HP 3000 Manuals

Using the 900 Series HP 3000: Fundamental Skills Module 4: The Account Structure

Lesson 1 The MPE/iX Account Structure 

Lesson 1 presents the MPE/iX account structure.

   *   understanding the account structure

   *   the four elements of the account structure

   *   the four elements of a logon

   *   the PUB group

   *   the SYS account

What is an account structure? 

The MPE/iX account structure performs several functions.  Anyone can log
on and successfully use the HP 3000 without knowing about these
functions, but you will be more effective in your work if you understand
the account structure.

The account structure on the 900 Series HP 3000 is set up by your system
management team and serves three main system functions:  organization,
security, and billing.

Organization.     

In order for the HP 3000 system to process all of the information from
its user base, some structure is necessary to organize the information.
This keeps your files from being mixed together with those of other
users, for instance.

Security.     

The account structure can protect each user's files from unwarranted use
by unqualified or unauthorized users.  The system challenges the person
logging on to enter one or more passwords, to be sure that the person
really has authority to work on the system.   

Billing.     

Your organization probably checks every so often to see how much time
people have spent using the computer.  Very likely the time used is the
basis for determining who needs more computing facility, who needs less,
and how to bill each department or unit for the internal cost of owning
and running the computer.  This billing process begins with your logon.

Elements of the account structure 

The account structure deals with four elements:  accounts, users (who
belong to accounts), groups, and files.

You might think of the computer system as a filing room in which there
are many filing cabinets.

Accounts.     

The basic unit in the MPE/iX account structure is the account.  There are
usually many accounts on the MPE/iX. As a user, you are assigned to a
specific account.  When you log on, you enter HELLO and your user name
and the name of the account to which your user is assigned.

An account may have more than one user assigned to it.

If you think of the computer as a filing room, then each separate cabinet
in the filing room is comparable to a separate account within the
computer system.

Users.     

Users are people like yourself who use the computer.

In a sense, users do not have a place in the account structure (cabinet).
Instead, they are the people (more accurately, the user names) who have
the key to an account (cabinet).  A user name is the key to a particular
account (cabinet).

Groups.     

Accounts are divided into smaller units called groups.  Groups are
comparable to the drawers in each filing cabinet.  Groups are separated
from each other, just the way accounts are separated.

Groups contain files.

Files.     

Files--all sorts of files--are the materials that users work with.  They
are kept in the groups.  You have created, saved, and edited files, so
you should feel somewhat familiar with them.

Figure 4-1 represents one way of
looking at accounts, files, and groups.


          Figure 4-1.  Elements of Account Structure 

Figure 4-2 represents another way of looking at accounts, files, and
groups.


          Figure 4-2.  Files in Groups in an Account 

Elements of your logon 

There are four logon elements:

   *   user name (required at logon)

   *   account name (required at logon).

   *   group name (optional)

   *   session name (optional)

Like file names, these names must start with a letter and contain no more
than eight characters in all.


NOTE  In the following examples, the comma (,) and the period (.)--called
      delimiters--are important.

      You do not have to end one logon session (with BYE), before
      starting another.  If you are working in a session and you enter
      the HELLO command (plus your logon identity), your previous session
      automatically ends and a new one begins.


User and account names.     

The simplest logon identity consists of a user name and an account name.
You must specify at least a user name and an account name to log on.

     HELLO username.acctname

     HELLO JOHN.SMITHERS

If there are user and/or account passwords, you are prompted for them by
the system security.

Look at your logon identifier.  Which is the account name?  Which is the
user name?

Group names.   

Before you can work on a file, you must log on to the account and group 
in which the file is found.

To log on to a particular group, add a comma and the group name at the
end of your logon identifier:

      HELLO username.acctname,group

Log on to MYGROUP, using your user and account name.   

Example:

      HELLO username.acctname,MYGROUPReturn 


NOTE  If there is a group password assigned, you are prompted for it.


Execute SHOWME to check your user identity:

      SHOWMEReturn 

Now, log on to the OTHERGRP group.  Remember that you do not have to log
off in order to start a new session.  Use the HELLO command with your
appropriate logon identity.

Example:

      HELLO username.acctname,OTHERGRPReturn 

Check your user identity again with the SHOWME command.

Session names.     

