<executionPlan> Element

An entire plan is enclosed by the <executionPlan> element.

Plans are either simple or composite. A simple plan is a sequential list of steps that are executed on a particular set of target servers. A simple plan does not contain or call other plans. A composite plan is composed solely of other subplans. A composite plan is not directly targeted because each simple subplan can run on a different set of targets.

The <executionPlan> element has the following child elements, which must appear in the order shown. These child elements might have their own child elements, attributes, or both.

• <paramList> Element

• <varList> Element

• <simpleSteps> Element

• <compositeSteps> Element

Attributes for the <executionPlan> Element

The <executionPlan> element has the following attributes:

• xmlns – A required string that has the following value:

  http://www.sun.com/schema/SPS

• xmlns:xsi – A required string that has the following value:

  http://www.w3.org/ 2001/XMLSchema-instance

• xsi:schemaLocation – An optional string that has the following recommended value:

  http://www.sun.com/schema/SPS plan.xsd

• name – A required attribute of type entityName, which is the name of the execution plan.

• path – An optional attribute of type pathName, which is the absolute path of the execution plan. If this attribute is omitted, the root path (/) is used. The value must name a folder that exists at the time that the plan is saved.

• description – An optional attribute that is a string that describes the execution plan.

• version – A required attribute of type schemaVersion, which is the version of the plan schema that is being used. The only value currently permitted is 5.0.

<paramList> Element

The <paramList> element is an optional child of the <executionPlan> element. This element is used to declare a list of parameters for use by the steps contained in the plan and any components that they reference. If specified, this element can only appear one time.

When this plan is run as a top-level plan, the caller is prompted to enter values for all parameters declared in this list. When this plan is invoked as the result of an <execSubplan> step in another plan, the calling plan must explicitly pass values for all parameters that are declared by <paramList> that do not have default values.

The <paramList> element has one required child element, <param>, which is a plan parameter declaration. The declaration includes a name, a prompt, and a default value. You can specify one <param> element for each parameter that you want to declare.

<param> Element

The <param> element is a child of the plan <paramList> element and is used to declare a parameter for use within the plan.

Attributes for the <param> Element

The <param> element has the following attributes:

• name – A required attribute of type identifier, which is the name of the plan parameter. The name must be unique among all top-level plan parameters and variables.

• prompt – An optional attribute that is a string that is displayed in the user interface when prompting for the value of the parameter. If this attribute is omitted, the value of name is used.

• default – An optional attribute that is a string that is the default value of the parameter. The default value can include references to session variables.

• displayMode – An optional attribute that specifies the display mode of the parameter. The following legal values are permitted:

  • PASSWORD – The user-specified value is hidden, which means that the password is not shown or is replaced by asterisks.

  • BOOLEAN – The parameter is specified by means of a check box.

  • CLEAR – The value is displayed as entered.

  If the value is CLEAR or BOOLEAN, the value can be safely displayed as entered. If the attribute is omitted, the value is CLEAR.

<varList> Element

The <varList> element is an optional child of the <executionPlan> element and the <inlineSubplan> step. For information about the latter element, see <inlineSubplan> Step. The <varList> element is used to declare a list of variables for use by the steps contained in the plan and any components they reference. The values of the variables are defined at the point of declaration, and cannot be redefined. If specified, this element can only appear one time.

The <varList> element has one required child element, <var>, which is a plan variable declaration. A declaration includes a name and a value. Specify a <var> element for each variable that you want to declare.

<var> Element

The <var> element is a child of the plan <varList> element and is used to declare a plan variable including name and value.

Attributes for the <var> Element

This element has the following attributes:

• name – A required attribute of type identifier, which is the name of the local variable. The name must be unique among every variable in the containing <varList>. Variables associated with the top-level <executionPlan> must also be unique among the plan parameters.

• default – A required attribute that is a string that is the default value of the plan variable. This value can include references to other plan variables that have been declared earlier, to session variables, and to plan parameters. If this plan is a simple plan, you can include references to target host attributes and to installed component variables.

<simpleSteps> Element

The <simpleSteps> element is an optional child of the <executionPlan> element and the <inlineSubplan> step. For information about the latter element, see <inlineSubplan> Step. The <simpleSteps> element contains one or more “shared” or “simple plan only” steps. The presence of a <simpleSteps> element indicates that the plan is a simple, not composite, plan. If specified, this element can only appear one time.

When run, the steps within this element are sequentially executed on a set of logical target hosts that are chosen by the caller. These hosts are called the initial target hosts. While this plan executes, its steps can be redirected to execute on a host other than the initial host. The host on which the plan actually executes is known as the current target host. If a step is not redirected, the current host and the initial host are the same. The initial host can be either virtual or physical, as can the current host. The physical host is the root parent host of the current host, which is the same as the current host if the current host is physical.

The <simpleSteps> element children consist of one or more “shared” or “simple plan only” steps. These steps can include references to plan parameters and variables. See Plan-Only Steps for Simple Plans.

Attributes for the <simpleSteps> Element

The <simpleSteps> element has the following attributes:

• executionMode – An optional attribute that indicates whether the contained steps should be executed in a series or in parallel over the target hosts. The legal values are as follows:

  • PARALLEL

  • SERIES

  If this attribute is omitted, the value is PARALLEL.

• limitToHostSet – An optional attribute that specifies the name of the host set that contains the hosts that are considered to be valid targets for this plan.

  If this attribute is omitted, all hosts are considered to be valid targets. Otherwise, the targets that you specify must be a subset of the hosts that are contained in the named host set. If the targets include a host that is not contained in the named host set, the plan issues a runtime error. The plan also issues a runtime error if you specify a name that does not correspond to an existing, supported host set. If the specified host set is defined by a plug-in, pluginName must be prefixed to the host set name, such as pluginName#hostSetName. These plan runtime errors are reported during validation before the preflight starts.

<compositeSteps> Element

The <compositeSteps> element is an optional child of the <executionPlan> element and the <inlineSubplan> step. For information about the latter element, see <inlineSubplan> Step. The <compositeSteps> element contains one or more “composite plan-only” steps. The presence of a <compositeSteps> element indicates that the plan is a composite plan. The <compositeSteps> element does not have any attributes. If specified, this element can only appear one time.

The <compositeSteps> element children consist of one or more “composite plan-only” steps. These steps can include references to plan parameters and variables. See Plan-Only Steps for Composite Plans.