Please read all the way through these instructions before starting the installation. If you have any questions or are unsure about how to proceed, please call Nobix Support at 1-925-659-3500. We want this to be successful for you.

Introduction

This document describes how to install the Nobix Alert nAlert program onto your MPE system. It is generally intended for use with JobRescue, however nAlert may be directly run from any job or command line to send a message to the Nobix Alert Server and distribute a desktop pop-up alert. Please review the nAlert document included with the Alert Server software. The nAlert program is installed as NALERT.NALERT.NSD on MPE systems.

After installation and configuration, when JobRescue finds a job exception in a job it examines, JobRescue runs the nAlert program asking the Alert Server to send a message to the "JobRescue" distribution list. You will configure the JobRescue distribution list into the Alert Server as one of the last steps in this document.

There are many nAlert configuration options that this document does not discuss. When JobRescue runs nAlert it uses the settings that are configured in the NALERT.XEQ.NSD command file. One of these settings is the sound that plays when an alert is "popped" onto a user's display. It is currently set to the "siren.wav" sound for five seconds. Before you decide to change this, please become familiar with nAlert, its syntax, and how to run it from MPE. The MPE operating system is very particular in how command line arguments are passed to programs. Please call us if you have any questions regarding configuring nAlert.

Let's get going!

The installation file for the nAlert program on MPE/iX is supplied in two forms, as a Reflection labels format store file, and for those users who do not use Reflection, an FTP uploadable file for use with the POSIX tar command.

There are three main tasks to complete

1. Upload and install the alert software onto the JobRescue machine
• Either with Reflection or FTP
2. Configure nAlert for use with JobRescue
• Setting the hostname of the Alert Server
• Setting the execution of the command file by JobRescue
3. Creating the JobRescue distribution list in the Alert Server

The Nobix Alert Server should already be installed and running on a Windows machine, and one or more pop-up alerters should already be deployed, installed, and configured as recipients before you begin these next steps.

Although each of these sections looks like a lot of steps to complete, each goes by pretty quick and each section should only take a few minutes of your time. Plan on about 30 minutes for everything required.

Please continue to the appropriate upload format:

Upload using Reflection

Upload using FTP

HP3000 nAlert Installation using Reflection

After downloading the file to your PC, and then uploading the file to the HP3000, the resulting file is in MPE :STORE format, ready for use with the :RESTORE command.

Nobix Alert nAlert software for MPE/iX using Reflection for upload to your JobPak system:

Click to download: nAlert_0100.nmstore.lbl

Please make a note of which folder on your PC you download this file to.

1. Start Reflection terminal emulator on your PC and connect to your HP3000
 
2. If you do not have an NSD account on your system, you may create the account structure with the commands (be sure to assign passwords to the new account):
   HELLO MANAGER.SYS
   NEWACCT NSD,MGR;CAP=AM,SF,DS,CV,ND,IA,BA,OP,PH,PM;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   NEWGROUP NALERT.NSD;CAP=IA,BA,PH;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   
 
3. Sign on to the HP3000 as MGR.NSD,PUB
   HELLO MGR.NSD,PUB
   If you do not have an NALERT group (but you already have an NSD account) you must create one now:
   NEWGROUP NALERT;CAP=IA,BA,PH;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   
   If you do not have an XEQ group (you most likely already have one) you must create one now:
   NEWGROUP XEQ;CAP=IA,BA,PH;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   
 
4. On the Reflection Menu, select File, then select Transfer
 
5. Ensure that the Protocol is set to WRQ/Reflection
 
6. Ensure that the Transfer Type is set to Labels
 
7. In the Local File Name list box, select the file named nAlert_0100.nmstore.lbl that you previously downloaded to your PC. You may have to change the directory name to that of where you downloaded the file.
 
8. In the Host File Name field enter the filename NALERT1.PUB.NSD
 
9. Press the appropriate Transfer button to transfer the file to Host. When the transfer completes the NMSTORE file should reside on the HP3000.
 
