IDS 11 computer reboot problems
A user migrating from Informix SE 7.24 to IDS on Red Hat couldn't restart the engine after a reboot, getting "shared memory not initialized" and "Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2", even though his ONCONFIG set ROOTPATH to /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root. Respondents explained that the engine was falling back to the shipped onconfig.std because the ONCONFIG environment variable wasn't set to his own config file; they also warned that 'oninit -i' re-initialises (destroys) the instance and that plain 'oninit' should be used, noted chunk ownership/permission requirements, stale shared-memory segments (ipcs/ipcrm), and that 2.6-kernel Linux rebuilds /dev at boot so raw devices/links must be recreated via udev rules rather than placed under /dev. No confirmation from the poster is recorded.
Auto-generated by DrWatson from the posts below — may be imperfect; read the full thread.
Hi,
I have been using Informix SE 7.24 for a long time. Now, due to the lack of
support and the aging of the hardware, I am obliged to upgrade to a newer
version of Informix, most probably IDS 11. However, I can't get IDS to work
for me.
After obtaining trial copies of IDS 11 (workgroup and express, I have not
managed to have a stable installation of it. I can successfully install it,
start it, install a database on it, run dbaccess, install tools such as
Client-SDK or ISQL, with no problems. The only and rather major problem is
when the system is stopped and started again (regular reboot or forced
shutdown), I can't get to have the server running again. The errors I get vary
(after issuing either oninit, onmode, oncheck or onstat) but they all point to
some shared memory problem.
Examples:
1) [root@gage ~]# onmode -ky
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER gage
2) oninit -i
[root@gage ~]# oninit -i
This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y
Mon Apr 14 11:29:48 2008
11:29:48 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG = '/usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh'
11:29:48 Booting Language <c> from module <>
11:29:48 Loading Module <CNULL>
11:29:48 Booting Language <builtin> from module <>
11:29:48 Loading Module <BUILTINNULL>
11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new virtual shared memory segment (size 8192KB)
11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16384 KB, no SHMTOTAL limit
11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new message shared memory segment (size 528KB)
11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16912 KB, no SHMTOTAL limit
11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 10.00.UC6E Software Serial Number
AAA#B000000
11:29:53 Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2
oninit: Cannot open chunk '/dev/online_root'. errno = 2
oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization
11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Stopped.
11:29:53 Process exited with return code 127: /bin/sh /bin/sh -c
/usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh 3 11 "Cannot open Chunk:
'/dev/online_root'." "Cannot Open Primary C
11:29:53 mt_shm_remove: WARNING: may not have removed all/correct segments
3) [root@gage ~]# onstat -
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'gage'
The bottom line, nothing works.
I have googled around for days now. Funny that postings of problems related to
this "shared memory" issue abound on Google, but I have tried all proposed
solutions and nothing worked.
I even had to find another box, format it clean, install Redhat Enterprise
with the latest kernel (2.6.18-53.el5) on it ( I was starting to believe that
maybe I had an issue of a bad glibc or else) but the problem remained.
I can go into the million things I have tried to fix this issue, but you
probably don't have time for that.
The only time that I can have the server running is when I delete the informix
directory and reinstall IDS. That is until the next reboot.
Can someone out there tell me what I need to to fix this problem and gain
confidence in buying a version of IDS? I know it must be a simple fix.
Sorry for the long post...
Thanks,
Denis
DENIS DIDEROT wrote:
> Hi,
> I have been using Informix SE 7.24 for a long time. Now, due to the lack of
> support and the aging of the hardware, I am obliged to upgrade to a newer
> version of Informix, most probably IDS 11. However, I can't get IDS to work
> for me.
> After obtaining trial copies of IDS 11 (workgroup and express, I have not
> managed to have a stable installation of it. I can successfully install it,
> start it, install a database on it, run dbaccess, install tools such as
> Client-SDK or ISQL, with no problems. The only and rather major problem is
> when the system is stopped and started again (regular reboot or forced
> shutdown), I can't get to have the server running again. The errors I get
vary
> (after issuing either oninit, onmode, oncheck or onstat) but they all point
to
> some shared memory problem.
