Compaq ACMS for OpenVMS
Managing Applications


Previous Contents Index


Chapter 9
Installing and Managing Applications

This chapter describes the ACMS operator commands you can use to install and run ACMS applications, modify active applications, and cancel tasks. For reference information on the commands described in this chapter, refer to Chapter 21.

9.1 Installing Applications

Before you can install an application, you must first be authorized by the Application Authorization Utility (AAU). See Chapter 4 for information on how to use the AAU to authorize users to install applications.

Once you are authorized by the AAU, install an application by issuing the ACMS/INSTALL command. You do not need any special OpenVMS privileges to install an application. The ACMS/INSTALL command installs applications in the directory pointed to by the logical name ACMS$DIRECTORY. All applications must be installed in ACMS$DIRECTORY before they can run on the ACMS system. When you enter the ACMS/INSTALL command, ACMS displays a message confirming that the application has been installed in ACMS$DIRECTORY. For example:


$ ACMS/INSTALL DISK1:[ACCOUNT]INVENTORY.ADB
%ACMSINS-S-ADBINS, Application DISK1:[ACCOUNT] - 
INVENTORY.ADB has been installed in ACMS$DIRECTORY

This command installs the application INVENTORY in ACMS$DIRECTORY.

Figure 9-1 shows the steps ACMS takes when installing an application.

Figure 9-1 Process of Installing an Application


If you attempt to install an application you are not authorized to install, ACMS displays the following messages, terminates the installation attempt, and returns you to DCL level:


%ACMSINS-E-INSFAIL, INSTALL command failed 
-SYSTEM-F-NOPRIV, no privilege for attempted operation 
 
$ 

Include either a file specification or the logical name of an application with the ACMS/INSTALL command. If you specify a logical name that is a search list, ACMS installs only the first available application in the search list.

When you install an application database file, the ACMS/INSTALL command checks the application authorization database file (ACMSAAF.DAT) to confirm that:

After checking the ACMSAAF.DAT file, AAU:

Once an application is installed, stop and restart ACMS to make the new version of the application available to users. Chapter 8 describes how to start and stop the ACMS system. If you are reinstalling an application, you must stop the application before you reinstall it.

After you stop and restart ACMS, you can run the application by using the ACMS/START APPLICATION command. See Section 9.3 for information on how to run an ACMS application.

9.2 Removing Applications

To delete an application from ACMS$DIRECTORY, specify the /REMOVE qualifier with the ACMS/INSTALL command and the file name of the application you want to remove. You must be authorized by the AAU before you can remove an application.

For example, you can delete the application installed in the example in the previous section by typing the following command. Once you enter this command, ACMS displays a message confirming that the application has been removed.


$ ACMS/INSTALL INVENTORY/REMOVE
%ACMSINS-S-ADBINSREM, Application INVENTORY 
has been removed from ACMS$DIRECTORY
$

When you specify the ACMS/INSTALL command with the /REMOVE qualifier to delete an application, ACMS does the following:

Specify only a file name when deleting an application from ACMS$DIRECTORY; do not specify device, directory, or file type. When you have a number of applications with different file names to remove from ACMS$DIRECTORY, you must remove them one at a time. You cannot specify more than one application, use the keyword $ALL, or use the wildcard character (*) with the /REMOVE qualifier.

9.3 Starting Applications

Once the ACMS system is up and running, you can start ACMS applications provided you have the OpenVMS OPER privilege. When you start an application, ACMS starts the application execution controller and allocates the resources the application needs. The tasks in the application are then ready for terminal users to select. Terminal users cannot select tasks that belong to an application that is not started.

The ACMS/START APPLICATION command starts one or more applications. Use the command interactively or include it in a command file. For example, the following command starts the application DEPARTMENT:


$ ACMS/START APPLICATION DEPARTMENT

Starting an application interactively helps you control the use of resources and the availability of required files and databases. You can start an application whenever ACMS is active.

9.4 Stopping Applications

The ACMS/STOP APPLICATION command stops the applications you name. You must have the OpenVMS OPER privilege to stop an application. When you stop an application, ACMS stops the application execution controller and releases the resources for the application. The tasks in the application are no longer available for users to select.

You might want to stop one or more ACMS applications if you:

Unless you specify the /CANCEL qualifier, the ACMS/STOP APPLICATION command does not execute until all tasks in that application finish executing. Before using the /CANCEL qualifier, use the DCL REPLY command to ask users to finish their tasks. Then, use the ACMS/SHOW TASK command to check that users have stopped their tasks. Finally, issue the ACMS/STOP APPLICATION /CANCEL command to stop any remaining active tasks.

The following command cancels all active tasks in the INVENTORY and ACCOUNTING applications and then stops those applications.


$ ACMS/STOP APPLICATION INVENTORY, ACCOUNTING /CANCEL

9.5 Displaying Application Information

ACMS allows you to display information about applications in static or dynamic mode. Static mode displays information reflecting an application's state for an instant in time---that is, the instant in time at which the command executes. Dynamic mode displays information about an application continually as it executes. The following sections describe how to display information about your application in either mode.