10. Close the File Transfer dialog.
 
11. Ensure that you are signed on as MGR.NSD in the PUB group.

Click here to see an example :RESTORE session

12. At the MPE prompt enter
    FILE NALERT1,OLD;DEV=DISC
    RESTORE *NALERT1;@.@.@;SHOW;CREATE
    
    
    These nAlert files should be restored:
    NALERT.NALERT.NSD
    HTMLHEAD.NALERT.NSD
    HMLFOOT.NALERT.NSD
    NALERT.XEQ.NSD
    

Please continue to the section Configure nAlert for use with JobRescue, below.

HP3000 nAlert Installation using FTP

Nobix Alert nAlert software for MPE/iX using FTP for upload to your JobPak system:

Click to download: nAlert_0100.tar

Please make a note of which folder on your PC you download this file to.

1. Start a terminal emulator on your PC and connect to your HP3000
 
2. If you do not have an NSD account on your system, you may create the account structure with the commands (be sure to assign passwords to the new account):
   HELLO MANAGER.SYS
   NEWACCT NSD,MGR;CAP=AM,SF,DS,CV,ND,IA,BA,OP,PH,PM;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   NEWGROUP NALERT.NSD;CAP=IA,BA,PH;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   
 
3. Sign on to the HP3000 as MGR.NSD,PUB
   HELLO MGR.NSD,PUB
   If you do not have an NALERT group (but you already have an NSD account) you must create one now:
   NEWGROUP NALERT;CAP=IA,BA,PH;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)
   If you do not have an XEQ group (you most likely already have one) you must create one now:
   NEWGROUP XEQ;CAP=IA,BA,PH;ACCESS=(R,X:ANY;W,L,A:AC)

Click here to see an example FTP session In the example the HP3000 system name is "saber".

4. Open a Command Prompt Window on your PC. On Windows XP this is usually found at
   Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt.
 
5. Change directories to the folder that you downloaded the xstat.tar file to.
 
6. Establish an ftp session between your PC and the MPE/iX system. Substitute the hostname or IP address of your system for the value <hostname>. Enter:
   ftp <hostname>
   Login as MGR.NSD and enter the appropriate passwords for your system.
 
7. Set the file transfer protocol to binary. This is important. Not setting to binary will cause the resulting uploaded file to be unusable. Enter
   bin
 
8. Transfer the nAlert_0100.tar file to the HP3000. Enter
   put nAlert_0100.tar nalert2.pub
 
9. End the ftp session. Enter
   quit
 
10. Using your terminal emulator ensure you are signed on as MGR.NSD in the PUB group.

Click here to see an example tar extract session

11. Extract the installation files in the NALERT2.PUB.NSD file you uploaded to the HP3000. This file's POSIX pathname is now /NSD/PUB/NALERT2. Enter (the entire command line is case-sensitive, and note the placement of the quotes, and there's a space between the xvf and the /NSD parts):
    
    tar.hpbin.sys “xvf /NSD/PUB/NALERT2”
    
    
    NOTE: Ignore the "File exists" and the "Operation not permitted" messages. The four files extracted are named:
    ../NALERT/NALERT
    ../NALERT/HTMLHEAD
    ../NALERT/HTMLFOOT
    ../XEQ/NALERT
 

Please continue to the section Configure nAlert for use with JobRescue, below.

Configure nAlert for use with JobRescue

In this section you will configure the MPE Nobix Alert software for use with JobRescue. There are two tasks that must be performed:

1. Configure the hostname of the Nobix Alert Server for use by the MPE nAlert program.
2. Configure JobRescue to run the NALERT.XEQ.NSD command file when a job exception occurs.

If you have not yet installed the Nobix Alert Server on a Windows PC, then please perform the server installation before continuing with the MPE JobRescue configuration. When you have installed the Nobix Alert Server on a Windows PC continue these instructions.

Ensure that the hostname of the Alert Server is addressable by your HP3000. This may take the form of an entry in HOSTS.NET.SYS, or it may be served by a DNS. Call us if you have any questions regarding this.

Setting the hostname of the Alert Server

1. Sign on to your JobRescue machine as MGR.NSD
   HELLO MGR.NSD
 
2. Using your favorite text editor, open the command file NALERT.XEQ.NSD
 
3. Find the line (it should be line 14) that looks like:
   setvar nalertserver "nobixalertserver"
 
4. On that line, change the value nobixalertserver to be the hostname of the Windows PC that you installed the Nobix Alert Server software on. DO NOT REMOVE THE QUOTES OR CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE ON THAT LINE. Upper or lower case, it doesn't matter.
   
