The Configuration Manager and hs_activate are user-mode applications, which enable the Go-HotSwap engine to respond to hot swap events. The hs_activate is a console-mode application suitable for all supported operating systems, while the Configuration Manager is a graphical implementation of hs_activate, suitable for Windows only.

When developing a hot swap aware driver (using WinDriver or any other toolkit), the engine is able to interface directly with the driver within the kernel mode. However, Go-HotSwap enables you to use the Configuration Manager/hs_activate to initiate the engine and interface with the user to receive further instructions.

The Configuration Manager / hs_activate can be pre-configured to do any of the following upon insertion or extraction of a board: start/stop a PCI driver or a service or run any user-mode application or script. These instructions are kept in the Configuration Manager's database, as a configuration file.

Figure 2.2  Go-HotSwap Configuration

The Configuration Manager is not needed whenever a CompactPCI hot swap aware driver is developed with the WinDriver API, other than for activating and stopping the Hot Swap engine. In this case, the Hot Swap Engine data is transferred directly to the newly developed CompactPCI driver.