Reliable Transaction Router Version 4.1 ECO1 for OpenVMS Alpha COMPAQ Cover Letter PRODUCT: Reliable Transaction Router Version 4.1 ECO1 for OpenVMS Alpha ---------------------- APPROX BLK SIZE: 28242 ---------------------- Problem Description ------------------- The following changes and corrections have been made for RTR V4.1, ECO1 for all platforms. o 14-1-1766, 14-8-406 BE losing quorum In some cases, a backend might lose quorum when comparing failed and unreachable routers with the number of routers in a facility. This has been fixed. However, when a TRIM FACILITY command is used to remove a role on a backend, the backend will lose quorum for a moment. In the interval, an SRSTANDBY event may be visible, indicating that the application does not have an active role at that moment. This is expected behavior because changing a role redefines the facility and RTR must re-calculate quorum. o 14-3-403, 14-8-372, 14-8-386 A rogue master may retain old quorum info A rogue master may keep old quorum information, causing the quorate count in MONITOR QUORUM to be incorrect. This has been fixed. o 14-5-219, 14-8-348, 14-8-390 Router failure when unable to create a network object RTR could not create a facility that used multiple nodes in a TCP/IP-only environment. This has been fixed. o 14-5-244 Pass facility and link names with NCF-based RTR events Certain RTR events are now accompanied by a message naming the affected facility and node. Should this additional data disrupt an existing application, the feature can be disabled by defining the variable RTR_NO_NCF_EVENT_DATA in the environment of all ACP processes in the configuration. The following events are subject to this behavior: FACREADY, FACDEAD, FERTRLOSS, FERTRGAIN, RTRBEGAIN, RTRBELOSS, BERTRGAIN, BERTRLOSS, RTRFEGAIN, RTRFELOSS. For example, a server channel may subscribe to these events and use this information to maintain a database of who is connected. The following is an example (in script) of these events being received on a server channel: RTR> call rece %RTR-S-OK, normal successful completion channel name: RTR$DEFAULT_CHANNEL msgsb msgtype: rtr_mt_rtr_event msglen: 34 evtnum: 107 (RTR_EVTNUM_RTRFELOSS) message facility: RTR$DEFAULT_FACILITY link: 16.47.196.81 RTR> call rece %RTR-S-OK, normal successful completion channel name: RTR$DEFAULT_CHANNEL msgsb msgtype: rtr_mt_rtr_event msglen: 34 evtnum: 106 (RTR_EVTNUM_RTRFEGAIN) message facility: RTR$DEFAULT_FACILITY link: 16.47.196.81 The events only broadcast connectivity changes. On startup, the server may need to initialize its database of who is currently connected. Depending on the requirements, it may suffice to have a server solicit this information with a broadcast when it starts up. All clients receiving the broadcast would respond with a registration message allowing the servers to learn if they are connected. o 14-8-401 Failed node journal not released RTR no longer hangs when attempting to access the journal held by a failed node. o 14-8-405 RTR BE node failure resolution A wrong check on message size at the time of shadow recovery could cause a node to fail. The problem can occur during fast recovery when message size reaches maximum size. This is now fixed. o 14-8-409 RTR process using up CPU time RTR could consume a large amount of CPU time if the RTR CLI process encountered an EIO or unrecoverable error while reading from the terminal. RTR no longer does this; it now exits instead of retrying when the RTR CLI encounters an unrecoverable error. The operator log will contain the error status that caused the CLI to exit. o 14-8-411 SHOW FACILITY SHOW FACILITY now more accurately displays V2 format. The following changes and corrections have been made in RTR V4.1, ECO1 for the OpenVMS platform. o 14-3-424, 14-8-410 RTR does not set the $status system variable on OpenVMS, SHOW FACILITY, SHOW LINK exit status When processing SHOW FACILITY and SHOW LINK commands, the RTR utility now sets its exit status if either the specified item is absent or no instances of the item class exist. Command parsing errors now cause a correct exit status severity to be set. These changes restore functionality found in earlier versions of RTR. With RTR V2, this command returns %X100B8E22 and the message %RTR-E-NOFACILIT, no facilities have been defined. With RTR V4, there is no error, and the status is successful. o 14-8-402 TCP/IP NULL Alias Names On OpenVMS systems it was possible for an alias name to be NULL when running TCP/IP. This caused RTR to associate an incorrect hostname/IP address pair. RTR now skips NULL alias names when looking up the alias address. Known Problems with Workarounds ------------------------------- The following known problem with workaround applies to all platforms. o 14-3-235 Changing system time may cause problems RTR may experience internal problems if the system time is changed in large increments. Compaq recommends changing the system clock in increments no larger than five minutes until the desired system time is achieved. Installation Overview --------------------- The Reliable Transaction Router Version 4.1 ECO1 installation procedure is the same as the installation procedure for RTR Version 4.1. Refer to the Installation Guide for further information. © 2001 Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. Compaq, the Compaq logo, Alpha, OpenVMS, VAX, VMS, and Tru64 are trademarks of Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P., in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft, Microsoft SQL Server, Internet Explorer, MS-DOS, Visual C++, Windows, Windows 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. UNIX is a trademark of The Open Group in the U.S. and/or other countries. InstallShield is a trademark of InstallShield Software Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Confidential computer software. Valid license from Compaq required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license. Compaq shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind and is subject to change without notice. The warranties for Compaq products are set forth in the express limited warranty statements accompanying such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. This ECO has not been through an exhaustive field test process. Due to the experimental stage of this ECO/workaround, Compaq makes no representations regarding its use or performance. The customer shall have the sole responsibility for adequate protection and back-up data used in conjunction with this ECO/workaround.