HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

The SET PRINTER command in this example requests that lowercase printing be enabled on line printer LPA0.

Changes the execution characteristics associated with the specified process or kernel thread for the current terminal session or job. If no process is specified, changes are made to the current process.

Requires GROUP privilege to change other processes in the same group. Requires WORLD privilege to change processes outside your group.

Format

SET PROCESS [process-name]

Parameter

process-name

Requires that you own the process or that you have GROUP privilege and that the process is in your group.

Specifies the name of the process for which the characteristics are to be changed. Process names can be up to 23 alphanumeric characters long in the following format:

[node-name::]process-name

• The node name can have as many as 6 alphanumeric characters.
• The colons (:) count for 2 characters.
• The process name can have as many as 15 characters.

A local process name can look like a remote process name; therefore, if you specify ATHENS::SMITH, the system checks for a process named ATHENS::SMITH on the local node before checking node ATHENS for a process named SMITH.

The default process is the current process.

Process names are unique only within a particular UIC group. You cannot specify the process name for a process outside of your group. To change the characteristics of a process outside of your group, you must use the qualifier /IDENTIFICATION=pid. The process name parameter is ignored. If you include neither the process name nor the /IDENTIFICATION qualifier, the current process is assumed.

Qualifiers

/AFFINITY (Alpha only)

/NOAFFINITY

Allows bits in the kernel thread affinity mask to be set or cleared individually, in groups, or all at once. This qualifier is mutually exclusive with the /CAPABILITY qualifier.

Note The SET PROCESS/[NO]AFFINITY command fails if none of the specified CPUs has the capabilities required by the process.

The /NOAFFINITY qualifier clears all affinity bits currently set in the current or permanent affinity masks, based on the setting of the /PERMANENT qualifier. Specifying the /AFFINITY qualifier has no direct effect, but merely indicates the target of the operations specified by the following secondary parameters:

/SET=( n[,...])	Sets affinity for currently active CPUs defined by the CPU IDs n, where n has the range of 0 to 31.
/CLEAR=( n[,...])	Clears affinity for currently active CPUs defined by the position values n, where n has the range of 0 to 31.
/PERMANENT	Performs the operation on the permanent affinity mask as well as the current affinity mask, making the changes valid for the life of the kernel thread. (The default behavior is to affect only the affinity mask for the running image.)

The secondary qualifiers can all be used at once as long as the affinity bits defined in the /SET and /CLEAR parameters do not overlap.

The privileges required to execute the SET PROCESS/AFFINITY command match those required by the $PROCESS_AFFINITY system service. ALTPRI is the base privilege required to make any modifications, and the only privilege required to modify the current owner's kernel thread. Modifications within the same UIC group require GROUP privilege. Modifications to any unrelated kernel thread require WORLD privilege.

As with the other SET PROCESS qualifiers, the bit operations occur on the current process if no /IDENTIFICATION qualifier or explicit process name parameter is specified. Specifying a process name does not imply that all kernel threads associated with the process are affected; the SET PROCESS command affects only the initial kernel thread of a multithreaded process.

/AUTO_UNSHELVE

/NOAUTO_UNSHELVE

Controls whether the process automatically unshelves files.

Note that the /NOAUTO_UNSHELVE qualifier does not work across a cluster. It can be issued only for a process on the same node, including as the default case, the process from which the command is issued.

/CAPABILITY

/NOCAPABILITY

Allows bits in the process user capability mask to be set or cleared individually, in groups, or all at once. This qualifier is mutually exclusive with the /AFFINITY qualifier.

Note The SET PROCESS/[NO]CAPABILITY command fails if there is no CPU with the required set of capabilities.

The /NOCAPABILITY qualifier clears all user capability bits currently set in the current or permanent capability masks, based on the setting of the /PERMANENT qualifier. Specifying the /CAPABILITY qualifier has no direct effect, but merely indicates the target of the operations specified by the following secondary qualifiers:

/SET=( n[,...])	Sets all user capabilities defined by the position values n, where n has the range of 1 to 16.
/CLEAR=( n[,...])	Clears all user capabilities defined by the position values n, where n has the range of 1 to 16.
/PERMANENT	Performs the operation on the permanent user capability mask as well as the current user capability mask, making the changes valid for the life of the kernel thread. (The default behavior is to affect only the capabilities mask for the running image.)

