Summary of changes for IBM Spectrum Scale version 4 release 1.1 as updated, June 2015
Changes to this release of the IBM Spectrum Scale licensed program and the IBM Spectrum Scale library include the following:
- Active file management asynchronous fileset-level data
replication for disaster recovery (DR)
Asynchronous replication of data at the file level enables you to create a primary(active)/secondary(passive) relationship at the fileset level. Data is asynchronously replicated to the secondary on a periodic basis. To enable this function, ensure that you run the following commands: * If you are migrating from a previous release, run the mmchconfig release=LATEST command. * Run the mmchfs -V full command. - Cluster Configuration Repository (CCR) Enhancements were made to restore broken configuration and files to bring a cluster back online or a broken node to a working state. In the case of a disaster recovery setup, steps are provided to downgrade the quorum assignments when half or more of the quorum nodes are no longer available at one of the sites. Consult the "Establishing disaster recovery for your GPFS cluster" topic in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Advanced Administration Guide.
- Cygwin 64-bit version requirement for Windows nodes The 32-bit version of Cygwin is no longer supported for Windows nodes running GPFS. Users that are running GPFS 4.1 with the 32-bit version of Cygwin installed must upgrade to the 64-bit version of Cygwin before installing IBM Spectrum Scale 4.1.1. Users with SUA on GPFS releases prior to 4.1 should upgrade directly to the 64-bit version of Cygwin.
- Data collection for expelled nodes When a node is about to be expelled for unknown reasons, debug data is collected automatically to help find the root cause.
- Deadlock amelioration Deadlock breakup requests can be issued on demand at a time that is chosen by a system administrator. A user callback for the deadlockOverload event can be added to notify a system administrator to check the system and workload for an overload condition.
- File Placement Optimizer (FPO) FPO enhancements deliver the ability to change block allocation of an existing file with the mmrestripefile and mmchattr commands and efficient removal of disks when disks have already been emptied with the auto recovery process. Auto recovery has been optimized to handle multiple failure and recovery events more efficiently.
- Fileset-level integrated archive manager (IAM) modes Fileset-level integrated archive manager (IAM) modes give users the ability to set four different IAM modes at the fileset level, including the root fileset, so that users can modify the file-operation restrictions that normally apply to immutable files. For more information, see the following: * topic about immutability and appendOnly restrictions in the Information Lifecycle Management chapter of the IBM Spectrum Scale: Advanced Administration Guide * mmchfileset and mmlsfileset command descriptions in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference To enable this function, ensure that you run the following commands: * If you are migrating from a previous release, run the mmchconfig release=LATEST command. * Run the mmchfs -V full command.
- GPFS Native RAID (GNR) and Elastic Storage Server (ESS) documentation The documentation for GNR and ESS was removed from the information units in the IBM Spectrum Scale library. This includes GNR commands, GNR callbacks available to the mmaddcallback command, vdisk performance monitoring with the mmpmon command, messages in the ranges 6027-1850 - 6027-1899 and 6027-3000 - 6027-3099, and the chapter in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Advanced Administration Guide titled GPFS Native RAID (GNR). For more information about GNR, see GPFS Native RAID: Administration. For more information about ESS, see Deploying the Elastic Storage Server.
- Hadoop support Hadoop support was expanded from FPO storage to shared storage. This allows data stored in current GPFS clusters using shared storage to be accessible to Hadoop applications. IBM Spectrum Scale Hadoop Connector has been enhanced to transparently support both FPO based storage pools to leverage data locality and shared storage where locality information is not applicable. This allows FPO and shared storage pool to be used within the same file system, which allows Hadoop applications to access data in the entire file systems transparently. IBM Spectrum Scale Hadoop Connector fully supports Hadoop version 2.5, and it can also be used with Hadoop version 2.6 in compatibility mode (Hadoop file system APIs in 2.6 are not yet implemented). The mmhadoopctl command was introduced to simplify IBM Spectrum Scale Hadoop Connector configuration and management.
- Inode expansion optimization In this release, inode expansion, which allows dynamic growth of inodes, is optimized to reduce the contention that can flare up during bursts of file creates. To enable this function, ensure that you run the following commands: * If you are migrating from a previous release, run the mmchconfig release=LATEST command. * Run the mmchfs -V full command to enable all of the new functionality that requires different on-disk data structures. For more information, see the topics on completing migration and use of disk storage and file structure in file systems in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Concepts, Planning, and Installation Guide.
- Installation toolkit The installation toolkit can be used to do the following: * Install and configure GPFS. * Add GPFS nodes to an existing cluster. * Deploy and configure SMB, NFS, OpenStack Swift, and performance monitoring tools on top of GPFS. * Configure authentication services for protocols. * Upgrade GPFS and protocols. For details, see the spectrumscale command description in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference.
