Compaq ACMS for OpenVMS
Version 4.4 Release Notes


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Chapter 5
Restrictions

This chapter lists the restrictions that apply to ACMS Version 4.4.

5.1 Restrictions in ACMS Version 4.4

The following restrictions are new in ACMS Version 4.4.

5.1.1 Multithreading and Upcalls on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1--2

ACMS Version 4.4 running on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1--2 systems does not have kernel threads or upcalls enabled.

5.1.2 Length Restriction for TCP/IP Hosts

If the translation of the logical name UCX$INET_HOST is greater than 31 characters, the results are unpredictable. The Remote Manager allocates only 31 bytes for the translation; longer TCP/IP host names will potentially corrupt Remote Manager local memory and lead to unpredictable results.

In order for ACMS to parse and display node names consistently, it is recommended that ACMS TCP/IP and DECnet host names be identical, following the DECnet Phase IV naming conventions. If the TCP/IP host name for a potential ACMS client or server system differs from this convention, you should define a six-character alias for that system in the hosts database.

5.1.3 Remote Manager and TP Connector Software May Conflict Over TCP/IP Port 1023

When running the ACMS Remote Manager on the same node as the TP Desktop Connector (ACMSDI$SERVER) or the TP Web Connector (ACMSDA$GATEWAY), note the TCP/IP port being used by each server. Only one server can use a particular port at any given time.

By default, each server attempts to connect to port 1023. To prevent conflicts, the TP Desktop Connector and TP Web Connector have parameter files that allow you to manually specify a different port. The Remote Manager uses PORTMAPPER to select a free port.

Depending upon the order in which the servers are started, and whether the parameter files are used, conflicts may occur. For example, if the Remote Manager is started before the TP Desktop Connector, and an alternate port was not specified in the parameter file, the Remote Manager and TP Desktop Connector will both attempt to use port 1023.

To prevent this from occurring, Compaq recommends that you do the following:

5.1.4 New ACMS Configuration File Required

A new configuration file is required for ACMS Version 4.4. You can create an updated version of this file automatically by running the ACMS postinstallation procedure (ACMS_POST_INSTALL.COM).

5.1.5 Compatibility Issues with ACMS Version 4.3

The following compatibility issues exist between the ACMS Remote Manager Versions 4.4 and 4.3:

5.1.6 PATROL Knowledge Modules Not Yet Available

PATROL Knowledge Modules (KMs) for ACMS Version 4.4 are not yet available. These KMs will be updated with the new tuning fields and made available after the final release of the Version 4.4 software.

ACMS Version 4.3 KMs are compatible with and can be used to monitor Version 4.4 systems; however, you will not be able to use these KMs to monitor or change any of the new tuning fields offered with ACMS Version 4.4.

5.1.7 Certain ACMS Errors Not Sent to the Remote Manager Error Log

Note that the following ACMS run-time errors are sent to SWL but not to ACMS Remote Manager error log:

5.1.8 Remote Manager May Display Incorrect Run-time Values for EXC Free and Total Server Counts

The display of EXC run-time values for Free Servers and Total Servers Running may contain values that are greater than the actual number of servers. This could happen if a DCL STOP/ID command or ACMSMGR REPLACE SERVER command have been issued for a server. These commands do not decrement the server counts when a server is deleted.

To verify the total servers that are running, use the ACMSMGR SHOW SERVER/RUNTIME/FULL/APPL=command. the total number of servers running in the application can be determined by adding each of the values in the Servers: Current column.

You can determine the number of free servers in each application by subtracting the value shown in the Active Servers current column from the total number of servers running.

5.1.9 Running Multiple Data Snapshots from Remote Manager Can Exhaust Pagefile Quota

The Remote Manager has a default pagefile quota of 100,000 pages. If a number of data snapshot collections are started, the resulting stacksize may exceed this value and cause the Remote Manager process to fail.

The pagefile quota is specified in the file SYS$STARTUP:ACMS$MGMT_STARTUP.COM. If you initiate a number of simultaneous data snapshot collections, monitor the use of pagefile resources used by the Remote Manager process. If necessary, adjust the pagefile quota in the ACMS$MGMT_STARTUP file; then stop and restart the Remote Manager system to apply the changes.

5.1.10 Correcting an Invalid Data Snapshot Storage Location

To correct an invalid storage location for a data snapshot file, you must reset the storage state (disable/enable) after entering another location. This reinitializes the snapshot thread and forces it to write data to the new location.

5.1.11 Using /ACTIVE and /STORED Qualifiers with ACMSMGR SET commands

With the prior version of ACMSMGR, you could specify both the /ACTIVE and /STORED qualifiers with same ACMSMGR SET command; even for settings where either the active or stored value could not be updated.

