Using process control to run external procedures in automations

The process control system runs external procedures that are specified in automations. External procedures are run on a local or remote host.

An automation does not run programs by itself. It sends a request to a process agent. If necessary, the process agent forwards the request to the process agent that is running on the specified host. The remote process agent then runs the requested program.

External procedures can pass between different operating system environments, and process agents in one operating system can run automations sent by process agents in another operating system.

When you run the process agent from the command line on UNIX and Windows, the working directory for all child processes is the directory from which the process agent was started.

When you run the process agent as a UNIX daemon, the working directory for all child processes is $NCHOME/omnibus.

On Windows, the default directory for a process agent that is running as a Windows service is %NCHOME%\omnibus\log. This directory is also the default working directory of any child processes that are spawned by the process agent.

Tip: When running external procedures, the PA.Username and PA.Password ObjectServer properties must be set to a valid user name and password combination within the ObjectServer properties file, for authentication purposes. The PA.Name ObjectServer property must also be set to the name of the process agent that the ObjectServer uses to run external automations. These settings ensure that connection to the process agent, and the running of the external procedure, are successful.

Note: Only passwords up to and including 15 characters in length can be used by the process agent. Passwords longer than this are not supported.