>
> Examples:
>
> 1) [root@gage ~]# onmode -ky
> shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER gage
>
> 2) oninit -i
> [root@gage ~]# oninit -i
>
> This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
> any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
> Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y
>
> Mon Apr 14 11:29:48 2008
>
> 11:29:48 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG =
'/usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh'
> 11:29:48 Booting Language <c> from module <>
> 11:29:48 Loading Module <CNULL>
> 11:29:48 Booting Language <builtin> from module <>
> 11:29:48 Loading Module <BUILTINNULL>
> 11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new virtual shared memory segment (size
8192KB)
> 11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16384 KB, no SHMTOTAL limit
> 11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new message shared memory segment (size 528KB)
> 11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16912 KB, no SHMTOTAL limit
> 11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 10.00.UC6E Software Serial
Number
> AAA#B000000
> 11:29:53 Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2
> oninit: Cannot open chunk '/dev/online_root'. errno = 2
> oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization
> 11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Stopped.
>
> 11:29:53 Process exited with return code 127: /bin/sh /bin/sh -c
> /usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh 3 11 "Cannot open Chunk:
> '/dev/online_root'." "Cannot Open Primary C
> 11:29:53 mt_shm_remove: WARNING: may not have removed all/correct segments
>
> 3) [root@gage ~]# onstat -
> shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'gage'
>
> The bottom line, nothing works.
> I have googled around for days now. Funny that postings of problems related
to
> this "shared memory" issue abound on Google, but I have tried all proposed
> solutions and nothing worked.
> I even had to find another box, format it clean, install Redhat Enterprise
> with the latest kernel (2.6.18-53.el5) on it ( I was starting to believe that
> maybe I had an issue of a bad glibc or else) but the problem remained.
>
> I can go into the million things I have tried to fix this issue, but you
> probably don't have time for that.
> The only time that I can have the server running is when I delete the
informix
> directory and reinstall IDS. That is until the next reboot.
>
> Can someone out there tell me what I need to to fix this problem and gain
> confidence in buying a version of IDS? I know it must be a simple fix.
> Sorry for the long post...
> Thanks,
> Denis
very quickly
- you only oninit -i the first time, when you initialize the instance. from
then on, when you need to bring up the instance,, you just do an oninit
without the -i, otherwise, you keep on getting a newly created instance,
lacking all your precious chunks and databases
- your clue is here
11:29:53 Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2
in unix speak, 2, ENOENT, means no such file or directory. your root chunk
cannot be found:
either your os has obliterated it after the reboot (some linuxes are known to
change permissions to raw devices, but never seen one obliterating them), or
you are reverting to the default onconfig, or /dev/online_root is pointing to
a raw character device, and this has not yet been reassociated to the
appropriate block device or....
In short I can't really tell you why exactly, but your root chunk is either
wrong or has disappeared.
--
Ciao,
Marco
______________________________________________________________________________
Marco Greco /UK /IBM Standard disclaimers apply!
Structured Query Scripting Language http://www.4glworks.com/sqsl.htm
4glworks http://www.4glworks.com
Informix on Linux http://www.4glworks.com/ifmxlinux.htm
DENIS DIDEROT wrote:
> Hi,
>
Hi, see below:
> I have been using Informix SE 7.24 for a long time. Now, due to the lack of
> support and the aging of the hardware, I am obliged to upgrade to a newer
> version of Informix, most probably IDS 11. However, I can't get IDS to work
> for me.
> After obtaining trial copies of IDS 11 (workgroup and express, I have not
> managed to have a stable installation of it. I can successfully install it,
> start it, install a database on it, run dbaccess, install tools such as
> Client-SDK or ISQL, with no problems. The only and rather major problem is
> when the system is stopped and started again (regular reboot or forced
> shutdown), I can't get to have the server running again. The errors I get
vary
> (after issuing either oninit, onmode, oncheck or onstat) but they all point
to
> some shared memory problem.
>
> Examples:
>
> 1) [root@gage ~]# onmode -ky
> shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER gage
>
> 2) oninit -i
> [root@gage ~]# oninit -i
>
I hope you are not using 'oninit -i' to restart your instance after a
shutdown or crash!!!!!!!! The '-i' options, as indicated by the dire
warning below that you replied 'y' to, will destroy your server and all
of its existing data and initialize a new completely empty server! To
restart an existing server just run 'oninit' or 'oninit -v' to see more
verbose output on the terminal during startup.
