host computer, cause the host computer to:
intercept a host content change request indicating a change to a persistent object on the host computer;
determine whether the change is authorized, as indicated by a set of change authorization policies; and
allow the change to take effect when the change is authorized;
log information about the host content change request from a plurality of time windows;
obtain a log for each time window of the plurality of time windows;
identify a bug during a time window of the plurality of time windows; and
identify a set of persistent objects from the log of the time window of the bug,
wherein the set of change authorization policies is configurable to define whether the persistent object can be changed.