With ACMS Version 4.4, you can no longer specify both qualifiers with the same SET command. Attempts to do so will result in the following error:


$ ACMSMGR SET TSC /MAX_LOGINS=50 /ACTIVE /STORED 
 
  ACMS Remote Management -- Command line utility 
  %ACMSMGMT-E-ERRBOTHFLAGS, Both current and active flags were set. They 
   are mutually exclusive. No updates performed 
  %ACMSMGMT-E-FAIL, Operation failed 

To set the active and stored values, you must now use separate SET commands. If you try to modify an active setting and only the stored value can be updated, the following warning messages are displayed:


$ ACMSMGR SET TSC /CP_SLOTS=5 /ACTIVE 
 
  ACMS Remote Management -- Command line utility 
  Call to modify TSC parameters on server JANEWY failed 
  %ACMSMGMT-W-ACTUPDINV, /active was specified for cp_slots, but this 
   value is not dynamic. No update was performed 
  %ACMSMGMT-W-WARN, Operation completed with warning, Not all operations 
   completed successfully 

5.1.12 Use ACMSSNAP SHOW Commands to Display ERROR Class Data

To view stored ERROR class information, use the full entity display without a class qualifier. For example, use the following command to display ERROR class information for ACC:


ACMSSNAP>  SHOW ACC/FULL

If both the collection state and storage state were enabled for the relevant collection, then the ERROR class data will be shown at the end of the displayed output.

5.1.13 Using the ACMSSNAP SHOW/AT Command

The ACMSSNAP SHOW/AT command does not always display the exact record specified. Sometimes, the record immediately before or immediately after the requested record is displayed.

For instance, in the following example, five ACC records are read from the data snapshot file, and the same SHOW/AT command is specified three times. The first attempt displays the record previous to the requested record. The second attempt displays the exact record requested. The third attempt again displays the previous record.


ACMSSNAP>SHOW ACC/ID/NEXT=5 
ACMS Remote Management -- Snapshot utility 
            ID 
    Node   Class     PID   Process Name         Start Time        User Name  Version 
 -------- -------- ------ --------------- ----------------------- --------- ---------------- 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM   V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:11.99] 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM   V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:22.24] 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM   V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:32.24] 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM   V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:42.24] 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM   V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:52.24] 
 
ACMSSNAP>SHOW ACC/AT="8-JUN-2001 11:11:22.24"/ID 
ACMS Remote Management -- Snapshot utility 
            ID 
    Node   Class     PID   Process Name         Start Time        User Name   Version 
 -------- -------- ------ --------------- ----------------------- ---------- ---------------- 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM    V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:11.99] 
 
ACMSSNAP>SHOW ACC/AT="8-JUN-2001 11:11:22.24"/ID 
 
ACMS Remote Management -- Snapshot utility 
            ID 
    Node   Class     PID   Process Name         Start Time        User Name   Version 
 -------- -------- ------ --------------- ----------------------- ----------- ---------------- 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM     V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:22.24] 
 
ACMSSNAP>SHOW ACC/AT="8-JUN-2001 11:11:22.24"/ID 
 
ACMS Remote Management -- Snapshot utility 
            ID 
    Node   Class     PID   Process Name         Start Time        User Name   Version 
 -------- -------- ------ --------------- ----------------------- ---------- ---------------- 
 sparks   enabled  5C67   ACMS01ACC001000  7-JUN-2001 09:30:56.71 SYSTEM    V4.4-0 [ 8-JUN-2001 11:11:11.99] 

To prevent this "toggle" effect from occurring, only specify the /AT qualifier once while navigating through a set of records. If you are not at the record which you want to view, then use either the /NEXT or /PREV qualifier to move through the record sequence. Once you locate the record you want to view, issue the appropriate SHOW command without any navigational qualifiers (/AT, /NEXT, and /PREV) to display the details of that record.

5.2 Restrictions Continued from ACMS Version 4.3

The following restrictions have been in effect since ACMS Version 4.3.

5.2.1 CDD Version 6.x Support Restricted

Oracle CDD/Repository Version 6.1 is not supported by ACMS Version 4.x. An access violation occurs whenever ACMS attempts to access the dictionary.

Oracle CDD/Repository Version 6.1A is supported by ACMS Version 4.x.

5.2.2 SNMP GETNEXT Calls Return Unpredictable Results

SNMP getnext calls are not supported in this release of the ACMS Remote Manager. SNMP getnext calls issued to the Remote Manager may appear to complete successfully; however, the data should not be considered to be accurate.

5.2.3 Remote Manager is Unusable Following TCP/IP or UCX Shutdown

The ACMS Remote Manager depends on the underlying network software in order to communicate with external processes. If the IP network is stopped, the existing network connections between the ACMS Remote Manager and the IP network become orphaned and cannot be reconnected when the network is restarted. This prevents further communications between external processes and the ACMS Remote Manager.

