BEA Tuxedo Management Tools

The following sections describe the BEA Tuxedo administration processes available to users for managing Tuxedo applications:

BEA Tuxedo Tool Architecture

As shown in the following figure, the BEA Tuxedo administration processes used to manage a Tuxedo application encompass a variety of tools constructed around the BEA Tuxedo management information base (MIB).

The BEA Tuxedo MIB contains all the information necessary for the operation of a Tuxedo application. It contains the TM_MIB, which is common to all applications, and the following component MIBs, each of which describes a subsystem of the BEA Tuxedo system:

WS_MIB—used to manage Workstation groups and processes associated with them
ACL_MIB—used to administer access control lists (ACLs)
APPQ_MIB—used to administer application stable-storage queues
EVENT_MIB—used to control event notification and the subscription request database
DM_MIB—used to administer a Tuxedo Domains (multiple-domain) configuration

Tool Interfaces with the MIB

The BEA Tuxedo administration tools, briefly described in the following list, provide different types of interfaces to the MIB:

BEA Tuxedo Administration Console—a Web-based GUI application used to monitor a Tuxedo application and to dynamically configure it.
Command-line utilities—a set of commands used to activate, deactivate, configure, and manage a Tuxedo application.
BEA Tuxedo MIB application programming interface—a set of functions for accessing and modifying information in the MIB.
EventBroker—a BEA Tuxedo component that provides asynchronous routing of application events among the client and server processes running in a Tuxedo application, and distributes system events—typically faults or exceptional happenings—to whichever application processes want to receive them.

MIB Interfaces with Other System Components

TUXCONFIG file—binary version of a Tuxedo application's configuration (UBBCONFIG) file. Every server machine in a Tuxedo application stores a copy of the TUXCONFIG file. The MIB updates the TUXCONFIG file and reads information from the TUXCONFIG file.
Bulletin board—a memory segment in which all the configuration and dynamic processing information for a Tuxedo application is held at run time. Every server machine in a Tuxedo application has a bulletin board. The MIB updates the bulletin board and reads information from the bulletin board.
ULOG—a user log file in which Tuxedo system and application messages—error messages, warning messages, information messages, and debugging messages—are stored. Every server machine in a Tuxedo application should have a ULOG. The MIB gathers information from the ULOG.
TLOG—a transaction log file in which records of committed global transactions are stored. Every server machine in a Tuxedo application should have a TLOG. The MIB gathers information from the TLOG.

Management Operations Using the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console

Based on Java and Web technology, the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console lets you operate your BEA Tuxedo applications from virtually anywhere—even from home, given security authorization. The Administration Console is a Java-based applet that you can download into your Web browser and use to remotely manage Tuxedo applications.

The Administration Console simplifies many of the system administration tasks required for managing multiple-tier systems. It lets you monitor system events, manage system resources, create and configure administration objects, and view system statistics.

Benefits of Using the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console

Authentication—the Administration Console forces users to identify themselves. It prompts the administrator for a username and password. This information is communicated in an encrypted fashion between the browser and the server, where the user's identity is then verified. Much of the server setup is done during installation, when server components of the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console are installed and made available to the Web server.
Context-sensitive help—context-sensitive help is available for all Administration Console windows and tools. You can request information about any field or area of a window simply by dragging a question mark icon to that field or any area and clicking.
Encryption—the data transferred between the server side and the browser is compressed (56-bit or 128-bit encryption) so that no one can read it. Encryption makes the system resistant to anyone trying to inject false administrative protocol messages into the stream.
Firewall readiness—the port on which the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console server listens and interacts with the browser is well defined and configurable; you can configure it to match ports that you want to allow through your firewall. This capability enables you to do Console-based administration through your firewall, if necessary.
Icons—the icons used in the Administration Console show state (for example, not active) or represent particular objects in the Tuxedo application, for example, machines or servers.
Java-capable browser—the Java browser supports the Java virtual machine that runs the applets and enables communication.
No client-side installation—no installation is required on your machine. Point your browser to the URL for a machine in your Tuxedo application on which the Console server components reside, then initiate a download of Java applets. The applets implement the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console and establish communication with the server.
Universal secure access—from any Java-capable browser, you can access the system from anywhere in the world with confidence that security mechanisms are already in place.