> This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
> any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
> Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y
>
> Mon Apr 14 11:29:48 2008
>
> 11:29:48 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG =
'/usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh'
> 11:29:48 Booting Language <c> from module <>
> 11:29:48 Loading Module <CNULL>
> 11:29:48 Booting Language <builtin> from module <>
> 11:29:48 Loading Module <BUILTINNULL>
> 11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new virtual shared memory segment (size
8192KB)
> 11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16384 KB, no SHMTOTAL limit
> 11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new message shared memory segment (size 528KB)
> 11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16912 KB, no SHMTOTAL limit
> 11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 10.00.UC6E Software Serial
Number
> AAA#B000000
> 11:29:53 Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2
> oninit: Cannot open chunk '/dev/online_root'. errno = 2
> oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization
> 11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Stopped.
>
> 11:29:53 Process exited with return code 127: /bin/sh /bin/sh -c
> /usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh 3 11 "Cannot open Chunk:
> '/dev/online_root'." "Cannot Open Primary C
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this is a dead giveaway and possibly another
problem. Does the file/device '/dev/online_root' exists? Is it owned
by user informix and group informix with privs 0660? If not that's your
problem. If this is a RAW or character device, under Linux and several
other UNIX versions you have to put commands into the startup 'rc'
scripts to recreate the RAW device drivers each time the machine boots up.
Also i note that this is the default name of the root chunk in the
unmodified ONCONFIG file, onconfig.std. You can edit the onconfig file
and really should rename the file to something like
onconfig.myservername. You can then set the ONCONFIG environment
variable to point to the newly named file and edit it to contain the
actual path of the initial root disk chunk you really want to use in the
ROOTPATH parameter.
> 11:29:53 mt_shm_remove: WARNING: may not have removed all/correct segments
>
This is just a warning that there may be shared memory segments left
over that you will have to delete manually using ipcrm if the engine was
unable to remove them automatically during the failed startup. If you
run 'ipcs -m | fgrep informix' if the list is empty you are OK. If
there are segments owned by informix the simplest thing to try is to run
'onmode -ky' which should destroy them, if that still fails, you'll have
to remove each by hand with ipcrm. This rarely happens, but it does
happen, hence the warning.
> 3) [root@gage ~]# onstat -
> shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'gage'
>
> The bottom line, nothing works.
>
If you continue to have trouble, you can contact us at Oninit, or any of
several other reputable Informix consultancies, and we'll help you get
started for a reasonable fee (I shouldn't think this would take more
than an hour or so and likely less). Normally setting up an IDS
instance is very simple and straight forward. Akin to making brownies.
Assemble all of the components, put them together, stir, and bake. REALLY!
As to all of the postings you saw GOOGLING around, you're just having
typical newbie problems. Concentrate on any of those that you find.
Solutions to more serious problems with similar symptoms are unlikely to
be helpful.
Art S. Kagel
Oninit
> I have googled around for days now. Funny that postings of problems related
to
> this "shared memory" issue abound on Google, but I have tried all proposed
> solutions and nothing worked.
> I even had to find another box, format it clean, install Redhat Enterprise
> with the latest kernel (2.6.18-53.el5) on it ( I was starting to believe that
> maybe I had an issue of a bad glibc or else) but the problem remained.
>
> I can go into the million things I have tried to fix this issue, but you
> probably don't have time for that.
> The only time that I can have the server running is when I delete the
informix
> directory and reinstall IDS. That is until the next reboot.
>
> Can someone out there tell me what I need to to fix this problem and gain
> confidence in buying a version of IDS? I know it must be a simple fix.
> Sorry for the long post...
> Thanks,
> Denis
>
>
>
*******************************************************************************
> Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.
>
> See you at the IIUG Informix 2008 Conference
> The Power Conference for Informix Professionals
> April 27 - 30, 2008 Marriott Overland Park (Kansas City), Kansas
> http://www.iiug.org/conf
> Registration Now Open!!