The workaround is to ensure that the Remote Manager is stopped prior to stopping the IP network, and to restart it only after the IP network has been restarted. If the Remote Manager is left running when the network is stopped, it is acceptable to stop it using the DCL command STOP/ID.

5.2.4 Error Message When Stopping Remote Manager

When the Remote Manager process is stopped, a detached-process termination accounting record is written for the ACMS$MGMT_SVR process. The final status recorded will be %x00FE9F49, which is translated in the SYS$MESSAGE:ACMSMSG.EXE file as:


%ACMSMGMT-S-SUCCESS, Operation completed. 

This status indicates a successful shutdown of the ACMS Remote Manager.

5.2.5 Remote Manager Reports Error Message if it Can't Get Collection State

One of the following error messages may appear in the Remote Manager log:


msg_proc: e : Failure getting current collection states. 
Ignoring process ACMS01ACC001000 

This message can be safely ignored. At the time this message is generated, the Remote Manager is attempting to synchronize collection states with the ACC. Because the ACC loads the Collection table, synchronization is implicit.


procmon: e : Failure obtaining current collection states. 
Bypassing <entity> 

In this error message, <entity> is an ACMS entity type.

You can disregard this message. At the time this message is generated, the Remote Manager is attempting to synchronize collection states with the process, but the process has either not fully initialized or is not started. An example of this condition is when the ACMS run-time system is started without the Queued Task Initiator (QTI). If the process is initializing, synchronization will occur when the process finishes initializing. If the process is not started, synchronization is not necessary.

5.2.6 Remote Manager May Report ACMSTRC$_MONPROCEXST Error When Trying to Start Trace Monitor

In some situations, when the Remote Manager is trying to start the Trace monitor, it reports the following in the Remote Manager log:


rpc: e : %ACMSTRC-W-MONPROCEXST, ACMS$TRACE_MON process seems to 
already exist since ACMS$TRACE_MBX is defined 

This error message indicates that the Remote Manager attempted to create a Trace monitor process and detected that the logical name for the Trace monitor mailbox ACMS$TRACE_MBX was defined in the system logical name table. The process is assumed to exist if this logical name is defined. If there is a working version of the Trace monitor process running (image name ACMS$TRACE_MONITOR, process name ACMS$TRACE_MON), and the logical name ACMS$TRACE_MBX is defined as a mailbox device, then no action is required.

If the monitor process is malfunctioning, then you can try to stop it with the DCL command STOP/ID. If this fails, you can take the following steps:

  1. Deassign the system logical name ACMS$TRACE_MBX
  2. Change the process name to something other than ACMS$TRACE_MON
  3. Set the process priority to 1.

The Remote Manager can then create a new process. If these attempts to disable the existing Trace monitor process fail, then you should report the problem to your Compaq support representative.

5.2.7 Remote Manager Takes a Few Seconds to Start

It takes a few seconds for the Remote Manager to become fully initialized during startup. This usually occurs on machines that are heavily loaded, on networks that are busy, or in command procedures that execute ACMSMGR commands immediately after starting the Remote Manager. During the Remote Manager initialization period, ACMSMGR commands are likely to fail with the following error messages:


%ACMSMGMT-W-NOCLNT_ATTACH, Cannot create client for node SPARKS 
%ACMSMGMT-E-NOCLIENTS, No clients created, cannot continue 
%ACMSMGMT-E-FAIL, Operation failed 

If this occurs, resubmit the command after pausing slightly. You can use the following series of commands in a command procedure to avoid this problem:


$ @SYS$STARTUP:ACMS$MGMT_STARTUP 
$ WAIT 00:00:05 
$ ACMSMGR SHOW ACC/ID 

5.2.8 ACMSMGR SHOW LOG /SINCE Qualifier Default

The /SINCE qualifier of the ACMSMGR SHOW LOG command defaults to the current date only if the qualifier is specified as /SINCE= (that is, if there is an equal sign but no value string).

5.2.9 Remote Manager EVENT_SEVERITY Traps Do Not Include Text Messages

All Remote Manager traps report the date and time, severity, entity type, process name, trap parameter and current value. Remote Manager traps do not report text messages.

For event_severity traps, the traps include the severity of the event but do not indicate the actual text message. The traps receiver will know that a warning, an error, or a fatal event occurred, but it will not know what actually happened.

To determine which event caused the traps, enter the ACMSMGR SHOW LOG command and specify the traps time in the /SINCE qualifier.