Browser Requirements

Each release of the BEA Tuxedo system supports the currently available browsers. For information about browsers currently supported by the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console, see Starting the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console in Installing the BEA Tuxedo System.

Limitations

The BEA Tuxedo Administration Console has not been updated to support any new features introduced after BEA Tuxedo release 7.1.

See Also

BEA Tuxedo Administration Console Online Help

Exploring the Main Menu of the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console
"Ways to Monitor Your Application" in Administering a BEA Tuxedo Application at Run Time
"Starting the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console" in Installing the BEA Tuxedo System

Exploring the Main Menu of the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console

When you first bring up the Web and invoke the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console, the following main window appears.

Menu bar—menus that provide access to all actions.
Toolbar—buttons that provide shortcuts to frequently used action or administrative tools. The toolbar buttons and some menu items are not fully displayed unless you are connected to a Tuxedo application.
Tree View—a hierarchical representation of the administrative class objects (such as servers and clients) in a BEA Tuxedo application.
Configuration Tool—a set of tabbed pages on which you can display, define, and modify the attributes of objects, such as the name of a machine.

Understanding the Tree View

The Tree View pane appears in the left column of the main GUI window. The tree is a hierarchical representation of the administrative objects in a single BEA Tuxedo application. The GUI graphically depicts the relationship between each object and the others by showing its nesting level and parent objects. You can choose to view a complete tree (comprising all configurable objects of all types in the Tuxedo application) or a subset of objects.

After you have set up and activated an application, the Tree is populated with labeled icons, representing the administrative class objects in your application.

The Tree View contains multiple roots, one root for each administrative object. The first root consists of the Tuxedo application. The next root displays the object classes defined in the BEA Tuxedo TM_MIB. Each set of object classes is a part of a Tuxedo application. The third level represents an instance of an object belonging to an object class.

For example, suppose your application includes two machines (both at SITE1) named romeo and juliet. Since both machines are objects, they are listed in the Tree below the name of the object class to which they belong: Machines. Therefore, they will be listed as follows:

The name of each object in the Tree View is preceded by an icon. Each machine, for example, is represented by a computer; each client, by a human figure.

Using the Configuration Tool

The Configuration Tool is a utility that lets you set or change the attributes for a selected class of BEA Tuxedo system objects. When you select an object in the Tree, the Configuration Tool Pane for that object is displayed on the right side of the main window.

The tabbed pages in the Configuration Tool area are electronic forms that display and solicit information about the attributes of an administrative object. A set of tabbed pages is provided for each administrative class of objects (such as machines and servers). The number of attributes associated with a class varies greatly, depending on the class. Therefore, anywhere from one to eight folders may be displayed when you invoke the Configuration Tool by selecting an object in the tree.

When the Configuration Tool area is populated, another row of buttons is displayed below the tabbed pages. These four buttons allow you to control the configuration work done in the pages.

Using the Toolbar

The toolbar is a row of 12 buttons that allow you to invoke tools for frequently performed administrative operations. They are labeled with both icons and names. The following table describes each button.

Button	Description
Stop	Interrupts the current operation and returns control to the administrator (who can then request a new operation).
Refresh	Updates the Tree View and configuration tool pane with the most up-to-date data.
Search	Searches for a particular administrative object class or object in the expanded Tree.
Activate	Activates all or part of a Tuxedo application.
Deactivate	Deactivates all or part of a Tuxedo application.
Migrate	Migrates a server group or machine to another location, or swaps the master and backup machines.
Log file	Displays the ULOG file from a particular machine in the active Tuxedo application.
Event	Displays a window for monitoring system-generated events.
Stats	Displays the tabbed pages that allow you to view a graphical presentation of Tuxedo application activity.
Settings	Provides the option to set the following default settings for the Administration Console session: The location of your BEA Tuxedo online documentation The method for sorting your data (by state or name) Your default work mode (view-only or edit mode)
CS Help	Invokes context-sensitive help. Click a field or a specific area of the console to get information about the selected item.
Help	Opens the Administration Console Online Help in a separate Web browser.

