[Info-vax] How to read system time from cluster node

[VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG]

In article <20e7cf0e-ae2d-4543-a54d-a939363d1bd8 at w35g2000prg.googlegroups.com>, jbriggs444 at gmail.com writes:
>On Mar 27, 6:45=A0am, Rogal <michal.rog... at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 26 Mar, 22:01, Michael Austin <maus... at firstdbasource.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Rogal wrote:
>> > > Hello!
>>
>> > > I've been using VMS for just a few weeks, so this question may be
>> > > lame :). I need to write DCL script which compares system time drift
>> > > between two nodes in a cluster (VMS 7.3). Is there any method to fetc=
>h
>> > > system time from another node? I hoped that F$GETSYI would have such
>> > > capability but no...
>>
>> > > thanks in advance
>>
>> > > MR
>>
>> > Is there some reason you are not using NTP to keep systems in sync?
>>
>> NTP is used there =A0but I need additional control over this - in case
>> of failure of some kind. As this machine is a GSM SMS Centre where
>> timestamps are critical, I need an alert to be raised when clock skew
>> is more than 15-20 seconds.
>
>I would probably use DECnet task to task communications for this.
>
>In your home directory on the target node:
>$ create showtime.com
>$ open net sys$net /write
>$ write net f$cvtime()
>$ close net
>$ exit
>^Z
>
>On the node from which you are checking
>
>$ start_time =3D f$cvtime()
>$ open net target_node::"task=3Dshowtime"
>$ read net remote_time
>$ close net
>$ end_time =3D f$cvtime()
>$
>$
>$! Check that remote_time, start_time and end_time are all within
>tolerance of one another.
>$! If not, either the monitor has failed or the clocks are out of
>synch.
>
>[Syntax not checked -- With eisner gone, I don't have a test platform
>to work from.  And if it were my monitoring
>script, I'd be working diligently to put some error checking/sanity
>checking in there and then I'd be testing the heck out of it]

I suggested the same, defining a TCP/IP service to output the time.
You're solution requires enabling the DECnet task object.  Nothing
wrong with that as long as the security implications are understood
and addressed.

This request was for a VMS cluster so I'd assume that there is some
DECnet between the nodes. However, if the nodes in question were at
some great distance, TCP/IP might be the only go-between.
-- 
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG

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