- Multi protocol data access Data access to a shared storage infrastructure through enhanced protocol support for NFS, SMB, and Swift Object. For more information, see the IBM Spectrum Scale: Advanced Administration Guide and the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference.
- Performance improvements for mmfsck The mmfsck command can now store information that is found during a scan of the file system into a patch file. The information in the patch file can then be used as input to repairing the file system. Using a patch file to repair the file system prevents an additional scan before starting the repair actions. For more information, see the mmfsck command description in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference.
- PIT inode list The parallel inode traversal (PIT) scan used for the mmchdisk, mmdeldisk, mmrestripefs, and mmrpldisk commands has now been updated to produce a list of inodes with interesting attributes, for example: those having broken disk addresses or those being ill placed. While the mmfileid command can be used to list files with broken disk addresses, this can be a slow process. Two new optional parameters, --inode-criteria CriteriaFile and -o InodeResultFile have been added to the more commonly-used mmchdisk, mmdeldisk, mmrestripefs, and mmrpldisk commands. These parameters allow you to find files matching certain criteria without a separate invocation of mmfileid. With this new feature, you can easily find the interesting files and their inode numbers. The output file will contain a list of inode numbers that meet the specified flags along with the name of the flag and the file type. For more information about these commands and for a description of the optional parameters and flags, see the commands in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference. To enable this function, ensure that you run the following commands: * If you are migrating from a previous release, run the mmchconfig release=LATEST command. * Run the mmchfs -V full command to enable all of the new functionality that requires different on-disk data structures.
- Policy improvements: This release includes the following policy improvements: mmapplypolicy --sort-command SortCommand The mmapplypolicy --sort-command parameter allows you to specify an alternative sort command to be used, rather than the default sort command provided with the operating system. Implicit SET POOL 'first-data-pool' rule For file systems that are at or have been upgraded to 4.1.1, the system recognizes that, even if no policy rules have been installed to a file system by mmchpolicy, data files should be stored in a non-system pool if available (rather than in the system pool, which is the default for earlier releases). For more information, see the following: * Information Lifecycle Management chapter in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Advanced Administration Guide * mmchpolicy command description in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference
- Quota management Quota management improvements for file system format 4.1.1 and higher include: * Allowing quota management to be enabled and disabled without unmounting the file system. To enable this function, ensure that you run the following commands: * If you are migrating from a previous release, run the mmchconfig release=LATEST command. * Run the mmchfs -V full command.
- Read replica policy In a file system with replicas, there are replicas for each data block stored in different disks in different failure groups. Now, using the readReplicaPolicy attribute of the mmchconfig command you can specify the location from which the policy is to read replicas. readReplicaPolicy lets you specify that the first replica be read, the local or closest replica, or the fastest. For more information, see the mmchconfig command in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference.
- Performance Monitoring Tool The Performance Monitoring tool aims to provide performance information after collecting the metrics from GPFS and protocol nodes using the mmperfmon query command with an appropriate query. The tool helps in detecting performance issues and problems. The predefined queries and metrics help in investigating every node or any particular node that is collecting metrics. For more information, see the following: * "Performance Monitoring tool overview" topic in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Advanced Administration Guide * mmperfmon command description in the IBM Spectrum Scale: Administration and Programming Reference
- Documented commands, structures, and subroutines The following lists the modifications to the documented commands, structures, and subroutines: New commands The following commands are new: * mmces * mmdumpperfdata * mmhadoopctl * mmnfs * mmobj * mmperfmon * mmprotocoltrace * mmsmb * mmuserauth * spectrumscale New structures There are no new structures. New subroutines There are no new subroutines. Changed commands The following commands were changed: * gpfs.snap * mmaddcallback * mmafmctl * mmafmlocal * mmapplypolicy * mmbackup * mmbuildgpl * mmchconfig * mmchdisk * mmcheckquota * mmchfileset * mmchnode * mmchpool * mmchpolicy * mmcrcluster * mmcrfileset * mmdeldisk * mmedquota * mmfsck * mmlscluster * mmlsfileset * mmlsfs * mmlspolicy * mmlsquota * mmpsnap * mmrepquota * mmrestorefs * mmrestripefile * mmrestripefs * mmrpldisk Changed structures There are no changed structures. Changed subroutines There are no changed subroutines. Deleted commands There are no deleted commands. Deleted structures There are no deleted structures. Deleted subroutines There are no deleted subroutines.