See Also

BEA Tuxedo Administration Console Online Help
"Ways to Monitor Your Application" in Administering a BEA Tuxedo Application at Run Time
"Starting the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console" in Installing the BEA Tuxedo System

Managing Operations Using Command-Line Utilities

BEA Tuxedo provides a set of commands for managing different parts of an application built on the BEA Tuxedo system. The commands enable you to access common administrative utilities. These utilities can be used for the following tasks:

Configuring Your Application Using Command-Line Utilities

You can configure your application by using command-line utilities. Specifically, you can use a text editor to create and edit the configuration file (UBBCONFIG) for your application, and then use the command-line utility named tmloadcf to translate the text file (UBBCONFIG) to a binary file (TUXCONFIG). You are then ready to boot your application.

The following list identifies common command-line utilities that you can use to configure your application:

tmloadcf(1)—a command, run on the master machine, that allows you to compile your application's UBBCONFIG file into the binary TUXCONFIG file. The tmloadcf command loads the binary file to the location defined by the TUXCONFIG environment variable.
tmunloadcf(1)—a command, run on the master machine, that allows you to translate the binary TUXCONFIG file back to a text version, so that the UBBCONFIG and TUXCONFIG files can be synchronized. The tmunloadcf command prints the text version to standard output.

Note: Dynamically updating the binary TUXCONFIG file does not update the text UBBCONFIG file.

tpusradd(1), tpusrdel(1), tpusrmod(1)—a set of commands that allow you to create and manage a user database for authorization purposes.
tpgrpadd(1), tpgrpdel(1), tpgrpmod(1)—a set of commands that allow you to create and manage user groups by using access control lists to authorize access to services, queues, and events.
tpacladd(1), tpaclcvt(1), tpacldel(1), and tpaclmod(1)—a set of commands that allow you to create or manage access control lists for applications. These commands enable the use of security-related authorization features.

Operating Your Application Using Command-Line Utilities

After you have configured your application successfully, you can use the following command-line utilities to operate your application:

tmboot(1)—a command, run on the master machine, that allows you to centrally start up your application servers. The tmboot command reads the TUXCONFIG environment variable to locate your application's TUXCONFIG file. The tmboot command loads TUXCONFIG into shared memory to establish the bulletin board, propagating the changes to the remote server machines in a multiple-machine domain.
tmadmin(1)—an interactive meta-command, typically run on the master machine, that enables you to run subcommands to configure, monitor, and tune your application. You can use the tmadmin command before your application is booted (in configuration mode) or when your application is running.
tmconfig(1)—another interactive meta-command, typically run on the master machine, that enables you to run subcommands to configure, monitor, and tune your application. You can use the tmconfig command only when your application is running. The tmconfig command is more powerful but less user friendly than the tmadmin command.
tmshutdown(1)—a command, run on the master machine, that allows you to centrally shut down your application servers. The tmshutdown command reads the TUXCONFIG environment variable to locate your application's TUXCONFIG file.

Administering Your Application Queues Using Command-Line Utilities

You use the command-line utility qmadmin(1) to perform all administration functions for the application queues in your application. Like the tmadmin and tmconfig commands, qmadmin is an interactive meta-command that enables you to run many subcommands.

In a BEA Tuxedo application, you can have multiple application queue devices, and you can run application queues on multiple server machines. Each machine has its own queue device, so you can run qmadmin to monitor and manage a particular application queue device on each server machine.

Administering Your Domains Application Using Command-Line Utilities

To build a BEA Tuxedo Domains (multiple-domain) application, you integrate your existing BEA Tuxedo application with other domains. To do so, you must add a domain gateway group of system servers (DMADM, GWADM, and GWTDOMAIN) to your UBBCONFIG file. These servers are described in BEA Tuxedo Domains (Multiple-Domain) Servers.

All Domains configuration information for a BEA Tuxedo application involved in a Domains configuration is stored in a file known as DMCONFIG. Similar to the UBBCONFIG file, the DMCONFIG file may have any name as long as the content of the file conforms to the format described on reference page DMC

ONFIG(5) in BEA Tuxedo File Formats, Data Descriptions, MIBs, and System Processes Reference. You use a text editor to create and edit the DMCONFIG file, and then use the command-line utility named dmloadcf to translate the text file (DMCONFIG) to a binary file (BDMCONFIG). The BDMCONFIG file must reside on the machine that will run the DMADM server.

