[Info-vax] Autogen

[Paul Sture]

On 2018-02-07, Bob Koehler <koehler at eisner.nospam.decuserve.org> wrote:
> In article <06ac076c-2d52-4a16-9005-c7542e0f150e at googlegroups.com>, mcleanjoh at gmail.com writes:
>> On Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 3:01:42 AM UTC+11, John Reagan wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> A long-time VMS developer once told me "anybody with a MODPARAMS.DAT 
>>> longer than 10 lines is either a genius or a fool"
>> 
>> Well you VMS engineers kept sending out software kits that instructed system managers to add certain amounts to system parameters like GBLPAGES when they installed the software ...
>
>    Never needed more than one line to actually set the minimum GBLPAGES
>    all of my stuff needed, and one line to comment what it all came from.

Here's MODPARAMS.DAT from my main SimH instance, last edited in 2012:

SCSNODE="SPEEDY"
SCSSYSTEMID=(54*1024)+121
ALLOCLASS=2
SHADOWING=2
SHADOW_SYS_DISK=1
SHADOW_SYS_UNIT=100
VAXCLUSTER=0
WINDOW_SYSTEM=1
MIN_INTSTKPAGES=12
DUMPSTYLE=1		! Selective dump
MIN_GBLSECTIONS=500
MIN_GBLPAGES=90000	! 62,400 not enough - craps out in Pascal startup
STARTUP_P2="VDC"

13 lines.  The only one I'm not sure about is the MIN_INTSTKPAGES=12
entry.

>From my long dead Alpha:

! disable autogen adjustment of page, swap, dump files
PAGEFILE=0
SWAPFILE=0
DUMPFILE=0
LGI_BRK_TERM=0 ! as per help sysparam LGI_BRK_TERM
!
AGEN$INCLUDE_PARAMS SYS$MANAGER:AGEN$NEW_NODE_DEFAULTS.DAT
VAXCLUSTER=2
SCSNODE="DINA"
SCSSYSTEMID=(1024 * 54) + 122
!MIN_NPAGEDYN=46710784	! to cope with LD/LMDRIVER
MIN_GBLSECTIONS=1000
!RESHASHTBL=16384	! Feedback 27-apr-2008
alloclass=1
TAPE_ALLOCLASS=1
votes=1
expected_votes=1
DISK_QUORUM="                "
QDSKVOTES=1
QDSKINTERVAL=3
LOCKDIRWT=0
NISCS_CONV_BOOT=0
NISCS_LOAD_PEA0=1
NISCS_PORT_SERV=0
INTERCONNECT="NI"
MSCP_LOAD=1
MSCP_SERVE_ALL=1
MIN_MAXPROCESSCNT=850
CTLPAGES=1600

startup_p2="vdc"	! startup verification
!
AUTO_DLIGHT_SAV=1
SHADOWING = 2
SHADOW_SYS_DISK = 4097
SHADOW_SYS_UNIT = 0

Out of that little lot, most is to do with clustering.  The '10 lines'
comment surely refers to a standalone node... :-)

With a nod to the dangers of PURGE mentioned in another recent
post, the oldest version of MODPARAMS.DAT I have for the Alpha
has this in it:

!
!*** The following entries have been added by the RMS remedial kit
!*
ADD_PIOPAGES = 100     !***Entered by RMS (ASB increase)
ADD_IMGIOCNT = 100     !***Entered by RMS (ASB increase)
MIN_PIOPAGES = 675     !***Entered by RMS (ASB increase)
MIN_IMGIOCNT = 228     !***Entered by RMS (ASB increase)
!*
!*** End of RMS remedial kit entries

I assume I took those lines out manually when the next VMS upgrade which
addressed the RMS problem was applied.

This has always been a dodgy area in the VMS patch process. A subsequent
VMS version's Release Notes will contain information about all (or only
most?) the patches addressed (not sure about customer-specific ones
here), but I don't think I've ever seen information such as "the
MODPARAMS adjustments recommended in Patch XYZ no longer apply".

-- 
If the brain was simple enough to understand, we'd be too simple to
understand it.