>
>
>
I think I recall where some of the new Linux distros do odd things with
direct references to anything in /dev/ Try creating the links for your
dbspaces elsewhere, like /opt/data/rootdbs
-----Original Message-----
From: ids-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:ids-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of
Marco Greco
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 12:14 PM
To: ids@iiug.org
Subject: Re: IDS 11 computer reboot problems [11855]
DENIS DIDEROT wrote:
> Hi,
> I have been using Informix SE 7.24 for a long time. Now, due to the
lack of
> support and the aging of the hardware, I am obliged to upgrade to a
newer
> version of Informix, most probably IDS 11. However, I can't get IDS to
work
> for me.
> After obtaining trial copies of IDS 11 (workgroup and express, I have
not
> managed to have a stable installation of it. I can successfully
install it,
> start it, install a database on it, run dbaccess, install tools such
as
> Client-SDK or ISQL, with no problems. The only and rather major
problem is
> when the system is stopped and started again (regular reboot or forced
> shutdown), I can't get to have the server running again. The errors I
get
vary
> (after issuing either oninit, onmode, oncheck or onstat) but they all
point
to
> some shared memory problem.
>
> Examples:
>
> 1) [root@gage ~]# onmode -ky
> shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER gage
>
> 2) oninit -i
> [root@gage ~]# oninit -i
>
> This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
> any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be
accessible -
> Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y
>
> Mon Apr 14 11:29:48 2008
>
> 11:29:48 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG =
'/usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh'
> 11:29:48 Booting Language <c> from module <>
> 11:29:48 Loading Module <CNULL>
> 11:29:48 Booting Language <builtin> from module <>
> 11:29:48 Loading Module <BUILTINNULL>
> 11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new virtual shared memory segment (size
8192KB)
> 11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16384 KB, no SHMTOTAL
limit
> 11:29:53 Dynamically allocated new message shared memory segment (size
528KB)
> 11:29:53 Memory sizes:resident:11664 KB, virtual:16912 KB, no SHMTOTAL
limit
> 11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 10.00.UC6E Software
Serial
Number
> AAA#B000000
> 11:29:53 Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2
> oninit: Cannot open chunk '/dev/online_root'. errno = 2
> oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization
> 11:29:53 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Stopped.
>
> 11:29:53 Process exited with return code 127: /bin/sh /bin/sh -c
> /usr/informix/etc/alarmprogram.sh 3 11 "Cannot open Chunk:
> '/dev/online_root'." "Cannot Open Primary C
> 11:29:53 mt_shm_remove: WARNING: may not have removed all/correct
segments
>
> 3) [root@gage ~]# onstat -
> shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'gage'
>
> The bottom line, nothing works.
> I have googled around for days now. Funny that postings of problems
related
to
> this "shared memory" issue abound on Google, but I have tried all
proposed
> solutions and nothing worked.
> I even had to find another box, format it clean, install Redhat
Enterprise
> with the latest kernel (2.6.18-53.el5) on it ( I was starting to
believe
that
> maybe I had an issue of a bad glibc or else) but the problem remained.
>
> I can go into the million things I have tried to fix this issue, but
you
> probably don't have time for that.
> The only time that I can have the server running is when I delete the
informix
> directory and reinstall IDS. That is until the next reboot.
>
> Can someone out there tell me what I need to to fix this problem and
gain
> confidence in buying a version of IDS? I know it must be a simple fix.
> Sorry for the long post...
> Thanks,
> Denis
very quickly
- you only oninit -i the first time, when you initialize the instance.
from
then on, when you need to bring up the instance,, you just do an oninit
without the -i, otherwise, you keep on getting a newly created instance,
lacking all your precious chunks and databases
- your clue is here
11:29:53 Cannot Open Primary Chunk '/dev/online_root', errno = 2
in unix speak, 2, ENOENT, means no such file or directory. your root
chunk
cannot be found:
either your os has obliterated it after the reboot (some linuxes are
known to
change permissions to raw devices, but never seen one obliterating
them), or
you are reverting to the default onconfig, or /dev/online_root is
pointing to
a raw character device, and this has not yet been reassociated to the
appropriate block device or....
