[Info-vax] Distributed Applications, Hashgraph, Automation

[DaveFroble]

Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2018-02-27 02:37:52 +0000, Kerry Main said:

>>>> If just changing the node name and the TCPIP address as part of a 
>>>> new OS deployment (e.g. gold image deployment - what we are talking 
>>>> about here), then this is not a big deal.
>>>>
>>>> Done it many times.
>>>
>>> Go try changing a host name of a previously-installed and non-trivial 
>>> OpenVMS system.  Getting a domain-change request can be a real 
>>> challenge, absent a strategy built on guests or containers.
>>
>> Mmm, we are talking in this thread about changing the server and tcpip 
>> host names of a gold image which was just image copied to a system 
>> partition?
>> It was already mentioned that if Apps are installed with no focus on 
>> the environment being homogeneous and/or keeping things off the system 
>> disk, then there will likely be challenges with changing names.
> 
> I've yet to encounter a a installer that doesn't have to change the host 
> name at install time, and — with some of usual sorts of apps installed — 
> that usually gets entertaining.  Or the deployment configuration is 
> headed toward thinner provisioning and installing the packages 
> separately, which avoids having to rename stuff, but adds install-time 
> "fun".  And the "thinner" provisioning approach is probably a more 
> sustainable approach than the omnibus "gold master" installations, but 
> all of this is presently bespoke code and tooling.   And as was 
> suggested earlier, please go try changing the host name of an existing 
> and non-trivial OpenVMS host.  It gets entertaining.  Particularly with 
> Apache or some of the other packages that cache the host name around the 
> file system or the configuration data.   OpenVMS itself caches the host 
> name in some "odd" places, including in the RIGHTSLIST...

As far as I can remember, none of our applications refer to the host name, or 
much else about the OS.  I guess some communications stuff might care, but, they 
should be flexible enough that it would not be a major problem.

>> With the new IP stack, this should make it even less of an issue with 
>> OpenVMS.
> 
> Feel free to try the same host-renaming exercise starting with Multinet.
> 
> Changing the host name of an OpenVMS server — whether from an omnibus 
> master or from an existing server — far more work than it should be.

Yes, this should be as simple as modify and re-boot.  Anything that needs the 
name, or other stuff, should load it upon startup.  More work than it should be.

> Deploying and redeploying and reconfiguring OpenVMS is something we all 
> need to be better at; all our apps and including OpenVMS itself.  The 
> host name mess is just one small aspect of this problem, too.;

Agreed

-- 
David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc.      E-Mail: davef at tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA  15486