Administering the RPC Server for C using the Command Central GUI

This document describes how to administer the EntireX RPC Server for C, using the Command Central graphical user interface. It covers the following topics:

See also Administering the RPC Server for C using the Command Central Command Line. The core Command Central documentation is provided separately and is also available under Guides for Tools Shared by Software AG Products on the Software AG documentation website.


Logging in to Command Central

Open an Internet browser and specify the URL of the Command Central Server as follows: http://<Command_Central_host>:<Command_Central_port>. This takes you to the Command Central Login page.

On Windows you can also get to the Login page from the Command Central Start Menu entry.

Provide your user credentials in the Login page and click Log In. This takes you to the page Home > Instances:

graphics/admin-cc-gui_logon.png

Creating an RPC Server Instance

Start of instruction setTo create an RPC Server for C instance

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Installations tab.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_create-1.png

  2. Click on the desired installation, for example Local, where you want to add an RPC Server for C instance.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_create-2.png

  3. Click the Instances tab.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_create-3.png

  4. Click the graphics/gui_plus.png button in the upper right corner above the list and choose EntireX RPC Server for C.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_create-4.png

  5. In the Create Instance wizard, fill in the fields in the main screen and in the Server, Broker and Library Locations tabs.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_create-5a.png

    Main Screen

    Parameter Description
    Instance name Required. Name of the runtime component, for example "MyRpcServer".
    Register Windows Service for automatic startup Optional. Register Windows Service for automatic startup. Default is not checked. If this parameter is checked, the RPC server can be controlled by the Windows Service Control Manager.

    Server Tab

    Parameter Description
    RPC Server address Required. The case-sensitive RPC server address has the format: CLASS/SERVER/SERVICE.
    Administration port Required. The administration port in range from 1025 to 65535.

    Broker Tab

    Parameter Description
    Connection
    Transport Transport over TCP or SSL. Default is TCP.
    Broker host Required. EntireX Broker host name or IP address. See Using the Broker ID in Applications in the RPC Programming documentation.
    Broker port Required. Port number in range from 1025 to 65535.
    SSL trust store Optional. Specifies the location of the SSL trust store.
    Credentials
    User Optional. The user ID for secured access to the broker.
    Password Optional. The password for secured access to the broker.

    Library Locations Tab

    Here you can specify the full path of the directories where the C server programs are located. You can view/edit the library directory list of the RPC Server for C.

    Parameter Description
    Directory Required. Path to the library containing the C server programs.
  6. Press Next to get to the Summary page to verify your input.

  7. Press Finish.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_create-7.png

    The new instance myRpcServer appears in the list.

Configuring an RPC Server Instance

Start of instruction setTo configure an RPC Server for C instance

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_config-1.png

  2. Click on the link associated with this instance to select the RPC server instance you want to configure.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_config-2.png

  3. Click the Configuration tab. EntireX supports the following configuration types, which are presented in a drop-down box when you click the down arrow below the Configuration tab label:

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_config-3.png

    Note:
    All configuration changes require a restart of the instance to take effect.

  4. Click Edit to modify the parameters on your selected configuration type.

  5. Click Test to check the correctness of your input or Apply to save your changes.

The configuration options are described in more detail below:

Broker

Parameter Description
Connection
Transport Transport over TCP or SSL. Default is TCP.
Broker host Required. EntireX Broker host name or IP address. See Using the Broker ID in Applications in the RPC Programming documentation.
Broker port Required. Port number in range from 1025 to 65535.
Encoding Required. Encoding used for the communication between the RPC server and EntireX Broker.
SSL trust store Optional. Specifies the location of the SSL trust store.
SSL trust password Optional. The password of the SSL trust store.
SSL verify server Optional. The RPC server as SSL client checks the identity of the broker as SSL server.
Credentials
User Optional. The user ID for secured access to the broker.
Password Optional. The password for secured access to the broker.

Configuration File

Here you can view/edit the configuration file of the RPC Server for C.

Library Locations

Here you can specify the full path of the directories where the C server programs are located. You can view/edit the library directory list of the RPC Server for C.

Parameter Description
Directory Required. Path to the library containing the C server programs.

