A client can submit commands and keyins to host systems that are being monitored by the Operations Sentinel server. The host must be active and connected to the Operations Sentinel server.

An OS 2200 system console must have passed the state of being booted so that the system’s operation session is available and running.

Sending commands to a Windows system or a Service Processor is not supported.

Logon Requirements for a Managed UNIX System

If a managed system requires the user to log in, as with a UNIX system, then a user must be logged in to the system before a client can submit a command. Operations Sentinel does not check that a user has logged in, so a client can submit a command without detection of an error.

Alternatively, you can design your client to send the login command, or to respond to prompts at boot time.

Identifying the Host

A client must identify the host system that is to receive the command by specifying the same host name that was specified when the host was configured using the Operations Sentinel Configuration application. If an unrecognizable host name is specified, the command is discarded and an error is returned on the command acknowledgment.

Submitting a Command Using SPD_Command

A client uses the function SPD_Command to send a command to any managed system except a Windows system (see 6.7 and 7.5). At the time the command is submitted, there is no way to know if the host or console is being actively monitored by the Operations Sentinel server, or if the host or console is active. The command is received by the Event Server, which attempts to forward it to the specified host or console. Once the attempt is made, a status is returned to the requesting client. The command acknowledgment callback specified with SPD_Command is then invoked with this status.

Using Passback Data

The client should use the passback data of the function SPD_Command to correlate a command with its acknowledgment. A unique value can be associated with each individual command in this way.