MPE/iX System Administration Handbook

Description

• Copyright 2002
• Edition: 1st

• Book
• ISBN-10: 0-13-030540-5
• ISBN-13: 978-0-13-030540-4

The first complete guide to MPE/iX system administration!

• Step-by-step procedures for typical tasks
• Solutions for the most common MPE/iX challenges
• Tools for optimizing system performance on the HP e3000
• Advanced techniques for managing security and networking
• Includes practical introductions to MPE/iX scripting and programming

The HP e3000 and its MPE/iX operating system embody proven, reliable, current technology that combines high performance with ease of use. Now, there's a complete, authoritative guide to MPE/iX: the MPE/iX System Administration Handbook. In this book, Jon Diercks covers every essential tool and skill required for successful MPE/iX system management. Diercks presents hands-on examples, solutions to common problems, and dozens of tips for streamlining operations and making the most of your HP e3000 system. Coverage includes:

• MPE/iX fundamentals: establishing connections, working with the system console, and more
• Essential commands: :HELLO, :PRINT, :RUN, :LISTFILE, :HELP, and more
• Installation, startup/shutdown, backup/recovery
• Managing spoolers, sessions, batch jobs, and processes
• Fundamentals of MPE/iX scripting and programming
• Security and networking configuration, step by step
• Troubleshooting, diagnostics, and performance optimization

No matter how you use MPE/iX, or what your HP e3000 system responsibilities are, the MPE/iX System Administration Handbook is your breakthrough resource for maximum productivity!

"A book like Diercks' is long overdue. HP e3000 operators, system managers, database and capacity planners, and performance specialists will benefit from reading this volume and keeping it handy."

— Jeff Vance, Senior Programmer, Hewlett-Packard Company

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Sample Content

Table of Contents

Foreword.


Preface.


Acknowledgments.


About the Author.


1. Getting Started.

The System Console. Serial vs. Network Connections. Data Terminal Controllers. Terminals and Emulators. HP Network Services/Virtual Terminal. Telnet. Establishing a Connection via the Network.

2. Logging On.

Hello…Anybody Home? Passwords. A Successful Logon. Input Priority. The System JOBFENCE. The Systemwide Session LIMIT. Overriding System Limits. Execution Priority. Bypassing Logon UDCs. HELLO with an Attitude. Logon Group. Session Names. Logging Off.

3. Using Common Commands.

:SHOWTIME. :SHOWME. :SHOWJOB. :CALC. :HELP. HELP Modes. Keywords. Help on Other Types of Commands. HELP's Online Tutorial for MPE Beginners. Getting Help on CI Expressions. Getting Help on System Error Messages. :LISTFILE. :PRINT. Running Programs. Implied Run. Running Programs Explicitly. Break. :ABORT. :RESUME. Summary.

4. Navigating the File System.

The Original MPE File System. Navigating with Groups. Lockwords. Wildcards. Hierarchical File System. HFS Directory and File Names. Accessing MPE Files Using HFS Syntax. Navigating with HFS Directories. Accessing HFS Files Using MPE Commands. Creating and Removing HFS Directories. File Attributes. Date/Time Stamps. Record Type. Binary and ASCII Files. Record Size. User Labels. Special File Types. Spool Files. Message Files. Circular Files. KSAM Files. IMAGE/SQL Databases. PRIV Files. Temporary Files. File Equations. Symbolic Links. Summary.

5. Starting Up and Shutting Down the System.

Booting Up. The Startup Status Display. The Startup Main Menu. The ISL Prompt. The START Command. Restoring Scheduled Jobs After START NORECOVERY. Other START Options. A Sample START Sequence. SYSSTART. A Sample SYSSTART File. A Sample STARTALL Job. The System Clock. Setting the System Date/Time. Shutting Down. Rebooting. Autoboot. Crash Recovery. Gathering Information About the Failure. Taking a Memory Dump. Restoring Service.

