Creating a Depot file from a Depot Directory

There are two types of depot's... either a depot directory or a depot file (also called a tape depot).
apa_J4240AA_11.11.depot is a depot file, which is essentially a glorified tar file.  A depot directory is a directory that can contain products, bundles or patches and resides in a directory that has been "registered" and is known to HP-UX's Software Distributor for Unix (SD-UX).

A depot directory is created or has additional items added to it via the swcopy command.  The benefit of a depot directory is that SD-UX allows for only one source "depot" to be specified... so if you want to install multiple kernel patches (that require reboots)... multiple reboots would be required if all you had were individual depot files (one for each patch).  This is where a depot directory is essential.  Another advantage is that if you have registered a depot it is accessible not only locally, but also over the network to be used as a source depot for other servers.  To see what depot directories you have...

swlist -l depot  (Assumes local system)
or
swlist -l depot @ <hostname>  (remote system referenced by hostname).




Once you have created a depot directory... you can use this to create a depot file. To create a depot file from a directory style depot:
 
For our example lets say you have a directory depot /var/spool/sw where there is a product called
J4240AA (Auto Port Aggregation) and you want to create a single file depot (also known as a Tape depot).
swpackage -x media_type=tape -s /var/spool/sw J4240AA @
/tmp/apa_J4240AA_11.11.depot

You will find the depot file in /tmp called apa_J4240AA_11.11.depot.

Bryan Payne on Linkedin  https://www.linkedin.com/in/paynebryan

+Bryan Payne

If you found this information helpful... and you see an advertisement for which you have legitimate interest... every click helps.  Thanks!

BEST HEADSET FOR CISCO IP PHONE (7941/7942) or CISCO UNIFIED PRESENSE CLIENT

PHONE TUTORIAL:

Flash Based Tutorial for the 7941/7942/7945

http://www.cisco.com/comm/applications/CCNP/qlm/7941/index.htm

 

MANUALS:
Quick Reference Guide:  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7962g_7961g_7961g-ge_7942g_7941g_7941g-ge/8_5/english/quick_reference/7962qrcrd85.pdf

User Guide:  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7962g_7961g_7961g-ge_7942g_7941g_7941g-ge/8_5/english/user_guide/7962enu85.pdf

HEADSET OPTIONS:

In an effort to keep costs low and to avoid wasting money on headsets that perform poorly I have put together a guide to help you choose headsets that will work with the Cisco 7941, or Cisco 7942 phones. If you have a legacy headset with an amplifier... the amplifier is not necessary for this phone. 

The costs should be very similar to what I have outlined below… or you are over paying for your solution.

1)   CISCO IP PHONE OPTIONS)  If you need a headset for your standard desk phone (Cisco 7941/7942 or similar):

Plantronics HW251N SupraPlus NC Headset or Plantronics HW261N (HW261N is the binaural version) Approximately $60-$100

NOTE:  You do not need an external amplifier with this setup, but you will need a quick disconnect cable so you can plug it into the headset jack on the back of your phone.  If you already have a quick disconnect cable then there is no need to purchase another one.

       Cost Guideline… the cable should be less than $30, and you may already have one that you can use (see the photo below left).

So Quick Disconnect + Plantronics HW251N (Monaural) Noise Cancelling Headset OR Plantronics HW261N (Binaural)

+OR

Several people report that this works great for their Desk Phone (Cisco 7942) with this Headset combination.  Here is the part number for the quick disconnect cable:

26716-01 M12 Amplifier Cable / Cisco IP Phone Cable

2)   SOFTPHONE/COMPUTER USB OPTIONS) If you need a headset for your Cisco Unified Presence or IP Communicator (Softphone) on your PC:
     NOTE:  If you have an older PC or very low bandwidth connection, or typically run lots of intensive applications (virus scanning, Hard disk defrags, Solitaire <ha ha>)… then a softphone may not work well for you and you should instead consider a headset for your standard phone.  If you feel OK to proceed please consider the models listed below.  The Plantronics models that say DSP are preferred as these provide Digital Signal Processing with active electronics to block noise and echo.  They also provide audio in the WideBand spectrum so it is better than standard telephone quality and more like having and in person converstaion.

2-1)Plantronics Audio 646 DSP  It has noise cancellation, Echo Cancellation, Super WideBand Audio and inline mute and volume controls and is extremely economical.   The Plantronics Audio 626 DSP is a very similar headset with the same features.  The 646 is a behind the head type headset you see pictured below on the left and the 626 is more the traditional headset you see pictured below right.  Both have USB connections and are plug and play (no software to install).  The driver loads automatically when you connect the headset for the first time.  Pros:  When you push the mute button you have a visual red indicator to confirm that it is muted and the softphone also reflects the mute status on the display.

Cost Guideline… these can be purchased for around $29 - $39 from places like Amazon, Fry’s or Bestbuy (Price Match to fry’s if a best buy is closer to you to get the lower price, or just order on line).

2-2)Plantronics Audio 655 DSP  (Make sure it says DSP).
This headset has all the features of the other DSP headsets minus the inline controller.  The mute is integrated into the boom mic (You simply retract it back to the headset to engage the mute.  However, It does not have a visual indication that it is muted and it does not illuminate the mute button on the softphone).  The volume control is on the left headset.  The plus for this headset is in the cushioned earpads.  This provides not only comfort, but also isolation if you are working in a noisy office environment.

