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Administering
Learn how to administer the product.
Administering HCL VersionVault
Learn about performing administrative tasks for an HCL VersionVault community including managing software licenses, user and group accounts, VersionVault server and client hosts, shared data, and the network that connects them.
Views and view administration
A view provides a workspace where users access versions of file and directory elements that are under HCL VersionVault control. Views can also contain view-private file system objects (such as ordinary files and directories) that are not under HCL VersionVault control.

Administering
Learn how to administer the product.
- Administering HCL VersionVault
  Learn about performing administrative tasks for an HCL VersionVault community including managing software licenses, user and group accounts, VersionVault server and client hosts, shared data, and the network that connects them.
  - HCL VersionVault network planning and administration
  - License servers and license administration
    Most HCL VersionVault applications and commands (cleartool commands, for example, or GUIs such as the VersionVault Explorer) require a license to run.
  - Reconfiguring VersionVault to use a different JRE
    When you change the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for HCL VersionVault, you must reconfigure the product to make it work with the new JRE.
  - Administering the HCL VersionVault registry
    The HCL VersionVault registry is a central repository of information about shared resources such as VOBs and views.
  - HCL VersionVault network administration in mixed environments
    An HCL VersionVault environment that includes hosts that run Windows and hosts that run the UNIX system or Linux is said to be a mixed environment.
  - Overview of security considerations
    As an administrator, you are responsible for the security of your HCL VersionVault deployment.
  - VOB and view access control
    HCL VersionVault supports a rich set of access controls on versioned objects.
  - VOB administration
    Because VOBs are the principal repository for artifacts under HCL VersionVault control, VOB administration is one of the HCL VersionVault administrator’s most important tasks.
  - VOB datatypes and administrative VOB hierarchies
    There are many types of VOB metadata. Some are unique to a particular VOB, but many must be managed consistently across a group of VOBs that store related artifacts (components of a UCM project, for example). These topics introduce VOB metadata and describe how to use administrative VOB hierarchies to simplify sharing of type objects among related VOBs.
  - Moving VOBs and relocating VOB data
    HCL VersionVault includes tools for moving data and metadata to another VOB and for moving entire VOBs to another disk or host. You may need to use these tools to reorganize VOB directories, redistribute data storage, or rebalance server loads.
  - Views and view administration
    A view provides a workspace where users access versions of file and directory elements that are under HCL VersionVault control. Views can also contain view-private file system objects (such as ordinary files and directories) that are not under HCL VersionVault control.
    - Dynamic views
      A dynamic view is an MVFS directory that enables dynamic access to VOB elements.
    - Snapshot views
      A snapshot view uses a host's native file system to hold versions of file and directory elements that have been loaded from a VOB. After the snapshot view has been created, versions of file and directory elements must be loaded (copied) into the snapshot view directory.
    - Creating a view
      Views are typically created by users. The process is simple, can be automated by GUIs on all supported operating systems, and does not usually require administrative intervention. In some cases, an administrator may be responsible for creating shared views or for establishing policies that govern view creation.
    - Moving a view
      Because views are easy to remove and re-create, you do not often have to move them. When you do, special procedures must be followed.
    - Displaying the properties of a view
      You can use the HCL VersionVault Administration Console or the cleartool lsview command to display the properties of a view.
    - Taking a view out of service
      To take a view out of service temporarily, stop its view_server process and remove its view tag.
    - Restoring a view to service
      To restore a view to service create a tag for the view by using the HCL VersionVault Administration Console or the cleartool mktag command.
    - Removing a view
      When you remove a view, you must also remove any references to it held by VOBs.
  - Backing up critical HCL VersionVault data
    Like all databases, VOBs, views, and the HCL VersionVault registry have special backup and restore requirements.
  - Restoring critical HCL VersionVault data
    If you have implemented a sound backup strategy for HCL VersionVault data, it should be easy to restore that data, if necessary.
  - Periodic maintenance
    Periodic attention to storage management and repository integrity is an important administrative function. These topics describe VOB and view storage management tasks, the checkvob utility, and the HCL VersionVault scheduler, which you can use to automate many periodic maintenance chores.
  - Importing data
    HCL VersionVault includes several utilities for importing data from other configuration management systems or directly from the file system itself.
  - Troubleshooting
    These topics cover a variety of procedures that administrators might need to follow to find and fix problems.
  - Improving client host performance
  - Improving VOB host performance
  - Configuring cross-platform file-system access
  - HCL VersionVault and Windows® domains
  - Configuring non-VersionVault access on Linux® or the UNIX system
    You can configure an HCL VersionVault host running Linux® or the UNIX system to support access to VOBs and dynamic views from computers that do not run HCL VersionVault.
  - Configuring HCL VersionVault for high availability
  - Estimating VOB size
    If you can estimate the number of elements, versions, and derived objects that a VOB will ultimately contain, you can compute a very rough estimate of the size of a VOB that can accommodate them. VOB storage includes a database and pools. On Windows®, the database and pools must reside on a single disk partition. On Linux® or the UNIX system, the pools can be located on a different partition or host, using symbolic links.
  - Administering the VersionVault WAN server
  - About VersionVault WAN server parallel view loading
  - Administering and using CMI task-provider integrations
    HCL VersionVault supports integrations with task providers such as HCL Compass through the Change Management Interface (CMI). The integrations require some configuration tasks, after which you can work with UCM activities or base VersionVault branches that are associated with the tasks.
- Administering platforms for HCL VersionVault
  Learn how to perform HCL VersionVault administrative tasks on supported platforms.
- Administering HCL VersionVault MultiSite
  Learn to configure and manage the HCL VersionVault MultiSite environment to support development activities at different locations.

Views and view administration

A view provides a workspace where users access versions of file and directory elements that are under HCL VersionVault control. Views can also contain view-private file system objects (such as ordinary files and directories) that are not under HCL VersionVault control.

Any HCL VersionVault development environment requires one or more views. A typical view is created and used by an individual or perhaps by a small group working on a common task. Other views—for example, UCM integration views—may be created by a project leader or administrator and shared by many users. Various administrative responsibilities are associated with views:

View creation and access control
Backing up and recovering views
Moving, removing, and managing the storage used by views

There are three kinds of views:

Dynamic views use the MVFS to provide transparent access to versions of elements in the VOB and also view-private objects. Dynamic views also support HCL VersionVault build auditing and build avoidance tools and can contain derived objects (DOs). Developers work in dynamic views when they want immediate access to the latest versions of elements on a given branch or when they need to take advantage of audited builds and build avoidance. Dynamic views provide more functionality, require more frequent use of the network, and need more administrative support than other views.
Snapshot views use the host's native file system to hold copies of versions of specified elements and also view-private objects. Snapshot views do not support build-auditing and build-avoidance tools. Developers work in snapshot views when they want a simplified environment for editing, compiling, and debugging (even when disconnected from the network), do not need immediate access to the latest versions of elements, and do not need audited builds and build-avoidance. Snapshot views provide less functionality, require less frequent use of the network, and need less administrative support than dynamic views.
Web views are similar to snapshot views, but are created and accessed through the HCL VersionVault Web interface.

The mkview reference page has additional information about views.

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