Creating or editing a command definition

Use the command automation task to create and run a command definition, which specifies the command-line program that you want to run on a managed system. You can create a command definition, create one based on an existing command definition, or edit an existing command definition.

About this task

Note:

This topic describes how to access this task in the IBM® Flex System Manager Web user interface. If you are using the IBM FSM Explorer, use the finder at the top of the user interface (shown here) to locate this task:

Note:

• Command automation is supported only on systems on which Common Agent is installed.
• Remember that anything a system-account user can do from a command line can be done to the system, regardless of the user who is logged in to the managed system.

To create or edit a command definition, perform the following steps:

1. On the Initial Setup tab of the Home page, click Chassis Manager. On the Chassis Manager page, type Command Automations in the Find field, then click Command Automations in the resulting list on the Tasks tab.
2. Determine if you want to create a command definition, create a command definition based on an existing one, or edit an existing command definition.
   • If you want to create a command definition, click Create.
   • If you want to create a command definition that is based on an existing command definition, select a command definition from the table, then click Create Like.
   • If you want to edit an existing command definition, select a command definition from the table, then click Edit.
3. In the Create Command Definitions window, specify information about the command definition:
   1. Accept the default name for the command definition or type a new name in the Name field.
   2. In the Command to run field, type the fully qualified file name and command syntax. Consider the following information:
      • For managed systems running IBM i, the command is run in the Qshell environment. To run an IBM i system command (such as the call command), specify the command similar to the following example:

        system 'call mylib/myclpgm'

        The command runs within the Qshell environment and enables you to access the IBM i system commands.
      • For managed systems running Windows, preface the command with the following string to ensure that it runs in a Windows command-shell window:

        cmd /c

   3. In the Timeout field, type a timeout value, in seconds. The timeout value specifies the number of seconds to wait for the command either to return a completion code or time out. Make sure that the timeout value is long enough.
   4. Select the Log check box if you want to log any output produced by the command, for example, a directory listing.
   5. Either accept the default user ID (or the existing user ID if you clicked Edit or Create Like) or type a new user ID that has the required authority to perform the command. If you want to run the process using an alternative user account and override the default user ID, you can specify a user ID and password in the Login group box.
   Note: (Managed systems running IBM i only) Commands cannot be performed using the default user ID that is shipped with IBM Flex System Manager. For a command definition to run successfully on IBM i systems, the command definition must specify a valid user ID and password, or the managed system to which it is being run must be configured to specify a user that has the authority to run the command definition. You can register that user in the IBM Director Agent default user function ID on the managed system system using Application Administration in Power Systems™ Navigator.
   Note: You either must specify an alternative user ID or remove the default user ID from the registered function and add a new default user ID that has the required authority to perform the command.
4. Click OK to save the command definition.