Re: Init. Shared Memory failed

kudrass@dvs1.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Thomas Kudrass) writes: > I've installed Informix-Online 5.0.1. under Solaris 2.3. on a SUN-SPARC > Workstation 10/512. > > When running the server with tbinit, only the message appears: > > "Fatal error in shared memory initialization". > > I weakly remember a hint in an old Solaris kernel patch (101318-39), now I need this > information. There must be a chance to by-pass this bug without waiting for a > bug fix of the Informix code. > I have already checked other possible reasons of the crash (e.g. access right, > size of sh.memory). The line in /etc/system for shmmax needs to be set to some multiple of 16MB's as follows: set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax = 16777216 I have enclosed a copy of the file SPECIAL_NOITICE_DBMS that Sun released with the patch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mar/30/94 Subject: Intimate Shared Memory (ISM) bug and bugfix detail for systems running database management systems. Please first review the patch readme file. This special notice provides more detail regarding the bug and bugfix issues related to the IMS problem. In brief, the problem is caused partially because Solaris 2.3 did not perform sufficient checking, and partially by the DBMS (Sybase, Oracle, and Informix) vendors that did not follow the Sun API to pass 16MB aligned addresses. The complete solution is to have both the 101318 patch, rev 34 or higher, for Solaris 2.3 AND the corresponding fixes from the DBMS vendors. However, it is NOT required for the customer to wait for the DBMS fixes before applying the 101318 patch. With just the 101318 patch installed, the current DBMS version may not come up right away, but WORK AROUNDS EXIST to bring up all three DBMS to be fully functional (probably with some performance penalty, but the risk of running into the 2 ISM bugs/panics are eliminated). Following is more information on what are the affected Solaris/Sybase/Oracle/Informix/Ingres releases, available dates of various patches/EBFs/releases, as well as the work around for various DBMS: Solaris: -------- This is a Solaris 2.3 issue only. The problem should not exist prior to Solaris 2.3 and therefore a similar patch need does not exist for releases previous to 2.3. Sybase: ------- Sybase 4.9.2 does not use ISM by default, and should have no problem. Sybase System 10 use ISM by default. Without the 101318 patch, dataserver comes up but Solaris may panic. With the patch, dataserver may not come up. Work around is to reduce the value of the Sybase sp_configure "memory" parameter and restart the dataserver. Please consult your Sybase system administrator on how to reconfigure the "memory" parameter. With the 101318 patch and the Sybase fix, EBF 2594 for System 10, dataserver will always come up. The Sybase EBF will be available in mid April. Oracle: ------- V7.0.15 uses ISM by default. Without the 101318 patch, database comes up but Solaris may panic. With the patch, database may not come up. Work around is to make sure that the shmsys:shminfo_shmmax parameter in /etc/system is set to value smaller than or equal to the real physical memory the machine has, AND greater than or equal to the value of (db_block_buffers * 2048) in the init.ora file. Oracle will not fix this version. V7.0.16 turns off ISM by default (expect performance penalty). No problem with or without the 101318 patch. But if customers turn on ISM by setting the use_ism parameter in init.ora, they are at risk. In this case, customer should install the 101318 patch and apply the work around described in the previous paragraph. Oracle also has a V7.0.16 patch now available free of charge to customers. Oracle's patch makes sure the 16MB alignment requirement is met. However, the Oracle patch does not turn ISM back on. After applying both Solaris ISM patch and Oracle's patch, customers can set use_ism to 1 in init.ora for better performance. Oracle will integrate their fix into V7.1.3 to be available in May. Informix: --------- Informix will not fix Online 5.01, which is their current production release. Without the 101318 patch, database comes up but Solaris may panic. With the patch, database may not come up. Work around is to make sure the shmsys:shminfo_shmmax parameter is set to multiple of 16M in /etc/system. Another work around is to turn off RESIDENCY in the Informix config file, which disables ISM, but expect big performance penalty. Informix's fix will appear in the production version of Online 6.0, which will ship in April/May. Ingres: ------- Ingres current release should not be affected. -- Daniel Wood daniel@starsight.com The opinions expressed herein are those of myself, my employers, the carriers of this news message or any other messages for that matter, you the reader and any of your relations(whether by birth or chromosome count), all life forms and all inanimate objects.