- Messages The following lists the new, changed, and deleted messages: New messages 6027-962, 6027-2145, 6027-2230, 6027-2234, 6027-2235, 6027-2238, 6027-2240, 6027-2241, 6027-2242, 6027-2245, 6027-2246, 6027-2247, 6027-2248, 6027-2249, 6027-2250, 6027-2251, 6027-2252, 6027-2253, 6027-2254, 6027-2255, 6027-2256, 6027-2257, 6027-2258, 6027-2259, 6027-2260, 6027-2261, 6027-2262, 6027-2263, 6027-2264, 6027-2265, 6027-2266, 6027-2267, 6027-2268, 6027-2269, 6027-2270, 6027-2271, 6027-2272, 6027-2273, 6027-2274, 6027-2281, 6027-2282, 6027-2283, 6027-2284, 6027-2285, 6027-2286, 6027-2287, 6027-2288, 6027-2289, 6027-2290, 6027-2291, 6027-2292, 6027-2293, 6027-2294, 6027-2295, 6027-2296, 6027-2297, 6027-2298, 6027-2299, 6027-2300, 6027-2301, 6027-2302, 6027-2303, 6027-2304, 6027-2305, 6027-2306, 6027-2307, 6027-2308, 6027-2309, 6027-2310, 6027-2311, 6027-2312, 6027-2313, 6027-2314, 6027-2315, 6027-2316, 6027-2317, 6027-2318, 6027-2319, 6027-2320, 6027-2321, 6027-2322, 6027-2323, 6027-2324, 6027-2325, 6027-2326, 6027-2327, 6027-2329, 6027-2330, 6027-2331, 6027-2332, 6027-2333, 6027-2334, 6027-2335, 6027-2336, 6027-2337, 6027-2338, 6027-2339, 6027-2340, 6027-2341, 6027-2342, 6027-2343, 6027-2344, 6027-2345, 6027-2346, 6027-2347, 6027-2348, 6027-2349, 6027-2350, 6027-2351, 6027-2352, 6027-3255, 6027-3256, 6027-3257, 6027-3306, 6027-3307, 6027-3308, 6027-3309, 6027-3310, 6027-3311, 6027-3312, 6027-3313, 6027-3314, 6027-3315, 6027-3316, 6027-3551, 6027-3552, 6027-3553, 6027-3554, 6027-3579, 6027-3580, 6027-3581, 6027-3708, 6027-3709, 6027-3710, 6027-3711, 6027-3712, 6027-3713, 6027-3714, 6027-3715, 6027-3716, 6027-3717, 6027-3718, 6027-3719, 6027-3900, 6027-3901, 6027-3902, 6027-3903, 6027-3904, 6027-3905, 6027-3906, 6027-3907, 6027-3908, 6027-3909, 6027-3910, 6027-3911, 6027-3912, 6027-4000, 6027-4001, 6027-4002, 6027-4003, 6027-4004, 6027-4005, 6027-4006, 6027-4007, 6027-4008, 6027-4009, 6027-4010, 6027-4011, 6027-4012, 6027-4013, 6027-4014, 6027-4015 Changed messages 6027-625, 6027-872, 6027-1305, 6027-2181, 6027-2183, 6027-2229, 6027-2714, 6027-2715, 6027-2758, 6027-3248, 6027-3249 Deleted messages 6027-2622, 6027-2632, 6027-3511, 6027-3514, 6027-3515, 6027-3516, 6027-3536, 6027-3544
Problems fixed in GPFS 4.1.0.8 [May 26, 2015]
- Correct a small vulnerability in takeover after file system manager failure during a snapshot command.
- The code change ensures that online replica compare tool does not report false positive mismatches when the file system has suspended disks.
- Fix an AFM recovery issue during the fileset unlink.
- Fix a problem when determining whether copy-on-write is needed or not in the presence of snapshots. Sometimes this problem may result in spurious write operation failures (especially, but not limited to file/directory creation).
- Fix a hang in mmrestripefs, which may also result in waiters for "PIT_Start_MultiJob". The problem may happen if the set of nodes specified in the '-N' option to the command includes nodes which are still in the process of being started (or restarted).
- mmcrsnapshot, mmdelsnapshot and mmfileset commands quiesce the file system before they start actual work. During that quiesce if a thread doing file deletion of an HSM migrated file is stuck waiting for recall, since that recall could take long time due to slow tapes for example, then the mm commands could time out. This fix allows those commands to proceed while a deletion is waiting for recall.
- Close a very small window of deadlock caused by releasing the kssLock and and calling cxiWaitEventWakeupOne when a thread not waiting for the exclusive lock is waken up and leaving the thread actually waiting for the lock sleeping and waiting.
- Avoid a GPFS crash when running mmrestorefs or mmbackup where there are deleted filesets.
- Enable offline fsck to validate extended attribute file
- Fix a problem with directory lookup code that can cause FSErrInodeCorrupted error to be incorrectly issued. This could occur when lookup on '..' entry of a directory occurs at the same time as its parent is being deleted.
