clearing space error codes..optimizing my unix based network, help... 1

jbay · Feb 24, 2000

hi my name is james...i recently inherited a unix based network of 6 terminals...the system runs only one application and that app is called 'patrol command' are you familiar with ?...this is my 1st exposure to this operating system, unix, i've never used it before now...i'm beyond frustrated and have come here to you for help, assistance and guidance...i'm able to log in at two areas, the root or in the application itself...i could feel that this system is in dire need of diagnostics and plain ol help...after log in it displays that it is -unix system v/88 release r32v3 version 960907 m88100- 1st question what version is this unix...? the app it runs is used by the company for general all around office purposes, scheduling, acctng, report logs, personnel info, and the sort...we are a security firm...the main problem encountered by some all to frequently, is an error message about exceeding space threshhold and certain aspects of the application do not function properly if at all, a 10-07 error...the makers of this application do not offer any tech support what so ever...the previous sysadm suggested that i "shitcan" the whole system and start fresh with a whole new platform and setup...yes thats why i was brought on board here but that wont happen for awhile (budgetting woes)...in anycase i want to maintain this system and setup to one train on unix and for whatever other reason...i've tried every suggestion from some at allexperts.com but to no avail...they werent clear with their suggestions or maybe i just didnt get what they were saying...some commands dont click, it's a mess of a system ...but i truly believe that i can fix it with your help if not get it to run as optimumly as possible...my email at work is <A HREF="mailto:rgscom@aol.com">rgscom@aol.com</A>, work # is 808-536-5765 xt245...if youre in hawaii as i am on oahu you can call...please always send responses to that adress <A HREF="mailto:rgscom@aol.com">rgscom@aol.com</A>, lastly i want to thank you for your time and help with my tasks, i greatly appreciate it and will reasonably at anytime return the favor...i anxiously await your response...take care and mahalos!...james

AndyBo · Feb 25, 2000

James, sounds like you've been dropped in at the very deepest end of the pool! Unix isn't renowned for being the most user friendly OS in the world to pick up, especially if you're used to MS produced OSes. However, once you get into the whole Unix philosophy, and start to learn how to get around, you'll realise how powerful it is. 
 
However, don't fear, we're here to help!

First, that Unix version... It's not one that I'm familiar with, but I can take a few stabs in the dark... 
 
unix system v/88 release r32v3 version 960907 m88100 
 
The whole version breaks down into a few key components. The first is the "system v/88". This indicates it's a system V (as in 5) based Unix. The 88 is probably a indicator that it's compiled for Motorola processeors... That's because the "m88100" indicates the CPU - Motorola 88100. The whole thing taken together tells me it's not a common version of Unix, so support would be very difficult to get, I think. What is the hardware platform? 
 
Second, the error message you get. This looks like it is from the application, and not from Unix. Probably some inbuilt space usage check. IT could be that your filesystems are getting a little full. If you want to check how much space you have free, log in as "root" and type "df -k". If that doesn't work, try a plain "df". 
 
If available space is getting low, you'll need to start removing files, trimming log files, etc. to create some free space. However, don't do this until you are very confident you know what the files you are removing are there for! If you want to check, for example, "I've got 250Mb of files in a directory called /tmp. Is it OK to remove them?" then I'm sure you'd get a good answer here on TT.

Now, a few general tips to get you started. 
 
* To see what a command does, type "man command_name". If this doesn't work, try "help command_name", or just plain "help". (Tip: "man man" will tell you how the man command works

* Invest in some reading material. I'd recommend any Unix book published by O'Reilly. Head over to <A HREF="

http://unix.oreilly.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://unix.oreilly.com</A>

for a full list, but for a start I'd recommend "Learning the UNIX Operating System", "Learning the vi Editor", "UNIX in a Nutshell: System V Edition", and "UNIX Backup and Recovery". 
 
* Check if there is an "adduser" command on your system. If not, then look for "useradd". Then create yourself a new user, that does not have root privileges. It's extrememly dangerous! (Remind me to tell you about the time I was logged in as root, pwd was "/", and I thought I'd typed "rm -r /mytempdir". What I'd actually typed was "rm -r / mytempdir"... Where did I put those backups?...) 
 
* If you can, get hold of a spare PC (486 or better) and install Linux. Linux is Unix - it's only politics that stops it from using the Unix name. If you do this then you have a modern Unix system that you can learn on. And it's a great way to learn. If you decide to do this then there are "Linux (Server)" and "Linux (client/desktop)" forums here on TT. 
 
Sorry for going on a little, but it sounds like you're in a bit of a hole at the moment! 
 
Hope this has helped a little, and good luck!

mrregan · Feb 25, 2000

James, 
You may also be experiencing a file size maximum problem which is governed by a parameter called 'ulimit'. You can type in 'ulimit' at the command prompt to see how many 512 char blocks a file can have. For example , if the ulimit is 
20,000 the file size maximum is about 10mb. You could go to the root directory and enter 
'find . -size +20000000c -print' to see if there are any files over 20mb. The ulimit parameter can be usually be found in the '/etc/profile' and can be changed. Let us know.

