NOTES ON SERVER PROCESSES FOR DSEE
In order to run DSEE software, you node must be
running the following programs as server processes:
o d3m_server provides database recovery features for a node on which a
library database is stored.
o mbx_helper provides communication between nodes via "mailboxes." This
program must be running on every node on which DSEE software is used.
o sf_helper provides store and forward capabilities used by the DSEE
automatic task queueing mechanism. This program must be running on at
least one node in the network, but preferably on at least two.
Before you start to run DSEE software in your network, check the system and user
start-up files to see if they contain commands to start these servers with the
proper options. If they do not, you must add the commands to the start-up files.
If the servers are not already running, you can start them from the keyboard.
If you want to perform builds on remote nodes, you must make sure that all the
nodes you want to act as build servers are running the server process manager.
This program allows you to create a process on a remote node. (Type help set
builder for information about remote building.)
Starting Servers for the DSEE Environment
To ensure that servers run on the nodes requiring them, check the system
start-up file (executed when the node boots the operating system) on all nodes
running DSEE software. Each start-up file must contain the commands to start
the necessary servers, so that the node restarts the processes automatically
whenever the operating system is shut down and restarted. See the Domain
System User's Guide for complete information about start-up files.
At this writing, the system start-up files are
o `node_data/startup on nodes with 15" portrait displays
o `node_data/startup.19l on nodes with 19" monochromatic landscape
displays and DN550 family nodes
o `node_data/startup.color on nodes with 19" color displays.
As shipped, the start-up file contains the following command to start
mbx_helper:
cps /sys/mbx/mbx_helper
If this command is preceded by the comment designator, simply remove the comment
designator. If any node that will contain a library is not running d3m_server,
include the following line in the system start-up file:
cps /sys/d3m/d3m_server -n d3m_server
You should run the sf_helper program on at least two nodes, and at least five if
your network includes several hundred nodes. The DSEE facility queues messages
to tasklists more quickly when two or more nodes (depending on the size of your
network) are running sf_helper.
Include the following line in the system start-up files for the nodes you've
selected to run sf_helper:
cps /sys/sf/sf_helper -n sf_helper -all_local -forever
Once your start-up files contain the proper commands, you may want to start
server processes that are not yet running. To start any of the servers, issue
the same Display Manager (DM) command included in the system start-up file. For
example,
cps /sys/d3m/d3m_server -n d3m_server
to start d3m_server. If you receive a message stating that the process already
exists, the server is already running. If you are not sure that the server was
started with the correct options, use the AEGIS Shell sigp command to signal the
process to stop, then restart the process using the appropriate DM command.
As mentioned in the last section, all nodes that you want to use as remote
builders must be running the server process manager. Before you execute remote
builds, issue the following DM command on each remote build server and add the
following line to the `node_data/startup file of each remote build server:
cps /sys/spm/spm -n server_process_manager
The Alarm Server
The alarm_server program, part of standard DOMAIN software, can monitor a
variety of system conditions, including additions to DSEE tasklists. When one
of these conditions (known as an alarm event) occurs, alarm_server pops an alarm
window on the display and, optionally, sounds an audible alarm.
To run alarm_server whenever you log in, add the following command to your
personal start-up file:
cpo /sys/alarm/alarm_server -n alarm_server
By default, alarm_server pops an alarm window and sounds an alarm whenever a new
task is added to your personal tasklist and any tasklists named by the watch
tlists command. The DSEE facility records the tasklists named by watch tlists
in the special file dsee_alarmed_tlists, which is located in your user_data
directory. By default, if neither the personal tasklist nor the
dsee_alarmed_tlists file exists at start-up time, alarm_server disables its
tasklist checker and posts an alarm window that contains the message, "The DSEE
tasklist checker is being disabled since there are no tasklists to watch." (To
lift this restriction, start alarm_server with the -tlists option described
below).
You can modify alarm_server's default behavior by starting it with one or more
options. Simply change the cpo command in your personal start-up file as
follows:
cpo /sys/alarm/alarm_server [option...] -n alarm_server
Type help alarm_server for a list of the alarm_server options applicable to
the DSEE facility.
Personal Start-up File:
Your personal start-up file resides in the user_data subdirectory of your home
(node) directory, and has the following pathname:
home_directory/user_data/startup_dm[suffix]
The suffix has the same format as that used in system start-up files; it
indicates the display type of the node executing the file. (Refer to the
description of the system start-up files earlier in this file.) If you use
more than one type of display, you should have more than one personal start-up
file.
Your personal start-up file will execute every time you log in, provided it is
invoked from the login start-up file startup_login (in `node_data or /sys/dm).
Check startup_login to see that it contains the command
CMDF user_data/startup_dm[suffix]
which invokes the personal start-up file. If this command is preceded by the
comment designator "#", remove the "#".