A Rational® ClearCase® community's
permanent repository of software artifacts consists of one or (usually)
more versioned object bases (VOBs), which can be located on any VOB
server host.
Each VOB occupies a VOB storage directory, which holds an embedded
database and related files.
VOB administration responsibilities include the following:
- Creating VOBs. Any user can create a VOB, but the Rational ClearCase administrator
is often responsible for creating and managing VOBs that hold artifacts
that are important to all members of the community. For more information
about creating and managing VOBs, see VOB administration.
- Importing data. Rational ClearCase includes
a variety of tools that can import data from other configuration management
systems. It is often the administrator's job to import this data
into VOBs and organize it for the use of the community. For more information
about importing data into a VOB, see Importing data.
- Backup and recovery. VOBs are critical data repositories
with special backup and recovery requirements. Timely implementation
of a reliable backup and restore strategy for VOBs is one of the Rational ClearCase administrator's
most important jobs. The procedures to back up and restore VOBs are
described in Backing up critical Rational ClearCase data and Restoring critical Rational ClearCase data.
- Managing network access. Network access information for
all VOBs is kept in the Rational ClearCase registry,
which is described in Administering the Rational ClearCase registry.
In a typical network, registry maintenance is minimal; the commands
that create VOBs also update the registry. You do not need to change
this information unless you move a VOB, change a VOB server host name,
or enable VOB access in mixed networks of computers running different
supported operating systems (see Rational ClearCase network administration in mixed environments).
- Managing user access. Each VOB has an owner, a primary
group, an optional supplemental group list, and a protection mode.
Together, they control access to VOB data. Understanding and managing
VOB access controls is an important task for the Rational ClearCase administrator.
For more information, see VOB and view access control.
- Periodic maintenance. VOB administrators must balance the
need to preserve important data with the need to conserve disk space. Rational ClearCase includes
tools for collecting data about disk space used and for occasional
scrubbing of unneeded data. It also includes a job scheduling service
and tools that you can run periodically to monitor and manage VOB
data storage and to check VOB data integrity. Periodic maintenance describes periodic maintenance
tasks in detail.