Basic Example

The example which follows shows the launching of a simple unix command on one remote machine.

The first thing to remember is that you will not be able to run a process on a remote machine until that machine has granted permission to do so.  Volunteering a machine to run Zilla processes is covered under 'Security & Permission'.

1. When you launch Zilla, a 'User Authentication' panel was presented.  The username and password that you enter here will be used as the default account under which Zilla will launch all the processes.  If you need to launch a process as a different user (for example, if your account on a particular machine is under a different name) you can manually change that information later.

2. Select 'New' from the 'Network' menu in order to create a new Zilla document.  This document will contain the machines that you will use to run your processes.

3. Select 'Add Hosts...' from the 'Hosts' RSC.  The upper portion of the panel which appears will show all the different domains in your current network configuration.  The lower portion will show a list of all the hosts in a given domain.

4. From the list of hosts in the lower portion, select a machine on which to run the process.  Hit the ok button.

5.  That machine will now be added to your document.  The icon that Zilla will use to represent that machine will indicate the level of permission that has been granted on that machine.
Select 'Legend...' from the 'Hosts' menu to see what the different icons represent.

If the machine that you have added to your document has either Partial Permission or Total Permission granted (i.e. the icon for the machine shows a light gray or a dark gray screen, respectively) you will be able to run a process on said machine.

6.  Double-click on the machine's icon.  This will bring up the Host Inspector.  This inspector is where you will enter the information needed to run your process.  This information includes such things as the account information, and the unix command itself.

7. The Login: and Password: fields will already be filled in for you, with the information that you entered in step #1.  You can change the information in these fields now, if necessary.

8. In the Command: field of the Host Inspector, enter the following command:

  cal 1991 > calfile

9. Hit the OK button of the Host Inspector.

We have now told Zilla that we have one machine, and that we will be running the unix calendar program on that machine.

10. Select 'Run...' from the 'Control' menu.  A panel will appear asking you to confirm that you will be launching all the hosts in your window, in Individual mode.   Individual mode means that you have entered the command that you want to run on each machine, individually, in the Command: field of the Host inspector.  Other modes are available, such as running the same command on every single machine, or using a special object (called a "Feeder") to control what commands are sent to which machines.  These modes are covered under 'Advanced Features' help.

11. The machine's icon will briefly show the word 'Launch...'  This means that the process is being started.  Once the process is running, the icon will change to show a light bulb.
If the machine had granted PartiaRSDrmission, Zilla will only run the process when that machine's screen is dim.  The state of the screen in this case will be reflected in the icon.  If the icon's screen is white, that means the screen is bright, and the process is waiting to be run.  If the icon's screen is gray, this indicates that the machine's screen is dim, and the process is running.

If the machine had granted Total Permission, the process would start running immediately.

Once the process is running, the bulb will quickly go away in our example.  This is because we have launched a very small program which should run to completion in a few seconds.

Once the process has completed (the light bulb has gone away) you should find a file in your home directory called calfile.  This file will contain the output of the calendar program.