Ensuring You Have a Recent FEEDBACK.DAT File

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HP OpenVMS Version 8.2 Upgrade and Installation...

Before Upgrading the OpenVMS Alpha Operating System

Preparing the System Disk

Backing Up the System Disk

Ensuring You Have a Recent FEEDBACK.DAT File

Before upgrading your system, HP recommends that you have a recent AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT file. This file is in SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSEXE] (that is, in [SYSx.SYSEXE], where x is the root; for example, SYS0 or SYS1). In OpenVMS Cluster systems, this file should exist in each node's SYS$SPECIFIC directory. When the system (or each system in a cluster) is rebooted after the upgrade, AUTOGEN is run. If a recent AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT file is available, it is used. The data in this file helps AUTOGEN set system parameters for your specific applications and work load.

If you do not have a current AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT file, AUTOGEN might calculate system parameters that do not reflect your system's requirements. In that case, it can take multiple cycles of running AUTOGEN and rebooting before all layered products can be started. In some cases, successful startup can require additional entries in MODPARAMS.DAT. This should not be necessary if a current AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT file is available.

If you do not have the AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT file on your system, HP recommends that you create a current AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT file during a time when your system is running under a typical work load. To ensure the greatest data reliability, the system should be running for more than 24 hours but less than 30 days. When these conditions exist, enter the following command:

$ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:AGEN$FEEDBACK.EXE

This runs very quickly and should not affect the performance of your system while it executes.

You can also specify the SAVE_FEEDBACK option when you execute SYS$SYSTEM:SHUTDOWN.COM. However, the data captured might not fully reflect the typical work load on your system.

If you invoke AUTOGEN without specifying the execution-mode parameter (FEEDBACK, NOFEEDBACK, or CHECK_FEEDBACK), AUTOGEN uses the feedback information in its calculations. However, if the feedback information reflects system uptime of less than 24 hours, or if the feedback information is more than 30 days old, AUTOGEN includes warnings in the AGEN$PARAMS.REPORT file to alert you to potential problems with the feedback data. If you wrongly assumed the feedback was valid, the parameter settings might vary significantly from your expectations.

If you specify FEEDBACK (or NOFEEDBACK), AUTOGEN uses (or does not use) the feedback regardless of the data's reliability. AUTOGEN proceeds through the SETPARAMS phase (if you specified SETPARAMS, SHUTDOWN, or REBOOT as the end phase) and sets system parameters to the values it computed.

If you specify CHECK_FEEDBACK, AUTOGEN checks the validity of the feedback data. If AUTOGEN determines the feedback is suspect, then AUTOGEN ignores the feedback when computing parameter values. It will stop at the TESTFILES phase and issue a warning in the report that parameters have not been changed. You must read the report and decide whether the calculated values are acceptable. You can use them (by running the AUTOGEN SETPARAMS phase) or rerun AUTOGEN with valid feedback data.

Preparing the System Disk

Backing Up the System Disk