I ran AUTOGEN and want to return ....

[Chaim Budnick]

OpenVms 7.3-1

We were requested to increase a PQL_DWSDEFAULT parameter, and I did so via modparams and then AUTOGEN.

Now we have to go back to what the system was before AUTOGEN.

How do I do this easily?

I recall that there should be a new ALPHAVMSSYS.PAR file generated today, but there isn't. There is a ALPHAVMSSYS.OLD file generated today.

All your help is greatly appreciated.

Chaim

[Jan van den Ende · Accepted solution]

Chaim,

look it the Modify date ($ DIR/DAT=m), and you will notice the .PAR file being modified today., nearly same time as creation of the .OLD
Your .OLD file is simply the previous .PAR file renamed. Rename it back to .PAR (it should get the next higher version number), and reboot. Tou are back to previous settings.
If you do not want your current settings to be completely lost, then, after the reboot, rename the ;-1 version of the .PAR (AFTER the reboot) to something like .20041009, or anything that suits you.


Success.


Cheers

Have one on me

Jan

[John Gillings]

Chaim,

As noted, the old .PAR file can be restored by renaming. You can also select any parameter file at boot time. Boot conversationally and select the file at the SYSBOOT prompt. For example:

SYSBOOT> USE ALPHAVMSSYS.OLD

You can maintain any number of parameter files with whatever settings you want.

SYSBOOT> USE BACKUP.PAR
SYSBOOT> USE CHAIM_SPECIAL.PAR
SYSBOOT> USE DISASTER_RECOVERY.PAR
SYSBOOT> USE ALTERNATE_NODE.PAR

There's also:

SYSBOOT> USE DEFAULT

to reset everything to "factory defaults".


However, I'm more concerned that you think it necessary to restore. What broke? If AUTOGEN did something "wrong" then you need to work out what it was, and put appropriate settings in MODPARAMS.DAT.

You can look at the differences between the current and previous parameter sets with:

$ DIFFERENCES/PARALLEL SYS$SYSTEM:SETPARAMS.DAT

Go back further with:

$ DIFF/PAR SYS$SYSTEM:SETPARAMS.DAT;-1

for the previous set of changes, then ;-2, ;-3 etc... to work your way backwards in time. Alternatively you can compare any two sets by specifying both files:

$ DIFF/PAR SYS$SYSTEM:SETPARAMS.DAT;17 ;10

will compare version ;17 with version ;10

By default these files are not purged, have unlimited versions and are only a few blocks in size, so you should have a complete history of all parameter changes ever made to your system. Use DIRECTORY/DATE to see when each version was created.

Please make sure your MODPARAMS.DAT contains values such that AUTOGEN always sets parameters correctly. It's also a good idea to keep MODPARAMS.DAT to a bare minimum, so that AUTOGEN has maximum flexibility to adjust the system according to the measured load.

[Chaim Budnick]

Thanks very much for your assistance!

I still am NOT sure what really went wrong. From my observation the site has been using AUTOGEN and the last time it was run was in May, 2004. The modparams was also current. I added a min_dwsdefault of 7036 (the current was 59xx). After AUTOGEN the entire system didn't come up properly. At that point I decided to back track. My first try was to run AUTOGEN again with the original modparams. The system came up perfectly. Then I "zapped" the PQL and rebooted and again the system came up perfectly.

This morning I took a looksee at the agen report and I really don't see anything out of the ordinary that explains why the system came up the way it did.

At any rate, apparently the system is stable, and my thanks to all of you!!

Chaim

[Chaim Budnick]

Here are th edifferences between tha setparams done in May, 2004 and yesterday (first time).

************
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;25
25 set LOCKIDTBL 4524
26 set RESHASHTBL 8192
27 set SCSBUFFCNT 50
******
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;24
25 set LOCKIDTBL 3500
26 set RESHASHTBL 4096
27 set SCSBUFFCNT 50
************
************
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;25
47 set GH_EXEC_DATA 360
48 set GH_RES_CODE 512
******
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;24
47 set GH_EXEC_DATA 304
48 set GH_RES_CODE 512
************
************
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;25
58 set GBLPAGES 3269818
59 set GBLPAGFIL 196608
******
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;24
58 set GBLPAGES 3265075
59 set GBLPAGFIL 196608
************
************
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;25
88 set PQL_DWSDEFAULT 7036
89 set PQL_MWSDEFAULT 7036
90 set PQL_DWSQUOTA 14072
91 set PQL_MWSQUOTA 14072
92 set PQL_DWSEXTENT 786432
******
File SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;24
88 set PQL_DWSDEFAULT 5936
89 set PQL_MWSDEFAULT 5936
90 set PQL_DWSQUOTA 11872
91 set PQL_MWSQUOTA 11872
92 set PQL_DWSEXTENT 786432
************

Number of difference sections found: 4
Number of difference records found: 8

DIFFERENCES /IGNORE=()/MERGED=1/OUTPUT=SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]A.DIF;1-
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;25-
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]SETPARAMS.DAT;24

[Ian Miller.]

You said the system did not come up properly - what where the problems ?

[Chaim Budnick]

None of the disks were mounted. The startup generated a whole bunch of errors, I don't recall what they were exactly.

I couldn't even run a differences - received an insufficient something error.

I realize that I am NOT being overly helpful, however at the time I was under tremendous pressure as I had to get the system up, and I didn't have time to do a PM then.

Thanks at any rate !!!