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As the SNAP-IX administrator, you are responsible for installing the SNAP-IX software and for managing its resources. Before beginning SNAP-IX administration, you must understand the main features of the SNAP-IX product (see What Is SNAP-IX?). This section describes the administration tasks you must perform and the tools you can use to perform them.
To administer the SNAP-IX system, you need to do the following:
Define the resources of the SNAP-IX system, as required by the user programs that will be running. Work with the administrators of the host or peer computers with which SNAP-IX communicates, to ensure that the SNAP-IX configuration matches that of the remote system.
Initialize the SNAP-IX software.
Optionally, modify the configuration dynamically as your requirements change-by adding or removing resources, or by activating and deactivating the defined resources.
Monitor the status of active resources and gather diagnostics information to diagnose any problems that occur.
Optionally, create application programs or shell scripts to automate standard management operations.
These tasks are normally performed by a System Administrator at the site where the SNAP-IX system is installed. However, SNAP-IX also provides the service point command facility (SPCF), which enables an operator using the NetView program to perform Steps Optionally, modify the configuration dynamically as your requirements change-by adding or removing resources, or by activating and deactivating the defined resources. and Monitor the status of active resources and gather diagnostics information to diagnose any problems that occur. remotely by issuing management commands at the NetView console. For more information about SPCF, see Managing SNAP-IX from NetView.
SNAP-IX provides a range of tools for administering the system. Depending on your requirements, you may not need to use all of them. This section summarizes the functions provided by each of these tools.
This document provides general information about SNAP-IX administration, which you can perform using any of the tools described in this section. For most purposes, the Motif administration program is recommended, because it provides context-sensitive guidance for node configuration and management.
For information about controlling who can use the SNAP-IX administration tools and the range of administration functions they can use, see Administration Permissions.
SNAP-IX includes the following administration tools:
Motif administration program (see Motif Administration Program).
Web administration program (see Web Administration Program).
Command-line administration program (see Command-Line Administration Program, or refer to SNAP-IX Administration Command Reference).
Service point command facility (see Remote Command Facility).
Configuration files (see Configuration Files).
Diagnostic tools (see Diagnostic Tools).
All of the SNAP-IX administration tools use the NOF API. You can also use that API to write your own administration tools. For more information, see NOF Applications.
The easiest way to define and modify the SNAP-IX configuration is to use the Motif administration program (xsnaadmin). This program provides a graphical user interface from which you can view and manage SNAP-IX resources.
The following management operations are available:
Defining SNAP-IX resources
Starting and stopping a node and its connectivity resources
Changing the configuration of defined resources
Querying the configuration of defined resources and their current status if they are active
Deleting resources
The Motif administration program can be used to manage both node resources (for any server on the LAN, as long as the SNAP-IX software is running on that server) and domain resources. For each type of communications (such as 3270 or APPC), the program guides you in setting up the configuration of the required resources.
The windows and dialogs in the Motif administration program may differ from those shown in this guide, depending on the functions included with your installation of SNAP-IX and the choices you make on a particular dialog.
The Motif administration program includes help screens that provide overview information for SNA and SNAP-IX, reference information for SNAP-IX dialogs, and guidance for performing specific tasks.
Before starting the Motif administration program, make sure the SNAP-IX software is enabled (for more information, see Administering SNAP-IX).
To start the Motif administration program in the background, issue the following command:
xsnaadmin &
All started SNAP-IX servers are shown on the main screen. For those that have already been configured, the program enables you to select a node, and then displays the selected node's configuration. Otherwise, the program prompts you to select a node and leads you through the required steps to define it.
For more information about how to use the Motif administration program to define and manage SNAP-IX resources, see Invoking the Motif Administration Program, or refer to the help screens provided by the program.
The Motif administration program enables you to set up all required parameters for standard SNAP-IX configurations. For advanced parameters, the Motif administration program supplies default values. You need to supply only the essential configuration information, which enables you to set up SNA communications quickly and easily.
The other SNAP-IX administration tools, including command-line configuration, and NOF application programs, provide access to a wider range of configuration parameters and options than those shown in the Motif administration program. In most cases, however, you can perform all needed configuration from the Motif administration program, because it exposes the key fields you need to configure and hides the fields that most users should not need to modify. The default values supplied by command-line configuration may differ from those supplied by the Motif administration program, because the Motif program can choose values more intelligently based on the context of the configuration task you are performing.
If you need to use these additional functions, you can still use the Motif administration program to set up the basic configuration, and use the other administration tools to specify the additional functions. When you later use the Motif administration program to manage the modified configuration, the program retains the changes you made using the other tools, although the additional functions you have configured are not displayed in the Motif program.
The Web Administration program provides similar functions to the Motif administration program. It allows you to administer SNAP-IX from your browser without the need to start an X session or telnet session to the SNAP-IX server, and is particularly useful when connecting over slow or unreliable links.
