kcantrel@digi.UUCP (Keith Cantrell) (08/16/89)
I have run into a problem with running rn when rnews or rn is already running
on a different machine. The problem is the first one will open the file
"/usr/lib/news/active" for reading and therefore the Apollo operating system
will lock it. After this has happens, I am unable to get a second rn or rnews
to run on a different machine, the fopen complains "Text file busy". This
problem does not exist if both programs are running on the same machine.
This was a major problem when I started up rn on my machine and rnews was
started up on a different machine and started loosing news since it could not
open the active file :-(
Has anybody else since this problem? It is easy to reproduce, just write a
small program to open a file and executed it on two different machines and you
will see the problem.
Now for the particulars:
Machines: DN3500
Operating system: BSD4.3-DOMAIN/OS
News version: "B 2.11 1/24/89"
I someone could please help me with this I would greatly appreciate it,
Keith
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Keith Cantrell Phones: hm: 214-492-1088
wk: 214-519-2399 @ DSC
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------chen@spanky.sps.mot.com (Jinfu Chen) (08/17/89)
In article <203@digi.UUCP> kcantrel@digi.UUCP (Keith Cantrell) writes: >I have run into a problem with running rn when rnews or rn is already running >on a different machine. The problem is the first one will open the file >"/usr/lib/news/active" for reading and therefore the Apollo operating system >will lock it. After this has happens, I am unable to get a second rn or rnews >to run on a different machine, the fopen complains "Text file busy". This >problem does not exist if both programs are running on the same machine. > >This was a major problem when I started up rn on my machine and rnews was >started up on a different machine and started loosing news since it could not >open the active file :-( > The version of rn in ADUS 1989 library already fixed this. It makes a private copy of active upon invoking. The drawback is that you will need to re-enter rn to see new articles being posted during your previous session of rn, this is really not a problem at all. Jinfu Chen (602)898-5338 | Disclaimer: Motorola, Inc. Digital Div., Mesa, AZ | My employer doesn't pay ..{somewhere}!uunet!dover!digital!chen | me to express opinions. ----------
peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (08/17/89)
You have the same problem if the news node is inaccessable for some reason. The best solution I've found to running rnews over a network is to replace /usr/bin/rnews with a shell script that remotely execs rnews on the machine the news system is on, with a bit of extra sugar to save the news somewhere handy if the remote node is really dead. In our case that script is: : cat >/tmp/rnews$$ if rexec //xds13/usr/bin/rnews $* < /tmp/rnews$$ then rm /tmp/rnews$$ else echo "`date` * rnews - can't access xds13" >> /usr/spool/uucp/POLLOG mv /tmp/rnews$$ /usr2/saved.news/`date +%y%m%d.%H%M%S` fi Then I run something in the crontab *on the news machine* to snarf the files in //ficc/usr2/saved.news. A similar technique can probably be used on your Apollo network. -- Peter da Silva, *NIX support guy @ Ferranti International Controls Corporation. Biz: peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. Fun: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com. `-_-' "Optimization is not some mystical state of grace, it is an intricate act U of human labor which carries real costs and real risks." -- Tom Neff
dclemans@mentor.com (Dave Clemans @ APD x1292) (08/17/89)
From article <203@digi.UUCP>, by kcantrel@digi.UUCP (Keith Cantrell): > I have run into a problem with running rn when rnews or rn is already running > on a different machine. The problem is the first one will open the file > "/usr/lib/news/active" for reading and therefore the Apollo operating system > will lock it. After this has happens, I am unable to get a second rn or rnews > to run on a different machine, the fopen complains "Text file busy". This > problem does not exist if both programs are running on the same machine. > > This was a major problem when I started up rn on my machine and rnews was > started up on a different machine and started loosing news since it could not > open the active file :-( > What I've done is to modify rn, vn, etc. to access an "active.copy" file instead of the "active" file. A cron job runs every 15 minutes to copy "active" to "active.copy". Thus all the news reader programs, and their read locks don't interfere with news reception. For rn specifically, I modified it to not always keep the active file open (otherwise the cron job that copies "active" to "active.copy" would have problems). dgc
kcantrel@digi.UUCP (Keith Cantrell) (08/18/89)
In article <1690@dover.sps.mot.com> chen@spanky.sps.mot.com (Jinfu Chen) writes: Jinfu> In article <203@digi.UUCP> kcantrel@digi.UUCP (Keith Cantrell) writes: >I have run into a problem with running rn when rnews or rn is already running >on a different machine. The problem is the first one will open the file >"/usr/lib/news/active" for reading and therefore the Apollo operating system >will lock it. After this has happens, I am unable to get a second rn or rnews >to run on a different machine, the fopen complains "Text file busy". This >problem does not exist if both programs are running on the same machine. > >This was a major problem when I started up rn on my machine and rnews was >started up on a different machine and started loosing news since it could not >open the active file :-( > Jinfu> Jinfu> The version of rn in ADUS 1989 library already fixed this. It makes a private Jinfu> copy of active upon invoking. The drawback is that you will need to re-enter Jinfu> rn to see new articles being posted during your previous session of rn, this is Jinfu> really not a problem at all. Jinfu> Yea, this is the klugdy work around that I tried, but I found that you can not even create a private copy if the file is locked! In other words, I was unable to copy the file if rnews was running. Also, I am dead set against copying once a day or any such nonsense like that. I have been tempted to just "/com/ulkob -f" the file, but I am not sure how that will screw things up. So, does anybody else have any ideas????? Keith ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Keith Cantrell Phones: hm: 214-492-1088 Apollo Computer wk: 214-519-2399 @ DSC A Subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard USMAIL: EMAIL: 2100 Sonata Ln cantrell@attctc.DALLAS.TX.US Carrollton TX 75007 or ...!attctc!digi!kcantrel -----------------------------------------------------------------------