SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS.BITNET (06/19/87)
I also noticed AUTOGEN's annoying predilection for creating larger pagefiles etc. when not enough contiguous space exists for them. The fix is simple: along with your other site-specific parameter settings which you don't want modified (e.g. gblpages), add (into your sys$system:modparams.dat) the following lines: PAGEFILE=0 SWAPFILE=0 DUMPFILE=0 This will force AUTOGEN to leave your existing page/swap/dump files alone. Note, of course, that if you add more memory your sysdump.dmp file will certainly have to be bigger, and that if you want people to be able to really take advantage of more memory and use bigger arrays, then you should also increase your page/swap file sizes. However, this will let you decide the sizes for yourself (I always err on the generous side anyway) at a time when you know you have enough contiguous space. Caveat: forcing adjustments to AUTOGEN's calculations can be dangerous, particularly with memory parameters. There is a mechanism for telling AUTOGEN to e.g. add what you need for layered products etc. to what it thinks you need (I believe it is parameter=+nnn but I may have the syntax wrong - read up on the proper use of AUTOGEN) instead of using a fixed value. This is probably a good idea, particulary with dynamic memory values. These have increased substantially with each new version of V4, so if you had simply fixed them at earlier values, you would run into problems. I have never understood why AUTOGEN thinks it knows everything about the load on your system. It can't possibly know all the products you have or what your users tend to do most - it only takes a kind of snapshot. In general, I have noticed that when fixing SYSGEN values, AUTOGEN seems to take your existing value if it is greater than what it computes. I don't like to take chances, however, with something whose algorithm I don't fully know. What I do with my page/swap files is keep the primary as small as possible (the minimum size to allow the system to boot) and install secondary/tertiary ones on bigger disks. I then turn off auto-sizing as above. I have seen AUTOGEN actually *delete* a secondary pagefile in sys$system during an upgrade - horrifying! Anyway, I hope you find the above information useful. Ruth Milner Systems Manager University of Toronto Physics SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS (BITNET)