The following list identifies the command-line utilities that you can use to configure and operate the domain gateway group of system servers for a BEA Tuxedo application involved in a Domains configuration:

dmloadcf(1)—a command, run on the same machine as the DMADM server, that allows you to compile an application's DMCONFIG file into the binary BDMCONFIG file. The dmloadcf command loads the binary file to the location defined by the BDMCONFIG environment variable.
dmunloadcf(1)—a command, run on the same machine as the DMADM server, that allows you to translate the binary BDMCONFIG file back to a text version, so that the DMCONFIG and BDMCONFIG files can be synchronized. The dmunloadcf command prints the text version to standard output.

Note: Dynamically updating the binary BDMCONFIG file does not update the text DMCONFIG file.

dmadmin(1)—an interactive meta-command, typically run on the same machine as the DMADM server, that enables you to run subcommands to configure, monitor, and tune domain gateway groups. You can use the dmadmin command before your application is booted (in configuration mode) or when your application is running.

See Also

BEA Tuxedo Command Reference.

DMADM (5), DMCO NFIG(5), GWA DM(5), GWTDOM AIN(5), and UBBCO NFIG(5)in BEA Tuxedo File Formats, Data Descriptions, MIBs, and System Processes Reference

Using Command-line Utilities to Monitor Your Application in Administering a BEA Tuxedo Application at Run Time
BEA Tuxedo Administration Processes
BEA Tuxedo Message Queuing Servers
BEA Tuxedo Domains (Multiple-Domain) Servers

Managing Operations Using the MIB

The BEA Tuxedo MIB is used to administer a Tuxedo application. It defines the parts of an application that are required in every Tuxedo domain. MIB defines a Tuxedo application as a set of classes (for example, servers, groups, machines, domains), each of which is made up of objects that are characterized by various attributes (for example, identity and state).

When a Tuxedo server machine becomes active, it advertises the names of its services in the bulletin board (BB), which is the run-time (dynamic) representation of the MIB. (The bulletin board is where global and local state changes to the MIB are posted.) The Tuxedo system uses the binary TUXCONFIG file on the master machine to construct the bulletin board, and propagates a copy of the TUXCONFIG to the non-master machines in the application to set up the bulletin board on those machines. A bulletin board runs on each server machine in a Tuxedo application.

AdminAPI

The AdminAPI is an application programming interface for directly accessing and manipulating system settings in the BEA Tuxedo MIB. You can use the AdminAPI to automate administrative tasks, such as monitoring log files and dynamically reconfiguring an application, thus eliminating the need for human intervention. This advantage can be crucially important in mission-critical, real-time applications. Using the MIB programming interface, you can manage operations in the BEA Tuxedo system easily. Specifically, you can monitor, configure, and tune your application through your own programs. The MIB can be defined as:

An implementation-independent management database defined as a set of Field Manipulation Language (FML) attributes.
A programming interface that enables you to query the BEA Tuxedo system (that is, to obtain information from the system through a get operation) or to update the BEA Tuxedo system (that is, to change information in the system through a set operation) at any time using a set of ATMI functions. Examples of these functions include tpalloc, tprealloc, tpgetrply, tpcall, tpacall, tpenqueue, and tpdequeue.

Types of MIB Users

The MIB defines three types of users: system (or application) administrators, system operators, and others. The following table describes each type.

Type of User	Characteristics
System (or application) administrator	Person responsible for keeping an application running successfully. The administrator is authorized to use all administrative tools and all MIB administrative capabilities. The administrator configures, manages, and modifies a running production application.
System operator	Person responsible for monitoring and reacting to the daily operation of a production application. An operator monitors statistics about a running application, sometimes reacting to events and alerts by taking actions such as booting servers or shutting down machines. An operator does not reconfigure an application, add servers or machines, or delete machines.
Other	People or processes (such as custom programs) that may need to read the MIB but are not authorized to change the application.

Classes, Attributes, and States in the MIB

Classes are the types of entities such as servers and machines that make up a BEA Tuxedo application. Attributes are characteristics of the objects in a class: identity, state, configuration parameters, run-time statistics, and so on. There are a number of attributes that are common to MIB operations and replies and common to individual classes. Every class has a state attribute that indicates the state of the object.

Independent of classes is a set of common attributes that are defined in the MIB(5) reference page. These attributes control the input operations, communicate to the MIB what the user is trying to do, and/or identify to the programmer some of the characteristics of the output buffer that are independent of a particular class.