6. Backing Up and Recovering Data.

Backup Strategy. Comprehensive: Not Just Files. Secure: Media Storage and Access Considerations. Consistent: Full and Incremental Backups. Practical: Scheduling and Media Rotation. Built-In MPE Backup Tools. :STORE. :VSTORE. :RESTORE. :TAR.HPBIN.SYS. Commercial Backup Options. Compression. Online Backup. Network Backup. Multi-Device Backup. Partial-File Incremental Backup. Data Encryption. Tape Management and Librarian Features. Summary.

7. Managing Spoolers and Spool Files.

Managing Spooler Processes. Starting and Stopping Spooler Processes. OUTFENCE. Headers and Trailers. Spooler Console Requests, RECALL and REPLY. Suspending and Resuming Spooler Processing. Distributed Spooler Management. Printing Without Using the Spooler. Managing Spool Files. Spool File Numbers. Creating Spool Files. Listing Spool Files. Altering Spool Files. Viewing Spool File Contents. SPoolfile InterFace Facility (SPIFF). Spool File Management Scripts. SP-The Mother of All LISTSPF/SPOOLF Shortcuts.

8. Managing Sessions.

Listing Active Sessions. Determining Session Origins. Sessions and User Limits. Initiating Sessions Programmatically. Terminating Sessions. CAUTION: Danger Ahead! Clearing Stuck DTC Ports. Clearing Hung Network Sessions. Session-to-Session Communication. Preventing TELLs. Overriding QUIET Mode. Extended TELL-a Simple CHAT Script. Summary.

9. Managing Jobs.

Managing Job Execution. Enabling the STREAMS Facility. Streaming Jobs. Nested Jobs. Job Limits. Altering Job Properties. Suspending and Aborting Jobs. Monitoring Job Progress. Job-to-Session Communication. Queuing and Scheduling Jobs. Job Queues. Job Scheduling. Getting the Most Out of Queuing and Scheduling Features.

10. Managing Processes.

Listing Processes. Process Trees. Altering Processes. Terminating Processes. Sending Signals to Posix Processes. Aborting Processes with :ABORTPROC. Multiprocess Applications. Process Handling Capability. Process Deadlocks. Inter-Process Communication.

11. Scripting with the Command Interpreter.

Using the CI Interactively. REDO. DO. LISTREDO. HPREDOSIZE. HPPATH. Using Both Groups and Directories in HPPATH. Double-Dereferenced Variables in HPPATH. HPPROMPT. Including HPCWD or HPGROUP in Prompt. I/O Redirection. Text Editors. EDITOR. vi. Alternative Editors. Command Files and User-Defined Commands. Creating and Using Command Files. Creating and Using UDCs. Script OPTION Settings. The Posix Shell. Getting Started with Shell/iX. Shell Initialization. Getting Help on Posix Commands. Command History. Calling CI Commands from the Shell. Running Posix Utilities from the CI. Differences in I/O Redirection between CI & Shell. Pipes. Here-Documents. Shell Scripts and Supplemental Utilities. Summary.

12. Programming.

Compatibility Mode and Native Mode. Compiling and Linking MPE Programs. Intrinsics. $NEWPASS and $OLDPASS. RUN Options. Entry Points. Numeric Parameter. Text Parameter. Libraries. Execution Priority. Stacks and Heaps. Load Map. Handling Unresolved Externals. AIFs. Privileged Mode. Examining Program Files. Debugging. Programming Languages Available for MPE. Summary.

13. Installing and Upgrading the Operating System.

Installation Tape Formats. System Load Tape. Fundamental Operating System. PowerPatch. Express Release. SUBSYS. Install. Backing Up Data. Creating and/or Verifying the SLT. Checking Disc Space. Shutting Down. Executing the INSTALL. Restoring Backed-up Data Files. Update. Backing Up Data. Creating a CSLT. Checking Disc Space. Executing the UPDATE. Patches. Patch Names. Finding Out Which Patches Are Already Installed. Obtaining Patches. Patch Relationships. Superseding Patches. Dependencies. Conflicts. Installing Patches with Patch/iX. Getting Started. Qualification. Force and Veto. Creating a Stage and/or Tape. Rebooting. Phase 2. Stage/iX. Staging Areas. Stage/iX Commands. Expert Mode. Nonstageable Patches. Patching and Staging Issues with Shareplex/iX. Shareplex and Updates from SLT. Shareplex and System UDCs. Backing Out Patches. Summary.