Before starting the Web administration program, ensure the following:
The SNAP-IX software is enabled (for more information, see Administering SNAP-IX).
The Web server software is running on the SNAP-IX server (for more information, refer to the documentation for your Web server software).
To use the Web administration program, load the following URL in your browser:
http://server_name/SnaAdmin/
Replace server_name with the TCP/IP host name of the SNAP-IX server.
The program displays a logon screen. Enter the Solaris user ID and password that you use to log on to the Solaris system in order to use other SNAP-IX administration functions.
Once you have logged on, the program displays a similar interface to the Motif administration program, and provides similar functions. For more information about using the program to define and manage SNAP-IX resources, refer to the help screens provided by the program.
The Web administration program enables you to set up all required parameters for standard SNAP-IX configurations. For advanced parameters, the program supplies default values. You need to supply only the essential configuration information, which enables you to set up SNA communications quickly and easily.
The other SNAP-IX administration tools, including command-line configuration and NOF application programs, provide access to a wider range of configuration parameters and options than those shown in the Web administration program. In most cases, however, you can perform all needed configuration from this administration program, because it exposes the key fields you need to configure and hides the fields that most users should not need to modify. The default values supplied by the Web administration program may differ from those supplied by command-line configuration, because the Web program can choose values more intelligently based on the context of the configuration task you are performing. (They may also differ from those supplied by the Motif administration program, because that program can choose values based on other choices you have already made in the same dialog.)
If you need to use these additional functions, you can still use the Web administration program to set up the basic configuration, and use the other administration tools to specify the additional functions. When you later use the Web administration program to manage the modified configuration, the program retains the changes you made using the other tools, although the additional functions you have configured are not displayed in the Web program.
The command-line administration program, snaadmin, enables you to issue commands to manage individual SNAP-IX resources. You can use snaadmin either directly from the Solaris command prompt or from within a shell script.
Commands can be issued to a specific SNAP-IX node to manage the node's resources, to the SNA network data file to manage master and backup servers, or to the domain configuration file to manage domain resources.
Some administration commands, defined in SNAP-IX Administration Command Reference, explicitly say that they can be issued from a SNAP-IX Solaris client. For all other commands, you can only issue command-line administration commands from a client if you specify with a server name. A command issued from a client using has the same effect as if it were issued at the named server.
You can get help for command-line administration by using any of the following commands:
snaadmin -h provides basic help for command-line administration and usage information for command-line help.
snaadmin -h -d provides a list of commands that can be supplied to the snaadmin program.
snaadmin -h command provides help for the named command.
snaadmin -h -d command provides detailed help for the named command, including a list of the configuration parameters that can be specified with the command.
Refer to SNAP-IX Administration Command Reference for more information.
The remote command facility (RCF) provides the following facilities to support the administration of SNAP-IX from a NetView console on a host:
Service point command facility (SPCF) enables an operator at a host NetView console to manage SNAP-IX from NetView by issuing SNAP-IX administration commands.
UNIX command facility (UCF) enables the NetView operator to issue standard Solaris commands on the SNAP-IX computer.
For more information about RCF, see Managing SNAP-IX from NetView.
Configuration information for the SNAP-IX system is held in the following text files:
The /etc/opt/sna/sna_node.cfg file contains information about SNAP-IX node resources for a specific node. This file resides on the computer where the node runs. It includes information about the node's resources and specifies which resources are active when SNAP-IX is started on the node.
This file provides an initial definition of the resources that are available; you can then use the other administration tools to modify the running node's resources as your requirements change. Any modifications you make are automatically saved to the file, so that the modified configuration can be used again when the node is stopped and restarted.
The /etc/opt/sna/sna_domn.cfg file contains information about SNAP-IX domain resources (resources not associated with a particular local node). The master copy of this file resides on the master server.
The /etc/opt/sna/sna_tps file contains information that SNAP-IX needs to start invokable (target) TPs, and can also provide other information (such as the level of security required to access the TP). This file resides on the computer where the TPs run.
For more information about this file, see Defining TPs.
You can modify the configuration using the Motif administration program, the Web administration program, the command-line administration program, or the NOF API. All of these tools make the required changes to the node configuration file or domain configuration file as appropriate. Because configuration information is stored as plain text, you can also modify the file directly using a standard ASCII text editor such as vi, or by means of a shell script using Solaris utilities such as awk or sed. Any changes to configuration files using a text editor must be made before starting SNAP-IX. Refer to SNAP-IX Administration Command Reference for more information about SNAP-IX configuration file format.
SNAP-IX configuration is a dynamic process; it is not necessary to define the entire configuration before starting the SNAP-IX software. The configuration file provides an initial definition of the available resources, but you can add, delete, or modify resources as necessary while the SNAP-IX software is running. SNAP-IX stores the current definition so that you can use it again when you need to restart the system.
