Executable network troubleshooting procedure

Abstract

A system for constructing and storing procedures for troubleshooting computer networks. A user can design and add troubleshooting steps, via a GUI, to define the procedure including annotations. Each step is configured to take an action on the network. The order of the steps can be re-arranged via the GUI. The procedure can be stored and re-executed by another user.

1 . A method of automating troubleshooting for a network problem, the method comprising:
 calling a group of functions;   executing the called group of functions over a network;   collecting troubleshooting data over the network;   parsing the collected troubleshooting data to extract relevant information;   analyzing the extracted relevant information to identify a root cause of the network problem; and   providing solutions based on the identified root cause.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the providing solutions further comprises:
 creating an executable procedure to automate troubleshooting the network problem.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 identifying the root cause of the network problem; and   executing the executable procedure to address the network problem.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein a user executes the executable procedure to address the network problem. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying the extracted relevant information.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying the identified root cause of the network problem.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the group of functions are built-in. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 executing the called group of functions on a device; and   collecting data based on the executing over the device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the analyzing is performed by a threshold trigger, a compare trigger, or a delta trigger. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parsing is performed on the collected data using a keyword parser, a paragraph parser, a table parser, or a filter parser. 
     
     
         11 . A system for troubleshooting a network of devices, the system comprising a computer processor and a non-transient memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer processor to implement a method comprising:
 executing a called group of functions over the devices;   collecting troubleshooting data over the devices;   parsing the collected troubleshooting data to extract relevant troubleshooting information about a network problem;   analyzing the extracted relevant information to identify a cause of the network problem; and   providing an executable procedure based on the identified cause, wherein the executable procedure provides one or more solutions for the network problem.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the executable procedure automatically solves the network problem upon execution. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 identifying the cause of the network problem; and   receiving instruction for executing the executable procedure to address the network problem.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving instruction for troubleshooting the network problem based on the executable procedure.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein a user executes the executable procedure to address the network problem. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 displaying the extracted relevant troubleshooting information; and   displaying the identified troubleshooting results.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 executing the called group of functions on the network; and   collecting data over the network.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the analyzing is performed by a threshold trigger, a compare trigger, or a delta trigger. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the parsing is performed on the collected data using a keyword parser, a paragraph parser, a table parser, or a filter parser.