kaos (abstract only): a knowledge aided operator's system for the vm operator's console  kaos is a system currently under development at southern illinois university which attempts to combine all necessary operating procedures for bringing up, running, and bringing down certain virtual systems. this system runs as a front-end to the vm operator's console. kaos is designed to not only set up the procedures for running the system but also is capable of aiding the operator should certain problems arise during the process of bringing up or bringing down a virtual system. the main flow of the program core is an expert system implemented in ops5 and psl; however, kaos calls on user-friendly menu driven screens written in cms exec2 and ibm assembler languages. kaos also needs to make queries on the system, such as what virtual to real lines are connected, and do they match the given configuration.  all the documentation for bringing up and bringing down each of the virtual systems is in kaos. the system will walk the operator step by step through the procedure. if a problem arises the operator may query the kaos system for possible solutions. other problems that the operator overlooks may be flagged by kaos. the kaos system is more than a consolidation of information from the manuals; it is an expert system which actually goes out and makes cp queries to determine what might be the cause of a certain problem, and then instructs operators in one or more methods that may solve the problem. the method chosen at this point will always be made and implemented by the operators, kaos simply suggests what may be the cause and how it might be corrected.  kaos runs on an ibm 3081 and is currently confined to handling queries and giving information about the following: rscs, ims, passthru, virtual to real line connections, virtual to virtual line connections, and the kaos system itself. the system can answer limited queries not related to bringing the system up or down. most of these queries concern line connections and line activity.  the following is some sample dialog with kaos in bringing up an rscs release 1.3 machine. rscs is ibm's remote spooling communications subsystem network. it is a communications package which allows information to pass from one machine to another machine or to a printer. the operator's console has special privileges to send special messages querying the rscs system. in this example the link to bussprt (business printer) is not connected, because the rscs line to the printer is not attached. the comprt (communications printer) is not connected because the printer is not turned on. the kaos dialog is in capital letters, the operator's dialog is in mixed case, and comments are enclosed in (* *).  the following lines should be connected by 8:10 on a weekday comprt, bussprt, eduprt, bitnet, … (* kaos knows that printers for offices should be*) (* up between 8:00 am and 5:00 p.m. on a weekday. *) the following links are not connected:  link comprt active --- dmtvmc line 330 noh nod  link bussprt inactive --- dmtrpt line 040 noh nod (* an inactive link one which is not started, or *) (* for some reason has been brought down. an *) (* active link is a link which is started on this*) (* end, but not yet connected to the other side. *) link bussprt line 040 is not network attached to 2408. to attach bussprt issue bussprt recovery exec. type: smsg rscs bussprt smsg rscsbussprt  activating link bussprt buss dmtrpt 040 * (* the business printer is not active, kaos will*) (* continue onto the next topic. link comprt is not connected. all lines appear active. the printer itself may be down. recommendation:  call communication office 555-1212 and ask them to start the printer.  leave the printer down.  query kaos for further information. (* pf1 key is pressed, kaos will then continue *) (* with previous topics, and a new screen. &amp;l; t;supscrpt>*)  to query further information on an rscs node type in link node name and hit enter.  query all links on the rscs system.  exit to previous topic. exit kaos system.  ;  (* pf3 key entered. kaos returns to main screen. *)  in the above example kaos walks the operator through the procedure needed to recover from the error; however, the operator decides which recovery procedure to take, and issues all recovery procedures. in a fully implemented version of kaos, a severity code would be attached to a problem and kaos would attempt to correct less severe problems and operators would be flagged for more complicated errors.  different places run different systems and have different configurations. the kaos system is being developed with this in mind. it should be relatively easy to configure the system for the unique set of virtual machines and lines. it also adapt easily to changes made in the systems configuration.  kathleen o'neil lossau