Knowledge base
Fifty-five articles on running Xi-Batch and Xi-Text. Each answers one question for one product.
Written against the shipping products and checked line by line against the source. Configuration, capacity, licensing, printing, job control, and the things that go wrong.
Xi-Batch
Backing Up and Restoring an Xi-Batch Configuration
The four conversion tools and what each really writes, what the export silently leaves behind, and the restore order
Checking Xi-Batch File and Directory Permissions
Which spool files Xi-Batch needs, who must own them, and the errors you see when they are wrong
Configuring the Xi-Batch Holiday Calendar
Where the calendar lives, editing it from btq, and why the documented command-line tool is in no installation
Controlling the Xi-Batch Job Start Rate with STARTLIM and STARTWAIT
Two settings that bound how many jobs the scheduler starts at once, where they live, and why a change needs a restart
Controlling When an Xi-Batch Job Runs
The option letters for run time, repeats, avoided days and missed slots, and why a repeat stops after one failure
Controlling Xi-Batch Job Flow with Conditions and Assignments
The exact syntax btr and btjchange accept, and what a condition does when it can never come true
Default Job and Variable Modes for Xi-Batch Users
What a new job or variable inherits, and how to change it for one user or for all
Deleting Xi-Batch Jobs in Bulk
Using btjlist and btjdel to clear jobs safely, what -y really does to a running job, and how to keep a copy first
Diagnosing Why a Ready Xi-Batch Job Will Not Start
The eleven tests the scheduler applies to every job, what the operator can see for each, and the three that show nothing
Diagnosing Xi-Batch Variable Propagation Between Hosts
How an exported variable travels between schedulers, and what happens to it when a host goes away
Identifying and Removing Redundant Xi-Batch Jobs
What the scheduler records about a job's last run, and why a repeating job in Err or Abrt is a fault to fix
Installing an Emergency Seven-Day Licence on Xi-Batch
Recovering a system whose licence has been lost or damaged with xb-emerglic, and replacing it with a permanent licence
Integrating Xi-Batch With Other Systems
The interfaces that exist - commands, exit code, variables, remote submission, the C API - and what only looks like one
Managing Xi-Batch IPC Resources
What the scheduler creates, how to inspect it, and how to clear it safely with xb-ripc after a crash
Managing Xi-Batch System Load with Load Levels
What LOADLEVEL and CLOAD really are, the two tests the scheduler applies, and why the value resets at every restart
Migrating Xi-Batch to Another System
Exporting the schedule, variables, interpreters and users, the restore order, and the holidays gap
Modes on Xi-Batch Jobs and Variables
The eleven permissions, how access is decided, and how to read and set them
Reinitialising the Xi-Batch Scheduler
Discarding the saved job queue and variables safely - which files to remove, and which you cannot get back
Removing Xi-Batch from a System
What to save first, how to remove an RPM, Debian package or tarball, and why only packaged routes delete the licence
Renewing an Xi-Batch Licence Without an Operator
Scheduling the stop, running xb-vwrite non-interactively, reading xb-checklic, and what the exit statuses mean
Running Xi-Batch on Solaris, AIX and HP-UX
Command-interpreter paths, the standard shell, accounts, service ports and startup on the non-Linux platforms
Setting Up and Managing Xi-Batch Command Interpreters
What an interpreter record contains, when a change reaches the scheduler, and why the list is restored before startup
Setting Up Xi-Batch Network Connectivity
The network licence, service entries, batch-hosts format, and why a connection that fails at startup is never retried
Sizing the Xi-Batch Shared Memory Queue
What the start-up numbers allocate, when the segments grow, and what happens when they cannot
The Xi-Batch Diagnostic Helper Functions
What the xib- shell library does, how to point it at your spool and job log, and where its output can mislead
Tracking Xi-Batch Job Activity with LOGJOBS
Enabling the job log, reading its format, and rotating a file the scheduler never reopens
Tracking Xi-Batch Variable Changes with LOGVARS
Enabling the variable log, reading a line whose field count varies, and telling which job made a change
Why an Xi-Batch Job Will Not Start When CLOAD Is Below LOADLEVEL
