Managing Vsrvtcp on HPUX

Overview

Visimage for Windows communicates with the AskPlus host server via a TCP/IP connection. Once AskPlus has been installed, you need to activate a listener process for Visimage for Windows. You must login as askplus to start and stop the listener. Root access is required to correctly install/configure vsrvtcp.

Installing VsrvTcp

New VsrvTcp versions are distributed as separate .gz file, each version has a unique name: For example, vsrvtcp_arch_xxx.gz, where 'arch' is the supported system and 'xxx' is the version number.

Download the file from the Vital-Soft website:

make sure the browser does not automatically unzip the file when it is downloaded.

Transfer the file to UNIX:

Transfer the vsrvtcp_arch_xxx.gz file, using a binary transfer, to the /ASKPLUS directory

Complete the install:

#Login
login root 
cd /ASKPLUS 
#Stop the current listener process
./kill_vsrvtcp -stop_all 
#Make a backup of the current vsrvtcp file
cp vsrvtcp vsrvtcp_yyy (Where 'yyy' is the currently installed version number) 
#Unzip the new file
gunzip vsrvtcp_arch_xxx.gz (Your file will have a name specific to the version you downloaded)
#Set the ownership
chown root vsrvtcp_arch_xxx 
#Set permissions
chmod 755 vsrvtcp_arch_xxx
#Add the sticky bit
chmod +s vsrvtcp_arch_xxx
#Copy the uploaded file to the default name
cp vsrvtcp_arch_xxx vsrvtcp  (This is optional, you can always test vsrvtcp using a different name on a different port)

Finally, check the new version has been correctly installed. If the install was successful the reported version will match the version you downloaded.

#Check the version
./vsrvtcp -v

Validating the Listener

Before you can connect, you will need to make sure that the listener has been validated. Enter the following command to display the current status:

 /ASKPLUS/vsrvtcp -ig

The current status and installation number will be displayed. If necessary, contact Vital Soft (support@vital-soft.com or 800-848-2576) to request a validation number. To enter the new validation number type:

 /ASKPLUS/vsrvtcp -is

Once you have entered the validation, check the status again.

Starting the Listener

The listener process can be launched by typing:

 /ASKPLUS/vsrvtcp -a >/dev/null

To verify that the process is running, use the ps command as follows:

 ps -ef | grep vsrvtcp

To verify that it is waiting for a connection, use the following command:

 netstat -a | grep askplus

The process should be in a LISTEN state.

Stopping the Listener

The listener can be stopped by using the UNIX kill command or by using a script provided. It is likely that you will need root capability to stop the listener

 /ASKPLUS/kill_vsrvtcp -stop_all

The parameter “stop_all” will also shutdown (stop) all active Visimage connections.

Starting and Stopping VSRVTCP Automatically

It is possible to configure your HP/UX system to automatically start (and stop) the VSRVTCP listener service each time the system is restarted.

Follow these steps to automatically start VSRVTCP:

1. Login as root.

2. Copy the startup script into the system startup directory and change its permissions.

 cd /sbin/init.d
 cp /ASKPLUS/vsrvtcp.st vsrvtcp
 chmod 555 vsrvtcp

3. Determine the appropriate stage to start the listener and add the necessary link command.

 cd /sbin/rc2.d
 ls -l

The ls command will display a list of all of the processes that are configured to be automatically started. Each file name will be of the form Sxxxname, where xxx is a 3 digit number and name is the name of the process. For example:

 lrwxr-xr-x 1 root sys S900eloq6 -> /sbin/init.d/eloq6 ...
 lrwxr-xr-x 1 root sys S900samba -> /sbin/init.d/samba
 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys S910vsrvtcp -> /sbin/init.d/vsrvtcp
 lrwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin S989fc_td -> /sbin/init.d/fc_td ...
 lrwxr-xr-x 1 root sys S999isisd -> /sbin/init.d/isisd

Choose a number that appears near the end of the list. (A high number) In our example, we chose 910, just after the eloquence db server is started. In the command that follows, substitute 910 with the number you have chosen.

 ln –s /sbin/init.d/vsrvtcp S910vsrvtcp

4. Determine the appropriate stage to stop the listener and add the necessary link command.

 cd /sbin/rc1.d
 ls -l

This time we are looking for file names of the form Kxxxname. Choose a number that appears near the top of the list. (A low number) In our example, we chose 90. In the command that follows, substitute 90 with the number you have chosen.

 ln –s /sbin/init.d/vsrvtcp K90vsrvtcp

5. Finally, create a new file called vsrvtcp in the rc.config.d directory that activates the startup script. Create the file using vi, or cat as shown below:

 cd /etc/rc.config.d
 cat > vsrvtcp
 export VSRVTCP_START=1
 export VSR
 VTCP_STOP=1 <ctrl D> This stops the input.

This completes the process. The next time the system is rebooted (or shutdown), the VSRVTCP listener process will be automatically started (or stopped). The entire process can be reviewed by looking at the contents of the log file: /etc/rc.log.

Switching TCP/IP Services

VSRVTCP will attempt to use whichever service (port) is specified in the host services (/etc/services) file. If vsrvtcp exits with no errors (and no process is running), the most likely reason is a port conflict. You can specify a different service number when running vsrvtcp as follows:

 /ASKPLUS/vsrvtcp -n30505 >/dev/null

Once you determine the best service number to use, make sure that you update the services file (/etc/services) as shown above in the configuration section.

If you change the service number to something other than 30501 it will be necessary to configure Visimage to use that same service number. See the Visimage Installation & Configuration chapter of this guide for instructions on how to make this change.

Configuring Encrypted Passwords

Starting with version 4.9.1 of vsrvtcp, it is possible to require Visimage users to connect using encrypted passwords. To use encrypted passwords, Visimage users must install Visimage 2.6.0..2 (or higher) along with the VisiPass utility.

To require encrypted passwords, add the following key to the [vsrvtcp manager] section of the /ASKPLUS/vsrvtcp.ini:

 [vsrvtcp manager]
   RequireEncryptedPasswords=yes

To configure passwords that automatically expire, add the following keys to the same section:

 [vsrvtcp manager]
   RequireEncryptedPasswords=yes