Deb Baddorf
February 15, 1999
There are several accounts on EPICURE nodes which are designed for system control purposes. These are captive accounts which present a limited menu of options. They require no password, but require that you log in from a known source, so that your identity can be checked. Logging in from a known source usually means a SET HOST from a node and account which is on a list managed by the WARNER system manager. It can also mean creating a new window on a workstation, which implies that you are sitting at the workstation. A brief explanation of some of these accounts follows.
The Epicure OPERATOR account, EOPERATOR, lets you STOP, START, or RESTART all or individual EPICURE processes. You need to log into EOPERATOR on the node you wish to affect. The RESTART option does a STOP followed by a START, and saves you some typing.
After you type STOP, START, or RESTART you can press return to get a list of things that you can stop or start. If you know the name of the process, you can type both parts of the command on the first prompt. For example: RESTART EPICURE will affect all the Epicure processes, in the proper order.
All three of these options ask WHO you are and WHY you are stopping, starting, or restarting. These responses are logged in a file back on WARNER so that we can track how often each node has problems, or how often each program has problems. It helps us to troubleshoot, and to know when something needs to be investigated. Please try to give us a helpful reason so we can fix things.
There is also an option to CHECK whether an EPICURE process is still running or has disappeared on your node.
The SHOWSYS option will show all processes running on a node, including user and system processes. A FINGER option provides similar information in a different format, with the enhancement that you see what image (what program) each process is running. This FINGER option also shows you who owns (who started up) the running processes.
The SHUTDOWN account is used to reboot or shutdown a node (a computer). Using this account is the correct way to stop a computer. If you just cycle the power, you run the danger of possibly corrupting files or disks. This is also true if you just hit the halt button.
Use the SHUTDOWN account to stop a node if at all possible. If you can still log into the node, you can run the SHUTDOWN account.
The REBOOT option will gracefully shut a node down and then immediately boot it again, without further intervention (there are a few initial questions). This is appropriate when you need to fully reset everything on the computer, possibly because the computer was not behaving properly, or possibly because a system person asked you to do so.
The SHUTDOWN option will gracefully shut a node down and leave it down. This option is used if you need to turn off the power on the node, or do other work on the node before you boot it again. To boot it again when you are ready, turn the power on (if it was off). If the screen (or HYDRA's display for that node) stops at ``>>>'' then you need to type B or BOOT and then carriage return. Instructions on how to do this, for the HYDRA monitored nodes, are found in RD Controls EPICURE Software Release Note 64, ``Power Recovery Reboot Procedure''.
The SHUTDOWN account also has an option to show users currently logged into the node. This is provided so you can see how many other people will be affected by your shutdown or reboot, before you start doing one.
Keywords: Epicure, captive, account
Distribution:
RD Site Operations
baddorf@fnal.gov