HP Systems Insight Manager - Manual (Page 184)

F Host file extensions
Hosts files are used during discovery to manually add multiple systems to the Systems Insight
Manager database.
Hosts files typically contain IP addresses, system names, system name aliases, and user comments.
The hosts file that you create can contain additional information about systems. The information
appears as one or more comments that precede the hosts file entry for the system. Unless other
values are specified, the default values are used.
Table 18 Hosts file system information
Keyword Parameter
TYPE system type
SNMP_TIM SNMP timeouts
SNMP_RET SNMP retries
SNMP_MON SNMP read community
SNMP_CON SNMP write community
You can modify the hosts file to substitute a value for the defaults for one entry or change the default
for all subsequent entries. To change values for a single-system entry in a hosts file, add a statement
to the hosts file as a comment on the line before the host entry, as shown in the following example.
The statement applies only to the system it precedes. In the following example, the default TYPE is
changed to "server" for the system EngProliant.
Table 19 Changing default hosts file parameters
Hosts file entries Keyword statement
#$IMXE: TYPE=server #$IMXE:< Keyword=value >
16.26.176.92 EngProliant.compaq.com EngProliant #user
comments For example: #$IMXE: TYPE=server
To change the default globally so that it affects the next file entry and all subsequent entries, use
a statement similar to the following example. The default is changed to "router" for the next entry.
Router remains the default for all entries until another #$IMXE_DEFAULT statement changes that
value. If a single instance of TYPE is changed by a #$IMXE statement, the default is not used only
for the next entry and then reverts to back "router".
Table 20 Globally changing hosts file parameters
Hosts file entries Keyword statement
#$IMXE_DEFAULT: TYPE=router #$IMXE_DEFAULT: < Keyword=value>
16.26.176.92 BldRtr6.compaq.com BldRtr6 #user
comments For example: #$IMXE_DEFAULT: TYPE=router
NOTE: If a keyword parameter is omitted on a commented entry, the current default value is
used. The current default is always the standard default unless a new default value was set using
the #$IMXE_DEFAULT statement. Enclose keywords containing more than one word, such as
"management processor." Enclose the full keyword in double quotation marks. Quotation marks
are optional for single keywords like "server."
The following text quoted from a hosts file illustrates several statements. The explanations, which
begin with the pound sign (#), are not displayed in the hosts file.
184 Host file extensions