Before you can set or update automatically the higher systems to which clients will be connected, you must create an information file for higher connection destinations (dmhost.txt) and distribute it to the clients. After distribution to the clients, connection destinations are reset automatically at specific times.

(a) Creating dmhost.txt

dmhost.txt is used to determine the higher system to which a client will be connected. The file defines the higher systems corresponding to ranges of IP addresses of client PCs. For example, dmhost.txt could be set up to define the connection destination of client PCs with IP addresses in the range from 172.16.22.1 to 172.16.22.255 as the New York branch PC, and the connection destination of client PCs with IP addresses in the range from 172.17.22.1 to 172.17.22.255 as the Detroit branch PC. For details about creating dmhost.txt, see (2) Creating an information file for higher connection destinations (dmhost.txt)

(b) Distributing dmhost.txt

Once you have created dmhost.txt, you must save it to the following directory of each client PC:

JP1/Software-Distribution-installation-directory\MASTER\DB

You can distribute dmhost.txt to a large number of clients in the batch mode by using the Install package job. To do this, package and distribute dmhost.txt using the following settings:

Installation target directory settings on the System Conditions page

Drive: None

Directory: %NETMDMP%\MASTER\DB

If a client is not connected to a JP1/Software Distribution system, you can manually store dmhost.txt.

(c) Timing for changing the connection destination

After storing dmhost.txt in the client PC, either execute polling or restart the OS of the client PC. The higher system to which the client will connect will be set on the basis of the contents of this file.

The following are the three types of polling that automatically change a client's connection destination:

• Start polling when the client program starts
  In the client settings, the Start polling when the client program starts check box is selected on the Default Running Status/Polling page.
  
• Specify the time to execute polling
  In the client settings, the Specify the time to execute polling check box is selected on the Default Running Status/Polling page.
  
• Polling through execution of the Execute Job Backlog icon
  From the Start menu, the Execute Job Backlog icon is chosen.
  

Even after these settings have been configured, the connection target is reset if you execute polling or restart the OS after either of the following:

• The IP address of the client PC changes
• dmhost.txt is edited or overwritten

If you move a client PC and change its IP address, its connection destination is changed to the appropriate higher system simply by executing polling or restarting the OS. The end user need not be aware of the change in the connection destination.

When the connection destination of a client is set or changed automatically on the basis of dmhost.txt, the change is logged into the installation-folder\LOG\USER.LOG file. For details about the log information, see 6.4.1 Checking log files in the manual Administrator's Guide Volume 2.

If you use dmhost.txt to automatically set the connection destination, and then manually change the connection destination from the client setup, the manually set connection destination remains in effect even after polling or OS restart.

(d) Relationship between automatic updating of connection destination and other facilities

Because automatic updating of the connection destination from dmhost.txt cannot be used with some JP1/Software Distribution facilities, note the following:

• The facility for automatic updating of the connection destination from dmhost.txt cannot be used if you specify Automatically specify the higher system that requested a job execution as the connection destination. Even if you save dmhost.txt, it is not used if you select the Automatically specify the higher system that requested a job execution as the connection destination check box on the Connection Destination page during client setup.
• To use the facility for automatic updating of the connection destination from dmhost.txt in the case of multiple LAN connections, select the Use as Client IP address check box in the Network Adapter Settings dialog box, which is displayed from the Communication page of the client setup.
• Do not save dmhost.txt at computers in a multi-polling environment. If you select Poll multiple higher systems on the Connection Destination page, the priority of the higher system to which the client will be connected will have changed even by the time you save dmhost.txt.
• When the connection destination is changed from dmhost.txt, the new connection destination is not added to the Servers permitted to execute remote collection jobs list on the Remote Collect Options page of the Client Setup dialog box.
• If you specify * or ? as the connection destination, dmhost.txt cannot be used for automatic change the connection destination. However, once you save dmhost.txt at the client, automatic updating of the connection destination is enabled if a value other than * or ? is specified for the connection destination.
  If you install JP1/Software Distribution Client using the pre-installation facility and copy the hard disk that contains dmhost.txt, the connection destination is updated automatically according to this dmhost.txt when a desired connection destination is specified on the PC after distribution.
  
• If the current logon user does not have registry write permissions, and if, in the client settings, the Run the client with non-Administrator user permissions check box is cleared on the Security page, executing the Execute Job Backlog icon will not change the connection destination setting.

The information file for higher connection destinations is a text file with the name dmhost.txt. This section explains how to create this file.

(a) Format of dmhost.txt

Each line of dmhost.txt consists of a range of IP addresses of client PCs and information about the corresponding connection destination. Each line can consist of a maximum of 255 characters. Use the comma (,) as the delimiter between items. To add a comment line, begin the line with a semicolon (;).

The file format is as follows:

Format

lowest-IP-address,highest-IP-address,connection-destination,product-type-of-the-connection-destination,multicast-address-of-the-connection-destination

Description

lowest-IP-address (required)

Specify the lowest IP address in the range of client IP addresses. Specify the numbers in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

highest-IP-address (required)

Specify the highest IP address in the range of client IP addresses. Specify the numbers in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

connection-destination (required)

Specify the host name or IP address of the connection destination. Specify the host name if the connection destination node identification key is set to host names, or the IP address if it is set to IP addresses. A host name must not exceed 64 bytes of alphanumeric characters. If you specify an IP address, specify the numbers in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

product-type-of-the-connection-destination (required)

Specify netmdm if the connection destination is JP1/Software Distribution Manager, or netmdmw if the connection destination is JP1/Software Distribution Client (relay system).

multicast-address-of-the-connection-destination (optional)

If you wish to distribute jobs to clients using multicast distribution, specify the multicast address that will be set as the connection destination. Specify the multicast address as numbers in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. You can use the following range of addresses for multicast addresses: 224.0.1.0 to 239.255.255.255.

Notes

• If the IP address of a client is not within a defined range, the connection destination setting will not be changed.
• If the IP address of a client is the loopback address 127.0.0.1, the connection destination setting will not be changed.
• If you specify a range of client IP addresses that overlaps another specified range, the range that is defined first takes effect.
• A line is ignored in the following cases:
  
  • When any of the four required items is omitted
  • When an invalid IP address is specified
  • When connection-destination is more than 64 bytes
  • When the specified product type is neither netmdm nor netmdmw
• If you omit the multicast-address-of-the-connection-destination parameter or if you specify an invalid value, the multicast address cannot be set. However, the range of IP addresses and corresponding connection destination information specified in the other parameters are still valid.
• If you specify more than five items on one line, the additional items are ignored.
• If a line exceeds 255 characters, the 256th and subsequent characters are ignored.

(b) Example of creating dmhost.txt

The following shows an example of creating dmhost.txt.

Figure 6-19 Example of creating dmhost.txt

Line 2 of the file contains the IP address range 172.17.13.1 to 172.17.13.250. For a client whose IP address is 172.17.13.6, the higher system is therefore changed automatically to dmman01.

If the range from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.254, which includes the range of all IP addresses, is defined on the last line of dmhost.txt, the higher system at the connection destination is changed to dmman02 for a client that had no corresponding IP address.

(c) Notes on when the information file for higher connection destinations has been distributed

If you change the IP address of a connection destination host after the information file for higher connection destinations has been distributed to the clients and automatic updating of their connection destinations has been performed, first delete from the clients the information file for higher connection destinations that you had been using. The change in the IP address will then act as a trigger to activate the facility for automatic updating of the connection destination.