Session names are used as an additional identifier, not for the computer,
but for the benefit of those who are working with the computer.  Session
names can represent anything that helps identify your logon session,
(persons, places, or things).  To add a session name to the logon, put
the session name and a comma ahead of everything else in the logon
identity:

      HELLO session,username.acctname,group

For example, you might choose to log on using a location, such as a
building number, as a session name and the group name MYGROUP. (Sessions
are limited to eight letters.)

Example:

      HELLO BUILD20,JOHN.SMITHERS,MYGROUP

Execute a SHOWJOB at the prompt.  In the above example, BUILD20 is the
session identifier.


NOTE  Actually, several people can log on simultaneously using the same
      user, account and group names.  For example, several users working
      on a team project may share a logon identity.  Session names can be
      used to identify specific users who may all be logged on at the
      same time.


Logon requirements.   

These are the minimum requirements for logging on:

   *   A user name and an account name.

   *   The user name and account name must be separated by a period.

   *   The session name and group name are optional.

   *   The user, account, and group names may each be protected by a
       password.

   *   If you specify a session name, you must put a comma (,) after the
       session name, to separate it from the user name.

   *   If you specify a group name, you must put a comma (,) before the
       group name, to separate it from the account name.

The PUB Group 

Every account on the MPE/iX system has a special group called PUB that
contains files that are accessible to any user assigned to that account.


NOTE  Any file in the PUB group is accessible to anyone who is able to
      log on to the account, unless the file has been locked with a
      lockword or has special security assigned to it.  A discussion on
      locking files can be found in the 900 Series HP 3000:  Advanced 
      Skills course.


The SYS account 

Every MPE/iX system has a main system account called SYS that exists
primarily for the use of the system manager.  Like other accounts, the
SYS account has a special group called PUB. Files stored in the PUB group
of the SYS account are available without restriction to any system user,
unless those files have lockwords or special file security.

One program in the PUB group of the SYS account that you have already
used is the editor (EDIT/3000).

Your Home Group 

Recall that you do not have to specify a group name when you log on.  A
user name and an account name are all that you need.

It is common on most MPE/iX systems that if you do not specify a group
name when you log on, MPE/iX puts you in some group.  It puts you in the
group designated as your home group.  Your home group is your default
logon group.  If you do not have a home group (default group), you must
specify a group name at logon.

Your account manager assigns your home group when your user name is
created in an account.  Recall at the beginning of this module that you
could ask your account manager to create MYGROUP and OTHERGRP for you and
designate MYGROUP as your home group.

Why do that?

For the purposes of these lessons, it is simply more convenient if a
group called MYGROUP is your home group.  That way you can be assured of
working in MYGROUP whenever you log on without specifying a group.  If
you do not have MYGROUP and OTHERGRP, but are using two different groups
instead, you have to keep the difference in mind and adjust accordingly.

Discovering your home group.   

To discover your home group, log on using just your user name and account
name.  Then enter SHOWME to find out what group you are in.

Do that now, using your own user name and account name:

      HELLO username.accountnameReturn 

You are now in your home group.

Now enter:

      SHOWMEReturn 

Can you find the group name in the display?

Another way to discover your home group is to enter the command LISTUSER
at the system prompt.

Try this:

      LISTUSERReturn 

Do you see something like this on your screen?
________________________________________________________________________
|                                                                      |
|                                                                      |
| :LISTUSER ************************ USER: ETHEL.MERTZ                 |
|                                                                      |
|                                                                      |
|                                                                      |
| HOME GROUP: MYGROUP PASSWORD: ** MAX PRI : 150 LOC ATTR:             |
| $00000000 LOGON CNT : 1 CAP: ND,SF,BA,IA                             |
|                                                                      |
________________________________________________________________________

            

The LISTUSER command provides you with some valuable information about
you as a user of the MPE/iX system.  But for now, just note what your
home group is.  Is it MYGROUP or something else?

PUB as your home group.     

It is tempting to have PUB designated as your home group.  A lot of users
could share PUB as the home group in an account.  After all, every file
in PUB is accessible to everyone unless the file is locked; however,
using PUB as your home group is not a good idea.  Why not?

Suppose that you worked in personnel.  Would you want to keep
confidential files about persons in your firm in the PUB group, where
other users might be able to read them?  Most likely not.

Keep this in mind when using the PUB group.  If you have access to a
group other than PUB (your account manager has the ability to create one
for you), make a practice of keeping your confidential files in the other
group.


NOTE  The simplest logon, HELLO username.acctnameReturn, works only if
      the user has a designated home group.

MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation