The DCE Control Program (dcecp)
The core services (especially CDS and the security service) for large cells can be complex, with some services being replicated or even partitioned across differing systems. The host services described in the previous topic will exist on every computer in the cell. An administrative interface is needed that provides consistent and uniform access to DCE administration functions, wherever they reside, from any and every point in the cell. Administrative commands must work consistently and predictably regardless of the platform on which they execute.
The DCE control program (dcecp) available with DCE Version 1.1 was developed to provide consistent, portable, extensible, and secure access to nearly all DCE administration functions from any point in a DCE cell. The dcecp program implements most of the operations previously performed by using various component control programs (for instance rpccp, cdscp, rgy_edit, acl_edit, dtscp, and sec_admin). Where before administrators needed multiple control programs with different syntaxes to perform certain operations such as adding a host to a cell, now only dcecp is required. Furthermore, these complex operations can be done now using a single task script that walks administrators through the pertinent commands prompting for input as necessary.
To do this, dcecp is able to manipulate data (for instance, directories, entries, groups, principals, accounts, and ACLs) stored in the various databases (for instance, the registry, clearinghouses, and ACL managers). It can also perform certain management operations like user create, server disable, and registry synchronize.
The DCE control program is built on a portable command language called Tcl (pronounced "tickle"), which stands for Tool Command Language. Tcl is a platform-independent command language that runs on every system where DCE Version 1.1 is installed. The Tcl command interpreter is provided along with dcecp. Together, these enable administrators to use variables, if statements, looping functions, and other programming operations to enhance the command set. Administrators can share scripts, moving them to other platforms without change. A common cell environment can be developed by propagating scripts.
The DCE control program uses an object-operation syntax, in which an object comes first, followed by an operation. The object-operation order makes it easy to add new objects and operations to DCE.
In summary, dcecp is an interactive command line interface used to manage most aspects of the DCE core components. Only a few infrequently performed control operations have not been replaced by dcecp.