The secondary qualifiers can all be used at once as long as the user capability bits defined in the /SET and /CLEAR parameters do not overlap.

The privileges required to execute the SET PROCESS/CAPABILITY command match those required by the $PROCESS_CAPABILITIES system service. ALTPRI is the base privilege required to make any modifications, and the only privilege required to modify the current owner's kernel thread. Modifications within the same UIC group require GROUP privilege. Modifications to any unrelated kernel thread require WORLD privilege.

As with the other SET PROCESS qualifiers, the bit operations occur on the current process if no /IDENTIFICATION qualifier or explicit process name parameter is specified. Specifying a process name does not imply that all kernel threads associated with the process are affected; the SET PROCESS command affects only the initial kernel thread of a multithreaded process.

/CASE_LOOKUP=keyword

The valid keywords for this qualifier are BLIND and SENSITIVE.

HP strongly recommends that you use caution when enabling case sensitivity in your processes.

Refer to the Guide to OpenVMS File Applications for additional information.

/CLEAR=(n[,...])

Clears all user capabilities or CPU affinities defined by the position values n specified by the /CAPABILITY or the /AFFINITY qualifier.

/DUMP[=NOW] [/ID=pid] [process-name]

/NODUMP (default)

Causes the contents of the address space to be written to the file named SYS$LOGIN:(image-name).DMP (where the image name is the same as the file name) when an image terminates due to an unhandled error. To specify a target process, indicate either the process ID or the process name.

Using the NOW option (available on Alpha systems only) causes the targeted process to dump as soon as possible. This is especially useful for hung processes.

You can then analyze the dump with the ANALYZE/PROCESS_DUMP utility, the Debugger, or the System Dump Analyzer (SDA).

/GLOBAL

Modifies the global cell SCH$GL_DEFAULT_PROCESS_CAP. This global cell is used to initialize the user capability mask of processes when they are started.

/IDENTIFICATION=pid

Requires GROUP or WORLD privilege for processes other than your own.

Specifies the process identification (PID) value of the kernel thread for which characteristics are to be changed. The /IDENTIFICATION qualifier overrides the process-name parameter.

The PID is assigned by the system when the process is created. When you specify a PID, you can omit the leading zeros.

If you use the /IDENTIFICATION qualifier, the process-name parameter is ignored.

The /IDENTIFICATION qualifier is supported across a cluster, but only when the target process is on the same node as the process where the command is issued.

Note The /IDENTIFICATION qualifier allows the SET PROCESS command to affect individual kernel thread PIDs; because each thread is a separate runnable entity, this command treats them as discrete entities in terms of affinities and capabilities.

/NAME=string

Changes the name of the current process to a string of 1 to 15 characters.

/PARSE_STYLE=(keyword)

Allows a user to indicate how commands are to be parsed.

Setting a particular parse style tells DCL how it should handle command syntax. User programs can also examine the state of this setting if they need to use different parse rules.

The valid keywords for this qualifier are TRADITIONAL and EXTENDED. These keywords are mutually exclusive and cannot be negated.

If the /PARSE_STYLE qualifier is not specified, the default is the TRADITIONAL format.

Keyword	Explanation
TRADITIONAL (default)	Indicates that commands should be examined using the former (prior to Version 7.2) rules for DCL syntax.
EXTENDED (Alpha only)	Indicates that commands should be examined using a syntax that allows ODS-5 file specifications.

The main differences for DCL when EXTENDED parse rules are in effect are:

• Arguments to foreign commands are case preserved. You can get the command string by calling LIB$GET_FOREIGN.
  C/C++ programs that use the argc/argv mechanism will have unquoted arguments in lowercase unless the C Run-Time Library logical DECC$ARGV_PARSE_STYLE is set to ENABLE. When DECC$ARGV_PARSE_STYLE is enabled, case is preserved in command line arguments when the process is set up for extended DCL parsing using /PARSE_STYLE=EXTENDED.
• Some characters that were previously treated as token delimiters are no longer delimiters. The pound sign (#), circumflex (^), and question mark (?) fall into this category.
• A circumflex (^) is an escape character, which can be used to indicate that the next character in the command string is to be treated as if it were quoted, thereby losing its syntactic significance.

