The DCE Cell Manager Solution

The HaL Software Systems DCE Cell Manager consists of three Motif-based, graphical applications:

Security Manager administers the security registry.
Namespace Manager combines CDS and RPC functionality to administer the CDS namespace.
Configuration Manager provides distributed host management capabilities.

Cell Manager is a comprehensive toolset that performs all OSF RPC, CDS, DTS, and Security functions. Moreover, Cell Manager's graphical user interfaces simplify and automate the execution of those functions in dramatic and subtle ways:

To initiate a specific or aggregate command-line function, administrators simply click a button or select an option from a pulldown or popup menu. (Button and option labels are task-oriented rather than tool-oriented.)
Many of the options perform multiple-operation tasks by executing the appropriate series of commands.
The interfaces employ a point-and-click paradigm that allows a single option selection to be applied to multiple objects. Each application displays formatted lists or graphical maps of the objects that are potential targets for that application's function set. For example, Configuration Manager displays a scrollable list of the host systems that are currently registered in the CDS namespace. Administrators target objects simply by clicking their entries.
The interfaces use uniform, predictable dialogs to request any information required to complete the requested task.

A single example demonstrates the associative value of these features. Using Configuration Manager, creating and activating a DTS clerk on one or more hosts is a simple two-step operation:

Select the target hosts by clicking their entries in the host list.
Select the DTS -> Create Time Service -> Create Clerk option.

The option performs this series of operations on each target host:

Starts the DTS daemon, dtsd (if it is not already active).
Creates a clerk.
Enables the clerk.

Displays the clerk's status information in a formatted display, as shown in the following partial example.

Example DTS Status Display

Host Name	Server/Clerk	Status    Last Synch

-------------------------------------------------------

neko		Clerk		On        date/time string


rhea		Clerk		On	  date/time string

To achieve the same result using the OSF toolset, administrators must enter this series of commands separately on each host:

->rlogin host_name ->dtsd ->dtscp create type server ->dtscp enable ->dtscp show all status

The preceding example also shows how the graphical interfaces incidentally order and integrate the OSF toolset. Functions are divided among the applications according to the general task category that the application represents. For example, Namespace Manager performs all CDS control program (cdscp) functions. Where it makes sense to do so, Cell Manager also provides redundant functionality across applications. For example, administrators can view and modify the access control lists for DCE objects in both Namespace Manager or Security Manager. Within each application, menus and button bars consolidate related functions.

While acting as sanity buffers between administrators and the OSF toolset, the interfaces do not entirely disassociate administrators from the commands. Each application maintains a command history log, which is a text file that sequentially records the commands (DCE and otherwise) that the application executes during a session. Administrators can view the list on demand. The pop-up view window supports point-and-click list editing and includes a button for saving the list to a different file for fault isolation and replay purposes. For example, after using Namespace Manager to populate a new cell's CDS namespace, an administrator could save the list, which then could be incorporated in a shell script for regenerating corrupted namespaces.

Value Supplements

In addition to serving as an enhanced, graphical surrogate for the OSF toolset, Cell Manager adds considerable value, extending a cell administrator's capabilities. This section examines some of the Cell Manager characteristics that have no precedent in the OSF toolset.

Secure Distributed Management

Configuration Manager enables administrators to establish a single host as the cell management station. This remote administration capability applies to all of the major DCE platforms.

Without Configuration Manager, administrators have to perform the following tasks locally on each host, either by logging in remotely as root or by physically visiting each machine:

Configure and start a client host.
Stop and restart a host's DCE processes.
Remove a host from the cell (unconfigure the host).
Display the status of each DCE process installed on a host.
Display and modify a host's RPC endpoint map.

The basis for specifying target hosts is the host list display. The list contains an entry for every host that is currently registered in the CDS namespace. Each entry in the list contains the official name of the host and up to nine optional information fields. The following example shows only a few of the possible fields.

Example Host List Display

  Host Name	IP Address	OS Name	     OS Version

  -----------------------------------------------------

  neko		148.57.162.27	AIX	     2


  rhea		148.57.165.17	SunOS	     4.1.3

Host list display support includes:

Refresh the display.
Use wildcard strings to locate and select entries for subsequent operations. The application scrolls the display to reveal hidden matches.
Sort the display using any field as the key.
Hide optional fields and restore hidden fields. The possible fields are IP Address, Up Time, Average Load, Alias, OS Name, OS Version, OS Release, Architecture, and Processor.

Administrators can also use Configuration Manager to view and search a remote host's network information files, such as the Network Information Service map or the /etc/hosts file. This is just one example of how Cell Manager provides access to strategic information that is not exclusive to DCE.

Automated Status Polling

Configuration Manager also provides status monitoring features:

Poll a host's DCE status at regular intervals and display the result in the form of a color-coded, at-a-glance icon. Administrators specify the hosts to be polled and the polling interval.
Exclude a host from monitoring. Maintains performance while a host is offline for repairs or upgrading.