The nine tests the scheduler applies before starting a job, and the per-user total load level no command reports
Working with Xi-Batch Variables
What a variable holds, the limits, and the real btvar and btvlist options for creating, reading and exporting one
Xi-Batch User Priority Ranges
The three per-user settings, what they constrain, and how to change them
Xi-Batch User Privileges and What Each One Allows
The nine privileges, their defaults, and how to grant and revoke them
Xi-Text
Configuring Xi-Text Form Types, Paper Types and Suffixes
What a form type is, the exact rule matching a job to a printer, and how a suffix changes without stopping the printer
Determining When an Xi-Text Printer Was Last Used
Xi-Text records no last-used time, so the only evidence is the optional per-printer log - what it holds and omits
Diagnosing and Clearing the Xi-Text Printer error State
What puts a printer into error, the messages Xi-Text writes when it happens, and the one command that starts it again
Diagnosing Why an Xi-Text Job Will Not Print
Every condition tested before a job reaches a printer, and why an unmatched job waits for ever, reporting nothing
Distinguishing the Xi-Text offline State From error
What puts a printer offline rather than into error, and why nothing is written to the log when it happens
Identifying and Removing Redundant Xi-Text Jobs and Printers
What the queue deletes by itself, why a printer's state is no evidence of disuse, and the two-stage removal
Installing an Emergency Seven-Day Licence on Xi-Text
Recovering a system whose licence has been lost or damaged with xt-emerglic, and replacing it with a permanent licence
Managing Xi-Text Printer States and Operations
The eight states a printer can be in, what moves it between them, and the commands and spq keys that drive it
Migrating Xi-Text to Another System
Exporting the print queue, printers and users with xt-backup, and restoring them on a newly licensed machine
Reading the Xi-Text System Log (spshed_reps)
What Xi-Text writes to its system log, the much longer list of what it never writes, and why rotating it destroys it
Removing Xi-Text from a System
What to save first, how to remove an RPM, Debian package or tarball, and what each route destroys, licence included
Renewing an Xi-Text Licence Without an Operator
Scheduling the stop, running xt-vwrite non-interactively, reading xt-checklic, and what the exit statuses mean
Running Xi-Text on Solaris, AIX and HP-UX
Printer device names, accounts, service ports, startup integration and character sets on the non-Linux platforms
Setting Up and Working With Xi-Text Alignment Pages
How an alignment page is configured, and why it prints at the first job rather than when the printer starts
Sizing the Xi-Text Shared Memory Queue
What the start-up numbers allocate, when the segments grow, and what happens when they cannot
Stopping and Starting All Xi-Text Printers at Once
The pattern form that halts or starts every printer in one command, and the four things a restart does not bring back
Xi-Text File Permissions and Ownership
Which files Xi-Text needs, who must own them, why almost every command is set-user-id, and the errors when it is wrong
Xi-Text Printer Setup Files: What They Contain and When They Are Read
The files in a printer's directory, the order in which Xi-Text reads them, and how to tell whether one parsed
Both products
Build Blends - What They Change and Which One You Are Running
A release variant that installs into different directories: what changes, and how to tell which one you are running
Choosing a Distribution Format - RPM, Debian Package or Tarball
What each format gives you, which platforms have which, and what an upgrade or removal does to your queue and licence
Downloading Xi Software from the Customer Portal
Signing in with a one-time code, what the portal offers for each registered system, and why a download may be withheld
Installing Xi-Text and Xi-Batch Without Answering Questions
What the INSTALL script does and does not automate, and how to script an installation from the packages
Reading an Xi Version Number and Distribution File Name
The release version, format version, build reference and blend, what each means, and how to read them off a file name
What Belongs to the Machine and What Belongs to the Configuration
How the queue and the licence behave when an installation moves to another machine
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