14: Configuring System Resources.

Sizing. System Components. Gathering Needed Information. Information Available from Boot Menus. Offline Diagnostics. Online Diagnostics. Device IDs. SYSGEN. I/O Configuration. Paths. Logical Devices. Device Classes. System Logging. Miscellaneous Settings. Job and Session Maximum Limits. Pool Sizes. Stacks/Heaps. Prompts. User Version. Logon UDCs. Dynamic I/O Changes. Adding a Disc. Removing a Disc. Adding a Terminal or Serial Printer.

15. Maintaining User Security.

Passwords. Capability Flags. Privileged Mode. Console Commands. Remote Console Access. Allow/Disallow. Logon UDCs. Logging. System Event Logs. Console Message Logs. Custom Logs. Add-On Security Tools. Password Encryption. Password Expiration. Crack-Resistant Password Requirements. Date/Time/Location Restrictions. Lockout Thresholds. Hardware Authentication/Single-Use Passwords. Summary.

16. Managing the File System.

File System Security. Account Access Options. Group Access Options. File Access Options. Releasing Access Restrictions on a File. Access Control Definitions. Posix Groups (GIDs) and Users (UIDs). Special ACD Pairs for Posix Interoperability. Posix Commands that Affect ACDs. User Volume Sets. What are User Volume Sets? Advantages Offered by User Volume Sets. Disadvantages of User Volume Sets. How to Create a User Volume Set. Getting the Most Out of User Volume Sets. Capacity Management. DISCFREE. A Visual Rendering of Disc Usage. :REPORT. :DISKUSE. The Posix “du” Command. “Lost” Disc Space. Analyzing Trends. Use Less or Buy More? Summary.

17. Networking.

Setting Up Core Network Services. JCONFJOB. NMMGR Configuration. Network Configuration Files. Starting Up Network Services. INETD. Syslog. BIND. Tools for Testing Network Connections. PING. SOCKINFO. NETTOOL. NETCONTROL/NSCONTROL STATUS Commands. SHOWCONN/ABORTCON. FTP. FTP Client. FTP Server. Anonymous FTP. Samba. Clear-Text Passwords. Samba User Privileges. Running Samba from INETD or Independent Jobs. Network Printing. Adding a Network Printer. Email. Web. Apache Web Server. Wget. Other Network Services.

18. Troubleshooting.

LOGTOOL. Displaying Log File Names. Switching to a New Current Log File. Displaying a Summary of Log File Contents. Displaying Formatted Log File Records. Predictive Support. Support Tools Manager. Debug/iX. Tracing the Stack. :SETDUMP. Listing Temp Files for Another Job/Session. Detailed File Examination. System Error Message Lookup. Detect a Math Coprocessor. Applying a Binary Patch to an Executable File. Purge a Protected File. Cause a System Abort (!). Off-Line Diagnostics. SAT. Memory Dump Analysis. Loading the Dump Image. Displaying a Stack Trace. Displaying Job and Process Information. Summary.

19. Tuning and Performance Analysis.

Optimizing Disc I/O. Configuring Hardware for Optimal I/O. Managing Data Locality. Memory: Every Little Bit Helps. Making Every CPU Cycle Count. Process Scheduling and the Dispatcher. Examining Process Priority. Adjusting CPU Usage. Fine-Tuning CPU Queues. The Big Picture. Performance Analysis Tools. The Measurement Interface Summary.

20. Maximizing Uptime and High Availability.

Minimizing Planned Downtime. Dynamic I/O Configuration. Staging Patches. Online Backup. Database Maintenance Strategies. Rapid Detection and Recovery. Threshold Manager. IMAGE Logging. Subsystem Dump. AutoRestart/iX. Eliminating Single Points of Failure. Uninterruptible Power Supply. Mirrored Disks. Disc Arrays. High Availability Fail Over. Cluster/iX. SharePlex/iX.

Conclusion.


Index.