See Also

ACL_MIB(5), APPQ_MIB(5), DM_MIB(5), EVENT_MIB(5), MIB(5), TM_MIB(5), and WS_MIB(5)in BEA Tuxedo File Formats, Data Descriptions, MIBs, and System Processes Reference
Programming a BEA Tuxedo Application Using FML

Managing Events Using EventBroker

An event is a state change or other occurrence in an application program or the BEA Tuxedo system that may be of interest to an administrator, an operator, or the software. Examples of events are "a stock traded at or above a specified price" or "a network failure occurred."

BEA Tuxedo EventBroker provides asynchronous routing of application and system events among the processes running in a BEA Tuxedo ATMI application. Application events are occurrences of application-defined events. System events are occurrences of system-defined events.

Differences Between Application-Defined and System-Defined Events

Application-defined events are defined by application designers and are therefore application specific. Any of the events defined for an application may be tracked by the client and server processes running in the application.

System-defined events are defined by the BEA Tuxedo system code and are generally associated with objects defined in


TM_MIB(5)

. A complete list of system-defined events is published on the


EVENTS(5)

reference page in BEA Tuxedo File Formats, Data Descriptions, MIBs, and System Processes Reference. Any of these events may be tracked by users of the BEA Tuxedo system.

Preparing an Application for Event Monitoring

The following table presents the basic tasks for preparing a BEA Tuxedo application for event monitoring.

Task	Description
Decide which events to monitor	Application programs are written to (a) detect when an event of interest has occurred and (b) post the event to the EventBroker through `tppost(3c)`. Application designers decide which events should be monitored. For system events, application designers select system-defined events from the EVE NTS(5) reference page.
Create an events list	A list of the application event subscriptions is made available to interested users, just as the BEA Tuxedo system provides a list of system events available to users with EVEN TS(5). System-defined event names begin with a dot (.); application-defined event names may not begin with a dot (.) To prepare an application-defined events list, application designers should consult the EVE NTS(5), `TMUSREVT(5)`, `TMSYSEVT(5)`, and `field_tables(5)` reference pages.

Task

Description

Decide which events to monitor

Application programs are written to (a) detect when an event of interest has occurred and (b) post the event to the EventBroker through tppost(3c).

Application designers decide which events should be monitored. For system events, application designers select system-defined events from the EVE

NTS(5) reference page.

Create an events list

A list of the application event subscriptions is made available to interested users, just as the BEA Tuxedo system provides a list of system events available to users with EVEN

TS(5). System-defined event names begin with a dot (.); application-defined event names may not begin with a dot (.)

To prepare an application-defined events list, application designers should consult the EVE

NTS(5), TMUSREVT(5), TMSYSEVT(5), and field_tables(5) reference pages.

Subscribing to Events

As the administrator for your BEA Tuxedo application, you can enter subscription requests on behalf of a client or server process by making calls to tpsubscribe(3c) using the published list of application-defined or system-defined events. EVEN

TS(5)lists the notification message generated by a system event as well as the event name (used as an argument when tppost(3c) is called). Subscribers can use the wildcard capability of regular expressions to make a single call to tpsubscribe that covers a whole category of events.

Each subscription for a system-defined event specifies one of several notification methods. One such method is placing messages in the ULOG: using the T_EVENT_USERLOG class of EVENT_MIB, subscribers can write system USERLOG messages. When events are detected and matched, they are written to the ULOG.

The EventBroker recognizes over 100 meaningful state transitions in a MIB object as system events. The postings for system events include the current MIB representation of the object on which the event has occurred.

Introducing BEA Tuxedo ATMI

BEA Tuxedo Management Tools

BEA Tuxedo Tool Architecture

Tool Interfaces with the MIB

MIB Interfaces with Other System Components

Management Operations Using the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console

Benefits of Using the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console

Browser Requirements

Limitations

See Also

Exploring the Main Menu of the BEA Tuxedo Administration Console

Understanding the Tree View

Using the Configuration Tool

Using the Toolbar

See Also

Managing Operations Using Command-Line Utilities

Configuring Your Application Using Command-Line Utilities

Operating Your Application Using Command-Line Utilities

Administering Your Application Queues Using Command-Line Utilities

Administering Your Domains Application Using Command-Line Utilities

See Also

Managing Operations Using the MIB

AdminAPI

Types of MIB Users

Classes, Attributes, and States in the MIB

See Also

Managing Events Using EventBroker

Differences Between Application-Defined and System-Defined Events

Preparing an Application for Event Monitoring

Subscribing to Events

See Also