EXTENDED parsing also modifies DCL's rules for parsing a parameter or qualifier that is defined as a file specification in a command's definition:

• File specifications will not be in uppercase.
• Any number of commas (,) may be placed between directory delimiters ([] and <>).
• Directory file ID's (DIDs) can be included in the file specification.
• Any number of periods (.) or semi-colons (;) may be included in the file specification.

Refer to the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials for more information.

/PERMANENT

Performs the operation on the permanent affinity or capability mask as well as the current mask, making the changes valid for the life of the kernel thread. (The default behavior is to affect the current mask only for the running image.) The /PERMANENT qualifier is only valid in conjunction with the /CAPABILITY or the /AFFINITY qualifier.

/PRIORITY=n

Requires ALTPRI (alter priority) privilege to set the priority higher than the base priority of the specified process.

Changes the priority for the specified kernel thread. If you do not have the ALTPRI privilege, the value you specify is compared to your current base priority, and the lower value is always used.

/PRIVILEGES=(privilege[,...])

Requires SETPRV (set privilege) privilege as an authorized privilege to enable any privilege you do not have in your authorized privilege mask.

Enables the following process privileges:

ACNT	ALLSPOOL	ALTPRI	AUDIT
BUGCHK	BYPASS	CMEXEC	CMKRNL
DETACH	DIAGNOSE	DOWNGRADE	EXQUOTA
GROUP	GRPNAM	GRPPRV	IMPORT
LOG_IO	MOUNT	NETMBX	OPER
PFNMAP	PHY_IO	PRMCEB	PRMGBL
PRMMBX	PSWAPM	READALL	SECURITY
SETPRV	SHARE	SHMEM	SYSGBL
SYSLCK	SYSNAM	SYSPRV	TMPMBX
UPGRADE	VOLPRO	WORLD

Use the SHOW PROCESS/PRIVILEGES command to determine what authorized privileges are enabled currently.

/RAD=HOME=n (Alpha only)

Changes the home resource affinity domain (RAD) of a process.

This command only works on the current process.

Supported only on AlphaServer GS series systems.

/RESOURCE_WAIT

/NORESOURCE_WAIT

Enables resource wait mode so that the process waits for resources to become available. If you specify the /NORESOURCE_WAIT qualifier, the process receives an error status code when system dynamic memory is not available or when the process exceeds one of the following resource quotas: direct I/O limit, buffered I/O limit, or buffered I/O byte count (buffer space) quota.

Caution Disabling resource waiting should be performed with caution, as doing so can have unexpected effects on constituent sharable images and runtime libraries. Refer to the $SETRWM service in the HP OpenVMS System Services Reference Manual for additional information.

/RESUME

Allows a process suspended by a previous SET PROCESS/SUSPEND command to resume operation. The /RESUME qualifier is equivalent to the /NOSUSPEND qualifier.

/SCHEDULING_CLASS="class_name"

/NOSCHEDULING_CLASS

Adds a process to, or removes a process from, a scheduling class. This command does not modify the permanent class scheduling database file. Therefore, the effect of this command can be viewed as temporary placement into, or removal from, a scheduling class.

/SET=(n[,...])

Sets all user capabilities or CPU affinities defined by the position values n specified by the /CAPABILITY or the /AFFINITY qualifier.

/SUSPEND[=SUPERVISOR]

/SUSPEND=KERNEL

/NOSUSPEND

Requires privileges as described in text.

Temporarily stops the process's activities. The process remains suspended until another process resumes or deletes it. Use the qualifiers /NOSUSPEND and /RESUME to resume a suspended process.

