The NET$MGMT utility provides a hierarchical graphical approach to the
management of DECnet-Plus. The manageable components of DECnet-Plus
(referred to as entities, subentities, or instances) are represented
in a tree-like structure below the icon of the node you are
managing.
The entities in the display that are "greyed out" are not yet supported
by this application.
1 – Addition help
Nearly all of the displays have a Help pulldown menu. These menus have
two options available: "On Window" and "About". Click on the "About"
option for a general overview of NET$MGMT. Click on the "On Window"
option for specific screen information.
2 – expand_collapse
Expanding means bringing into view any subentities associated with an
entity. Collapsing means taking those subentities away from view.
A highlighted icon (a dark diamond) in front of an entity or subentity
indicates that it has children and may be expanded or collapsed. For
example, when you expand the Node entity, its subentities, such as
Event Dispatcher, Alias, etc. will appear.
2.1 – how_to_expand_collapse
There are two methods to perform the expand/collapse action. The
easiest way is to double-click the left-most mouse button on an entity in
the main window. (Of course, if you have changed your Session Manager
Options and are using the Left-Handed Mouse Button Arrangement, use the
right-most button instead.)
Another way to expand or collapse an entity is to single click the
left mouse button on the entity to select it and then select Expand or
Collapse from the Actions pulldown menu.
2.2 – how_to_see_ncl
Some entities take longer to expand than others because the application
is busy querying the system about the subentities. For example,
expanding routing circuit adjacencies will generally take longer on an
intermediate system than it will on an end system. If you are curious
about what NCL commands the application is performing on your behalf,
you can select Default Actions from the Options pulldown and enable
NCL to display those commands.
3 – permanent_changes
Just as with NCL, any network management changes you make using NET$MGMT
will only be retained until the next reboot. In order to make
permanent network management changes, you can modify the NCL startup
scripts by running the SYS$MANAGER:NET$CONFIGURE.COM procedure and using
the ADVANCED option. Do not modify the SYS$MANAGER:NET$*_STARTUP.NCL
scripts directly. Refer to the Installation and Configuration Manual for
more information about making permanent configuration changes.
4 – Mouse usage
The mouse is used to Select an entity; perform the Zoom, Expand and
Collapse actions; and move around in the displays.
Note: Right-handed button arrangement is the default for the Session
Manager. If you are using the left-handed button arrangement instead,
the action of mouse buttons described here is reversed.
4.1 – MB1
A single-click with the left mouse button while the pointer is positioned
over an unhighlighted entity will select (or highlight) that entity.
A single-click with the left mouse button while the pointer is positioned
over an entity that has been highlighted previously will cause the
expansion of that entity if that entity is not already in the expanded
state. ("Expanding" the entity means that its subentities will become
visible.)
A double-click with the left mouse button while the pointer is positioned
over any entity or subentity will cause the expansion or collapse of that
entity. For example, double-clicking the left mouse button on the Session
Control entity after it has already expanded would cause that entity to
be collapsed, and vice versa.
4.2 – MB3
A single-click with the right mouse button over any entity, subentity or
instance that currently has the Zoom action enabled, will automatically
bring up that entity's Zoom display. If the Zoom action is currently not
allowed for that entity, no action will be taken.
5 – Pushbuttons
The following pushbuttons are located at the bottom of the appropriate
displays:
OK - After you are finished making changes in a display, push OK
to approve the action. The appropriate NCL commands will be
issued, and the current display will be dismissed.
APPLY - Does the same thing as the OK pushbutton, but the display
remains up after the NCL commands have been issued. This is
convenient because you can "try out" different settings by
APPLYing them. Since the display remains up, you can then
RESET to the previous values or set the values to their
DEFAULTs and re-APPLY if you like. The display will remain
up until you push CANCEL to dismiss the window.
RESET - Returns the values of all attributes back to what they were
when you first entered the display. These values are changed
in the display only -- no NCL commands are issued until you
push APPLY or OK. The display remains up for further
modifications until you push OK or CANCEL.
DEFAULTS - Sets the values of all attributes to their defaults. These
values are changed in the display only -- no NCL commands are
issued until you push APPLY or OK. The display remains for
further modifications until you push OK or CANCEL.
CANCEL - Push to abort the action. The window is dismissed and no
NCL commands are issued.
CONTINUE - After all required arguments have been supplied, push to
approve the action. The appropriate NCL commands will be
issued, and the current display will be dismissed.
6 – Refresh display
Certain changes that occur are not immediately reflected in the display.
Examples of such changes include:
- Changes to the entity tree structure that occur when subentities or
instances are dynamically created or deleted during the normal
operation of DECnet-Plus, for example, changes in NSP Ports.
- Changes that occur as a result of some independent network
management action. For example, another manager may be running
NCL on the same node and making network management changes.
- Changes to counter values.
