[comp.unix.ultrix] gnode: table is full

alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) (03/09/91)

In article <6081@amc-gw.amc.com>, stewartc@amc-gw.amc.com (Stewart Castaldi) writes:
> Under Ultrix 3.1(?) what are gnodes and how do I make the table larger?

	Gnodes are our version of Sun's vnodes.  It's a handy
	mechanism for supporting mutiple file systems.  The
	gnode table is sized based on the values of "maxusers"
	and the size of the proc table and text table.  If you
	increase maxusers in the configuration file and rebuild
	you'll get a large gnode table (and proc table and text
	table and...).

    The obligitory maxusers comment.

	The configuration file parameter maxusers isn't connected
	with the number of users licensed to login.  Maxusers is
	used to determine the size of various system tables.  If
	you want bigger tables, raise maxusers.  It won't change
	the number of people allowed to login.

> I see nothing in the master index or the kernel configuration file about
> gnodes.  I have found mention of them in the include files but again
> no explanation.

	In the Summer 1986 USENIX Conference Proceedings there is
	a paper, "The Generic File System", by Robert Rodriguez,
	Matt Koehler and Richard Hyde.  There is also another
	paper in the Summer 1987 USENIX Conference Proceedings,
	"GFS Revisited -or- How I Lived with Four Different Local
	File Systems".  You should find these interesting reading.
	
> Thanks in advance.

	You're welcome.
> -- 
> Stewart Castaldi                          DNS: stewartc@amc.com
> Applied Microsystems Corporation	 UUCP: uunet!amc-gw!stewartc
> Redmond, Washington  98073               Dial: (206) 882-5326


-- 
Alan Rollow				alan@nabeth.cxn.dec.com

grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) (03/10/91)

In article <2663@shodha.enet.dec.com> alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) writes:
> In article <6081@amc-gw.amc.com>, stewartc@amc-gw.amc.com (Stewart Castaldi) writes:
> > Under Ultrix 3.1(?) what are gnodes and how do I make the table larger?
> 
> 	Gnodes are our version of Sun's vnodes.  It's a handy
> 	mechanism for supporting mutiple file systems.  The
> 	gnode table is sized based on the values of "maxusers"
> 	and the size of the proc table and text table.

Note that you also get an "out of gnodes" message when all the disk
inodes in a filesystem have been exhausted, which is a different
problem altogether.  This can be verified with "df -i" and (sometimes)
fixed by playing with newfs/mkfs parameters. 
-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing:   domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
Commodore, Engineering Department     phone:  215-431-9349 (only by moonlite)

alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) (03/11/91)

In article <19682@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes:
> In article <2663@shodha.enet.dec.com> alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) writes:
> > 
> > 	[ Wherein I explain what a gnode is. ]
> 
> [ George reasonably points out that the message "out of gnodes" can
>   can come from a disk that's out of gnodes, as opposed to the kernel
>   table running out. ]

	I haven't seen it on a V4.x system, but sometimes on a V3.x
	systems a disk that goes offline would eventually cause the
	"out of gnodes" message to be printed.  So, broken hardware
	can also cause it.
-- 
Alan Rollow				alan@nabeth.cxn.dec.com

grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) (03/11/91)

In article <2671@shodha.enet.dec.com> alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) writes:
> In article <19682@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes:
> > In article <2663@shodha.enet.dec.com> alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) writes:
> > > 
> > > 	[ Wherein I explain what a gnode is. ]
> > 
> > [ George reasonably points out that the message "out of gnodes" can
> >   can come from a disk that's out of gnodes, as opposed to the kernel
> >   table running out. ]
> 
> 	I haven't seen it on a V4.x system, but sometimes on a V3.x
> 	systems a disk that goes offline would eventually cause the
> 	"out of gnodes" message to be printed.  So, broken hardware
> 	can also cause it.

Well I came real close to mentioning that, but then disk problems just
aren't supposed to happen, are they.  I think the last time I saw it
(Ultrix 3.1C-0) is when my HSC decided to run some in-line tests and
the HSC driver couldn't figure out what was going on.

BTW, don't you thing the message for out of "gnodes" on disk ought
to be changed back to "inodes"?  They're only really gnodes when they're
in memory with all that baggage linked in, and all the FFS/filesystem
related documentation still talks about inodes...



-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing:   domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
Commodore, Engineering Department     phone:  215-431-9349 (only by moonlite)

boehme@unvax.union.edu (Eric M. Boehm) (03/12/91)

alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) writes:

>In article <19682@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes:
>> [ George reasonably points out that the message "out of gnodes" can
>>   can come from a disk that's out of gnodes, as opposed to the kernel
>>   table running out. ]

>	I haven't seen it on a V4.x system, but sometimes on a V3.x
>	systems a disk that goes offline would eventually cause the
>	"out of gnodes" message to be printed.  So, broken hardware
>	can also cause it.

I have seen this -- specifically on the filesystem where news is
stored. I have rebuilt the filesystem with new parameters to increase
the number of inodes but I have still seen it when there is a lot of
news. This was under 3.x, 4.x. I increased the number of maxusers but
I think it could still happen.

As illustration, here is the report from df -i:

Filesystem   Total    kbytes   kbytes   %     inodes   inodes   %            
node         kbytes   used     free     used  used     free     used Mounted on
/dev/rz0e     125015   77712   34801    69%    25047    7721    76%  /var/spool
-- 
Eric M. Boehm
boehme@unvax.Union.EDU
BOEHME@UNION.BITNET