Glossary

This glossary provides terms and definitions for the [product name] software and products.

The following cross-references are used in this glossary:
  • See refers you from a nonpreferred term to the preferred term or from an abbreviation to the spelled-out form.
  • See also refers you to a related or contrasting term.

For other terms and definitions, see the IBM Terminology website (opens in new window).

A

access group
A collection of users who share permissions, notifications, and LDAP group properties. An access group can be mapped to an LDAP group. Users inherit the permissions of the groups to which they belong.
adapter
An add-on that allows the system to interact with an external system, such as a source control system, debugging database, or testing system. An adapter can be configured to collect information for storage in the Bill of Materials (BOM) or to push information back to other information systems.
agent
A process that performs an action on behalf of a user or other program without user intervention or on a regular schedule, and reports the results back to the user or program.
API
See application programming interface.
application programming interface (API)
An interface that allows an application program that is written in a high-level language to use specific data or functions of the operating system or another program.
archive
A list of jobs whose output files have been deleted but that still have data in the database.

B

bill of materials (BOM)
A list of data about a job that has been completed. It contains information about steps in a job and changes to files that resulted from the job. For example, it can be used with source code adapters in software builds for auditing changes to source files.
BOM
See bill of materials.

C

class
A grouping of projects that has global properties. The properties are used to manage completed jobs, typically deleting them periodically or starting another job that performs specific cleanup tasks.
clobber
To delete a project and all of its associated jobs from the database.
collector
An object that determines what information is collected from, or assigned to, server resources. The information is specified through properties in the collector. The collector, assigned to a server, serves as a specification for the server’s manifest.

D

database (DB)
A collection of interrelated or independent data items that are stored together to serve one or more applications.
DB
See database.
dynamic
Pertaining to events that occur at run time or during processing.

E

engine
A component of the system that uses information entered through the management console and stored in the database to control project execution, send notification emails, and communicate with agents (running on servers).
environment
A container for a list of variables. An environment can be assigned explicitly to servers, projects, and steps.

H

handshake
The exchange of messages at the start of a Secure Sockets Layer session that allows the client to authenticate the server using public key techniques (and, optionally, for the server to authenticate the client) and then allows the client and server to cooperate in creating symmetric keys for encryption, decryption, and detection of tampering.

I

interceptor
A handler used by a web service to authenticate an incoming message, or implement single sign-on.
interface
An instance of an adapter template. An interface must be created to use an adapter. The original adapter template remains unchanged. An interface can contain more than one interface element, each of which is a separately executable action.

J

job
An instance of a running project. The system stores data for each completed job, including step logs and Bill of Materials (BOM) data.

L

LDAP
See Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.
library
An executable definition of work that is made up of steps. Its behavior is controlled through properties and it differs from a project in that it has no selector. A library is called from a step within a project.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
An open protocol that uses TCP/IP to provide access to directories that support an X.500 model and that does not incur the resource requirements of the more complex X.500 Directory Access Protocol (DAP). For example, LDAP can be used to locate people, organizations, and other resources in an Internet or intranet directory.

M

management console
A component of the system that is installed on a single machine to coordinate the system. The user logs in to the management console to start or schedule project runs and to view results and reports. The management console issues instructions to agents to complete jobs.
manifest
A list of data about a server that has been gathered by a collector. Manifest data is used by selectors to choose servers. Manifests for servers can be updated automatically or manually.

N

notification template
A template that defines the content and format of the email sent to an access group on the occurrence of a specific event.

P

plug-in
A separately installable software module that adds function to an existing program, application, or interface.
project
An executable definition of work that is made up of steps. Its behavior is controlled through project properties and has an associated selector that determines what server (or servers) it can be run on. A project can be assigned its own environment.

S

selector
An object associated with a project or step that selects the server where the project or step is run. Properties in the selector determine how the server is selected. Selectors can produce static information such as a server name, or dynamic information, such as specifying a server with designated properties.
semaphore
A global flag or label in the system that prevents activities from occurring at the same time. Typically projects or steps that require exclusive use of a resource are set up to obtain a semaphore in order to use it.
server
An object that is associated with a host. The server to use is defined by the selector associated with the project or step which is run on the host.
service
A component of the system that is an abstraction layer between clients and the database.
single sign-on (SSO)
An authentication process in which a user can access more than one system or application by entering a single user ID and password.
snapshot
A record of backup data at a certain point in time.
SSO
See single sign-on.
static
Pertaining to an operation that occurs at a predetermined or fixed time. See also dynamic.
step
A component of a project or library that contains one or several command lines to be executed.
step log
A list of data about a completed step within a completed job.

T

threading
The process whereby various transactions undergo concurrent execution.

U

user
Any individual, organization, process, device, program, protocol, or system that uses the services of a computing system.

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