PMDF System Manager's Guide

The PMDF Job Controller handles the execution of PMDF processing jobs, including most outgoing (master) channel jobs.

Some PMDF channels, such as PMDF's multithreaded TCP/IP channels or Lotus Notes channels, include resident server processes that process incoming messages---such servers handle the slave (incoming) direction for the channel. In addition, remote clients using protocols such as POP and IMAP download their messages by connecting to PMDF's POP or IMAP servers.

The PMDF Dispatcher handles the creation of such PMDF servers. Dispatcher configuration options control whether such servers are available at all, and if available, how many such servers are created and when, and how many connections each server can handle. Most sites, for instance, will choose to have the Dispatcher always keep at least one SMTP server process resident.

The command

# pmdf process

can be used to check that the PMDF Job Controller and PMDF Service Dispatcher are present, and to see if there are PMDF servers and processing jobs running. Under idle conditions the command should result in output similar to that seen in Figure 36-1 or Figure 36-2.

Figure 36-1 Basic Output of pmdf process

# pmdf process pmdf 13421 IW Nov 17 0:00.09 /pmdf/bin/dispatcher (1) pmdf 13427 IW Nov 17 0:00.24 /pmdf/bin/job_controller (2)

Figure 36-2 Output of pmdf process With Optional Processes

# pmdf process pmdf 26031 I Nov 17 0:01.25 <DISPATCHER> (1) pmdf 26110 IW Nov 17 0:00.17 /pmdf/bin/job_controller (2) pmdf 26128 IW Nov 17 0:00.06 /pmdf/bin/x400_tsapd -r (3) pmdf 23217 S 10:00:25 0:00.00 <LNSLAVE> (4) pmdf 23218 S 10:00:26 0:00.00 <LNMASTER> pmdf 23222 S 10:03:19 0:29.00 <SMTP> (5) pmdf 23225 S 10:03:19 0:29.00 <POP3-01> (6) pmdf 23305 S 10:03:19 0:29.00 <IMAP-01> (7)

The Job Controller and Dispatcher jobs, indicated (1) and (2) in the figures, should always be present during normal operation of PMDF. Additional jobs can be present as well, if your system is currently processing messages.

1. The PMDF Dispatcher should always be present. It is responsible for creating PMDF server processes. The PMDF Dispatcher process name is "/pmdf/bin/dispatcher" when the Dispatcher is first created; if the Dispatcher has been restarted, the name will be "<DISPATCHER>".
2. The PMDF Job Controller should always be present. It is responsible for handling PMDF channel jobs.
3. Sites using PMDF-X400 should have a TSAPD process present. It is responsible for listening for incoming X.400 connections.
4. Sites using PMDF-LAN Lotus Notes channels should have one LN master and one LN slave process present per LN channel.
5. Sites would normally have at least one SMTP server process present and possibly more, depending on the number of current SMTP connections.
6. Sites using the PMDF POP3 server would normally have at least one POP3 server process present and possibly more, depending on the number of current POP3 connections.
7. Sites using the PMDF IMAP server would normally have at least one IMAP server process present and possibly more, depending on the number of current IMAP connections.

If the Job Controller or Dispatcher is not present, you should issue the command:

# pmdf startup

Also, the Dispatcher's currently active connections can be monitored from a web browser; see Section 11.7.

In addition to the sorts of processes described above that should always be present, the Job Controller should create transient channel processing jobs that process a message or a few messages and complete their work. The pmdf process command will include any such current channel processing jobs in its output. Figure 36-3 shows an example of pmdf process output that includes actively executing channel jobs.

Figure 36-3 Output of pmdf process With Channel Jobs

# pmdf process pmdf 7945 S May_26 0:08 imapd pmdf 19072 S 07:24:53 0:05 /pmdf/bin/job_controller pmdf 3885 S 13:52:40 0:12 <SMTP> pmdf 9452 S 18:15:18 0:00 imapd pmdf 2047 S Jun_02 0:04 /pmdf/bin/dispatcher pmdf 9664 S 18:18:55 0:00 /pmdf/bin/tcp_smtp_client (1) pmdf 9932 R 18:22:56 0:03 /pmdf/bin/l_master (2)

1. An outbound TCP/IP channel job is running.
2. The local channel is running.