> > Is there a messages manual for Linux? In going back through the archives, > > I see a lively discussion on this subject in 2000. But I have not fund > > much since then. Our automation and production support groups are > > concerned about the lack of a messages manual. So far, it looks like the > > only available approach is the handle it as it hits you method. What are > > other companies doing to provide the various operations organizations the > > documentation they need to support a production environment? > > Question: What is a "messages manual", what does it achieve ? > > (This probably sounds as dumb to the S/390 crowd as the unix questions > sometimes do to me but its a foreign concept)
IBm messages are coded. Take the message IEA101A ENTER SYSTEM PARAMETERS This is issued by the OS nucleus (the IEA tells you that) and invites the operator to mention special startup requirements. The A after '101' means operator action is necessary. On Linux (IA32) the equivalent point is the LILO or GRUB or SYSLINUX prompt. The IBM manual goes on for quite some pages to tell you what you might reply. Mostly, it's R 00,U but you might make other choices. I think these are valid, no matter if they're not, they illustrate the point: R 00,"CLPA,APF=02,LNK=45" CLPA is tells MVS to rebuild the link pack area (about equivalent to Linux modules, but there are thousands of them and they're ordinarily loaded form the page datasets). APF tells OS which list of authorised libraries to use (a feature Linux would do well to adopt) LNK tells OS which list of system libraries to use (about equivalent to PATH). Another common message is something like: IEA000A,01f,...INTERVENTION REQUIRED which means the operator has to do something to the device (01f in this example). The message contains CSW and sense information. Look it up in the manual and you get great volumes of information. The same message applies whether the device is tape, printer, disk etc. The information content varies. Oh, and there's no nonsense about printers catching fire. All messages are pertinent to the problem at hand. -- Cheers John Summerfield Microsoft's most solid OS: http://www.geocities.com/rcwoolley/ Note: mail delivered to me is deemed to be intended for me, for my disposition.