As a result, you may occasionally wish to refresh the display. To
refresh any subentity within the entity tree, simply collapse
and re-expand its parent. To refresh counters, it is necessary to
perform the Zoom action again.
If you attempt to perform an action on an entity that no longer exists, an
informational message will be displayed, and the parent entity will
automatically be refreshed.
7 – Required rights
The same rights required to run NCL are also required to run NET$MGMT.
The process invoking NET$MGMT must have the following rights enabled,
or the process must possess BYPASS privilege:
NET$EXAMINE - Allows you to view network management information.
NET$MANAGE - Permits you to view and modify network management
information.
NET$SECURITY - Allows you to modify Session Control Application
information.
When you use the Change To Remote Node to manage a remote Phase V node,
you can provide explicit access control information. That remote account
must have at least the NET$EXAMINE right in order to successfully
switch management control to the remote node. If you do not provide
explicit access control information, your rights on the remote node will
be determined by that node's CML$SERVER account.
When you wish to return to managing the local node, use the
"Change to Local Node" option from the options pulldown.
8 – Viewer Pulldown
The Viewer pulldown menu provides two options:
Exit - This option exits the application.
Style - This option allows you to change the way you view the entity tree
in the main window at any time. By default, the Viewer Style is
Display as Outline. Options include a column view, a left-oriented
tree view, or a top-oriented tree view.
8.1 – column_viewer_style
Select Style, Displays as Columns from the Viewer menu to use the
column style display. Currently, this style is not much different
than the Outline style.
8.2 – outline_viewer_style
This is the default Viewer Style.
8.3 – Tree viewer style
When you select Style, Display as Tree from the Viewer pulldown,
the main window will assume a tree-style display. You can then switch
between the left-oriented or top-oriented tree styles by selecting
Style, Display Left or Style, Display Top from the Viewer pulldown.
8.3.1 – tree_navigation
A tree navigator is available to help you move easily to other parts of
the tree. Click on the box in the lower right corner of the main
display to bring up the tree navigator. It will show you where you are
in relation to the rest of the tree. You can change position in the
tree by dragging the viewer to the area you wish to view. To dismiss
the navigator display, click on the lower right corner of the main
display again.
Alternatively, you may use the scroll bars to move through a tree-style
display. Whenever you drag a scroll bar, a navigator box will appear to
indicate where you are in relation to the rest of the tree.
9 – Actions Pulldown
The Actions pulldown menu allows you to select functions to be performed on
an entity. Examples of frequently performed actions are: Create, Delete,
Enable, Disable, etc. For the most part, the Actions are named for their
equivalent NCL directives. One exception to this naming convention is the
Zoom action. Zoom displays allow you to Show and in some cases, Set,
Enable or Disable attributes for a particular entity.
9.1 – possible_actions
To determine which actions can be performed on a particular entity, place
the pointer on that entity and click the left mouse button to highlight
the entity. (Or, use the right mouse button if your Session Manager is
configured to use Left-Handed Button Arrangement.) Then place the pointer
over the Actions pulldown and click on the left mouse button; A list of
actions available for this entity will be displayed. Only those actions
that are not greyed out are currently available, note, this list may
change as the state of the entity changes.
Click on the action you wish to perform, and a display for that action
will appear to prompt you for arguments if necessary. If an action
display is presented, you have the option of aborting the action by
pushing the CANCEL button or proceeding with the action by supplying any
required information and pushing a CONTINUE, OKAY or APPLY button. See
Pushbutton Usage for more information about these buttons.
9.2 – frequently_performed_actions
The most frequently performed actions (Zoom, Expand, and Collapse) can be
performed using the mouse instead of the Actions pulldown if you prefer.
Double-clicking the left mouse button while the pointer is positioned over
any entity or subentity will cause the expansion or collapse of that
entity. For example, double-clicking the left mouse button on the Session
Control entity after it has already expanded would cause that entity to
be collapsed, and vice versa.
Single-clicking the right-most mouse button over any entity, subentity or
instance that currently has the Zoom action enabled will automatically
bring up that entity's Zoom display. If the Zoom action is currently not
allowed for that entity, no action will be taken.
Note: If you have changed your Session Manager to use the left-handed
button arrangement, use the left button to Zoom and the right button to
Expand/Collapse.
10 – Options pulldown
The Options pulldown provides three functions:
Change To Remote Node - This option allows you to set the node you are
managing to any other Phase V node on the network.
Change To Local Node - This option returns you to managing the node from
which you originally ran NET$MGMT.
Default Actions - This option allows you to display the NCL commands
that are used to create the displays and perform
the actions requested. These NCL commands will
appear in the window where you originally issued
the command to run NET$MGMT.
11 – tasks_pulldown
The Tasks pulldown provides access to commonly performed management
activities. Tasks are functions that generally require many NCL commands
or are complex in some way. The number of available tasks will be
increased with future releases. Currently, the supported tasks include:
Show Known Links
Show Known Node Counters
Show Transports