Licenses

Here you can view/set the license file in the EntireX installation. For details see Import Product License Keys for Instances or Components under Getting Started with Command Central in the separate Command Central documentation under Software AG Suite & Cross-Product Guides.

Note:
The license file is used for all EntireX instances in this installation.

Monitoring KPIs

Here you can modify margins of monitored key performance indicators (KPIs) available for the RPC Server for C: Active Workers and Busy Workers.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) enable you to monitor the health of your RPC Server for C. The following KPIs help you administer, troubleshoot, and resolve performance issues:

KPI Setting
Absolute number of Active Workers entirex.generic.kpi.1.max=20
Critical alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.1.critical=0.95
Marginal alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.1.marginal=0.80
Absolute number of Busy Workers entirex.generic.kpi.2.max=20
Critical alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.2.critical=0.95
Marginal alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.2.marginal=0.80

Do not change the other properties!

Server

Here you can specify the RPC Server settings.

Parameter Description
RPC Server
RPC Server address Required. The case-sensitive RPC server address has the format: CLASS/SERVER/SERVICE.
Administration port Required. The administration port in range from 1025 to 65535.
Reconnection attempts Required. Number of reconnection attempts to the broker. When the number of attempts is reached and a connection to the broker is not possible, the RPC Server for C stops.
Worker Scalability
Worker model You can either have a fixed or dynamic number of workers. Default is dynamic (true). For more information see Worker Models.
Fixed number Required. Fixed number of workers. Must be a number in range from 1 to 255.
Minimum number Required. Minimum number of workers. Must be a number in range from 1 to 255.
Maximum number Required. Maximum number of workers. Must be a number in range from 1 to 255.

Trace Level

Here you can set the trace level of the RPC Server for C.

Parameter Value Description
Trace level 0-3 One of the following levels:
0 - None - No trace output (default).
1 - Standard - Minimal trace output.
2 - Advanced - Detailed trace output.
3 - Support - Support diagnostic. Use only when requested by Software AG Support.

Viewing the Runtime Status

Start of instruction setTo view the runtime status of the RPC server instance

  • In the Command Central Home page, click the Instances tab and select the RPC Server for C instance for which you want to see the runtime status (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker Instance).

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_runtimeStatus.png

    The visual key performance indicators (KPIs) and alerts enable you to monitor the RPC Server for C's health.

    KPI Description
    Active Workers Number of active workers.
    Busy Workers Number of busy workers.

Starting an RPC Server Instance

Start of instruction setTo start an RPC Server for C instance from the Instances tab

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_start-1.png

  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Start.

Start of instruction setTo start an RPC Server for C instance from its Overview tab

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab and select the RPC Server for C instance you want to start (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker Instance).

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_start-2.png

  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Start.

Stopping an RPC Server Instance

Start of instruction setTo stop an RPC Server for C instance from the Instances tab

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_stop-1.png

  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Stop.

Start of instruction setTo stop an RPC Server for C instance from its Overview tab

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab and select the RPC Server for C instance you want to stop (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker Instance).

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_stop-2.png

  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Stop.

Inspecting the Log Files

Start of instruction setTo inspect the log files of an RPC Server for C instance

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab, then click the link associated with the RPC Server for C instance for which you want to inspect the log files (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker Instance).

  2. Click the Logs tab:

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_logFiles-2.png

  3. In the Alias column, click the link of the log file you want to inspect, for example server.log:

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_logFiles-3.png

Changing the Trace Level Temporarily

Start of instruction setTo temporarily change the trace level of an RPC Server for C instance

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab then click the link associated with the RPC Server for C instance for which you want change the trace level temporarily (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker Instance).

  2. In the Administration tab, select the trace level and press Update.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_admin-3.png

Note:
If you want to set the trace level permanently, see Trace Level under Configuring an RPC Server Instance.

Deleting an RPC Server Instance

Start of instruction setTo delete an RPC Server for C instance

  1. In the list of EntireX RPC Server for C instances for your selected installation (for example Local), select the instance you want to delete and click the graphics/gui_minus.png button in the upper right corner above the list.

    graphics/admin-cc-gui_delete.png

  2. Click OK to confirm the uninstall of this RPC Server for C instance.

  3. In the next window, click Finish. The selected instance is removed from the list.