- Ensure that EA migration to enable FastEA support for a file system does not assert for 'Data-in-Inode' case under certain conditions
- Enable online fsck to fix AFM pre-destroyed inodes. Use PIT to cleanup unlinked inodes in AFM disabled fileset.
- Update allocation code to close a small timing window that could lead to file system corruption. The problem could only occur when a GPFS client has a file system panic at the same time as the new file system manager is performing a take over after the old manager resigned.
- Fix a signal 11 problem in multi-cluster environment when gpfs daemon relay the fsync request through metanode but the OpenFile got stolen on the metanode in the middle.
- Remove confusing trace stop failed error messages on Windows.
- The privateSubnetOverride configuration parameter may be used to allow multiple clusters on the same private subnet to communicate even when cluster names are not specified in the 'subnets' configuration parameter.
- This fix indicates that mmfileid command will not work if there is only GPFS express edition installed.
- Fix a workload counter used for NVRAM log tip I/O processing queues. Recommended if NVRAM log tip is in-use.
- Potentially avoid crash on normal OS shutdown of CNFS node.
- Fix issue where file create performance optimization was sometimes disabled unnecessarily.
- In a cluster configured with node quorum, fix a problem where, if the cluster manager fails and the cluster is left with only the bare-minimum number of nodes to maintain node quorum, the cluster may still lose quorum.
- Enable offline fsck to fix AFM orphan directory entries in single run
- Fix a problem where the number of nodes allowed in a cluster is reset from 16384 to 8192.
- This affects GSS/ESS customers who are using chdrawer to prepare to replace a failed storage enclosure drawer on an active system.
- Correct a problem in the v4.1 release with directory listings in file systems created prior to v3.2.
- Fix a problem that a race between log wrap and repair threads caused checksum mismatch in indirect blocks.
- Fix a daemon crash in AFM ensuring that the setInFlight() method have positive 'numExecuted' value while calculating the average wait time of the messages.
- Fix a problem on GPFS CCR cluster where GPFS commands may not work on inactive configuration servers after generated new security key.
- Fix command poor performance on cluster that has no security key.
- Fix a problem with DIRECT_IO write which can cause data loss when file system panic or node fails after a write passes the end of file using DIRECT_IO and causes an increase in file size. The file size increase could be lost.
- File cache filled-up with deleted objects (Linux NFS)
- Fix a hardlink creation issue by handling the E_NEEDS_COPIED error in SFSLinkFile function for AFM files.
- Fix handling of policy rules like ... MIGRATE ... TO some-group-pool THRESHOLD (hi,lo) ...
- The /var/mmfs/etc/RKM.conf configuration file used to configure file encryption now supports a wider set of characters.
- Trigger a back-off when 90% of the configured hard memory limit is hit during queuing of AFM recovery operations.
- ESS customers, using zimon, may see GPFS daemon crashes in the performance monitoring code.
- ESS customers, using zimon, may see GPFS daemon crashes in the performance monitoring code.
- Add support for multiple RDMA completion threads and completion queues
- Fix signal 11 in verbs::verbsCheckConn_i
- Fix signal 11 in runTSPcache caused by a uninitialized variable in error paths.
- mmauth inadvertently change cipherList to an invalid string. Changed Externals: New messages: GPFS: 6027-3708 [E] Incorrect passphrase for backend '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3709 [E] Error encountered when parsing line %d: expected a new RKM backend stanza. GPFS: 6027-3710 [E] Error encountered when parsing line %d: invalid key '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3711 [E] Error encountered when parsing line %d: invalid key-value pair. GPFS: 6027-3712 [E] Error encountered when parsing line %d: incomplete RKM backend stanza '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3713 [E] An error was encountered when parsing line %d: duplicate key '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3714 [E] Incorrect permissions for the /var/mmfs/etc/RKM.conf configuration file. Deleted messages: GPFS: 6027-3536 [E] Incorrect passphrase '%s' for backend '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3511 [E] Error encountered when parsing '%s': expected a new RKM backend stanza. GPFS: 6027-3515 [E] Error encountered when parsing '%s': invalid key-value pair. GPFS: 6027-3514 [E] Error encountered when parsing '%s': invalid key '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3516 [E] Error encountered when parsing '%s': incomplete RKM backend stanza '%s'. GPFS: 6027-3544 [E] An error was encountered when parsing '%s': duplicate key '%s'.
- This update addresses the following APARs: IV71419 IV71569 IV71601 IV71607 IV71613 IV71616 IV71628 IV71633 IV71634 IV71636 IV71648 IV71692 IV71815 IV72029 IV72033 IV72039 IV72042 IV72048 IV72684 IV72687 IV72688 IV72694 IV72695 IV72698 IV72700 IV72890.