To get information about software errors that occur during the execution of ACMS application programs, use the ACMS Software Event Log Utility Program (SWLUP) which is discussed in Chapter 13.

9.5.1 Displaying Static Information

The ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION command displays information about active applications in static mode. You can specify the name of one or several applications with the ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION command. If you do not include the name of an application, ACMS displays information about all currently active applications. Example 9-1 displays information about the application INVENTORY.

Example 9-1 ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION Command

$ ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION INVENTORY
 
  ACMS V4.0    CURRENT APPLICATIONS         Time: 1-MAY-1994 17:19:40.84 
 
(1)Application Name:   INVENTORY                                 
                                                                     
     (2)  Object Name:         ACMS01EXC001000                           
     (3)  User Name:           ACMS             (4)  PID:              22000123 
     (5)  Max Task Count:      655              (6)  Max SP Count:     35 
     (7)  Cur Task Count:      0                (8)  Cur SP Count:     7
     (9)  Auditing:            ON              (10)  SP Mon. Interval: 5) 
 
  (11)
                    (12)
        (13)
       (14)
        (15)
      (16)

  Server Name          max SPs   min SPs active    free   waiting  
                                             SPs       SPs    tasks   
  INVSRV05                5         0       0         0      0       
  INVSRV02                1         0       1         0      4       
  INVSRV06                5         1       1         0      3       
  INVSRV04                5         2       0         2      0       
  INVSRV01                5         2       1         1      0       
  INVSRV03                5         1       1         0      0       

The following is a description of the numbered items in Example 9-1:

  1. Application Name
    Name of the application.
  2. Object Name
    Object name for the application.
  3. User Name
    OpenVMS user name for the application.
  4. PID
    Process identification code for the application.
  5. Max Task Count
    Maximum number of task instances allowed for the application.
  6. Max SP Count
    Maximum number of server processes allowed for the application.
  7. Cur Task Count
    Current number of active tasks in the application.
  8. Cur SP Count
    Current number of started server processes in the application.
  9. Auditing
    Whether application auditing is enabled or disabled.
  10. SP Mon. Interval
    Server process monitoring interval.
  11. Server Name
    Lists the names assigned in SERVER clauses in the application definition. Each row of the display contains information about server processes, and information about tasks waiting for those server processes.
  12. max SPs
    Maximum number of server processes allowed for this server.
  13. min SPs
    Minimum number of server processes allowed for the server.
  14. active SPs
    Number of server processes currently allocated to tasks for each server named in the application definition. Example 9-1 shows that four server processes are active in the INVENTORY application.
  15. free SPs
    Number of server processes that are started and available for use for each server named in the application definition. Example 9-1 shows that three server processes are free and thus available in the INVENTORY application for tasks that need them.
  16. waiting tasks
    Number of tasks waiting for server processes for each server named in the application definition. If no server processes are available, ACMS holds tasks that need server processes. Example 9-1 shows that a total of seven tasks are waiting for some server processes.

Use the /POOL, /SERVER_ATTRIBUTES, or /TASK_ATTRIBUTES qualifier with the ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION command to display, respectively, pool information, the current settings of modifiable server attributes, and the current settings of modifiable task attributes for an application. Example 9-2 displays pool information for the application TEST.

Example 9-2 ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/POOL TEST Command

$ ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/POOL TEST
 
  ACMS V4.0       CURRENT APPLICATIONS            Time: 1-MAY-1994 11:21:04.50 
  Application Name: TEST                                      State:  STARTED 
 
      Object Name:        ACMS01EXC008000 
      User Name:          ACMS$EXC                PID:                25C01337 
      Max Task Count:     65535                   Max SP Count:       5    
      Cur Task Count:     0                       Cur SP Count:       2    
      Auditing:           ON                      SP Mon. Interval:   5    
 
    Application Workspace and Control Pools
  
          (1)
             (2)
           (3)
              (4)
           (5)
              (6)

          Pool          Pool      Free  (pct.)  Largest    Allocation    Garbage 
          type          size      bytes          block      failures   collections 
    Group/User workspace pools     
(7)      Control pool      65536     64848 (98%)    32768          0           0
(8)      Workspace pool   131072    130560 (99%)    65536          0           0
(9)   TEST_GRP01                     
(10)     Control pool      25600     25088 (98%)    16384          0           0
(11)     Workspace pool   179200    178688 (99%)    65536          0           0 
    TEST_GRP02                     
       Control pool      25600     25088 (98%)    16384          0            0 
       Workspace pool   179200    178688 (99%)    65536          0            0 
    DBMS_GRP                       
       Control pool      25600     25088 (98%)    16384          0            0 
       Workspace pool   179200    178688 (99%)    65536          0            0

The following is a description of the numbered items in Example 9-2:

  1. Pool type
    Type of pool, either control or workspace pool.
  2. Pool size
    Total size of the pool, in bytes.
  3. Free bytes
    Number of free bytes of pool space available and the percentage available.
  4. Largest block
    Size of the largest block of free pool space, in bytes.
  5. Allocation failures
    Number of times ACMS attempted to allocate pool space but failed.
  6. Garbage collections
    Number of times ACMS attempted to use fragmented pool space.
  7. Control pool
    Control pool information for the application, whose size is controlled by the ACMSGEN parameter WSC_POOLSIZE.

