OSI/MHS Management Programming Manual

Password Server Interfaces
OSI/MHS Management Programming Manual—424824-001
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Using the Master Password Server
If a normal-mode server is the first MPS process to run, it creates and loads the
configuration database.
This is the usual mode in which an MPS process runs.
ISOLATE
In this mode, the MPS process services requests from the MHSMGR and the
MS. It uses its own startup parameters, except for master user information,
instead of the parameters specified in the configuration database; master user
information in the database still takes precedence over the startup parameters.
If an isolate-mode server is the first MPS process to run, it creates and loads the
configuration database.
The purpose of ISOLATE mode is to let you change the operational parameters
of one MPS process without affecting other MPS processes sharing the same
configuration database. For example, if you suspect a breach of security in your
environment, you might want to run an isolate-mode server to produce an audit-
trail file while other MPS processes run with auditing disabled.
RECONFIGURE
In this mode, the MPS process accepts no requests from the MHSMGR or the
MS. Instead, it updates the configuration database with its startup parameters
and then stops.
RECONFIGURE mode is the only way to modify an existing configuration
database dynamically. The other MPS processes in the configuration continue
to run. They immediately become aware of the configuration change and begin
to operate with the new parameters.
Because there is no other way to modify an active configuration, automated
restarts of MPS processes by PATHMON (or through other programmatic
means) will not result in unexpected configuration changes.
POPULATE
In this mode, the MPS process services requests only from the MHSMGR,
modifying the authorization database in response to ADD, DELETE, or ALTER
commands that specify a valid APPL password. (The password need not match
the one stored in the database.)
If an ALTER command refers to an APPL not yet in the database, and if the
command includes a password, it is treated as an ADD command.
This mode lets you build an authorization database from an OSI/MHS
configuration in which APPLs are already defined.
If a populate-mode server is the first MPS process to run, it creates and loads the
configuration database. If that database already exists (because another MPS
process created it), the populate-mode server uses the parameters stored in the
database. If you specify different parameters—except to identify the