DTSS and AUTO_DLIGHT_SAV

[Stephen Eickhoff_1]

I have a customer who is currently running DCPS 2.3 on OpenVMS 7.3-2 and uses DTSS to set the clock. Even though he has the latest TDF patch installed, the DCPS symbionts were hung at the DST transition this year. This may be because, according to the DCPS 2.5 documentation, AXP_DNVOSIECO01-V732 is also required. I am trying to decide whether to install the AXP_DNVOSIECO01-V732 patch (which may not work on his DCPS 2.3) or sidestep the issue by setting AUTO_DLIGHT_SAV. Do I need to disable DTSS before setting AUTO_DLIGHT_SAV?

[Hoff]

Interestingly, some of the available DCPS release notes

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/82final/dcps/dcps025_release_notes.pdf

specifically reference this sort of thing, including a list of the prerequisite patches.

Easy answer? Upgrade DCPS to something more current. Apply the patches.

Starting with DCPS 2.0, the DCPS license is part of the base OpenVMS licenses, so there's generally little reason to run an old DCPS version.

And yes, do load a more current patch for DECnet OSI, if you're using that product.

As for the underpinnings, OpenVMS itself implements the DTS switch-over, and not DECnet-Plus. Well, technically the DECnet-Plus stuff here was moved into base OpenVMS at V7.3.

My general recommendation around this stuff is simple: set the system time to and use UTC, and disable daylight time. OpenVMS does not implement timezones the way that any of us would like and moving OpenVMS over to a better implementation (and not the current localtime stuff) would be both a massive undertaking and a massive application upheaval. OpenVMS has been having issues with this switch-over for over thirty years. Give up. Switch to UTC. Ignore daylight time. Be done with it.

[Volker Halle]

Stephen,

the symptom described in the DCPS V2.5 release notes is: DCPS$SMB.EXE looping after DST change. Did that happen ?

Please consider that this problem may also be related to the old version of DCPS V2.3 and/or a combination of patch levels.

Why would you assume, that a DECnet-OSI ECO would cause DCPS V2.3 to 'not work' ?

If you consider to use AUTO_DLIGHT_SAV=1, you would want to either turn off DTSS Automatic TDF Change or completely turn off DTSS and switch to time synchronization with NTP.

Volker.

[Stephen Eickhoff_1]

The problem is that the DCPS 2.3 documentation mentions the TDF patches for 7.3 and 7.3-1, but not 7.3-2. In the DCPS 2.5 documentation, it mentions 7.3-2 and, for the first time, that a DECNET patch is also required. I suppose that to ensure that the patch works (that is, fixes the problem), I need to install 2.5. Please keep in mind that this is a customer's production system; they are an American credit union, so running Zulu time and printing time stamps for jolly old England on their receipts wouldn't be popular. In the same way, I have concerns other than licensing when upgrading software. If DCPS 2.5 broke something else, I would feel foolish for upgrading it when a patch alone would suffice.

[Ian Miller.]

There is a cost in staying on old versions of software and a risk in upgrading.
Classic balancing act

[Volker Halle]

Stephen,

DCPS V2.3 was released in DEC-2003.
OpenVMS V7.3-2 was also released in DEC-2003, so DCPS V2.3 didn't even know about V7.3-2.

DECnet-OSI V7.3-2 ECO 1 was released in OCT-2004, so DCPS V2.5 (released NOV-2005) could know about it and the VMS732_TDF-V0200 patch released JUN-2004.

There have been other TDF patches this then:

VMS732_TDF-V0300 also solved a looping problem in PTHREADed programs after a MCR TDF$SET_TIMEZONE MODIFY after a manual time change.

So your best bet would be to install DECnet-OSI V7.3-2 ECO 1 and hope that the DCPS V2.5 release notes are right.

If you want to be really conservative, stay with what you have and write some procedure to stop and restart the DCPS queues after the DST change.

Volker.

[Hoff]

Old versions and the associated cost savings tend to become surprisingly expensive (eventually), and it looks like your and your customer's payment on those savings just came due.

[Stephen Eickhoff_1]

Will upgrade DCPS and install DECNET patch.