Review by John Burke
Forget everything you've ever learned about HP's release strategies for MPE/iX. MPE/iX 5.5 is not an "interim" or "limited" or "pull" release. If you have a conservative strategy about OS upgrades, then wait for the first 5.5 PowerPatch. But you are going to want to be on MPE/iX 5.5 long before MPE/iX 6.0 ever hits the streets.
I know, just when you thought you had finally figured out this "pull"/"push" business, here I come along and say ignore it. Why jump on 5.5? Because MPE/iX 5.5 contains major new functionality.
Hell, I was so anxious to get a look at MPE/iX 5.5 that I agreed to test a pre-release version (X.55.20) on my one and only system, a version that had not been customized for my site. Okay, I'll say it for you. I was crazy out of my mind. What ensued was a weekend in Hell -- my wife is still barely speaking to me. I do not expect (nor encourage) anyone to jump off the deep end like me, but I do hope to generate some enthusiasm for MPE/iX 5.5.
HP needs to know that we want these enhancement efforts to continue, and the best way to demonstrate our interest is to update to MPE/iX 5.5 as soon as our OS update policies will allow. Since MPE/iX 6.0 is barely a glimmer in anyone's eye, the longevity of 5.5 as a supported release should be considerable. If you have not yet received the 5.5 Communicator as part of the new distribution policy, you can see it on the Web.
Okay, first some bad news. If you've been burned before, you may want to wait until PowerPatch 1 or 2 is out, since there are always a few things that get missed in beta testing (I know. I got clobbered by the initial release of 5.0). If you've been waiting breathlessly for inbound telnet (officially called the Telnet/iX Server), you will find that the initial release is incomplete. In particular, VPlus block mode, user block mode, password timeout and typeahead are not supported (they were demonstrated at HP World and will be included in an early PowerPatch this fall). The enhancement to VPlus for four digit year dates is not in the initial 5.5 release either. Also, b-trees for IMAGE will probably not be available until late fall at the earliest.
The good news in the bad news is that with Patch/iX and Stage/iX (extensively written about in the October 1995 NewsWire) and online access to patches (finally), updating with a PowerPatch and/or reactive patches is much easier and less time consuming than in the past -- once you are on MPE/iX 5.5!
My initial intention was to work with some of the 5.5 features for this article (I had a pre-release version of 5.5 for review purposes). However, since I had problems because I wasn't shipped a customized subsys tape and only had my production system to work with, I had to abort the test run. No matter. I'll get my customized version of 5.5 as soon as possible and discuss actual use in a later article.
While I was waiting on my re-install (more on this later), I had plenty of time to review the draft Communicator 3000 MPE/iX Release 5.5. Since much has been written about Patch/iX and Stage/iX, inbound Telnet, network printing support, TurboSTORE/iX and its True-Online Backup, I am going to give some space to the lesser publicized, but still very interesting, 5.5 features.
Online System Device and DTS/TIO Configuration
A long time system manager's dream come true, this is reason enough to move
to MPE/iX 5.5. These enhancements improve system availability by reducing
the need for planned down time.
The Online Device Configuration facility lets you configure (add, modify, and, in some cases, delete) tape drives, system printers and disks while the system is online. IOCONFIG, a new utility with the same command interface as the I/O configuration portion of SYSGEN, can be used to make changes that take effect immediately. Since IOCONFIG automatically updates SYSGEN's base configuration, it can completely replace SYSGEN for device configuration. If want the changes to take effect at some later time (while still online) rather than immediately, you can use SYSGEN as usual, and then issue the new DOIONOW command to apply the changes. Note: DOIONOW requires SM, of course.
Features available as part of the new DTS/TIO (Data-communications and Terminal Subsystem/Terminal I/O) configuration include the dynamic configuration of DTS/TIO devices, the automatic configuration of DTCs, the shutdown and restart of DTS without having to reboot the HP 3000 host, terminal switching on host-based DTC ports, and the capability to specify the starting LDEV of non-nailed PAD and TIO pools.
You use NMMGR to make configuration changes to NMCONFIG.PUB.SYS as usual, then invoke the new command DTCCNTRL from within NMMGR or at the CI prompt to make the changes dynamically. Changes that can be made this way include adding/deleting LDEVs, adding/deleting DTC cards, adding/deleting entire DTCs, adding/deleting class names in terminal or printer profiles and changing most fields in a terminal or printer profile. Whole DTCs can now be configured automatically using defaults either within NMMGR or with the new DTCCNTRL command.
