numbers in thread and host names

[David Barr]

I’ve noticed that Cloverleaf doesn’t deal well if thread names or host names start with a number.  This has caused problems for us due to a number of interfaces that we have with 3M.  For example the “msiGetStatSample” proc has problems if you specify a thread name that starts with a number:

tcl>msiGetStatSample 3m_hfc_out

Error: expected integer but got “3m_hfc_out”

There’s a workaround that I can find out the thread number and pass a thread number instead.

The problem that I ran into today was with a TCP/IP thread.  I put “3minf” in the hostname field, and Cloverleaf couldn’t resolve the host even though it is in DNS.  I switched to a numeric IP address instead, but that’s really a kludge and introduces potential problems when people change addresses in the future.  I’m not sure if there’s a better solution for this problem.

Topic

[Jim Kosloskey]

Dave,

The thread name starting with a numeric issue and msistats has been known since the beginning. Essentially msistats treats the information request as one based on an index because of the numeric instead of by thread name.

I have since used only an index method of collecting those stats.

The help indicates the thread name has to be wholly numeric for the msiGetStatSample invocation to treat the argument as an index but this is not true.

Moreover the documentation indicates that the MSI extensions are primarily intended for internal use and may change at any time. I paraphrased here but the intent is fairly clear to me that they work the way they work, may not work the same way tomorrow, and probably won’t be changed to satisfy needs expressed by the Customer.

We do not use the DNS server here. Instead we use the /etc/hosts file. However, I do not think we have any threads that begin with a numeric. I do not know if that is because we have determined it is an issue or if just by convention (our naming convention does not explicitly prohibit thread names beginning with a numeric but encourages a name that by default probably will not start with a numeric).

email: jim.kosloskey@jim-kosloskey.com 29+ years Cloverleaf, 59 years IT - old fart.

[Alex Puzikov]

Hi Dave

Issue with hostnames starting with digit was reported by our site to Quivadx approximately 6 years ago. There was no resolution on their end.

There is two approaches you can take depending on your system configuration. Both involve either system or network admin help.

1. if you use either /etc/hosts or  C:WINDOWSsystem32drivershosts file

you can add alias after name of the system and use that alias in your configurations.

See Example:

192.168.1.20 3Msystem my3Msystem

2. if your organization using dynamic name resolution  then you need to ask network admin to add CNAME like my3Msystem  to your 3Msystem and then use that CNAME in your configurations.

Regards.

[Author]

Replies