Patent Application
20250233855
The present disclosure relates to a device management system and a processing method.
With spread of a cloud service and IoT, a system is emerging in which data of a network device such as an image formation apparatus in connection with a communication control apparatus is collected via a network, and the data is used to provide a service to a customer. Herein, IoT refers to Internet of Things. In such a system, information of network devices is registered in a device management server configured to manage connection of the network devices of a plurality of customer companies, and thus, a service provision company can use the system.
In a case where a service of a network device is to be provided to a certain customer company, a person in charge in the service provision company newly creates a tenant and allocates the tenant to the customer company. Then, to manage the network device for each customer company, the network device is registered in the device management server in association with the tenant allocated to the customer company (hereinafter, referred to as a customer tenant). The network device establishes connection by authenticating information for identifying the network device registered in the device management server and a communicating function to be used to provide the service is activated. Since the network device and the customer tenant are in association with each other, the data of the network device to be collected via the network can also be managed in a logically separated area for each customer in association with the customer tenant, and it is possible to provide a safe tenant separated environment to the customer company.
According to a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-81779, a customer company at a registration destination is identified from among a plurality of customer companies managed by a service provision company by a network device installed in the customer company, and the identified customer company is registered in the device management server. In particular, according to a technique disclosed in a third embodiment of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-81779, the device management server issues a connection code for each customer tenant, and by transmitting the input connection code to the device management server, the network device is registered in association with the customer tenant. Since the network device is not to be connected to the device management server unless the connection code is found, unnecessary connection or connection to an incorrect customer tenant can be avoided.
According to a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2021-125761, a system is provided in which upon registration of the network device in association with the customer tenant, an installation operation can be performed based on a connection code issued to a sales company which performs the installation. Instead of issuing, to each user of the network device or each customer tenant, a connection code for connecting the network device, the connection code issued to the sales company which performs the installation is used. After a step of performing the registration in association with the tenant of the sales company, by allowing an instruction for re-association with the customer tenant to be issued from the device management server to the network device, trouble of issuing and distributing the connection code to each user of the network device or each customer tenant is reduced.
By registering the network device in association with the customer tenant, it is possible to manage the network device or the data of the network device in a logically separated area for each customer. However, because the management is performed in the separated area, when the customer tenant is deleted from the device management server, a transmission destination of the data of the network device no longer exists, but also information of the registered network device is also deleted.
Along with the deletion of the information of the network device, authentication information for the network device to establish connection to the device management server is also deleted, and the connection of the network device to the device management server is also cut off. In a case where the customer tenant is deleted once to continuously use the network device for a different customer or a case where the customer tenant has been deleted by an erroneous operation too, the connection of the network device is cut off by the operation on the device management server. Once the authentication information is deleted and the connection is cut off, when the customer tenant is simply created or the information of the network device is simply registered, the connection to the device management server is not resumed, and it becomes necessary to perform a connection code input operation to the network device.
If the connection can be switched to the customer tenant after the registration have been performed at least once as the tenant of the sales company, even when the customer tenant is not to be created, the installation operation for the connection to the device management server can be completed. However, after the connection has been switched to the customer tenant, when the customer tenant is deleted from the device management server, the connection of the network device to the device management server is cut off.
A device management system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a device management system including a device and a device management server, in which the device management server includes a device information registration unit configured to register, in response to a registration request, the device and a connection destination organization in the device management server in correspondence with each other, a connection code issuance unit configured to issue a connection code for identifying the connection destination organization, and a connection permission unit configured to issue, in a case where a connection code received from the device is the same as the connection code for identifying the connection destination organization in correspondence with the device, key information to the device which is used for connection to the connection destination organization identified based on the connection code, and permit the device to connect to the connection destination organization in a case where authentication of the key information received from the device is successful. In a case where deletion of the connection destination organization is instructed, the device information registration unit stores the key information of the device in correspondence with the connection destination organization without deleting the key information and registers a connection destination organization as a changed destination. The connection permission unit transmits, in a case where the authentication of the key information received from the device is successful and the connection destination organization as the changed destination is registered, a connection code to the device which is used to identify the connection destination organization as the changed destination and permits the device to connect to the connection destination organization in a case where the authentication of the key information received from the device is successful and the connection destination organization as the changed destination is not registered.
Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
The network device 110 is a processing apparatus in a network of a customer company which is connected to the device management server 120 via the network 130 such as the Internet. The network device 110 includes an image processing apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a scanner. In
The network device 110 is connected to the device management server 120 by a server connection application which operates on the network device 110 and transmits setting information or operational information of the network device 110 to the device management server 120. When transmitting the setting information or the operational information, the network device 110 performs a device authentication on the device management server 120 and obtains connection permission information such as an access token or a session ID. The network device 110 transmits the setting information or the operational information together with the obtained connection permission information to the device management server 120.
The device management server 120 is a server apparatus configured to authenticate the network device 110 on a cloud and receive and manage the setting information or the operational information. When the network device 110 is to be connected to the device management server 120, the network device 110 is registered in advance in the device management server 120 to manage the network device 110 with its owner identified.
The device management server 120 sets a correspondence between a customer company which owns the network device 110 or a service provision company which manages the network device 110 and the network device 110 to logically separate and manage the information for each customer company or each service provision company.
When the device management server 120 is to receive the setting information or the operational information, the device authentication of the network device 110 is performed based on the registered information to issue the connection permission information and wait for reception of the setting information or the operational information.
The client terminal 140 is a client terminal directly operated by a user of the service provision company. A web browser is installed in the client terminal 140.
The storage device 203 stores an OS, an authentication program for performing authentication or connection processing, a management program for registering and managing the network device 110, registration information of the customer company or the network device 110, the setting information or the operational information which has been received, or the like. Herein, the OS is an operating system.
The CPU 205 loads and executes the authentication program or the management program from the storage device 203 onto the memory 204.
The communication I/F unit 206 is a network interface connected to the network 130 in
It is noted that the diagram depicting the hardware configuration illustrated in
The network device 110 includes a connection code input acceptance unit 301, a connection establishment unit 302, and a connection management unit 303.
To logically separate and manage data for each organization of the customer company or the service provision company, the device management server 120 creates a tenant serving as a virtual organization in the device management server 120 and allocates the created tenant to the customer company or the service provision company. By registering the network device 110 in advance in the tenant allocated to the customer company or the service provision company, the device management server 120 can separate and manage the data of the network device 110 by tenant.
The connection code input acceptance unit 301 accepts an input of a connection code. The input of the connection code is performed by way of optical character recognition (OCR) using the input I/F unit 202, scanning of a two-dimensional barcode, and the like in addition to an input based on a hard key of the network device 110 or a touch panel operation.
A connection code is a character string for identifying a tenant at a connection destination of the network device 110 in the device management server 120 and is used for the device management server 120 to permit connection. Since it is necessary to input the connection code upon connection to the device management server 120, connection from the network device 110 without the input of the connection code can be avoided, and it is possible to connect to only the tenant specified at the time of the issuance of the connection code.
The connection establishment unit 302 establishes connection to the device management server 120 by transmitting the connection code input in the connection code input acceptance unit 301 to the device management server 120 and receiving an issuance of credential information from the device management server 120.
The connection management unit 303 stores the credential information issued from the device management server 120 and performs the authentication on the device management server 120 using the credential information to transmit the data such as the setting information or the operational information which is to be used to provide the service so that a connection state is managed.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, in a case where reconnection information of the tenant is registered in the device management server 120 at the time of the authentication on the device management server 120, in particular, the connection management unit 303 receives a connection code for performing reconnection to the tenant from the device management server 120.
The device management server 120 includes a device information registration unit 311, a connection code issuance unit 312, and a connection permission unit 313.
The device information registration unit 311 is a functional block configured to register the information of the network device 110 in the tenant which is to be installed in the customer organization and logically separate and manage the network device 110 by tenant. The device information registration unit 311 registers the information of the customer organization to be provided with the service in association with the tenant, based on a registration request from the user, and registers the information of the network device 110 which provides the service in the tenant in association with the customer organization.
When the provision of the service is ended, the device information registration unit 311 deletes the information of the network device 110 from the tenant and deletes the information of the network device 110 for each tenant in association with the customer organization.
A tenant ID in
A device ID is ID information allocated by the device management server 120 when the network device 110 is registered in the device management server 120 to uniquely identify the network device 110 in the device management server 120. Information of a plurality of network devices 110 can be registered in the single tenant ID.
A serial number is individual identification information of the network device 110 which has been allocated at the time of manufacture of the network device 110.
