2.3.1 Creating the HiRDB directory

Executor: HiRDB administrator

The superuser must create a HiRDB directory in each server machine. This directory is used to execute HiRDB. The HiRDB directory stores various directories and files.

You must not use the installation directory as the HiRDB directory. If the installation directory is used for the HiRDB directory, disk space problems could result or installation may fail. For each installation, the owner of the installation directory must change to the HiRDB administrator at the root, and the changes shown in (1) below must be made to the group and mode.

Organization of this subsection
(1) Information to be specified in the HiRDB directory
(2) Points to be noted when creating the HiRDB directory
(3) Deleting files from the HiRDB directory
(4) Making a backup copy of the HiRDB directory

(1) Information to be specified in the HiRDB directory

You can assign any name to the HiRDB directory, but be sure to specify all the following information. The pathname of the HiRDB directory must be no longer than 128 characters (bytes). For Linux, specify 1-27 characters (bytes) as the pathname.

Also note the following:

(2) Points to be noted when creating the HiRDB directory

  1. To create the HiRDB directory, you need at least 500 MB of disk space. The recommended disk space is 1 GB. This is just a guideline; the actual size that is required depends on the size of the system.
  2. You should not create the HiRDB directory in the root directory. Files containing troubleshooting information are created in the HiRDB directory (files under $PDDIR/spool). If you do not delete these files periodically using the pdcspool command, a space shortage may occur on the disk, resulting in adverse effects on operating system operation.
    If you do create the HiRDB directory in the root directory, you should use a different partition than that of the root directory.
  3. Create the HiRDB directory on a local disk. Do not specify nosuid as the mount type of the file system in /etc/checklist or etc/fstab.
  4. For multi-HiRDB, create a HiRDB directory with a different name for each HiRDB.
  5. To employ a 2-to-1 or mutual system switchover organization for a HiRDB/Parallel Server, you cannot share the same HiRDB directory among all server machines. For details about how to define the HiRDB directory, see the manual HiRDB Version 8 System Operation Guide.

(3) Deleting files from the HiRDB directory

When a server process or client has been terminated forcibly, HiRDB outputs troubleshooting information under $PDDIR/spool. If a command or utility is terminated by pressing Ctrl + C, temporary work files output by the command or utility remain in $PDDIR/tmp and are not deleted. These remaining troubleshooting information items and temporary work files are often the cause of a shortage of disk space available to the HiRDB directory. Because insufficient disk space for the HiRDB directory can cause abnormal termination, HiRDB deletes the following files periodically:

Normally, these files are deleted every 24 hours. The interval between deletions can be changed with the pd_spool_cleanup_interval operand. The pd_spool_cleanup_interval_level operand can be used to specify that only files that were output earlier than a specified number of days previous to the current date are to be deleted.

It is also possible to delete all at once all troubleshooting information (all files in $PDDIR/spool).

Note
You can select the troubleshooting information to be deleted using the pdcspool command's option, pd_spool_cleanup_level operand or pd_spool_cleanup_interval operand.

(4) Making a backup copy of the HiRDB directory

To prepare for possible errors on the disk that contains the HiRDB directory, make a backup copy of the files in the HiRDB directory (files under $PDDIR/conf). You need the backup copy of the files under $PDDIR/conf to restore the HiRDB directory. There are HiRDB system definition files under $PDDIR/conf. If you have modified the HiRDB system definition, back up the files contained under $PDDIR/conf.

If you have created user files under the HiRDB directory, also back up those files. You need this backup copy to restore the HiRDB directory.

For details about how to recover the HiRDB directory, see the manual HiRDB Version 8 System Operation Guide.