SS7_MAINT – the general maintenance utility

The SS7_MAINT is a general purpose facility to run other commands that are associated with SS7 Support for Blueworx Voice Response. This command has been designed to simplify the SS7 maintenance by having the most frequently-used commands accessible from a central point. The basic operation of the menu structure is a single letter selection from a menu choice displayed on the screen.

The following options are available on all levels:

R
Return to previous level
Q
Quit the SS7_MAINT utility (this is not published on all menus but is always available for use)
?
Redisplay the menu option from the current level
<Enter>
Redisplay the current prompt. Some menu levels redisplay an active status, so using <Enter> without selecting an option can be useful in monitoring a changing status.
The top-level menu for SS7_MAINT is shown below:
                             WebSphere Voice Response
                               Signaling System #7 
                               Maintenance Program
                                 Top Level Menu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        E - Enablement Operation (Start/Stop).
        D - D7 Operation (Start/Stop)
        C - MML configuration loader
        H - Housekeeping
        M - D7 Maintenance programs
        S - SS7 Server/WVR Client
        I - iFix Loading
        F - Fault Finding
        V - D7 software release
        ? - Redisplay these options.
        Q - Quit this program
Select an option :

The functionality of each of the options is described in the following sections:

Enablement Operation

This menu handles the starting and stopping of the SS7_D7 signaling custom server. These same operations can be performed from the Blueworx Voice Response Custom Server Manager GUI. This menu has an active prompt that indicates the current execution state of the SS7_D7 custom server.

The menu has two options to start and to stop the custom server. When one of these options is selected, the prompt returns immediately without confirming the action. However, the status can be monitored by periodically pressing Enter to update the status.

D7 Operation

This menu handles the starting and stopping of the Distributed7 package, and has an active prompt indicating the current state of the package. The menu options are:
S
Start the D7 package in silence mode, without any alarm message being copied to screen. This is the default method of starting D7 unless you have just completed installation or are fault-finding.
M
Start the D7 package with alarm message being copied to screen. This method is useful when first installing D7 or fault-finding.
T
Terminate the D7 package. This initiates the sequence to close down the D7 package.
E
This enables automatic start of the D7 package following a system startup.
D
This disables automatic start of the D7 package following a system startup. The D7 package must be started by hand (using SS7_MAINT).
Note: The options S, M, and T initiate the command sequence, and the return of the prompt does not imply the sequence has completed. The current state of the D7 package can be monitored by periodically pressing Enter to update the active prompt.

MML Configuration Loader

This handles the options around MML (the D7 configuration database), and should be used when initially configuring the SS7 cluster or updating. Possible options are:
H
Install the Host MML configuration for this machine from the mml-host file generated by SS7itty.
S
Load the SS7 configuration for the whole SS7 Cluster from the mml-ss7 file generated by SS7itty.
F
Remove the MML database from the current machine, ready to receive a new copy of the Host MML and SS7 MML.
Note:
  1. The option cannot be performed when the D7 package is running.
  2. The root password will be requested in order to gain access to the root-owned database files.
B
Backup the currentMML configuration by creating the file /tmp/D7-dbBackup.
Z
Restore a previously backed-up MML configuration. It overwrites the current configuration in the MML database with the data stored in file /tmp/D7-dbBackup.

HouseKeeping

This menu option allows the monitoring and control of the Log/Event and Trace files generated by the SS7/D7 Enablement custom server. On initial entry to this submenu the current Log/Error and Trace files are listed. The options are as follows:
A
Delete all the listed files.
E
Deletes only the error files listed.
V
Delete only the event files listed.
T
Deletes the SS7 trace file.
D
Rescreen the file information list on entry.

D7 Maintenance programs

This submenu gives access to a number of system health-monitoring programs that are used to verify the D7 package. Possible options are:
C
Show the SS7 card that is present in the current machine. It runs the D7 command getcfg and shows its output. getcfg shows the state and presence of the SS7 adapters in the current machine.
P
Show the current D7 processes that are running. It runs the D7 command apm_ps, which identifies which D7 processes are running on the current machine.
O
Show the status of the OSI components. It initiates the D7 command AccessMonitor, which shows all the currently active machines within the SS7 cluster, and what options are currently running. Note AccessMonitor is a GUI, for further information refer to SS8 commands.
L
Show the status of the SS7 Links by initiating the D7 command AccessStatus, which shows the status of the Link in the current SS7 cluster, and the currently message capacity. For more information on this command refer to SS8 commands.
D
Show the D7 interconnect status by running the D7 command ebs_showlink. The output shows the connected machine on the SS7 cluster and the available SS7 adapters. For more information on this command refer to SS8 commands.
M
Run the ss7view –circuit command, showing the current status of the associated circuits from this machine. Note that this option is available only on Blueworx Voice Response client machines. For more information on this command refer to ss7view – D7 Enablement monitoring tool.

SS7 Server/Blueworx Voice Response client

This menu handles the options for configuring a machine for either server or client operation. Possible options are as follows:
S
Configure the current machine for SS7 Server operation
W
Configure the current machine for Blueworx Voice Response client operation. Also use this option for configuring this package on a SSI machine.
I
Configure a Blueworx Voice Response client connected to a single system image.
C
Configure a combination of a Blueworx Voice Response client and an SS7 Server in the same machine.

iFix Loading

This option is used to install a temporary software fix for the D7 package. Should a software correction be issued, copy the file to /tmp/iFix and select this option. The iFix file is in TAR format and contains a script to run the necessary file-copying of the supplied corrections.

Fault Finding

This menu is designed to assist when using Problem determination from this information. During the identification of the root cause of problem, you may be asked to run certain options and act on the output. Options for this menu are as follows:
1
D7 Network Check. Gives the output from the D7 command ebs_showlink
2
D7 Process Check. Gives the output from the D7 command ebs_ps
3
D7 Card Check. Gives a status report of the SS7 adapters.
ss7problem
the options S, L, and D each run the ss7problem command on level 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Each of these options generates data that can be sent to IBM to assist in problem determination.

D7 software release

This menu provides control over which release Distributed 7 package is to be run. On selection of this option a screen similar to below will be shown:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             WebSphere Voice Response
                               Signaling System #7
                               Maintenance Program
                               D7 Release Menu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current active release: 1.3.1.7
Available releases:     1.3.1.0
                        1.3.1.7
        C - Change active release
        ? - Redisplay these options.
        R - Return to top level menu
Select an option :
The currently-selected release is shown, followed by the available releases. The readme in /usr/lpp/dirTalk/readme/SS7.README defines the release that you should select. To change the selected release, use option C, and then select the required release from the subsequent menu. As this changes elements within the Distributed7 package, you must enter the root password before you can proceed.
Note:
  1. Before changing a release, ensure that Distributed7 is not running; if it is, it will be terminated.
  2. A question regarding the copy MML database might appear at this stage; if so, you should normally respond with "yes", as this is a new or upgrade installation.