From:	CRDGW2::CRDGW2::MRGATE::"SMTP::CRVAX.SRI.COM::RELAY-INFO-VAX"  1-FEB-1991 03:19:16.42
To:	MRGATE::"ARISIA::EVERHART"
CC:	
Subj:	VMS V5.4 Gotcha (RMS Journaling)

Received:  by crdgw1.ge.com (5.57/GE 1.80)
	 id AA20341; Fri, 1 Feb 91 02:09:45 EST
Received: From UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU by CRVAX.SRI.COM with TCP; Thu, 31 JAN 91 17:39:03 PST
Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42)
	id AA10639; Thu, 31 Jan 91 17:35:22 -0800
Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews
	for info-vax@kl.sri.com (info-vax@kl.sri.com)
	(contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions)
Date: 31 Jan 91 22:00:37 GMT
From: ubc-cs!mprgate.mpr.ca!mprgate!wilsenac@beaver.cs.washington.edu  (Henry Wilsenack)
Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd.
Subject: VMS V5.4 Gotcha (RMS Journaling)
Message-Id: <1991Jan31.220037.23089@mprgate.mpr.ca>
Sender: info-vax-request@kl.sri.com
To: info-vax@kl.sri.com


    Here a *big* GOTCHA which I recently came across after upgrading to VMS
    V5.4...  Basically , RMS Journaling no longer worked!!

    PROBLEM:
       Any application program which makes use of the RMS Recovery Unit
    Journaling system calls (SYS$START_RU, SYS$END_RU, etc...) will always
    fail and return with a status of SS$_ABORT.

    ANALYSIS:
       As of VMS 5.4, RMS Journaling (and other Resource Managers such as
    DBMS and VAX/Rdb) make use of DECdtm services which are a new feature of
    VMS 5.4.  This means that when a call to SYS$START_RU is made, it gets
    emulated as a call to $START_TRANSW (a DECdtm service).  This call will
    fail if there is no transaction logfile on the system.  The transaction
    logfile is created and maintained by a new Log Manager Control Program
    (LMCP).  By default DECdtm expects its logfile to exist in a directory
    pointed to by the logical SYS$JOURNAL.  This logical is defined at
    DECdtm startup time and by default points to SYS$COMMON:[SYSEXE].
    HOWEVER, the logfile is *NOT* created as part of the DECdtm startup and
    must be manually created.  The filename must be of the format
    SYSTEM$node_name.LM$JOURNAL and a size of 4000 blocks.

    SOLUTION:
       Use the following commands to create the logfile.  Once it exists,
    it does not need to be recreated.

        $ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:LMCP
        LMCP> CREATE LOGFILE SYS$JOURNAL:SYSTEM$node_name.LM$JOURNAL

   This was a really serious problem for us, and frankly I'm surprised that it
wasn't put into the Release Notes,... Oh, well... :->

-- -------------------------+---------------------------------
Henry H. Wilsenack		| Voice :   (604) 293-5478 
MPR Teltech Ltd.		| FAX   :   (604) 293-5787  
8999 Nelson Way,		| E-Mail: wilsenac@mprgate.mpr.ca  
Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 4B5 	|         uunet!ubc-cs!mprgate!wilsenac