SRTxxx: the trouble with Tribbles?
Someone running IDS/Universal Server 9.14 on Solaris found hundreds of srtNNNNNN_NNN files piling up in /tmp until the filesystem filled and the machine ground to a halt. Respondents identified these as Informix sort-work files, created in /tmp by default when no temp space is configured; the advice was to set DBSPACETEMP to point at temporary dbspaces, or PSORT_DBTEMP (or TMPDIR) to list other filesystems, ideally several for performance. One poster noted Informix normally cleans these up, so leftovers may point to applications crashing mid-sort. No confirmation from the original poster is recorded.
Auto-generated by DrWatson from the posts below — may be imperfect; read the full thread.
INFORMIX-Universal Server Version 9.14.UC6 on SunOS 5.5.1 Generic_103640-31 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2 The server has taken to creating hundreds of files in /tmp called things like srt0105709_001 (where the number varies). Though the system is short on physical memory, it has plenty of swap. Having searched the documentation, Web, Usenet, IIUG and FAQs I can find nothing to explain what they are. The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing that since /tmp is on a swap filesystem these files are some kind of logical representation of the shared memory blocks that Informix is allocating. Either way, I need to know how to stop these files being created/shared memory being grabbed. Any ideas?
Given the name SRTxxxx, I would guess rather that the files are sort work files. Check DBSPACETEMP, I think. (sorry, its early in the morning and my brain is on half-speed). At any rate, you need to direct your sort work areas to temporary dbspaces. HTH, Doug "Jedi Master Yoda" <yoda@dagobah.org> wrote in message news:slrn8iksja.21b.yoda@homer.cromwellmedia.co.uk... > INFORMIX-Universal Server Version 9.14.UC6 on SunOS 5.5.1 > Generic_103640-31 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2 > > The server has taken to creating hundreds of files in /tmp called things > like srt0105709_001 (where the number varies). Though the system is > short on physical memory, it has plenty of swap. Having searched the > documentation, Web, Usenet, IIUG and FAQs I can find nothing to explain > what they are. > > The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up > /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing > that since /tmp is on a swap filesystem these files are some kind of > logical representation of the shared memory blocks that Informix is > allocating. Either way, I need to know how to stop these files being > created/shared memory being grabbed. Any ideas?
These are sort files, check out DBSPACETEMP and PSORT areas. Like you said having these in /tmp under Solaris is probably not good:-)) Jedi Master Yoda wrote: > > INFORMIX-Universal Server Version 9.14.UC6 on SunOS 5.5.1 > Generic_103640-31 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2 > > The server has taken to creating hundreds of files in /tmp called things > like srt0105709_001 (where the number varies). Though the system is > short on physical memory, it has plenty of swap. Having searched the > documentation, Web, Usenet, IIUG and FAQs I can find nothing to explain > what they are. > > The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up > /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing > that since /tmp is on a swap filesystem these files are some kind of > logical representation of the shared memory blocks that Informix is > allocating. Either way, I need to know how to stop these files being > created/shared memory being grabbed. Any ideas? -- Paul Watson # WF Software Ltd # You are only young once Tel: +44 1436 674729 # but you can be immature Fax: +44 1436 678693 # for ever www.wfsoftware.com #
Jedi Master Yoda wrote: > > INFORMIX-Universal Server Version 9.14.UC6 on SunOS 5.5.1 > Generic_103640-31 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2 > > The server has taken to creating hundreds of files in /tmp called things > like srt0105709_001 (where the number varies). Though the system is > short on physical memory, it has plenty of swap. Having searched the > documentation, Web, Usenet, IIUG and FAQs I can find nothing to explain > what they are. > > The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up > /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing > that since /tmp is on a swap filesystem these files are some kind of > logical representation of the shared memory blocks that Informix is > allocating. Either way, I need to know how to stop these files being > created/shared memory being grabbed. Any ideas? These are Informix sort-work files. You can redirect the files to temp dbspaces using the DBSPACETEMP environment variable to list the temp type dbspaces to use. You can also continue to use filesystem space for these files but redirect them from /tmp using the PSORT_DBTEMP environment variable to contain a list of filesystems (preferably at least 3 for best performance) to use. If both are absent TMPDIR is used if that is not there then /tmp is the ultimate default. Art S. Kagel
In article <392AB591.812BC226@bloomberg.net>, kagel@bloomberg.net says... >> The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up >> /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing [clip] >These are Informix sort-work files. You can redirect the files to temp >dbspaces using the DBSPACETEMP environment variable to list the temp type >dbspaces to use. You can also continue to use filesystem space for these >files but redirect them from /tmp using the PSORT_DBTEMP environment >variable to contain a list of filesystems (preferably at least 3 for best >performance) to use. If both are absent TMPDIR is used if that is not >there then /tmp is the ultimate default. But (assuming I'm reading his message correctly), if /tmp is getting filled up, that would seem to indicate the files are't getting cleaned up properly - which I think would cause problems no matter where the things are directed to. Informix does clean up its sort-work files, right? If what I think he's saying is true, he needs to track down the rogue application(s) that are (presumably) crashing with work in progress and correct the cause of the multiplying work files. (It may be a good idea to move them somewhere else anyway, but that's another issue.) -- William Harris william@carsinfo.com
In article <slrn8iksja.21b.yoda@homer.cromwellmedia.co.uk>, yoda@splange.freeserve.co.uk wrote: > INFORMIX-Universal Server Version 9.14.UC6 on SunOS 5.5.1 > Generic_103640-31 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2 > > The server has taken to creating hundreds of files in /tmp called things > like srt0105709_001 (where the number varies). Though the system is > short on physical memory, it has plenty of swap. Having searched the > documentation, Web, Usenet, IIUG and FAQs I can find nothing to explain > what they are. > > The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up > /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing > that since /tmp is on a swap filesystem these files are some kind of > logical representation of the shared memory blocks that Informix is > allocating. Either way, I need to know how to stop these files being > created/shared memory being grabbed. Any ideas? > Those are files used by Informix to temporarily store data either for sorting or while sorting is in progress (I forget which). Do you have temp dbspaces set up? -- # unrm / ksh: unrm: not found # man cpio Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
William Harris wrote: > > In article <392AB591.812BC226@bloomberg.net>, kagel@bloomberg.net says... > >> The problem is that eventually (over a few days) the files fill up > >> /tmp completely and bring the machine to its knees. I'm guessing > > [clip] > > >These are Informix sort-work files. You can redirect the files to temp > >dbspaces using the DBSPACETEMP environment variable to list the temp type > >dbspaces to use. You can also continue to use filesystem space for these > >files but redirect them from /tmp using the PSORT_DBTEMP environment > >variable to contain a list of filesystems (preferably at least 3 for best > >performance) to use. If both are absent TMPDIR is used if that is not > >there then /tmp is the ultimate default. > > But (assuming I'm reading his message correctly), if /tmp is getting filled > up, that would seem to indicate the files are't getting cleaned up properly - > which I think would cause problems no matter where the things are directed to. > > Informix does clean up its sort-work files, right? If what I think he's > saying is true, he needs to track down the rogue application(s) that are > (presumably) crashing with work in progress and correct the cause of the > multiplying work files. The few times I've sorted to disk, I've noticed that Informix does clean up after itself. -- John Carlson Informix DBA WHSmith USA #include std_disclaimer.h /* These are my opinions, not my company's opinion */