MikeLacey · Feb 25, 2000

Andy's comment about the Nutshell books is worth repeating - I've got about 6 of the things now - they're excellent. 
 
Mike Mike Lacey <a href=mailto:Mike_Lacey@Cargill.Com>Mike_Lacey@Cargill.Com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a>

jbay · Feb 25, 2000

i ask for a miracle and i get 3...thank you each--andybo-mrregan-mike lacey-- for your input...its fun learning this new stuff...i will be getting linux soon and practicing with it and as for this nightmare of a system i have now i will be implementing all of the suggestions...oreilly and i are great friends already...i'll rport back as to me progress and any further tools and steps to take about this system i have please send them my way...andy, i invite you to go on and on and on and on so long as it pertains to getting this system at optimum level/functionality...keep it comin'....i'll type to you guys in a bit...jamea 
james bay <a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a> <a href= > </a> please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy!

jbay · Feb 25, 2000

ok check this out i did a "d" and a "df" at my root prompt...it came back with this set of numbers and foreign language.... 
 
"d"--> / free: 33.1mb, full: 43%, total size: 59mb 
/usr " : 0.3mb, " : 99%, " " : 98mb 
/bms " : 90.3mb, " : 70%, " " : 308mb 
 
what in the unix world does the above mean and how do i alleviate some of the noticeable space crunching goin on particularly in /usr and /bms... 
 
"df"--> / (/dev/dsk/m187m_00so): 67696 blocks 12598i-nodes 
/usr (/dev/usr ): 672 blocks 21212 i nodes 
/bms (/dev/dsk/m187_00s3): 184880 blocks 62469 i nodes 
now...what does this say and is there trouble... 
 
the hardware is indeed a motorolla tower, got a 25mhz processor and 32 megs of ram..any way of displaying what other hardware i have within this system... 
 
but 1st things 1st, how do make more space from the "d" info above and how do i recreate a fresh directory of the same name after i delete one to release space...please get back to me as soon as you can...and god only knows how much i appreciate you for taking the time and effort in helping me ....mahalos my friend...james 
james bay <a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a> <a href= > </a> please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy!

AndyBo · Feb 28, 2000

Glad to be of help, James

OK, as you say, first things first - the lack of space reported by "d"... 
 
Your "/" and "/bms" filesystems look to have plenty of free space. The "/usr" filesystem is way, way, too crowded. This may be causing the "10-07" errors you mentioned in your original post. As a rule of thumb, when a filesystem gets to 10% free, I start to look at it. In your case, 0.3% free, especially on "/usr", is cause for a little concern. (Don't freak out with worry, though, because Unix is pretty good at handling full filesystems, with a couple of exceptions. eg, filling "/var" on some versions of Unix can cause problems.) Now, not knowing exactly how your system is set up, a quick warning. 
 
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE VALID BACKUPS BEFORE REMOVING ANYTHING, AND THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO RESTORE THEM!!! 
 
Just wanted to get that off my chest, cos backups are important...

OK, now for a couple of places you can look for stuff to remove on "/usr"... 
 
/usr/lost+found    If this directory exists, it's safe to remove anything in it. It's used by the filesystem checking tools (fsck) to store "problem" files in the event of a filesystem problem. 
 
/usr/tmp    Reboot the system. Check if there are any files left in this directory. Use "ls -l" to check the dates of files in this directory. Anything not dated with today's date can be removed. 
 
/usr/adm/log    Log files live here. Look for files with "log" in their name. Use "ls -l" to see how big they are. View them using "view", "more", "pg", or "vi". If you can live without them, blank them out using ">/usr/adm/log/name_of_log_file" 
 
Use the "rm" command to remove files. And if you have any doubt about removing a file, don't do it! Better safe than sorry. We don't want you ending up with a system that won't boot because a critical file has been removed... 
 
As far as the "/bms" filesystem goes, this still has 30% of it's space free - I wouldn't worry about it for now. 
 
The output from the "df" command is showing information about mounted filesystems. Taking the first line as an example: 
 
/ (/dev/dsk/m187m_00so): 67696 blocks 12598i-nodes 
 
This tell us that the root ("/&quot

filesystem is the physical disk device /dev/dsk/m187m_00so. This disk partition has 67696 blocks in total, and 12598 i-nodes. Try running "df -k" - this should show similar information to the "d" command you mentioned. If not, then it's probably an old version of "df" on your server. 
 
Just to go over that output from "d"... 
 
/ free: 33.1mb, full: 43%, total size: 59mb 
 
The root filesystem ("/&quot

has 59Mb in total, is 43% full, and has 33.1Mb of disk space free. 
 
Hope this helps a little.

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clearing space error codes..optimizing my unix based network, help... 1

jbay

Technical User

AndyBo

MIS

mrregan

MIS

MikeLacey

MIS

jbay

Technical User

jbay

Technical User

AndyBo

MIS

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