In addition to this, the device management information table 600 in
The management form is a management form of the network device 110 and is individual management or centralized management. The individual management is, for example, information representing a classification of a management method in which connection to the device management server 120 is individually managed by each of the network devices 110. The centralized management is, for example, information representing a classification of a management method in which connections of the plurality of network devices 110 are managed in a centralized manner by another management device.
In response to a registration request, the device information registration unit 311 registers the tenant ID, the device ID, the serial number, the device name, and the management form in correspondence with each other as in the device management information table 600. The tenant indicated by the tenant ID is an example of a connection destination organization in the device management server 120.
The connection code issuance unit 312 generates a connection code which is used to identify a tenant at the connection destination of the network device 110 and which is used for the device management server 120 to permit connection. The connection code issuance unit 312 issues the connection code for identifying the tenant.
The tenant ID in
The connection code is a code that is unique in the device management server 120, and one or more connection codes can be generated for each tenant ID. Alternatively, a single connection code may be generated for each of the network devices 110 registered in the device management information table 600.
The generation of the connection code is performed in response to a reconnection request of the tenant from the network device 110 according to the present embodiment, and the connection code has a validity period in many cases. Since the connection code is unique in the device management server 120, the tenant ID can be identified based on the connection code.
The connection permission unit 313 plays a role of an authentication server and receives a valid connection code to identify the tenant at the connection destination based on the connection code, so that key information for transmitting data to the tenant identified by the device management server 120 is issued to the network device 110.
The tenant ID in
The device ID is ID information for uniquely identifying the network device 110 in the device management server 120 similarly as in the device ID in
A credential is key information for authenticating the network device 110. At the time of reception of a data transmission request from the network device 110, the connection permission unit 313 authenticates the network device 110 using the device ID and this key information and grants a permission of connection to the network device 110.
A status is status information indicating an issuance status of the key information to the network device 110. When the connection permission unit 313 issues the key information to the network device 110, the connection to the network device 110 is activated, and the status becomes “valid”. When the key information has not been issued to the network device 110, the status becomes “invalid”.
A reconnection destination tenant is a tenant ID indicating a tenant as a changed destination when a different tenant is to be reregistered as the tenant to which the network device 110 is connected. The reconnection destination tenant is usually empty, but the tenant as the changed destination can be registered. When the tenant as the changed destination is registered, instead of granting the permission of connection to the network device 110 when the network device 110 is authenticated, the connection permission unit 313 instructs the network device 110 to perform reconnection to the tenant specified as the reconnection destination tenant.
In response to an operation by the user of the service provision company, the client terminal 140 can refer to the information of the network device 110 of the tenant of the customer company managed by the service provision company and created under the tenant of the service provision company in the device management server 120.
As a result, the service provision company can provide a device management service such as a maintenance service of the network device 110 of the customer company to the customer company.
In a case where a connection code received from the network device 110 is the same as the connection code for identifying the tenant in correspondence with the network device 110, the connection permission unit 313 issues key information (credential) to connect to the tenant identified based on the connection code to the network device 110.
Then, in a case where the authentication of the key information received from the network device 110 is successful, the connection permission unit 313 permits the network device 110 to connect to the tenant.
Hereinafter, tenant deletion processing in the device information registration unit 311 when an operation of deleting the tenant in association with the customer organization is performed will be described following the flowchart in
In the tenant deletion processing in the device information registration unit 311, first, processing in step S401 is performed in a case where deletion of a tenant has been instructed.
In step S401, the device information registration unit 311 obtains information of one or more network devices 110 belonging to the tenant of the customer organization which has been specified by the deletion operation from the information of the network device 110 in
In step S402, the device information registration unit 311 determines whether or not unprocessed information of the network device 110 exists among the information of the one or more network devices 110 which has been obtained in step S401. In a case where the unprocessed information of the network device 110 exists, the processing proceeds to step S403. In a case where the unprocessed information of the network device 110 does not exist, the processing of the flowchart in
In step S403, the device information registration unit 311 determines whether or not the status in the device connection credential information table 800 in
In step S404, the device information registration unit 311 determines whether the management form in the device management information table 600 in
In the case of the management form in which it is necessary to maintain the connection of the network device 110, the processing proceeds to step S405. In the case of the management form in which it is not necessary to maintain the connection of the network device 110, the processing proceeds to step S406.
In step S405, the device information registration unit 311 keeps the information of the network device 110 in the device connection credential information table 800 to maintain the connection even when the tenant to which the network device 110 belongs is deleted, on an exceptional basis without deleting the information.