Specify either of the following keywords with the /SUSPEND qualifier to produce different results:

Keyword	Result
SUPERVISOR (default)	Specifies that the named process is to be suspended to allow the delivery of asynchronous system traps (ASTs) at EXEC or KERNEL mode. Specifying this keyword is optional.
KERNEL	Specifies that the named process is to be suspended such that no ASTs can be delivered. To specify the KERNEL keyword, you must be in either KERNEL mode or EXEC mode, or have CMKRNL (change mode to kernel) and CMEXEC (change mode to executive) privilege enabled. Note that this was the default behavior of the SET PROCESS/SUSPEND command for versions of OpenVMS prior to VMS Version 5.0.

Depending on the operation, the process from which you specify the /SUSPEND qualifier requires privileges. You must have GROUP privilege to suspend another process in the same group, unless that process has the same user identification code (UIC). You must have WORLD privilege to suspend any other process in the system.

When you enter the SET PROCESS/SUSPEND=KERNEL/ID= command in a cluster environment, the KERNEL keyword is ignored if the target process and the current process reside on different cluster nodes. As a result, process suspension is handled as if you had specified the SUPERVISOR keyword (the default).

Note that you can specify SET PROCESS/SUSPEND=KERNEL to override a previous SET PROCESS/SUSPEND=SUPERVISOR. SET PROCESS/SUSPEND=SUPERVISOR does not, however, override SET PROCESS/SUSPEND=KERNEL.

/SWAPPING (default)

/NOSWAPPING

Requires the PSWAPM (process swap) privilege to disable swapping for your process.

Permits the process to be swapped. By default, a process that is not currently executing can be removed from physical memory so that other processes can execute. If you specify the /NOSWAPPING qualifier, the process is not swapped out of the balance set when it is in a wait state.

/UNITS[=keyword]

Specifies whether the amount of disk space reported by certain utilities is to be displayed in blocks or bytes. Keyword options are:

Option	Description
BLOCKS	Displays disk space in blocks.
BYTES	Displays disk space in bytes.

Blocks is the default until /UNITS is set to BYTES. If you specify /UNITS with no keyword, disk space is reported in blocks.

Displays that are affected by changing the value of /UNITS include output from certain forms of the following commands: COPY, DELETE, DIRECTORY, PURGE, SHOW DEVICE, SHOW MEMORY, and SHOW QUOTA. Note that input to these commands can be specified only in blocks. The DIRECTORY, SHOW DEVICES, and SHOW MEMORY commands have a qualifier that lets you override the default SET PROCESS/UNITS setting for a single command.

Examples

$ SET PROCESS/PRIVILEGE=EXQUOTA
      

The SET PROCESS command in this example assigns the current process the privilege of exceeding quotas.

$ SET PROCESS/NORESOURCE_WAIT
      

The SET PROCESS command in this example disables resource wait mode for the current process.

$ RUN/PROCESS_NAME=TESTER  CALC
%RUN-S-PROC_ID, identification of created process is 0005002F
$ SET PROCESS/PRIORITY=10  TESTER
      

The RUN command in this example creates a subprocess and gives it the name TESTER. Subsequently, the SET PROCESS/PRIORITY command assigns the subprocess a priority of 10.

$ SHOW PROCESS/SUBPROCESS
19-APR-2001 15:17:28.41  User: DAVIS Process ID:   31900218
                         Node: OCALA  Process name: "DAVIS"

Processes in this tree:
DAVIS *
  DAVIS_1
  DAVIS_2
$ SET PROCESS/SUSPEND DAVIS_1
$

      

The SET PROCESS/SUSPEND command in this example suspends the process DAVIS_1 such that ASTs can be delivered to it. Because no keyword was specified, the /SUSPEND=SUPERVISOR version is assumed.

$ SHOW PROCESS/SUBPROCESS OCALA::TESTA
19-APR-2001 12:17:24.45   User: TESTA    Process ID:   31400208
                          Node: OCALA    Process name:  "TESTA"

Processes in this tree:
TESTA *
  TESTA_1
  TESTA_2
$ SET PROCESS OCALA::TESTA_2 /SUSPEND=KERNEL
$

      

The SET PROCESS/SUSPEND=KERNEL command in this example suspends the process TESTA_2 on node OCALA such that no ASTs can be delivered to it.