Prior to MPE/iX 5.5, terminal switching, which enables a terminal connected to a DTC to connect to other systems on the LAN, was available only if you were using PC-based DTC management (OpenView DTC Manager). Many sites had to go to PC-based management simply to achieve this switching. MPE/iX 5.5 allows terminal switching with host-based management.
CI Enhancements
Where to start? Eight new CI variables have been added, including four that
compile remote and local IP addresses and port numbers. The communicator
contains a sample logon UDC that uses these new CI variables to filter
logons based on time of day, inbound IP addresses and inbound port number
(the service being used where NS/VT is, for example, ports 1537 and
1570).
Five new evaluator functions build bigger and better command files, UDCs and job control mechanisms. Command files and UDC files now only require execute access (to keep prying eyes away from sensitive information). Command files can use the full POSIX naming conventions. The HPPATH variable now supports directory names. Within the REDO command you can upshift/downshift characters and words and delete whole words. The CI recognizes a leading "#" as a comment line. Finally, online help is now available for all CI variables and evaluator functions.
For example, HELP FINFO shows the details of the FINFO function). The form for many of these enhancements was worked out in a dialog on HP 3000-L. Thanks go to Jeff Vance and Eero Laurila of HP.
New JOBSECURITY Options
If you already have a security product running, then these enhancements are
probably of little importance. However, if you do not have HP Security
Monitor (or SAFE/3000, SECURITY/3000 or CDS/SECURITY, etc.), you can use
the new features of JOBSECURITY to better manage passwords. (You do at
least use passwords, don't you?)
Normally, when the STREAM command is issued, the user is prompted for any required passwords, if they are not already embedded within the job file. With the new PASSEXEMPT=USER option to the JOBSECURITY command (which requires SM to use, from the console, or if ALLOWed), certain users can be exempted from supplying passwords when STREAMing jobs. Note that they already have the ability to determine the passwords, so this becomes primarily a convenience feature.
The option enable SM users to STREAM any job without having to supply passwords; AM users can STREAM any job that logs on to their account, provided they have access to the job file; and ordinary users can STREAM any job that logs on to their USER.ACCOUNT provided they have access to the job file.
With the PASSEXEMPT=XACCESS option, users can STREAM jobs without specifying passwords if the job file's owner/creator is the same as the job logon identity and the user has execute access to the file. Execute access can be specified to the user level with ACDs. So, for example, you can have some MANAGER.SYS jobs that can be STREAMed by selected users, without their needing to know the passwords and without having to embed the passwords in the job file (usually an impediment to recommended frequent password changes).
PASSEXEMPT=MAX combines both USER and XACCESS options and PASSEXEMPT=NONE (the default upon any START NORECOVERY) specifies pre-MPE/iX 5.5 behavior. The last PASSEXEMPT state is preserved in a START RECOVERY.
File Label Last Modify Date
Not a seemingly big deal, and the stated reason for making this change was
to more closely imitate the timestamp behavior under Unix. I love it
anyway. Pre-MPE/iX 5.5, whenever a file was opened with write access, the
last modified date and time fields in the file label were updated with the
current date and time -- even if no modifications occurred. Now, the last
modified fields will only be updated if an actual write (update or append)
occurs.
Enhanced Console Switching
The logical console can now be switched (with the CONSOLE command) over a
LAN to any virtual terminal (VT) session. Yes, I know, we've all probably
acquired unsupported workarounds if we needed this capability, but it is
always better to have a supported solution. Plus, the logical console
automatically reverts back to LDEV 20, the physical console, after any
session disconnect. Note that this enhancement gives you the option of
having a single PC serve as the point of control for multiple systems.
Posix Shell Enhancements
HP added the 'lp', 'lpstat', 'lpalt', and 'cancel' commands to the Posix
shell to control printing functions from within the shell. They also
enhanced 'tar' to support most MPE file types and attributes, including
user labels (it does this conforming to the proposed POSIX.2b standard).
This gives developers a way to distribute software within the shell. 'tar'
cannot handle PRIV mode files (such as databases) or the special file types
MSG, CIR, and RIO.
POSIX Developer's Kit in FOS
While a no-charge upgrade if you purchased the C/iX compiler, the Kit is
necessary if you wish to use GNU g++ or MicroFocus Cobol. So it became a
Catch-22, particularly for those who wanted to experiment with g++. With
MPE/iX 5.5, HP removes this impediment to the development of POSIX
applications using the GNU tools by including the POSIX Developer's Kit in
FOS.
Internet Services
In addition to the Telnet server mentioned above, MPE/iX 5.5 also adds
'inetd' (the Internet daemon and master server for the other services),
'bootpd' (the Bootstrap Protocol daemon used to start devices such as
routers, printers, x-terminals and diskless workstations), and 'tftpd' (the
Trivial File Transfer Protocol daemon which enables the HP 3000 to boot
network printers).
Host Control for Tape Drives
The DEVCTRL utility has been enhanced to provide a supported means for
placing a tape device online or offline without manual intervention.
Now for the really, really bad news part
With a charter membership in my personal Hall of Shame and Pet Peeves, I
give you the documentation for OS updates, PowerPatches and the like. You
have to ask yourself, does anyone ever test these procedures? Seems to me
that new Response Center engineers should, as part of their training, be
required to perform every task in the manuals by the book. Errors would be
caught quickly this way. I'm a stickler about documentation for system
administration tasks. It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be
thorough and accurate.
I'm not whining about simple typos that slightly alter (sometimes humorously) the meaning of a sentence. (My favorite occurs at the beginning of Chapter 6, Finishing the Process: "This chapter describes all the finishing steps to bring your system back up after applying the changes to your system. This *tipsily* includes..." By the time you get here you will probably be pretty tipsy or silly or both. I like it, "tipsily"!)
Nor am I talking about errors in commands that don't do what is intended, but probably do no serious harm (SPOOLF &;DELETE instead of SPOOLF @;DELETE); or, don't work at all and generate error messages, but you can probably figure out the correct version (FILE @SYSGTAPE;DEV=dev_number). No, I'm talking about the kind of errors that can leave you dead in the water at 2:00 a.m. with no way out (consider the whole Re-Install task list and, in particular, BULDACCT.PUB.SYS).
Nothing evokes quite as much fear as a Re-Install (equivalent to the MPE/V Reload). Yet, the whole Re-Install task list is a mess in the 5.0 PowerPatch 3 manual and even worse in the 5.5 System Software Maintenance Manual. I guarantee a novice system administrator will get in trouble. Or, at the very least need a package of TUMS to get through it.
HP has long recommended, and continues to recommend the use of BULDACCT.PUB.SYS to create two jobs: BULDJOB1 and BULDJOB2 for use in recreating the accounting structure and re-establishing UDCS, respectively, if you need to do a re-install (see, for example, the draft version System Software Maintenance Manual Release 5.5).
Sad experience has shown this to be unwise at best. When you do a re-install, you restore the system volume set and you restore COMMAND.PUB.SYS in particular. If you now STREAM BULDJOB2 as recommended in the documentation, you get everything doubled. BULDJOB2 does a SETCATALOG...;APPEND.
The real gotcha though is BULDJOB1. It "appears" to create the entire accounting structure, including HFS directories. However, all the HFS directories are created with an owner of MANAGER.SYS and a group ID of 0. NetWare/iX, for one, chokes since it expects the owner to be NWIXUSER.SYS and the group ID to be SYS.
Forget about BULDACCT. Always use ";directory" on your STOREs and if you have to do a re-install, use ";directory" on your RESTORE.
SRs have supposedly been issued on both BULDACCT and the documentation. [I posted this information to HP 3000-L and was advised by a fellow user that BULDACCT was fixed in a series of two patches. I have been unable to confirm this -- the version I used was from MPE/iX 5.0 PowerPatch 3.]
One wonders how many frantic support calls could be avoided with better documentation.
Conclusion
There are many other enhancements that are a part of the MPE/iX 5.5 release
that have not been covered here. Hopefully this has given you reason enough
to at least seriously review the Communicator for yourself. Again, I
strongly recommend you update to 5.5 as soon as your OS update policy
allows. Undaunted by my personal weekend in Hell, I still intend to plunge
headlong into MPE/iX 5.5 as soon as I can get my hands on a production
version customized for my site. I'll report on actual usage experience in a
future Test Drive.
John Burke is a longtime HP 3000 columnist and contributing editor to the 3000 NewsWire, editing our net.digest column. John has 18 years experience on the HP 3000, works as systems manager for Construction Computer Center, and can be reached at tcdn96a@prodigy.com.