11-Jul-2010

A bit more on WP
One more mapping line was required to have WP 3.0 working:
map /wp30/wp-admin/ /wp30/wp-admin/index.php
otherwise, the admin page didn’t show up properly.

The biggest problem is with the PHP-engines now. It seems that almost every request launches a new WASD process. These all require a lot of resources – mainly memory, the pagefault rate peaks over 20.000….

29-Jun-2010

WASD + PHP running
The problem mentioned a few days ago was caused by multiple causes – one of them being an error in building the MySQLi extension, Mark Berryman supplied a new kit, so I installed it.
But not before I cleaned everything: the WASD_ROOT:[src.PHP] directory – that would become PHP_ROOT if you used the PHP_STARTUP procedure of WASD (?) – now holds just what’s needed to build the PHP runtime engine. The whole PHP package is now installed under WASD_ROOT:[PHP.AXP] like Mark Berryman describes in his README document that comes with the kit – the main exe’s in [.BIN], the extensions in [.EXTENSIONS], and PHP.INI aside these directories.
Now the sequence of getting it up and running is important, and I found this works:

$ DEF/SYS/EXEC PHP_ROOT DKA0:[WASD_ROOT.PHP.AXP.] /TRANS=(C,T)
$ @WASD_ROOT:[STARTUP]STARTUP
$ @WASD_ROOT:[STARTUP]PHP_STARTUP

Important as well: all PHP files must be set to W:RE. the SECURE script does NOT include this path, so the whole PHP-tree must be set correctly by hand.

Don’t forget PHP.INI – like I did, because you still won’t see the enabled extensions – and PHP doesn’t issue a warning on this! After correcting the protection mask, it works fine.

The PHP excutable now works as expected as well:

$ php cgi_bin:php_info.php
<h1><center>Testing the PHPINFO () function</center></h1><br />
phpinfo()
PHP Version => 5.2.13
...

Before I forget: of course you must enable PHP in the configuration:
in HTTPD$CONFIG.CONF, add INDEX.PHP to the section [Welcome],
.PHP $CGI-BIN:[000000]PHPWASD.EXE to the section [DclScriptRunTime], and to the section named [AddType] you should add these lines:
.PHP text/plain PHP source
.PHTML text/plain PHP source
.PHPS text/plain PHP source

For mapping, I created a separate configation file (PHP.CONF) that contains the lines:
set /**.php* script=query=relaxed
set /**.php script=query=relaxed ods=5
exec /php-bin/* (@cgi-bin:[000000]phpwasd.exe)/cgi-bin/* script=query=relaxed

and included the file in the mapping file wasd_config_map.conf, just before the DECnet lines:
[includeFile] wasd_root:[local]php.conf

Next step is installing the latest versions of PHPMyAdmin en WordPress – using the database on Diana – just for setting up the new environments, the current mapping causes loops and now I can find out how the mapping should be to get it running properly…

27-Jun-2010

More on 8.4 + WASD 10 + PHP
I installed the latest version of WASD (10.1) and PHP (5.2.13, as supplied by Mark Berryman) but still it didn’t work – got the same errors as before. After some fiddling around with files (I should have read the README file first 🙂 ) the PHP_INFO script did finally produce output, but notr entirely as I expected: for instance, no additional modules are shown. But at least, the error is now gone.
Using PHP interactively however, does produce the well known error:

$ php CGI_BIN:PHP_INFO.PHP
PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library '/php_root/extensions/php_mysqli.exe' - %LIB-E-ACTIMAGE, error activating image $1$DKA0:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSLIB]SSL$LIBCRYPTO_SHR32.EXE
-SYSTEM-F-SHRIDMISMAT, ident mismatch with shareable image in Unknown on line 0

but continues – and lists all modules that I enabled…

Perhaps it’s just a mismatch in logical names when running interactively, and when by the server, and if so: what caused it?

Question put into the WASD mailing list.

23-Jan-2010

New kids on the block
I got my niece’s old ACER laptop, it has a non-working TFT screen and a CD drive that isn’t reckognized by Windows (it seems) but otherwise running fine. That one (nicknamed “Melvin” – after her cat) will be used in testing OpenVMS 8.4 when running PersonalAlpha (and do nothing else).
PersonalAlpha on my company laptop fails to connect over the Loopback interface, but I think that’s due to the fact that I had to disable some interfaces for the VPN connection …

Speaking of PA: It isn’t the only free Alpha-emulator any more. Camiel Ver der Hoeven started working on a ES40 emulator a few years ago, and Bruce Claremont of Migration Specialties joined in to complete the CPU emulation. There will be a commercial version some time this year, but the free version is available in BETA test; the first versions were Windows 64 only, but since last week, a 32-bit version is added.
This has now been installed on my normal workstation – to test it, and to add into the 8.4 fieldtest as well. I started installing it:
It got as far as obtaining the initialisation data for the system disk, but than run into a runtime error… Well, it’s still beta, it’s allowed in that phase :). Ok, contact Bruce and retry.

Next week, I;’ll spend some time in setting up the Cluster-over-IP environment. The links have been set up.

