soc_operation.README

General SOC Operations
-Warren Rexroad 
-Rev. 13.10.3

Normal Startup Operation

1. Using a web browser, navigate to the SOC's server address and click on the 
   "Admin Panel" button.

2. Enter the SOC's Admin Password (set in the /var/www/cgi-bin/SOC_config.pm 
   file).

3. Click the "Start/Stop Payload" button.

4. Enter the Payload ID and click "Fetch Info".

5. Use the dropdown box to select the start date.

5a.(Optional) If the SOC was restarted mid-day and you want it to try to pick
   up where it left off, click "Midday Restart". NOTE: This method will not 
   always work, in case of failure, the SOC will just start at the begining of 
   the day.

5b.(Optional) If the payload has been runing for longer than 2^21 seconds,
   the frame counter will roll over and the mod40 data will be scrambled.
   To fix this check the "FC Rollover" Box.

6. The top message box should indicate the payload's start date. This will be 
   followed by status messages after each file is read.
   NOTE: There is a small delay in this message system (5-30 seconds).

7. The bottom message box will display any system errors or messages that are
   generated during SOC operations. This box should be empty under normal 
   conditions.

8. Navigate to the SOC's main page and click on the "Live Data" button and 
   select the payload that was just started. You should be able to see data
   coming in.



Startup Troubleshooting:

No Data Arriving:
   If the Live Data Screen is not updating there may be a one of a few 
   different causes. These steps will test each.
   1. Check for system messages in the Admin Panel. If there are errors
      listed, fix the problem indicated and restart the SOC.
   
   2. Does the Live Data Screen show anything? One indication that the SOC is 
      not running at all is the new data screen is filled with blank values. 
      When the SOC first tries to start, it clears the status files that control
      this display (unless this is a midday restart). If everything is blank, 
      that may mean the SOC tried to start, but failed before processing any 
      data.
   
   3. If the Live Data Screen fields are populated, but not updating, check if 
      the date and current file seem reasonable for how the SOC was started. If
      the date displayed is different from what was set in the Admin Panel, the
      SOC probably ever even attempted to start.

   4. Are the NAS drives mounted properly? Check /mnt/moc-nas and /mnt/soc-nas
      to ensure that you can see the files which are stored in each NAS. 
      
   5. Are there actually data to be read? Make sure the MOC is writing to the 
      correct directory by navigatig to:
         /mnt/moc-nas/barrel/payload<Payload ID>/dat/<Date>/
      The files in this directory are what the SOC should be reading, so they 
      should be updating.

   6. Is there a place for the SOC to write data? The path for each payload
      must be created before the SOC is started. For examle, for payload 1A 
      the directoy /mnt/soc-nas/barrel/payload1A/raw should be created before 
      starting the SOC.

   7. Does the SOC have premission to read/write/execute the appropriate files?
      The SOC web server needs premission to do the following:
      RW for /mnt/soc-nas/ and all of its contents
      R for /mnt/moc-nas/barrel/ and all of its contents
      R for <webroot>/html
      RWX for <webroot>/cgi/bin

   8. Is the soc-nas symbolic link set correctly? The html directoy of the web 
      root must have a symbolic link called "soc-nas" which points to 
      /mnt/soc-nas

   9. Are things clogged up with 0-byte files? If the moc-nas directory for this
      payload and date is full of empty filee, the SOC will take some time to
      get through them. The Live Data Screen may be running, but not have 
      anything to display yet.