Preface

Preface

Until now, there has never been a book devoted entirely to the task of providing comprehensive management for an MPE/iX system. In one sense, it is a testament to MPE's ease of use that people have used it since the early 1970s without the benefit of a book like this. Nevertheless, I accepted this challenge because I believe the book fills several needs. MPE has nearly three decades of history behind it, and that can be intimidating for a novice, so I start off with the absolute basics. Each chapter builds on the ones before, so if you want the whole story, reading cover-to-cover is one way to get it. For those that have some experience with MPE but want to expand or learn about newer features, the chapters are grouped by difficulty and general topic areas. I provide a fair number of contextual references as well (e.g. "for more detail on xyz, see Chapter n"), so skipping around should be reasonably comfortable. Seasoned MPE professionals will also find this book useful as a kind of "extended quick reference." I don't always go into exhaustive detail about each subject, but I try to provide enough of an overview to help the reader know where to go next. I often refer to specific HP manuals, help screens, and other external references for more complete coverage of specific topics.

Abbreviations/Synonyms

The HP e3000 computer and the MPE/iX operating system have been known by many different names over the years. Hewlett-Packard's original name for the computer was HP System/3000, and later simply HP 3000. The space is sometimes omitted (HP3000) and there are various shorthand abbreviations or nicknames like 3000 or 3K that may be used when the context makes the intention clear. The "e" was added in the year 2000, hailing the reinvention of the HP e3000 as ushering in a new era of embracing partnerships, enabling growth, and expanding on core strengths.

HP designed and developed the HP 3000's hardware and software simultaneously. The operating system was engineered from the ground up to be tightly integrated with the processor architecture, taking full advantage of its unique characteristics. The new operating system was named MultiProgramming Executive, or MPE for short. Early versions of MPE were named with incremental roman numerals, such as MPE III. The release called MPE V was the final version supported on the original 16-bit HP 3000 systems. When HP introduced 32-bit PA-RISC-based HP 3000 systems, a new version of MPE came with them-MPE XL. The jump in numbering was intended to reflect the significance of the change in architecture. MPE did not abandon its past, though. With almost zero exception, programs written for 16-bit MPE can execute flawlessly on MPE XL and all subsequent 32-bit releases of MPE without recompiling. Another name change came later, with the introduction of a Posix compatibility layer. This time, HP abandoned the roman numeral concept altogether and introduced MPE/iX, meaning MPE with Integrated PosiX.

The various flavors of naming styles for the HP e3000 and MPE/iX are used liberally in most of the product documentation and other written works. I have tried to be as consistent as possible within this book, but I still fall back into old habits occasionally. In general, it should be assumed that the various forms of these names are interchangeable, unless otherwise noted within a specific context.

Version Relevance

Most of the information in this book is targeted to MPE/iX version 6.5, although 7.0 was just being released as I was wrapping up the manuscript draft. Most of the changes in 7.0 were related to internal structures and drivers needed to support a new bus architecture, so from an operations and administration point of view, 7.0 should behave almost identically to 6.5. HP has done an excellent job of preserving compatibility across multiple generations of MPE, so much of the material presented here will be applicable to older and newer versions of the operating system. Some of the features described here are fairly recent additions, and so there may be some commands and scripts in this book that will not work on older MPE versions. I have tried to specify any patches or updates that are needed to support functionality that is not available on a base 6.5 release. Future editions of this book will incorporate descriptions of new functionality, as it becomes available.

Disclaimers

Several companies outside of HP have built their businesses around providing software and hardware products that extend or enhance the core services offered by MPE/iX. As a general matter of principle, in this book I have tried to avoid mentioning such third-party commercial products by name, opting instead to describe general categories of purchasable products that provide certain types of functionality. My hope in doing so is to avoid being accused of unfairly representing (or failing to represent) any vendor or product. In cases where I do describe a specific product, it should not be interpreted as an endorsement.

There are many URLs scattered throughout the book providing pointers to additional information. Because the Web is a much more dynamic medium than any printed work, it is very likely that some of these links will be invalid before the book ever hits the shelves. Obviously, I cannot control the links or the content they provide. I will post updates and corrections to the book's official Web site, http://diercks.net/mpe/

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