At each Auscope observatory we run the openMoniCA software, as maintained by the ATNF. More can be found out about it at http://code.google.com/p/open-monica/. We use the latest version, which has the ability to control data points it knows about. This version can be found under AuscopeUtils/monitoring/openMonica2. This has not yet been migrated to git.

Configuration and Building (ON WHICH COMPUTERS DOES SERVER RUN? One on each pcfs machine (also newsmerd, sille and hobart)?
Configuration of MoniCA is done by editing the files in the config directory under openMonica2. After configuration, you need to build the server using the 'ant' command, and then rerun MoniCA. The easiest way to do this is with the system service Monica.monica:

ie. to start MoniCA server /etc/init.d/Monica.monica start

Currently, each site is configured very similarly, except for some differences which we will list below.

The MoniCA server listens to a number of daemons that run on the machine. These are:

• antmon: this queries the antenna state regularly and rapidly. It is controlled by the service Monica.antmon, and this creates a socket server listening on port 60000, which MoniCA connects to.
• Rxmon: communicates with the receiver electronics and can list or change the state of the RF switches. It is controlled by the service Monica.Rxmon and this creates a socket server listening on port 60001, which MoniCA connects to.
• IFBox: communicates with the IF Box, and can list or change the state of the attenuator levels and CALs. It is controlled by the service Monica.IFBox and this creates a socket server listening on port 60002, which MoniCA connects to.
• GPIB: communicates to various GPIB devices, allowing monitoring and control of devices like the tick offset counters, and the reference oscillators. It is controlled by the service Monica.gpib and this creates a socket server listening on port 60006, which MoniCA connects to.
• wthke: (only at Katherine) parses a website that describes the weather conditions at the Katherine site. It is controlled by the service Monica.gpib and this creates a socket server listening on port 60007, which MoniCA connects to.
• weather: communicates with the anemometer at each site, allowing monitoring of wind speed and direction, and wind stow triggers. It is controlled by the service Monica.weather and this creates a socket server listening on port 6008, which MoniCA connects to.

At Hobart, MoniCA also connects to the MET3 sensor in the same way as the field system, and the site temperature, pressure and humidity comes from that sensor.

Updating monitor points If the response from a monitor point changes (e.g, if additional variables are returned) Monica will ignore these until it is recompiled with the correct monitor-points.txt settings. For the servers (pcfshb, etc), the relevant file is /usr2/AuscopeUtils/monitoring/openMonica2/config/monitor-points.txt. The format of the lines is fairly clear (described in detail here). For additional returned variables, use the current configuration as a guide. Once the monitor-points.txt file is correct, run the follwing commands to generate a new open-monica.jar file

/etc/init.d/Monica.monica stop
cd /usr2/AuscopeUtils/monitoring/openMonica2/
ant

If there are no reported errors, restart the monica server with /etc/init.d/Monica.monica start. From here on, the new variables will be logged into the Monica database.

To be able to monitor the new variables, you will also need to edit the monitor points on ops-serv2. The relevant file on ops-serv2 is /usr2/AuscopeUtils/monitoring/oMonica/config.pcfshb/monitor-points.txt. Stop any processes using open-monica.jar & rebuild it with

cd /usr2/AuscopeUtils/monitoring/oMonica/
ant

It should rebuild 4 jar files and exit cleanly. Start the Monica client & check that you can monitor the new variables.

Documentation for the “open MoniCA” software, as maintained by the ATNF.

Currently the code is maintained at: http://code.google.com/p/open-monica/

The pcfs_prod git repository contains the oMonica svn repository under AuscopeUtils/monitoring/oMonica. A simple “svn status” should be enough to test whether there are any updates to “svn update”. Obviously it is suggested that oMonica not be updated casually, and that a careful migration process is followed.

svn is not installed on the pcfs?? machines. oMonica development work has been undertaken on ops-serv2 up to now.

Building

In order to build new oMonica .jar files, simply type “ant” in the oMonica directory. This is necessary after _any_ change to files in the relevant configuration directory (config.ops-serv, config.pcfshb, config.pcfske, config.pcfsyg). This ant procedure will generate several .jar files, one of which will be appropriate for the location you are building in. There is no need to move the .jar files anywhere to run them.

Running

To start or stop the server code, there should be a script which is invoked like:

/etc/init.d/Monica.monica start

The scripts are kept in: /usr2/AuscopeUtils/monitoring/init.d/

To start a client simply run the script “omc.sh”, which is in the ~oper directory on pcfshb. (you will need X forwarding, as it will wish to launch a window). More details can be obtained by reading /usr2/AuscopeUtils/monitoring/oMonica/README.sh

Note that you will have a much better experience if you run the client on a server which is “near” to you. So while in Sandy Bay, I would suggest running the ~observer/omc.sh script on ops-serv2.

The first popup relates to selecting a server to read information from.

Once a server has been selected, you will get a Monitor Display with with to view data. Viewing modes can be accessed through the menu: Setup → Add Panel → select.

Two very popular options are Point Table (useful for seeing many points at once) and Time Series (useful for obtaining a historical perspective).