system clock problem over my hp superdome parisc 11iv1

[Cem Tugrul]

I have migrated my rp5430 server to hp superdome16way server.What I had done;
1-take mksysbck from rp5430 hp-ux11vi
2-then restore into Superdome

Now My oracle DB and application are working properly BUT
I have set time from SAM but Today we noticed that my system became 2hrs forward.
Then I set again time as same same my domain time but I see again superdome went to 10 minutes forward.
It is very strange.
Any suggestions would be apreaciated...

[Larry Klasmier]

Are you running NTP and is you time zone set correctly?

[Zinky]

DO you have NTP (network time protocol) set up?

[Matti_Kurkela]

mksysbck sounds like AIX stuff.

For HP-UX, I would have expected to see make_tape_recovery or make_net_recovery instead.

Is your system using nPar or vPar technologies (hardware/software partitioning)? I seem to recall that _very old_ vPar versions on our oldest Superdomes or rp8400s required NTP or some other solution to keep their system clock in time. I don't recall if it was fixed by OS/vPar software patches, a firmware upgrade, or a combination of both...

If you have a support agreement with HP, this would be a good reason to open a support call. If my dim memory is right, this might be a known problem.

MK

[Zinky]

If you site has a central NTP service - then it is a very good idea (always is) to have your servers synch with an NTP source.


Even today's computers and devices tend to synch out of time over time.

The same holds true sepcially for virtualized OSes.

[Cem Tugrul]

make_tape_recovery -Av...I mean
Once upon a time superdome was also ntp server
First I stopped ntp daemon and modified ntp files but nothing changed...I referred an ip adress from sam and this ip adress is using as ntp.How can I check whether superdome interacts
with this ip address or not?

[Cem Tugrul]

My timezone is:TZ=EET-2EETDST

[Zinky]

"Once upon a time superdome was also ntp server"

Well since you have a SuperDome - your site must be a Tier-I properly managed site -- No? WHat happened to your NTP Service then? Was it reolcated somewhere?

And if this DOme used to be an NTP server - how does it reckon the correct clock? Did it have its own NTP device (an atomic clock or time feed from a reliable source?)

What ntp service do your other servers point their NTP servers to? Check /etc/ntp.conf of the other servers or ask your Network admin.

[Larry Klasmier]

Very interesting that you time is shifting two hours forward. The make it displaying UT (or GMT), which just so happens to be the offset of you time zone setting to UT (-2). So, I still think you have time zone issue. When you use the date command is the it returning the proper timezone?

[Cem Tugrul]

I had set my superdome also as ntp server so
some of my other hp-ux servers like as N-class
L-1000 and rp-5430 were using this server.
3yrs ago I stopped my superdome&L-1000 and N-class.
they all gone except rp-5430.
In the weekend i migrated rp-5430 using make_tape_recovery -Av onto superdome.
so hostname and ip changed.When I checked
ntp was running as refering ntpserver
as the name of superdome's old server name.
that's the case.

[Cem Tugrul]

newhr:/#date
Tue Jan 18 17:39:44 EET 2011

[Cem Tugrul]

env command shows me;
TZ=EET-2EETDST
This is for Turkey and hp recommended it.

[donna hofmeister]

check the firmware on your system. there is a fix in one release that addresses 'domes that cannot correct the system clock regardless of ntp.

[Cem Tugrul]

@donna you are probably right and seems my superdome needs to be patched for last 3 yrs
Anyway,just a rapid solution what I done
that I set into cron sysntax as;(for every 5min)

00,05,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * *
/usr/sbin/ntpdate -u ipadress_of_nrp_server >/dev/null

[Cem Tugrul]

patch&firmware needs

[Hakki Aydin Ucar]

You can check if it is working ;
# ntpq -p

[Cem Tugrul]

newhr:/#ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset disp
==============================================================================
10.126.1.1 CHU(1) 8 u 707 1024 377 0.43 -10025. 4113.31

[Bill Hassell]

> ntpq -p
> 10.126.1.1 CHU(1) 8 u 707 1024 377 0.43 -10025. 4113.31

These are severe sync problems. While the ntpdate might seem to work, this is a 'jump' solution, that is, you may lose or gain seconds during the day, something that a properly setup ntp client will never do. So as long as you aren't running Oracle or Sybase or other big iron databases, it will be a cosmetic workaround (the date will be correct most of the time).

Oh wait, you said Oracle DB and application. Since most database transactions are timestamped to prevent problems with out of sync updates, if the clock keeps jumping forward or backward, you will likely see database corruption. Your machine is too unstable to be used for database work right now.

As Donna said, there is a firmware (hardware) update needed. This isn't a fix to HP-UX, it is a firmware change to the SuperDome hardware. Here is Donna's original problem:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/System-Administration/ntp-problem/m-p/2683866/highlight/true#M53674

You'll see all the symptoms that you are experiencing. Since there are several models of SuperDome (SX1000, SX2000, Integrity), you'll need to get the latest firmware 'recipe' for your model. Start with:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Product.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodTypeId=15351&prodCatId=321931

or

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Product.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodTypeId=15351&prodCatId=321933

SuperDomes in the past have been managed by a small SMS server such as an rp2470. However, recently a patch was released for PDC code updates that provide the HP-UX program fwuu. This is for very old SuperDomes where the GSP does not have the "FW" command in the main menu. If you see the FW command, then you don't need the SMS for firmware updating.

If your machine is under hardware support with HP, let them do all this work. Otherwise, pay careful attention to all the steps in the README files.

[Cem Tugrul]

Bill,

Guardian Service Processor (GSP) - FW Revision 7.34, Aug 24 2004

You are right.My Super Dome also is using SMS
server rp2470 but had not been patched for 3 yrs because it was closed.

It would be better for me start patching the system instead of cron solution.

Thank you very Much...