Since the network device 110 is not to be connected to the tenant which has been meant to be deleted as it is, the device information registration unit 311 registers a tenant as a changed destination in the reconnection destination tenant such that the connection destination is to be changed to the tenant of the organization which manages the tenant of the customer organization which is to be deleted.
That is, the device information registration unit 311 stores the key information or the like of the network device 110 in correspondence with the tenant without deleting the key information or the like and registers, as the reconnection destination tenant, the tenant as the changed destination. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S402, and the processing of the next network device 110 will be repeated.
In step S406, the device information registration unit 311 deletes the information of the network device 110 from the device management information table 600 and the device connection credential information table 800 in accordance with the deletion of the tenant. That is, the device information registration unit 311 deletes the key information or the like of the network device 110 in correspondence with the tenant. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S402, and the processing of the next network device 110 will be repeated.
Hereinafter, the connection permission processing of the connection permission unit 313 will be described following the flowchart in
In the connection permission processing from the network device 110 to which the key information has been issued in the connection permission unit 313, first, processing in step S501 is performed.
In step S501, the connection permission unit 313 receives a connection request from the network device 110 and authenticates the network device 110 based on the key information received from the network device 110 and the device ID.
In step S502, the connection permission unit 313 determines whether or not the authentication in step S501 is successful. In a case where the authentication is successful, the processing proceeds to step S503. In a case where the authentication in step S501 has failed, the processing proceeds to step S506.
In step S503, the connection permission unit 313 obtains the information of the reconnection destination tenant of the network device 110 from the device connection credential information table 800.
Then, the connection permission unit 313 determines whether or not a tenant as a changed destination is registered as the above-described reconnection destination tenant. In a case where the tenant as the changed destination is registered, the processing proceeds to step S504. In a case where the tenant as the changed destination is not registered, the processing proceeds to step S505.
In step S504, instead of granting the permission with respect to the connection request from the network device 110, the connection permission unit 313 instructs the network device 110 to perform reconnection to the tenant as the changed destination which has been registered as the reconnection destination tenant. Specifically, the connection permission unit 313 asks the connection code issuance unit 312 to issue a connection code for identifying the tenant as the changed destination which has been registered as the reconnection destination tenant with respect to the connection request from the network device 110 and returns (transmits) the connection code to the network device 110.
Alternatively, the connection permission unit 313 returns a response for urging the network device 110 to call a request to issue a connection code. Then, when the subsequent request to issue the connection code is received from the network device 110, the connection permission unit 313 issues a connection code to connect to the tenant specified as the reconnection destination tenant to the network device 110.
The network device 110 uses the issued connection code for the connection permission unit 313 and receives an issuance of key information for transmitting data to the tenant specified as the reconnection destination tenant to switch the connection destination tenant. Thereafter, the network device 110 transmits a connection request including the issued key information of the reconnection destination tenant and the device ID to the device management server 120 so that the device management server 120 becomes connectable by the processing in
In step S505, the connection permission unit 313 issues connection permission information such as an access token in response to the connection request from the network device 110 and returns the connection permission information to the network device 110. The connection permission information is information for permitting the connection to the tenant corresponding to the above-described key information. As a result, the network device 110 can transmit the setting information or the operational information with the connection permission information to the device management server 120. Thereafter, the processing in the flowchart in
In step S506, the connection permission unit 313 returns an authentication error to the network device 110. Thereafter, the processing in the flowchart in
Even in a case where the tenant is deleted from the device management server 120, the device management server 120 is allowed to be able to maintain the connection between the network device 110 and the device management server 120. As a result, without performing the operation for connection on the network device 110 side again, by registering the tenant as the changed destination of the network device 110, the device management server 120 is allowed to enable the connection to the tenant as the changed destination.
The present disclosure can also be realized by processing in which a program for realizing one or more functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or the apparatus read out and execute the program. In addition, the present disclosure can be realized by a circuit (for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) configured to realize one or more functions.
It is noted that any of the above-described embodiments merely illustrate specific examples for carrying out the present disclosure, and the technical scope of the present disclosure is not interpreted in a restrictive manner by these. That is, the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms without departing from its technical concept or main features.
According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, even in a case where the deletion of the connection destination organization is instructed, the device can be connected to a different connection destination organization.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-003224 filed Jan. 12, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-003224 | Jan 2024 | JP | national |
