Robot/CONSOLE Manages Logs for Multi i Machines

Published: September 15, 2009

by Alex Woodie

Help/Systems this month added a new "host mode" capability to its Robot/CONSOLE utility that allows it to manage the messages, logs, and other i OS resources of multiple Power Systems and System i machines from a single display. The update also brings new reports that consolidate the information, including a "good morning" report that shows messages and logs generated overnight.

Robot/CONSOLE is an i OS systems management tool that helps to automate System i operations by collecting and filtering thousands of messages generated daily by a typical system. The software does the grunt work of sifting through messages and log entries generated by the server, including the QSYSOPR, QSYSMSG, QAUDJRN, QHST, lines, controllers, subsystems, printer messages, and FTP requests. It also helps operators by evaluating the importance of messages, and taking appropriate action in response to system events, such as executing routines or notifying operators via e-mail or system messages when human intervention is required.

With the new "host mode" unveiled recently, Robot/CONSOLE can now be used to monitor and respond to events occurring across multiple System i servers or logical partitions (LPARs). This is a big deal for large System i shops that struggle to keep up with messages and security log events running on two or more production systems.

And thanks to the new Explorer console that Help/Systems introduced a year ago with Robot/CONSOLE 5.0, operators and administrators can monitor and configure their multi-server Robot/CONSOLE setups from the comfort of a graphical user interface (GUI).

The capability to monitor multiple servers or LPARs with Robot/CONSOLE requires another Help/Systems product: Robot/NETWORK. Administrators and operators are also strongly recommended to become familiar with OPAL, or Operator Assistance Language, the Help/Systems' language that is used to program Robot/CONSOLE's autonomic responses and escalation procedures. OPAL is also used in other Help/Systems products, including Robot/SCHEDULE and Robot/REPORTS.

The update to Robot/CONSOLE 5 also introduces two new reports that deliver information about consolidated System i operations. The first report, called Most Common Messages, lists the number of times each message ID was sent over a specified date range on specified systems, Help/Systems says. The second report, called Good Morning, can summarize message activity across systems for a specified time period, such as the third shift. Help/Systems says the new reports make it easier for users to manage messages for multiple systems.

The new software is available now. Pricing was not disclosed. For more info, visit www.helpsystems.com.

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