30-Dec-2009

8.4 Fieldtest CD burning – Twice
Some days ago, I created a logical disk on the emultaor, to create a CD for installing the VMS 8.4 fieltest on the new PWS500. I thought I had it copied to Aphrodite – found an ISO-file ready to be burned – and stored that on CD. But when I tried to boopt the PWS from that file, it failed – it turned out to be the bad, non-bootable one. So I re-created a second LD-device, and now did the proper restore on that one, and copied the container file to the Windows environemnt and burned it as an image.
This morning, I tried to see if it really was bootable on the emulator – and it was, but there is something wrong on the CD:

>>> b dka300
(boot -file '' -flags '' 'dka300')
BOOT_RESET is ON: cold boot
Booting from the device 'dka300' file ''
Loaded the primary booter; size 0x9a000

OpenVMS (TM) Alpha Operating System, Version E8.4
© Copyright 1976-2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

%DCL-W-ACTIMAGE, error activating image TYPE
-CLI-E-IMGNAME, image file DKA300:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
*** AXPVMS$PCSI_INSTALL_MESSAGES.COM called with invalid message identifier!
identifier: welcome

Installing required known files…

Configuring devices…

%DCL-W-ACTIMAGE, error activating image TYPE
-CLI-E-IMGNAME, image file DKA300:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
*** AXPVMS$PCSI_INSTALL_MESSAGES.COM called with invalid message identifier!
identifier: menu

Enter CHOICE or ? for help: (1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/?)

I know that choice 8 will start DCL – and it did, without a problem, except that, again, TYPE will not show up the message what to do to finish the session:

%DCL-W-ACTIMAGE, error activating image TYPE
-CLI-E-IMGNAME, image file DKA300:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
*** AXPVMS$PCSI_INSTALL_MESSAGES.COM called with invalid message identifier!
identifier: notnormal
$$$

So TYPE is a problem: it will show the same error if invoked.

$$$ type SMGTERMS.TXTSMGTERMS.TXT
%DCL-W-ACTIMAGE, error activating image TYPE
-CLI-E-IMGNAME, image file DKA300:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
$$$

but DUMP does not show an error but runs to the end. So it IS readable.

$ analyze/image however, signals a different problem:

Analyze Image 30-DEC-2009 13:14:33.90 Page 1
DKA300:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1
ANALYZ A01-07

*** This file is not a VMS native image.
The analysis uncovered 1 error.

$$$

I successfully updated the standard bootdisk of the emulator from a backup; I booted that system, and tried to access the specific image.
$ analyze/image
had the same problem as when booted from CD, and running the image directly issues yet another error:

$ run type.exe
%DCL-W-ACTIMAGE, error activating image TYPE.EXE
-CLI-E-IMGNAME, image file DKA300:[VMS$COMMON.SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1
-SYSTEM-F-IVADDR, invalid media address
$

but now, DUMP finds a problem:

$ dump/rec/page DKA300:[VMS$COMMON.SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE
Dump of file DKA300:[VMS$COMMON.SYSEXE]TYPE.EXE;1 on 30-DEC-2009 13:42:03.79
File ID (1301,1,0) End of file block 61 / Allocated 63
-SYSTEM-F-IVADDR, invalid media address

$ Analyze/disk revealed quite a lot of errors – including on directories

$ analyze/disk dka300:
Analyze/Disk_Structure for _$3$DKA300: started on 30-DEC-2009 13:47:09.72

%ANALDISK-W-CHKSCB, invalid storage control block, RVN 1
%ANALDISK-I-OPENQUOTA, error opening QUOTA.SYS
-SYSTEM-W-NOSUCHFILE, no such file
%ANALDISK-I-BADHIGHWATER, file (2297,1,0) SYS$ERRLOG.DMP;1
inconsistent highwater mark and EFBLK
%ANALDISK-W-READDIR, error reading directory [SYS0.SYSCOMMON.SYSFONT]
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
%ANALDISK-W-READDIR, error reading directory [SYS0.SYSCOMMON.SYSHLP]
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
%ANALDISK-W-READDIR, error reading directory [SYS0.SYSCOMMON.SYSHLP]
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
%ANALDISK-W-READDIR, error reading directory [SYS0.SYSCOMMON.SYSHLP]
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number
%ANALDISK-W-READDIR, error reading directory [SYS0.SYSCOMMON.SYSHLP]
-SYSTEM-F-ILLBLKNUM, illegal logical block number

and because of that, subdirectories and files could not be located:

%ANALDISK-W-LOSTHEADER, file (1322,1,0) DECW.DIR;1
not found in a directory
%ANALDISK-W-LOSTHEADER, file (1323,1,0) 100DPI.DIR;1
not found in a directory

There may indeed be something wrong with the CD. Well, check it on the Alpha’s. If it runs there, it’s possible that either the CD on my laptop has a problem reading the files, it has broken the LD-image writing it to the CD…

Update
Inserted the CD in one of the drives on Diana and analyze/image didn’t reveal an error. Executing the program fails, but because of something completely different:

$ run type.exe
%LIB-F-INVARG, invalid argument(s)

At least, the program starts without a problem. So it’s quite likely to be the CD in the laptop, or the driver with Personal Alpha. Next: installing 8.4 on the other PWS….
This worked like a charm: upgraded from 7.3-2 to 8.4 directly, though I think it’s not supported – officially. It took quite some time but that may have been a matter of a slow CD-device. Once started, the system was restarted, and it ran a SYSGEN script – to update the system parameters due for the changes in the OS. Thsi would have been executed in an upgrade to 8.3 as well, but this one might have to do with the clustering-over-ip that comes with 8.4. This actually is the big thing to test in the coming weeks – with a new setup of WASD: version 10 has some big chnages and it’s a good moment to re-think the structure of the site. It’s prpably also the moment to re-define the mapping to fit WordPress 2.9 – if possible.
Anyway: Daphne runs 8.4 when booted. Next is the setup of SCS-IP, using one of the NICS for cluster traffic, the other for normal traffic.