TOP Tips – Safeguard
Updated: Jan 24, 2023
Quick! What is that Safeguard command?
As Matt Riesz pointed out in his blog (Using TOP with NonStop TCP/IP), TOP is not just a pretty face. With its Graphical User Interface (GUI), TOP can also make life easier for the NonStop experts. Matt provides an example of how TOP makes accessing TCP/IP information so much easier. Let me share with you some other use cases on how TOP can help everyone operate better on the NonStop.
The other day, Mike, a customer called me up for help. Mike was frustrated because he was trying to use Safeguard to secure a SUBVOLUME, and he could not find the syntax on how to do it. Neither online support nor the manual provided the guidance needed. Now some of you out there may be Safeguard experts or may be using it every day. If so, you probably know the syntax by heart. But if you are like me or Mike, who only uses it once in a long while, trying to find the proper syntax can be frustrating.
If you have a tool like TOP, it would be a breeze.
To secure a SUBVOLUME, just point and click the Safeguard component, and ADD NEW SUBVOLUME. Just follow the screen prompts to complete the operation.
Now Mike was not a TOP user at that time, so he couldn’t take advantage of the GUI tool. Nor could I help him with the exact Safeguard syntax to protect a subvolume from any PURGE activities, because I don’t use it that often myself. However, I do remember TOP also has a very nice AUDIT feature which tracks the commands executed in the GUI. In the AUDIT file, it provides the syntax of the actual Safeguard commands.
AUDIT:Command $system.system.safecom SUPER.SUPER ly_ph@DESKTOP-TIIES6S => RESET subvolume;ADD subvolume $work.ticphil2
AUDIT:Command $system.system.safecom SUPER.SUPER ly_ph@DESKTOP-TIIES6S => ALTER subvolume $work.ticphil2,ACCESS \*.dev.* Deny (P)
AUDIT:Command $system.system.safecom SUPER.SUPER ly_ph@DESKTOP-TIIES6S => ALTER subvolume $work.ticphil2,OWNER tic.philAs a result, I was able to perform the operation using TOP, and then provide Mike the equivalent Safeguard command to use in SAFECOM. He was appreciative that I got him that answer quickly.
As you can probably guess, today Mike is a happy TOP user.
Are you still not using GUI?
TOP is a powerful GUI operation tool for NonStop. It has been proven that GUI is more productive than a command line interface for many reasons. Yet, I am sure that some NonStop folks may insist that it is “easier” to use TACL to perform the same functions. I submit that is a matter of habit or preference, not because it is easier. For example, are you using the COMMAND PROMPT interface to do work on your desktop computer? I suspect not. Most, if not all of us rely on the Windows Explorer and all its GUI components every day to do productive work on our desktop computers. With TOP, you can now achieve the same level of productivity performing NonStop operations.
Contact us to learn more about how TOP can help your novice and experienced NonStop team be more productive with systems operations.
Read more TOP blogs:
Phil Ly is the president and founder of TIC Software, a New York-based company specializing in software and services that integrate NonStop with the latest technologies, including Web Services, .NET and Java. Prior to founding TIC in 1983, Phil worked for Tandem Computer in technical support and software development.
TIC Software partners with comForte to offer a suite of innovative security, modernization, and connectivity solutions for NonStop systems users.comForte develops, markets, and supports proven and innovative modernization, middleware, connectivity, and security solutions for users of HP NonStop systems.
Comments