In short I can't really tell you why exactly, but your root chunk is
either
wrong or has disappeared.
--
Ciao,
Marco
________________________________________________________________________
______
Marco Greco /UK /IBM Standard disclaimers apply!
Structured Query Scripting Language http://www.4glworks.com/sqsl.htm
4glworks http://www.4glworks.com
Informix on Linux http://www.4glworks.com/ifmxlinux.htm
************************************************************************
*******
Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.
See you at the IIUG Informix 2008 Conference
The Power Conference for Informix Professionals
April 27 - 30, 2008 Marriott Overland Park (Kansas City), Kansas
http://www.iiug.org/conf
Registration Now Open!!
Thanks for your quick response Marco..
I usually remove the memory segments (ipcrm -m) before issue oninit -i. That
is out of desperation because "oninit -yv" also fails.
I don't know how to have it not look for /dev/online_root as the primary
chunk. In my onconfig file, I have
ROOTPATH /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root
Again, out of desperation, I can create a symbolic link to the ROOTPATH from
/dev/online_root, but again, this is reset when I reboot.
My rootdbs is defined as ROOTPATH /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root However, it keeps looking for Primary chunk as /dev/online_root. How do I prevent that?
DENIS DIDEROT wrote: > My rootdbs is defined as > ROOTPATH /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root > However, it keeps looking for Primary chunk as /dev/online_root. > How do I prevent that? > me thinks that it's looking for /dev/online_root because your ONCONFIG environmental variable is not pointing to your onconfig file, and therefore the engine looks for default configuration file which has /dev/online_root as opposed to /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root as the ROOTPATH -- Ciao, Marco ______________________________________________________________________________ Marco Greco /UK /IBM Standard disclaimers apply! Structured Query Scripting Language http://www.4glworks.com/sqsl.htm 4glworks http://www.4glworks.com Informix on Linux http://www.4glworks.com/ifmxlinux.htm
As Joe pointed out, any new Linux with the 2.6 kernel requires;
- config additions/changes under /etc/udev/rules.d/
- your regular /etc/sysconfig/rawdevices (if you are using raw devices)
- links from /dev/raw/raw* to another directory (your
/usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root) if you are using raw devices
The Linux 2.6 rebuilds the /dev/ dir on every reboot.
When you do your "oninit -i" to initialize, make sure:
- your $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG has your correct ROOTPATH and it
cannot be under /dev/
- your /etc/services synchronizes with your $INFORMIXSQLHOSTS file
synchronizes with your $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG file
- you have set SHM settings in /etc/sysctl.conf. Should be
recommendations in the release notes.
See "kernel parameters" in
$INFORMIXDIR/release/en_us/0333/ids_machine_notes_10.00.txt (I have IDS
10)
Bob Roussey
Unix / Informix Administration
Spirit Airlines
Robert.Roussey@SpiritAir.com
-----Original Message-----
From: ids-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:ids-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of
DENIS DIDEROT
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 1:43 PM
To: ids@iiug.org
Subject: Re: IDS 11 computer reboot problems [11858]
Thanks for your quick response Marco..
I usually remove the memory segments (ipcrm -m) before issue oninit -i.
That
is out of desperation because "oninit -yv" also fails.
I don't know how to have it not look for /dev/online_root as the primary
chunk. In my onconfig file, I have
ROOTPATH /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root
Again, out of desperation, I can create a symbolic link to the ROOTPATH
from
/dev/online_root, but again, this is reset when I reboot.
************************************************************************
*******
Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.
See you at the IIUG Informix 2008 Conference
The Power Conference for Informix Professionals
April 27 - 30, 2008 Marriott Overland Park (Kansas City), Kansas
http://www.iiug.org/conf
Registration Now Open!!
DENIS DIDEROT wrote: > My rootdbs is defined as > ROOTPATH /usr/local/ids/demo/server/online_root > However, it keeps looking for Primary chunk as /dev/online_root. > How do I prevent that? > Your ONCONFIG environment variable is not set to point to the actual ONCONFIG file, so it's defaulting to the delivered sample file onconfig.std where ROOTPATH is set to /dev/online_root Art S. Kagel Oninit