OutsideView Web:

Technical Notes: Efficiently Gain FTP Access to the NonStop OSS Environment

Simplify FTP Access to the NonStop OSS Shell with OutsideView WEB

OutsideView WEB emulation components can be served from a wide range of web servers. Web Servers that run on NonStop systems, such as the iTP WebServer, require frequent FTP file transfers from the OutsideView WEB administrator's workstation to the OSS environment. With just a few easy steps, these transfers can be made as simple as with any other UNIX system.

1. First Create an Alias for your User Definition
If your work requires interaction with the Guardian environment as well as the OSS shell, create an alias for your user definition. An alias is case-sensitive, may be up to 32 characters long and can have its own set of unique user attributes (e.g., password).

An alias is added to a user definition through the SAFECOM ADD ALIAS command of the Safeguard subsystem with the syntax:

-ADD ALIAS alias-name, group-name.member-name, PASSWORD password

 

For example, the syntax for creating the alias "OVWebAdmin" with password "crystal" for user ADMIN.RALPH is:

-ADD ALIAS OVWebAdmin, ADMIN.RALPH, PASSWORD crystal
Note: Execution of SAFECOM commands typically requires administrator rights.

 

2. Then Define an Initial Working Directory in the OSS Environment

By default when you connect to the NonStop FTP server you access the Guardian environment. The FTP user then has to use the FTP client quote OSS command to access the OSS environment. However, if you first define an initial working directory in the OSS environment for a user or alias, their FTP client access will be straight to the OSS environment.

Define an initial working directory in the OSS environment through the Safeguard subsystem by using the ALTER USER or ALTER ALIAS command with the syntax:

-ALTER ALIAS alias-name, INITIAL-DIRECTORY oss-pathname
or
-ALTER USER group-name.member-name, INITIAL-DIRECTORY oss-pathname

 

For example, to set the initial working directory for the alias OVWebAdmin to the (default) top-level directory of iTP Webserver, use the syntax:

-ALTER ALIAS OVWebAdmin, INITIAL-DIRECTORY /usr/Tandem/webserver

3. Now you are Ready to Transfer your Files

-You can transfer your files using an FTL Client or your browser

-Using an FTP Client

Once the user definitions are properly set up, when you log onto the NonStop FTP server using the FTP client, a normal UNIX file system displays.

 

Above: Screen display when logging on to the NonStop FTP server using the Administrative WebStation's File Upload tool.

 

Using a Browser

You can easily browse the NonStop FTP server OSS file system using familiar drag-and-drop techniques to upload and download files using a browser. If you use a browser as your FTP client, it is necessary to include the user or alias name and password in the URL.

The URL syntax is:

ftp://user or alias name:password@FTP server URL

The following URL would log you into a host named "K1000" using the alias name "OVWebAdmin" and the password "crystal".

ftp://OVWebAdmin:crystal@k1000