The SYSGEN configuration utility/More INI Details

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Revision as of 19:13, 21 August 2008

The INI file is a text file that contains configuration information for an entire Comet enterprise. It contains the following major sections:

[ENTERPRISE]
[SITE]
[NODE]
[COMET SYSTEM OPTIONS]
[CONSOLE SESSION OPTIONS]
[DIRECTORIES]
[PRINTERS]
[SPOOLERS]
[GATEWAYS]
[INVALID CHARACTER TRANSLATION]
[END]

Refer to the minimal INI file to see the minimum requirements to configure Comet.

Groups

An INI file contains 11 groups. The keyword that starts each group is enclosed in square brackets. For example:

[COMET SYSTEM OPTIONS]

Each group contains detailed information about a portion of your Comet configuration. The details are defined by one or more segment titles within each group. A segment title contains a keyword, and equal sign (=), and one or more parameters.

Here is an example of the [COMET SYSTEM OPTIONS] group:

[COMET SYSTEM OPTIONS]
First Partition = P00;
# of Partitions = 10;
First Terminal = T00;
# of Terminals = 3;

In this example, the four lines following the major keyword define the partition and terminal range for a particular Comet node.

Each segment title line ends with a semicolon (;). All text following a semicolon is ignored by SYSGEN and can be used to comment lines. (See below for more information about adding other comments to an INI file.)

Note: there is no line continuation allowed in an INI file. Each segment title must fit on its own line.

Do not mix segment titles of one section with another. For example, it makes no sense to declare a directory name under the [COMET SYSTEM OPTIONS] groups, since it belongs to the [DIRECTORIES] group.

Global -vs- Local

The INI file can contain global and local entries. Global entries apply to the entire enterprise, while local ones apply to a specific node.

Local entries are unique to a given workstation. Typical examples of this include declarations of local directories, partition/terminal/session information, individual printers, gateways that are used on one node only.

Global statements are default entries for all nodes, and local statements supplement these default entries.

Here’s an example. Comet directories would typically be the same for most nodes in a network and these would be defined as global entries in the INI file. However, you could still make local directory entries for a specific node, and these entries would take precedence. Local entries are coded in the [NODE] section for each workstation that requires access to directories that are not defined in the global settings section.

In this example, let assume that the node named MANAGER wants to configure an extra directory named SECURITY.

The global section of the INI contains the following directory definitions:

[DIRECTORIES]
00 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\REL\;           REL directory
01 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\SYS\;           SYS directory
02 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\NET\;           NET directory
03 = L ,D:\TEMP\;                              TMP directory
04 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\SPOOL\; SPL directory
05 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\UTL\;           UTL directory
06 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\UTR\;           UTR directory
07 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\MISC\;  MSC directory

The local section for the MANAGER node would contain the following:

[NODE]
Name = MANAGER;                         Node name is MANAGER
Server = N01,FS;                        Get files and security from N01
[DIRECTORIES]
08 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\SECURITY;       Add directory for this node

The local section can also take away entries that were made in the global section. For example, suppose that the MANAGER node wants to (1) add the SECURITY directory, and (2) remove the TEMP and QSPOOL directories. The local section would then look like this:

[NODE]

Name = MANAGER; Node name is MANAGER

Server = N01,FS; Get files and security from N01

[DIRECTORIES]

03 = ; Don’t configure this directory on this node

04 = ; Don’t configure this directory on this node

08 = S ,\\FS1\SYS\COMET\SECURITY; Add directory for this node

Here’s a good strategy to follow when editing the INI file for global and local settings:

Complete the segment entries for each of the sections except [NODE]. The segment entries here are the global entries for the enterprise. Entries should be the settings that are most common for all the nodes in the enterprise. Place the [NODE] section(s) after the [INVALID TRANSLATION TABLE] section and before the [END] section. The local entries for each node are specified in this area.

In order to satisfy, in the broadest terms, all configuration options that are possible, no limitations exist between what can be declared global or local. For some installations, a specific global declaration may make sense whereas for another, it would make no sense.

Documenting the INI file with comments

It's always a great idea to document your INI file, if for no other reason but to clarify configuration entries. There are two ways to include documentation within your Comet INI file, they are:

1. Using the asterisk character (*) in the 1st position of any INI line.

For example:

• COMET.INI *

• Last Date Modified: 04/16/01 # of NODES = 60 *

2. Each segment title must end with a semicolon. Any text to the right of the semicolon is considered a comment and is ignored by SYSGEN.

For example:

[NODE]

Name = MANAGER; Node name is MANAGER

Server = N01,FS; Get files and security from N01