The following files contain information about the SNAP-IX client/server network:
The /etc/opt/sna/sna.net file contains information about which server is the master, and which servers can act as backup servers. This binary file resides on the master server. You can modify the contents of this file using the administration programs or the NOF API.
For more information about this file, refer to SNAP-IX Administration Command Reference.
The sna_clnt.net file contains information about how to access SNAP-IX servers, required by a Solaris client computer. This text file resides on the client computer. You can modify the contents of this file using a standard ASCII text editor.
For more information about this file, refer to SNAP-IX Administration Command Reference. For information about configuring the equivalent information on a Windows client, see Managing SNAP-IX Client/Server Systems.
The following files control the operation of user applications:
Information about a user's customization of the 3270 emulation program is held in a style file, which can be set up either by the System Administrator (as a standard version for multiple users) or by the user (to create his or her own customization). The information in this file can be modified using the menu interface of the 3270 emulation program.
For more information about 3270 style files, refer to SNAP-IX 3270 User's Guide.
Information about the customization of the RJE workstation is held in a style file, which can be set up either by the System Administrator or by the users of the workstation. The information in this file is in ASCII text, and can be modified using a standard text editor; SNAP-IX also provides a character-based menu interface program that you can use to modify the file.
For more information about RJE style files, refer to SNAP-IX RJE User's Guide.
Information about a user's customization of the 5250 emulation program is held in a style file, which can be set up either by the System Administrator (as a standard version for multiple users) or by the user (to create his or her own customization). The information in this file can be modified using the menu interface of the 5250 emulation program.
For more information about 5250 style files, refer to SNAP-IX 5250 User's Guide.
The SNAP-IX NOF API provides the same management functions as the command-line administration program, enabling you to define and manage SNAP-IX resources. This means that you can write your own application programs to administer SNAP-IX.
Refer to SNAP-IX NOF Programmer's Guide for more information.
SNAP-IX provides several diagnostics tools to help you diagnose and correct problems encountered during SNAP-IX operation:
Any component detecting a problem or an exception (an abnormal condition that may indicate the cause of a problem) writes an entry to an error log file. In addition, all significant system events can be recorded in an audit log file. You can determine which types of events (problems, exceptions, or audits) are recorded. In a client/server network configuration, you can specify global settings for the types of events to record on all servers, and then override these on individual servers if necessary.
SNAP-IX also maintains a usage log file, which is used to record information about the current and peak usage of SNAP-IX resources.
You can specify the names and directories of the files used to hold each type of log information; if preferred, you can send both error and audit log information to the same file. On a client/server system, you can send messages from all servers to a central log file on one server (central logging), or send log messages to separate files on each server.
Log files are generated as text files, and can be viewed using a standard ASCII text editor such as vi.
You can choose full logging (which includes details of the cause of the log, and any action required, in the log file for each message), or succinct logging (which includes only a summary of the source of the log and the message text). When using succinct logging, you can use the snahelp command-line utility to obtain the full cause and action text for a particular message number if you need further information.
For some error conditions, SNAP-IX sends a message to the Solaris console to warn the operator, in addition to writing a problem message to the error log file.
Many components can produce a trace file that records the activity of that component. Tracing degrades the performance of SNAP-IX components, and so is normally disabled.
Using command-line utilities, you can filter trace files to extract specific information, and then format the trace information to interpret its contents or to produce a summary of message flows. The formatted output files can be viewed using a standard ASCII text editor such as vi .
SNAP-IX can generate alerts and send them to the NetView program at a host computer. These alerts can be any of the following:
Link alerts from connectivity components, to provide information about connection problems
3270 user alerts from the emulation program
Alerts supplied by an application program using the MS API
Refer to SNAP-IX Diagnostics Guide for information about SNAP-IX log messages, using SNAP-IX trace facilities, and interpreting trace files.
For information about using the MS API, refer to SNAP-IX MS Programmer's Guide.
The SNAP-IX administration tools are intended for use by a restricted
group of SNA administrators
who have permission to manage SNA
resources. To achieve this, the executable files are owned by the system administrator
login root with a group ownership of
sna. Only users
who are members of the group sna can modify, start, or stop SNAP-IX resources; any user
who is to have SNA administrator permissions must be a member of this group.
In the standard SNAP-IX installation, users who are not members of the group sna cannot run the SNAP-IX administration tools at all. If appropriate, you can allow these users to run the tools in read-only mode, so that they can view configuration and status information but cannot modify, start, or stop resources. To do this, use chmod to give read and execute permission for any user to the appropriate executable file or files:
| Administration Tool | Executable File(s) |
| Motif administration program | /opt/sna/bin/X11/xsnaadmin |
| Command-line administration program | /opt/sna/bin/snaadmin |
| Web administration program | /opt/sna/bin/websnaadmin, /opt/sna/bin/snaadmin |
Any user can then run the appropriate administration tool and view information, but SNAP-IX will still prevent users not in the sna group from modifying, starting, or stopping resources.
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