Input file format and rules

The input file is divided into two sections:

  • Configuration

    The configuration section starts from the beginning of the file and proceeds until the first target section is encountered. This section consists of a number of settings parameters and their values. Each configuration setting must appear on a fresh line in the file along with its value. Comments start with a # character at the beginning of the line. Only one # is allowed on any line.

  • Target

    You can provide remote host targets to HP Smart Update Manager. This section can repeat any number of times in the input file, providing a way to organize targets in related sets.

    The section starts with a special header “TARGETS” enclosed in a pair of square brackets:

    [TARGETS]

    Targets section ends with the special string “END” enclosed in a pair of brackets:

    [END]

    The keyword TARGETS can be suffixed with an optional arbitrary string. This enables you to tag the purpose of the TARGETS section. Other than the visible difference in the header, the contents of such a section are not treated any differently. For example,

    [TARGETS_WIN2003]

    ...

    [END]

    • Credentials: The TARGETS section allows the targets to be grouped according to the credentials needed for logging in remotely. Each TARGETS section must have a set of login credentials, which applies to all targets in that section. If you want to use the current host’s login credentials to log into one or more remote targets, you can do so by setting the variable USECURRENTCREDENTIAL to YES. Login credentials for one or more hosts can be supplied using the variables UID and PWD. If given at the beginning of a TARGETS section, both variables must be used. If given in the middle of a TARGETS section, one or the other can be used to override the selected variable and continue using the active value for the remaining variable.
    • Remote Target: A remote target can be specified using the variable HOST. Possible values are a DNS Name or an IP address.

Input file format and rules