   If the Alert Server is on a different network segment (subnet), then you will have to qualify its name to that subnet. Alternatively, you may use the IP address of the Alert Server in place of its hostname, which would preclude you from having to make any HOSTS.NET.SYS or DNS entries.
   
   As an example, the following line sets the Alert Server named SRVR001 to be the value for the Alert Server. Use your actual hostname value, do not use SRVR001!
   setvar nalertserver "SRVR001"
 
5. Save the NALERT.XEQ file and exit the editor.

Executing NALERT.XEQ for Job Exceptions

You will use the CONFIGIX.JPAK.NSD program to configure the execution of NALERT.XEQ when a job exception occurs. The following procedure executes NALERT.XEQ for all job exceptions. If you prefer to have it execute for only certain jobs, then instead of configuring NALERT.XEQ as a global command file, set it to execute for whatever Job Specific entries in CONFIGIX.

A few notes about using CONFIGIX. There are two types of dialogs in CONFIGIX, (1) screens that display a menu which you select by using the arrow keys and then pressing the enter key; and (2) screens that have fields that you type into that have an "OK" and "CANCEL" at the bottom.

Please do not use your keyboard arrow keys when you have a field type screen displayed. The arrows tend to corrupt the display and it then becomes difficult to complete the navigation of that screen. If you find that funny characters (strange, not ha ha) have corrupted the display, press the F8 key to exit that screen and then re-enter it. On "field" type screens, use the TAB and ENTER keys to navigate from field to field. When you have completed a "field" type screen, use the TAB key to go to the "OK" and then press enter.

1. Ensure you are signed on as MGR.NSD
 
2. Run the program CONFIGIX.JPAK. JobPak can stay running while using this program.
   CONFIGIX.JPAK
 
3. Highlight "Configure Global Values" and press enter.
 
4. Highlight "MPE :XEQ Scripts" and press enter.
 
5. Up to six command files may be specified on this screen. If the cursor is not in an empty filename field, use the Tab key to navigate to the first empty field.
 
6. Enter the text
   NALERT.XEQ
 
7. Use the Tab key to navigate to "OKAY" and then press enter.

Click here to see an example of the completed Configix dialog

8. Press F8 to go to the main menu.
 
9. Press F8 to exit the program, and then press Enter twice to save the configuration and finally exit the program.

Configure the JobRescue Distribution List in Nobix Alert

When JobRescue detects a job exception, it runs the NALERT.XEQ command file. This command file runs the NALERT.NALERT program, which sends the exception message to the Alert Server hostname that you previously configured. The NALERT program also tells the Alert server who should receive the exception alert. NALERT intends the message go to the "JobRescue" distribution list. The JobRescue distribution must be configured into the Alert Server's database.

The prerequisites for this are

1. Nobix Alert Server must be installed on a Windows machine accessible on your network.
2. One or more pop-up alerters should be installed on whatever PCs that require alerting.
3. The alerter PCs must be configured as recipients in the Alert Server.

If you have not already done so, deploy and install (using the Alert Server's deployment program) one or more alerters. Note that the Alert Server already includes an alerter on the Alert Server. Then configure the machines that are running alerters as recipients using the Alert Server's Messaging Interface.

Using the Alert Server's Messaging Interface, select the "Recipients & Distribution" pane:

1. Select:
   Action -> New -> Distribution List...
 
2. On the Distribution List Properties dialog, enter the name JobRescue in the distribution list name field.
 
3. Press the "Add" button.
 
4. The JobRescue Associations dialog now appears. Double-click on the desired available recipents to move them to the associated list.
 
5. Press the "Save" button.
 

1. On the left side of the Messaging Interface dialog, select "Send a Message"
 
2. From the dropdown list, select the "JobRescue" distribution list.
 
3. In the "HTML Message Text" box, enter a message to send.
 
4. Press the "Send Now" button.
 
5. The alert message with your text should now appear on those machines in the JobRescue distribution list.