  8. Workspace pool
    Workspace pool information for the application, whose size is controlled by the ACMSGEN parameter WS_POOLSIZE.
  9. TEST_GRP01
    Name of the task group for which pool information is displayed.
  10. Control pool
    Control pool information for the task group, whose size is controlled by the ACMSGEN parameter TWSC_POOLSIZE.
  11. Workspace pool
    Workspace pool information for the task group, whose size is controlled by the ACMSGEN parameter TWS_POOLSIZE.

Use the information in the pool display to determine the correct sizes for the ACMSGEN parameters for control and workspace pools. See Chapter 11 for more information.

9.5.2 Displaying Dynamic Information

Dynamically display information about a single application by using the ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS command. ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS command allows you to:

When you specify the ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS command, specify the file name of a started application. If you do not specify an application name, ACMS returns an error. Specify only the file name; do not include device, directory, or file type. You cannot specify more than one application name with the ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS command. Example 9-3 displays dynamic information about the application STORAGE.

Example 9-3 ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS Command

$ ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS STORAGE
                                                        
  ACMS V4.0       ACMS CONTINUOUS APPLICATION MONITOR   NODE::MYNODE            
                          1-MAY-1994 07:52:04.62                     
  (1)  Name:    STORAGE                                 
  (2)  Process: ACMS01EXC015000                         
  (3)  User: ACMS$EXC                               (4)  PID:  22E00563   
  (5)  Max Tasks: 65535                             (6)  Max SPs:   22       
  (7)  Cur Tasks: 15                                (8)  Cur SPs:   13      
 
  (9)
                       (10)
          (11)
      (12)
     (13)
        (14)

  SERVER NAME         Min SP/Max SP Current Average Minimum Maximum  
                                                                     
  TESTSRV01                3/3                                       
      Active Servers                      0       0       0       1  
      Free Servers                        3       1       0       3  
      Waiting Tasks                       0       2       0       28 
                                                                     
  TLOAD001S                3/3                                       
      Active Servers                      2       1       0       3  
      Free Servers                        1       1       0       3  
      Waiting Tasks                       0       12      0       92 

You can control the video display by using the control and arrow keys. Press [Ctrl/C], [Ctrl/Y], or [Ctrl/Z] to terminate the display. Press [Ctrl/W] to refresh the screen. The up and down arrow keys scroll the screen forward and backward.

The following is a description of the numbered items in Example 9-3:

  1. Name
    Name of the application.
  2. Process
    Name of the process.
  3. User
    OpenVMS user name for the application.
  4. PID
    Process ID for the application.
  5. Max Tasks
    Maximum number of task instances allowed for the application.
  6. Max SPs
    Maximum number of server processes allowed for the application.
  7. Cur Tasks
    Current number of active tasks in the application.
  8. Cur SPs
    Current number of started server processes in the application.
  9. SERVER NAME
    List of the names assigned in SERVER clauses in the application definition. Each row of the display contains information about server processes, and information about tasks waiting for those server processes.
  10. Min SP/Max SP
    Minimum number of server processes and maximum number of server processes allowed for this server.
  11. Current
    Current number of processes started for this server.
  12. Average
    Average number of processes for this server.
  13. Minimum
    Minimum number of processes for this server.

  14. Maximum
    Maximum number of processes for this server.

ACMS refreshes the screen every 30 seconds by default. If you want the screen to refresh at a different interval, specify in seconds the interval you prefer. For example, the following command causes new information for the BOOKSALES application to display on your terminal screen every 300 seconds (5 minutes):


$ ACMS/SHOW APPLICATION/CONTINUOUS/INTERVAL=300 BOOKSALES

Begin or end a continuous application display with the /BEGINNING_TIME and /ENDING_TIME qualifiers. Both qualifiers let you specify times in OpenVMS absolute time format, delta time format, or a combination of the two. Refer to OpenVMS DCL Dictionary for information about how to create valid time formats.

There are occasions when having hardcopy records of application information is useful. The /OUTPUT qualifier requests ACMS to copy application data to a file you name. Then either display the file at your terminal or print it. If you do not specify a file, ACMS stores information in the file ACMSSHOW.LIS in your current default directory. When you do not use the /OUTPUT qualifier, ACMS sends output to the default output device defined by the SYS$OUTPUT logical name.


Previous Next Contents Index