$ SET PROCESS CPUSCHED/AFFINITY/SET=1/PERMANENT
$ SET PROCESS CPUSCHED/CAPABILITY/SET=8/PERMANENT
$ SHOW CPU/FULL

COBRA7, a DEC 4000 Model 620
Multiprocessing is ENABLED. Streamlined synchronization image loaded.
Minimum multiprocessing revision levels: CPU = 1
System Page Size = 8192
System Revision Code =
System Serial Number =
Default CPU Capabilities:
        System:         QUORUM RUN
Default Process Capabilities:
        System:         QUORUM RUN
PRIMARY CPU = 00
CPU 00 is in RUN state
Current Process: *** None ***
Serial Number:  AY24870417
Revision:       A200
VAX floating point operations supported.
IEEE floating point operations and data types supported.
Processor is Primary Eligible.
PALCODE: Revision Code = 5.48
         PALcode Compatibility = 0
         Maximum Shared Processors = 2
         Memory Space:  Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
         Scratch Space: Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
Capabilities of this CPU:
      System:           PRIMARY QUORUM RUN
      User bitmask:     00000040
Processes which can only execute on this CPU:
      NETACP       PID = 0000008E      Reason: PRIMARY Capability
CPU 01 is in RUN state
Current Process: CPUSCHED        PID = 00000095
Serial Number:  AY24870406
Revision:       A200
VAX floating point operations supported.
IEEE floating point operations and data types supported.
PALCODE: Revision Code = 5.48
         PALcode Compatibility = 0
         Maximum Shared Processors = 2
         Memory Space:  Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
         Scratch Space: Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
Capabilities of this CPU:
      System:           QUORUM RUN
      User bitmask:     00000080
Processes which can only execute on this CPU:
      CPUSCHED   PID = 00000095 Reason: Affinitized to this CPU
                                Reason: User capabilities - 00000080)
$ SET PROCESS/NOAFFINITY/PERMANENT
$ SET PROCESS/NOCAPABILITY/PERMANENT
$ SHOW CPU/FULL

COBRA7, a DEC 4000 Model 620
Multiprocessing is ENABLED. Streamlined synchronization image loaded.
Minimum multiprocessing revision levels: CPU = 1
System Page Size = 8192
System Revision Code =
System Serial Number =
Default CPU Capabilities:
        System:         QUORUM RUN
Default Process Capabilities:
        System:         QUORUM RUN
CPU 00 is in RUN state
Current Process: *** None ***
Serial Number:  AY24870417
Revision:       A200
VAX floating point operations supported.
IEEE floating point operations and data types supported.
Processor is Primary Eligible.
PALCODE: Revision Code = 5.48
         PALcode Compatibility = 0
         Maximum Shared Processors = 2
         Memory Space:  Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
         Scratch Space: Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
Capabilities of this CPU:
        System:         PRIMARY QUORUM RUN
        User bitmask:   00000040
Processes which can only execute on this CPU:
        NETACP           PID = 0000008E  Reason: PRIMARY Capability
CPU 01 is in RUN state
Current Process: CPUSCHED        PID = 00000095
Serial Number:  AY24870406
Revision:       A200
VAX floating point operations supported.
IEEE floating point operations and data types supported.
PALCODE: Revision Code = 5.48
         PALcode Compatibility = 0
         Maximum Shared Processors = 2
         Memory Space:  Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
         Scratch Space: Physical address = 00000000 00000000
                        Length = 0
Capabilities of this CPU:
        System:         QUORUM RUN
        User bitmask:   00000080
Processes which can only execute on this CPU:
        *** None ***

      

In this example, CPU 1 has user capability 8 enabled (user mask = 80). User capability 8 is set for the initial kernel thread of process CPUSCHED, and CPU affinity is set to 1. Either of these settings forces the initial kernel thread to run only on CPU 1, as shown by the SHOW PROCESS command.

Then, the SET PROCESS/NOAFFINITY/NOCAPABILITY command clears all CPU affinities and user capability requirements for the initial kernel thread of process (CPUSCHED), and the binding to CPU 1 disappears.