System Administration

Product Version: Digital UNIX Version 4.0B or higher 1996

This guide describes the tasks you perform in order to maintain a Digital UNIX operating system running on an Alpha workstation or server. You use UNIX commands, scripts, and the SysMan graphical user interfaces to perform the system administration tasks described in this manual.

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Possession, use, or copying of the software described in this publication is authorized only pursuant to a valid written license from Digital or an authorized sublicensor.

About This Guide

This manual describes the tasks you perform in order to administer a Digital UNIX operating system running on an Alpha workstation or server.

Audience

This guide is intended for system administrators. Administrators should have knowledge of the operating system concepts and commands, and the hardware and software configuration.

New and Changed Features

This revision of the manual documents the following new features, changed features, and retiring interfaces.

Recognizing the Common Desktop Environment GUI

With this release of the operating system, the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) becomes the preferred operating system interface and the SysMan graphical user interface, which runs under the CDE, becomes the preferred system administration tool. See Chapter 2 for more information about the interface and its commands.

New Information

This manual includes discussions of the following new software components:

Chapter 2, System Administration Tools and Methods, which describes the SysMan GUI and Remote Administration
SCSI Device Dynamic Device Recognition (DDR). See Chapter 6.
Security. See Chapter 4.
Bootable Tape. See Chapter 12.
Telnet (TCP/IP) printing. See Chapter 11.
DECEvent error logging facility and Environmental (thermal) Monitoring. See Chapter 14.
Power management for reducing energy consumption. See Chapter 4.
Performance monitors. See Chapter 4.
Administering Specific Hardware Devices. See Appendix E

The following chapters have been heavily revised to document new features and to correct documentation errors:

Chapter 5, Configuring the Kernel
Chapter 7, Administering the UNIX File System
Chapter 8, Administering the POLYCENTER Advanced File System
Chapter 9, Administering the Logical Storage Manager
Chapter 10, Administering User Accounts and Groups
Chapter 11, Administering Print Services

Changed Information

The chapter on using the setld utility to install and manage software has been moved from this manual to the Installation Guide.

The information about adding third party SCSI devices has been replaced with Dynamic Device Recognition (DDR), which performs the same functions. DDR is described in Chapter 6.

The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) appendix has been removed from the manual because the LVM functionality has been retired from the operating system.

Retiring Software

The uerf error logging software will be retired in a future release of the operating system. Information about it has been moved to Appendix D.

Support for the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) has been retired in this release of the operating system. All volume management functionality now is provided by the Logical Storage Manager (LSM) as described in Chapter 9. All LVM functionality has been disabled with the exception of the support necessary to encapsulate LVM volumes under LSM. All current users of LVM are now required to encapsulate their LVM volumes under LSM in order to maintain access to their data.

Note
In a future release of the operating system, all support for LVM will be dropped and any data remaining under control of LVM software will be lost.

For more information about LVM volume encapsulation, refer to the Logical Storage Manager Reference Guide.

Information about LVM has been deleted from this manual.

Unchanged Information

With the exception of minor documentation problem fixes, the information in the following chapters and appendixes has not changed since the last version of the manual:

Chapter 3, Starting Up and Shutting Down the System, which combines the former chapters about startup and shutdown.
Chapter 12, Administering the Archiving Services
Chapter 13, Administering the System Accounting Services
Appendix A, Device Mnemonics
Appendix B, SCSI/CAM Utility Program
Appendix C, Support of the CI and HSC Hardware

Organizational Changes

Chapter 1 has been expanded and most of the chapters have been renamed. Scan the following section for more information.

Organization

This guide consists of 13 chapters and four appendixes:

Chapter 1	Defines the tasks that make up the job of a Digital UNIX system administrator and points to sources of information about these tasks in this manual and other places.
Chapter 2	Describes methods and tools for system administration tasks.
Chapter 3	Explains how to start up and shut down the operating system. Additionally, explains how to recover from an unexpected shutdown.
Chapter 4	Describes how to customize certain operating system files and diverse operating system components in order to tailor the operating system environment.
Chapter 5	Describes how to dynamically and statically configure an operating system kernel.
Chapter 6	Describes how to administer the SCSI Dynamic Device Recognition capabilities of the operating system. Additionally, it explains how to administer the terminals and other mass storage devices that are configured into the operating system.
Chapter 7	Explains how to administer the UNIX file system (UFS).
Chapter 8	Explains how to administer the POLYCENTER Advanced File System (AdvFS).
Chapter 9	Explains how to administer the Logical Storage Manager (LSM).
Chapter 10	Explains how to administer accounts for operating system users and groups of users.
Chapter 11	Explains how to administer the print services of the operating system.
Chapter 12	Explains how to administer the archiving services of the operating system in order to backup and restore mass storage devices.
Chapter 13	Explains how to administer the resource accounting services of the operating system.
Chapter 14	Explains how to prevent errors by using system exercisers and how to set up and administer the error logging services of the operating system.
Appendix A	Contains information about device mnemonics.
Appendix B	Contains information about the SCSI/CAM Utility Program.
Appendix C	Contains information about the CI bus and the Hierarchical Storage Controller (HSC) configuration.
Appendix D	Contains information about the `uerf` event logger, a component that will be retired in a future version of the operating system.
Appendix E	Contains information about specific hardware devices that are supported in this release. Instructions for installing and configuring the devices is also provided

Audience	Icon	Color Code
General users	G	Blue
System and network administrators	S	Red
Programmers	P	Purple
Device driver writers	D	Orange
Reference page users	R	Green

Reader's Comments

Digital welcomes any comments and suggestions you have on this and other Digital UNIX manuals.

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Fax: 603-881-0120 Attn: UEG Publications, ZK03-3/Y32
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A Reader's Comment form is located on your system in the following location:
```
/usr/doc/readers_comment.txt
```
Mail:
```
Digital Equipment Corporation
UEG Publications Manager
ZK03-3/Y32
110 Spit Brook Road
Nashua, NH 03062-9987
```
A Reader's Comment form is located in the back of each printed manual. The form is postage paid if you mail it in the United States.

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The full title of the book and the order number. (The order number is printed on the title page of this book and on its back cover.)
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If known, the type of processor that is running the Digital UNIX software.

The Digital UNIX Publications group cannot respond to system problems or technical support inquiries. Please address technical questions to your local system vendor or to the appropriate Digital technical support office. Information provided with the software media explains how to send problem reports to Digital.

Conventions

This guide uses the following conventions:

%
$: A percent sign represents the C shell system prompt. A dollar sign represents the system prompt for the Bourne and Korn shells.
#: A number sign represents the superuser prompt.
file: Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values, placeholders, and function argument names.
[|]
{|}: In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed.
...: In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.
. . .: A vertical ellipsis indicates that a portion of an example that would normally be present is not shown.
cat(1): A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, cat(1) indicates that you can find information on the cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.
Ctrl/x: This symbol indicates that you hold down the first named key while pressing the key or mouse button that follows the slash. In examples, this key combination is enclosed in a box (for example, Ctrl/C).
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