Tool Essentials

There are three basic type of SCM tools, single-system aware (SSA) tools, mulitple-system aware (MSA) tools and web launch aware (WLA) tools.

SSA tools are executed on a target node and are only aware of the target node environment. When executing an SSA tool, therefore, the DTF sends the tool information to each SCM agent to execute the tool. An example of an SSA tool would be a tool that wraps a common UNIX command, such as ls, cat, or cp.

MSA tools are executed on a central node, sometimes the Central Management Server (CMS), and know how to handle a list of target nodes. An example of an MSA tool would be a tool that wraps the functionality of Ignite-UX on HP-UX systems.

WLA tools are tools that are generally executed in a browser and are specified by a universal resource location (URL).

Tool Name

The name attribute specifies the tool name and must be specified.

Tool Type

There are three basic type of SCM tools, single-system aware (SSA) tools, mulitple-system aware (MSA) tools and web launch aware (WLA) tools.

SSA tools are executed on a target node and are only aware of the target node environment. When executing an SSA tool, therefore, the DTF sends the tool information to each SCM agent to execute the tool. An example of an SSA tool would be a tool that wraps a common UNIX command, such as ls, cat, or cp.

MSA tools are executed on a central node, sometimes the Central Management Server (CMS), and know how to handle a list of target nodes. An example of an MSA tool would be a tool that wraps the functionality of Ignite-UX on HP-UX systems.

WLA tools are tools that are generally executed in a browser and are specified by a universal resource location (URL).

Command Tool Type

The command-type  attribute specifies whether the command is an x-window, stdout,  restart, launch, or an unknown command type. The default command  type is stdout.

Log

The log attribute specifies whether the results  of the command will be output to this system's audit log. When  log="true" the stdout and stderr results of the command will be output to the system's audit log. Command output is logged by default.

Command

Right clicking in this field allows the Visual Tool Builder to insert the following parameterized string macros.

Parameter Description

Parameterized strings are strings which contain replacement fields, similar to the format strings used in the popular printf() function in the standard C library. These fields can be replaced by values entered by the user at runtime (as defined by the tool parameters attribute), by some standard task properties supplied by the Task Controller, values related to the selected target nodes or node groups, or by property values retrieved from a global tool properties file. This allows a very specific URL or command line to be generated.

Parameter Prompt

A parameter element has three attributes. The index attribute specifies which argument in a parameterized string this parameter substitutes. Parameters may be indexed from 1 to 10 with a default index of 1. Tools cannot contain parameters with duplicate indexes. If more than one parameter in a tool definition contains the same index, only the last parameter added to the tool with the duplicate index remains in the tool. The prompt attribute provides information about the parameter that may be displayed in a GUI for assistance. The required attribute specifies whether this parameter must be specified when the tool is executed.

Required

By default, parameters are not required.