For example, assume the following trap was received by a trap listener:


Node           SPARKS 
Date/Time      5-OCT-1999 14:50:05.13 
Severity       Error 
Entity Type    MGR 
Process Name   ACMS$MGMT_SVR 
Trap Parameter event_s 
Current Value  2 

This trap indicates that the Remote Manager on node SPARKS detected a warning level condition (value 2) at time 14:50:05.13. To determine the event that raised this condition, use the ACMSMGR SHOW LOG command as follows:


$ ACMSMGR SHOW LOG/NODE=SPARKS/SINCE="5-OCT-1999 14:50"/SAVE=WARN 

Note that the time of the event may slightly precede the trap time, since the trap time is the time the trap was generated, not the time of the event.

5.3 Restrictions Continued from ACMS Version 4.1

The following restrictions have been in effect since ACMS Version 4.1.

5.3.1 Form Name Cannot be a Logical Name When Using Multiple Submitter Platforms

When the ACMS$MULTIPLE_SUBMITTER_PLATFORMS is defined as "T", "Y" or 1, the ACMS EXC process attempts to open the form files specified in the task group definition by adding _VAX or _AXP to the file name. If the task-group definition uses a logical name for the form name, the EXC will not be able to locate the forms because no logical name translation is performed.

Form names when used in a multiplatform environment cannot be logical names.

5.3.2 CDD Restriction Initializing Fields with Strings Shorter Than Field Size

Do not define a CDD field initialization string that is shorter than the field size. This may cause a memory access violation when using the Application Definition Utility (ADU) to build a group.

For example, the following CDO file sometimes causes ADU to generate a memory access violation when the ADU REPLACE GROUP statement is issued:


define field wksp_rep:r_1_field_1 
    datatype text size 30000 
    initial_value is "". 
define record wksp_rep:r_1. 
    wksp_rep:r_1_field_1. 
end record. 
define field wksp_rep:r_2_field_1 
    datatype text size 30000 
    initial_value is "". 
define record wksp_rep:r_2. 
    wksp_rep:r_2_field_1. 
end record. 

The workaround for this example is to remove the initial_value clauses.

5.3.3 Lowercase Characters Corrupted

If the terminal or terminal emulator is set to VT100 mode and both TDMS and DECforms are present on the same system, lowercase characters in DECforms menus are corrupted when an application is entered by bypassing the ACMS menus. As a workaround, issue a SET TERMINAL /DEC_CRT=2. This restriction occurs in ACMS Version 3.3 and higher.

5.3.4 On OpenVMS Alpha, Agent Hangs on Second Task Startup in Task Debugger

When an agent attempts to start a task in the ACMS Task Debugger while the Task Debugger is already executing a task, the agent should abort with the following error message:


%ACMS-E-EXCMAXDBGTSK,  Only a single task may be debugged at 
one time 

As of ACMS Version 4.0 on OpenVMS Alpha, the agent hangs and does not return the error message. This is due to a problem in OpenVMS Alpha Version 6.x with certain $GETJPIW calls.

5.3.5 QTI's PIOPAGE Requirements for RMS Journaling on OpenVMS Alpha

On OpenVMS Alpha, most recovery unit-journaled $PUT, $UPDATE, or $DELETE operations require at least 8.2 pagelets (512-byte pages) of PIOPAGES for the duration of these operations. In addition, a typical call to SYS$END_TRANS or SYS$ABORT_TRANS to end a recovery unit may require approximately 16.5 pagelets of PIOPAGES for the duration of these operations. These figures are approximate and may vary depending on the characteristics of your application.

While the need for additional PIOPAGES is temporary over the duration of the operation, RU applications that make extensive use of asynchronous RMS operations may have several operations launched at the same time, thus making heavier demands on their PIOPAGES. This is true in the multithreaded QTI process. The calculation of PIOPAGES requirements should be made by estimating the maximum number of threads that will be used by the QTI and multiplying that number by 16.5.

5.3.6 Using the Terminal User Command SELECT

If a user is at the ACMS command menu and issues a SELECT command, the ACMS Command Process (CP) saves the selection and does not submit the task until the user issues a CONTINUE command. To use the SELECT command, you can do either of the following:

5.3.7 Problem Phoning from DCL Servers

You cannot use the OpenVMS Phone utility (PHONE) from a DCL server when using ACMS because a user who enters ACMS using the ACMS/ENTER/NORETURN command or through a controlled terminal does not have an OpenVMS process associated with the user.

The Phone utility was designed for communication between interactive OpenVMS processes. DCL server processes are not true interactive OpenVMS processes. When the Phone utility tries to dial a user or answer a call, it checks the system for both an interactive process that has the correct user name and a login device that has the correct attributes.

When a user enters ACMS using the ACMS/ENTER command, the user's original interactive process remains. PHONE sees the process and works from the DCL server to which the user is attached. If the user enters ACMS using the ACMS/ENTER/NORETURN command or through an ACMS controlled terminal, there is no interactive process to meet the Phone utility's requirements. Thus, the Phone utility does not work from the DCL server to which the user is attached.


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