Starting and stopping BMC Server Automation components

The following topics describe how to start and stop various components of BMC Server Automation:

Starting and stopping the RSCD agent

Starting the console and Network Shell on Windows

The section provides instructions for starting the console and Network Shell on Windows.

To start the Network Shell on Windows

Perform one of the following actions:

• From the Start menu, choose Programs > BMC Software > BladeLogic Server Automation Suite > Network Shell<version>.
• From a command line, enter the following command:
  <installDirectory>\NSH\bin\nsh.exe
  Replace <installDirectory> with the parent installation directory. The default directory is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic, but it might have been changed at installation time.

To start the BMC Server Automation Console on Windows

Perform one of the following actions:

• From the Start menu, choose Programs > BMC Software > BladeLogic Server Automation Suite > Server Automation Console<version>.
• From a command line, enter the following command (assuming that you have installed BMC Server Automation in its default location):
  <installDirectory>\CM\rcp\BSAClient.exe
  Replace <installDirectory> with the parent installation directory. The default directory is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic, but it might have been changed at installation time.

Starting the console and Network Shell on Linux and UNIX

The section provides instructions for starting the console and Network Shell on Linux and UNIX.

Before you begin

You must have root privileges or be a part of the bladmin group.

To start the Network Shell on Linux and UNIX

Enter either of the following commands:
/bin/nsh

<installDir>/NSH/bin/nsh 

Replace <installDirectory> with the parent installation directory. The default directory is /opt/bmc/bladelogic, but it might have been changed at installation time.

To start the BMC Server Automation Console on Linux and UNIX

Start Network Shell, and then start BMC Server Automation by running the following command:

<installDir>/CM/rcp/bsaclient.sh 

Replace <installDirectory> with the parent installation directory. The default directory is /opt/bmc/bladelogic, but it might have been changed at installation time.

Starting Application Servers

Two methods exist for starting Application Servers. The method you use depends on the Application Servers you want to start:

• To start all Application Servers on the host, whether a single (default) Application Server or multiple Application Servers, see To start all Application Servers on the host
• To start a specific Application Server (when additional Application Servers are configured on the host), use the Infrastructure Management window. See To start a specific Application Server.

To start all Application Servers on the host

This operation starts all Application Servers on the host, whether a single (default) Application Server or multiple Application Servers. To start all Application Servers on the host, do one of the following:

• On Windows, from the Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools, and double-click Services. Right-click BladeLogic Application Server and select Start from the pop-up menu.
• On a UNIX system, from the directory where BMC Server Automation is installed, enter the following:
  /etc/init.d/blappserv start

To start a specific Application Server

The start operation starts the Application Server and automatically deploys it, if it has not been deployed.

1. In the BMC Server Automation Console, from the Configuration menu, select Infrastructure Management.
2. Expand the Application Servers node.
3. Right-click the Application Server and select Start.

Stopping Application Servers

Two methods exist for stopping Application Servers. The method you use depends on the Application Servers you want to stop:

• To stop all Application Servers on the host, whether a single (default) Application Server or multiple Application Servers, see To stop all Application Servers on the host.
• To stop a specific Application Server (when additional Application Servers are configured on the host), use the Infrastructure Management window. See To stop a specific Application Server. To use this stop method, the default Application Server must already be started.

To stop all Application Servers on the host

Performing this procedure immediately stops all Application Servers on the host, even though they might be currently processing jobs. The BLCLI provides commands that enable you to shut down Application Servers more gracefully (see To shut down an Application Server gracefully). To stop all Application Servers on the host, do one of the following:

• (Windows) Do one of the following:
  • From the command line window where the Application Server is running, enter Ctrl-C.
  • From the Windows Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools, and double-click Services. Right-click- BladeLogic Application Server and select Stop from the pop-up menu.
• (UNIX) Enter the following:
  /etc/init.d/blappserv stop

To stop a specific Application Server

The stop operation ends running jobs and stops the Application Server, providing a controlled shutdown. You can select options for managing the running jobs. You cannot use the stop operation on an Application Server to which a BMC Server Automation Console is connected.

1. In the BMC Server Automation Console, from the Configuration menu, select Infrastructure Management.
2. Expand the Application Servers node.
3. Right-click the Application Server and select Stop.
4. In the Stop Application Server dialog box, select the method for managing any running jobs:
   • Stop immediately without waiting for running jobs to finish.
   • Stop when all running jobs finish.
   • Stop when all running jobs finish or after specified number of minutes, whichever comes first.
5. Click OK.

To shut down an Application Server gracefully

The BLCLI provides commands that enable you to:

• Shut down an Application Server after all jobs running on it have completed or after a specified period of time has elapsed
• Pause an Application Server while it processes all active jobs or resume service after you have paused the Application Server
• Shut down, pause, or resume a specific Application Server or all Application Servers on the host

These commands are available in the AppServerShutdown name space of the BLCLI. See the BLCLI Help for specific information about AppServerShutdown. You can also use the Infrastructure Management window to gracefully shut down a specific Application Server (when multiple Application Servers are configured on the host). See To stop a specific Application Server.

To pause, resume, or shut down an Application Server

When you pause an Application Server, the following occurs:

• The job execution thread on the Application Server no longer processes newly scheduled jobs.
• The Application Server is temporarily set so other Application Servers cannot distribute jobs to it.
• To expedite the processing of currently active jobs, the Application Server continues to give out work item threads to other Application Servers, if requested.
• The Application Server is temporarily set so it can no longer request work item threads from other Application Servers. 
  When you pause an Application Server, it continues to process all of its current work items. If any of those work items take a long time to finish, the Application Server appears to be paused until all of those work items are complete. When you instruct a paused Application Server to resume work, you essentially undo the actions listed above. The job execution thread can again process scheduled jobs and the Application Server can request work item threads from other Application Servers. When you use AppServerShutdown commands to shut down an Application Server, the Application Server job framework is paused, as described above. When all jobs and work items have completed or a specified period of time has elapsed, the shutdown sequence begins.

Restarting Application Servers

Two methods exist for restarting Application Servers. The method you use depends on the Application Servers you want to restart:

• To restart all Application Servers on the host, whether a single (default) Application Server or multiple Application Servers, see To restart all Application Servers on the host
• To restart a specific Application Server (when additional Application Servers are configured on the host), use the Infrastructure Management window. See To restart a specific Application Server. To use the restart operation, the default Application Server must already be started.

To restart all Application Servers on the host

This operation restarts all Application Servers on the host, whether a single (default) Application Server or multiple Application Servers. Do one of the following:

• (Windows) From the Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools, and double-click Services. Right-click BladeLogic Application Server and select Restart from the pop-up menu.
• (UNIX) Enter the following:
  /etc/init.d/blappserv restart

To restart a specific Application Server

The Restart operation first stops the Application Server and then starts it again. Use this operation to have configuration changes take effect. You cannot use the Restart operation on an Application Server to which BMC Server Automation Console is connected.

1. In the BMC Server Automation Console, from the Configuration menu, select Infrastructure Management.
2. Expand the Application Servers node.
3. Right-click the Application Server and select Restart.

To stop or start the Process Spawner service

If the Process Spawner is enabled (blasadmin show ProcessSpawner SpawnerEnabled shows true), then the spawner server must be running when the application server starts.  To stop or start the spawner service, perform the following actions:

• (Windows) From the Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel. Then double-click Administrative Tools, and double-click Services. In the Services window, right-click BladeLogic Process Spawner Server and select Stop, Start or Restart from the menu.
• (UNIX) Enter the following command:
/etc/init.d/blprocserv stop|start|restart