Graphical Representation of Namespace

One of the OSF toolset deficiencies is that it provides only flat, primitive views of the various cell namespace objects. This seriously impairs cell administration because the namespaces are the crucial cell databases and, therefore, the focal points of management routine. They are the primary sources of information about the composition of the cell -- its volatile and convoluted network of services, hosts, users, and access controls. Administrators regularly examine and modify the appropriate namespace, for example, to register new services and users, tune performance, and analyze and correct problems. The most significant features that a toolset can offer are graphical namespace displays that clearly identify objects and rationally depict their hierarchical and parallel relationships.

Namespace Manager provides a rich, dynamic CDS namespace map that incorporates information from CDS and RPC. The namespace display uses color, text labels, and three-dimensional effects to distinguish entries, helping administrators quickly locate specific information of interest.

Example CDS Namespace Display (image = about 5K)

The namespace display is more than just a picture. It is also a tool for specifying the target objects for subsequent operations. To specify one or more objects, administrators simply click their entries in the display. Selected objects are indicated by a color change or reverse video.

Namespace display support includes:

Update the display to reflect the current state of the namespace. Administrators can update a specific parent entry, a branch, or the entire tree.
Change the display format. Because a namespace is structured like a file system, administrators can depict it in tree or outline form.
Use wildcard strings to locate and select entries for subsequent operations. The application scrolls the display to reveal hidden matches.
Selectively expand and collapse the display to show and hide ancestor and descendant entries.
Change the scope of the display. Administrators can restrict the display to specific branches of the namespace.
Display an entry's full namespace pathname. Once displayed, a pathname can be dragged and dropped into dialog text fields.

Automated Clearinghouse Backups

Clearinghouses are the actual databases that CDS uses to look up information in the CDS namespace on behalf of users and applications. Administrators must use a combination of OSF toolset and operating system commands to perform the deceptively simple task of backing up these databases. Moreover, administrators must be familiar with the files that contain clearinghouse data. Using Namespace Manager, backups are quick and easy; administrators click the target clearinghouse entries in the namespace display, then select the Backup menu option. After prompting for a destination directory, the backup process briefly suspends the Namespace Manager session while it performs the following operations on each clearinghouse's host system:

Disables the CDS clerk and server processes.
Clears unused sockets.
Removes the /opt/dcelocal/var/adm/directory/cds/cdsadv/cdsadv.log and /opt/dcelocal/var/adm/directory/cds/cdsd/cdsd.log files and all core files in the /opt/dcelocal/var/adm/directory/cds/cdsadv, cdsclerk, and cdsd directories.

The backup process then copies the appropriate files to the specified directory. After copying the files, the application automatically resumes CDS operations.

Service Availability Querying

There is no provision in the OSF toolset for determining whether a specific RPC server is currently available to handle client requests. Two different Cell Manager applications provide graphical facilities for pinging any server interface on any cell host:

Namespace Manager:: Click the target server entries in the namespace display, then select the Ping menu option. Within seconds, the application issues a popup message for each target. Each message states the full namespace pathname of the server's entry and indicates whether the server is available.
Configuration Manager:: Click the target host entry in the host list display, then select the menu option that displays some or all of that host's RPC endpoint map. (Administrators can optionally specify map filtering criteria in an intermediate window.) In the display window, click a target server entry, then click the Ping button. The window's Ping Result field indicates whether the service is alive on the network.

Extensible

Administrators can add their own strategic applications, utilities, and scripts to the toolset. All toolset applications launch from a single button bar and run in a common, secure context.

Portable

Cell Manager applications are built on top of the core DCE components. Although linked to the commands in the OSF toolset, the applications are not linked to the underlying DCE libraries, which simplifies porting and fault isolation.

Cell Manager Integration (image = about 7K)

Session Support

Cell Manager applications provide the following features for session support:

Session information display, which includes attributes that control the lifespan of the current user's login credentials.
Comment card, an electronic form that administrators fill out to report defects and performance problems and to request enhancements. The application converts the information into an e-mail message and then transmits the message to the addresses specified in the form. The last few entries in the command history log are automatically included in problem reports. This feature gives cell administrators convenient, direct access to Customer Support and other interested parties.
On-line documentation at two levels of detail: QuickHelp messages and Help cards. A QuickHelp message is a concise hint that expresses the purpose of a specific component--such as a button, menu option, or text-entry field--and how to use it. A component's message displays whenever the mouse pointer contacts the component. (Displaying QuickHelp messages is optional.) Help cards provide moderately detailed information about specific components and other application topics. Most cards include quick-reference task procedures.
Hardcopy and PostScript versions of a comprehensive user's guide. The guide provides a brief overview of DCE, extensively discusses key application terms and concepts, and presents detailed task procedures.

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