 

/var File System is Full

Do the following:

1) Check for large files over 5 meg in the file system in our case (var):
find /var -type f -xdev -size +5000000c -exec ls -ld {} \;|sort -k 5n

The xdev option tells it not to cross mount points. Since var is the affected file system you wouldn't want to know about large files that may be in /var/spool/sw if you had created a /var/spool/sw file system since it wouldn't be relevant to filling up /var. This is necessary when looking at any file system, like a root file system that is full for the same reason... a large file in var in this case wouldn't be relevant.

The exec option instructs the find command to issue an ls -ld against any file that meets our criteria. The resulting matches are substituted inside the {}, and then executed.

Then the results of the ls -ld output is sent to the sort and sorted based on the 5th column which is the size column. The result is that the larger files are listed at the end.

2) Look at the output and decide if any of the resulting files can be safely removed.

Core Files: Core files result when applications terminate unexpectedly.  They create a core file so that a programmer can analyze them to determine the cause of the abrupt or unexpected termination. These files can be safely removed once verified that they are indeed core files of this nature. They can be quite large in size. Use the unix "file" command to determine if the file is a "valid" core. Example:

file /var/core
/var/core: core file from 'swinstall' - received SIGSEGV

Note: Keep in mind that not all valid core files will generate the above output, but if you see this type of output you can be sure it is a core file that can safely be removed. Users and programmers should not create files or directories named core, but both sometimes incorrectly will do
just this. I mention this so you do not accidentally remove a valid user or program file. Core files can be controlled with the ulimit command. Do a man on ksh and search with /ulimit to jump to the ulimit section.

This is an example of a valid core file which can be removed. You can see that the core file resulted from the swinstall command having received a kill signal of SIGSEGV. Additional information can be obtained from running the what command against the core file:

what /var/core

I will not go into the analysis of the output here because it is a separate topic, but mention it in case you were not aware of this.

Logfiles... see item 3

Patches
If patches seem to be consuming a large amount of space in /var then consider running the cleanup command. I would first install any SD-UX (Software Distributor for Unix) cumulative patches or SD tools patches.
cleanup -c 2

Note: Keep in mind that once the cleanup command has ran removing the patch uninstall information you can not remove the patch. However, it is typically safe to remove a patch that has been superseded twice.

3) Next check for a large number of smaller files that may have passed under the radar of our find command.

Typical reasons for /var to fill up would be:
Print jobs:
lpstat -t
Solution: cancel

syslog.log large (please read the note below before running):
cd /var/adm/syslog ; ls -ld *
> syslog.log

Note: This will remove syslog and mail log info. It may be advised to copy this elsewhere in case you are having another problem. For example the syslog filling up may be due to a hardware problem, or a correctable software configuration issue. cat the file rather than using vi as this will attempt to open it in /var (which in our case is already full)

mail.log large (please read the note below before running):
cd /var/adm/syslog; ls -ld *
> mail.log

If mailq reports numerous mail files, then check the mail log with the mtail command. The mailq is located in /var/spool/mqueue. Correct any issue with mail delivery.

Note: Please read the mail.log prior to removing it. It may indicate a problem that needs to be corrected first. You can use the mtail command to view it, and mailq to see what is queued. cat the file rather than using vi as this will attempt to open it in /var (which in our case is already full)

3) The file may have been removed while a process had the file open. This would remove the file, but not release the space. In this case I would recommend downloading the lsof (LiSt of Open Files) command. It is not installed by default, but can be obtained from the purdue site.

ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/binaries/hpux

I recommend placing this in the /usr/contrib/bin/ directory. Be sure to select the one for your OS, and kernel width. getconf KERNEL_BITS will tell you your OS Kernel width.

The man page will be lsof.8 Place this file in /usr/contrib/man/man8
The man8 directory will need to be created.

lsof /var |sort -k 7n

The second column will give the PID. For example if you see a /dev/vg00/lvol8 listed in the last column and PID reflects that it is
syslogd, then someone tried to do an rm against the syslog.log file while the syslogd daemon still had the file open. To release the space they should have ran:

cat /dev/null > /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log
Or
> /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log

You could use rm, but only if you stopped the syslogd daemon first.

To recover the space... run /sbin/init.d/syslogd stop

If the process is an oracle log file, and someone removed it while it was open, then you would have to stop/start the oracle process to release the desired space. If the process is an essential process you may not want to stop/start it. In this case focus on other means... like removing large syslog, and mail.log or running the cleanup until which time the critical process can be restarted.

Data Protector Support for Non-Supported Libraries (Oxymoron)

How to configure an unsupported Tape Library with Data Protector

The first step would be to consult the Data Protector support matrix to determine if you are using an unsupported tape library.  You can also check /opt/omni/scsitab text file to see if your tape library and tape drives are listed in this file.  The scsitab file can be updated and updates can be found on HP's site for your specific version of Data Protector.  http://www.hp.com/go/bizsupport

External control

When using the Data Protector "Next Step Wizard" select "Configure New Devices" option and select the device type as "External Control".

 

External control is a means to control libraries not known to Data Protector. If Data Protector does not support a particular device, a user can write a script/program, that will run the robotic control to load a medium from a particular slot into the specified drive. It is possible to configure a library as an external control by referring to a special script.

External Reference:

http://www.hp.com/go/ebs  (HP Enterprise Backup Solution... both the design guides and the compatibility matrix can be found at this hp "go" URL)

http://www.hp.com/go/dataprotector

http://www.hp.com/go/bizsupport 

Bryan Payne on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/paynebryan

How to create an Ignite Boot helper DVD from ISO

For two step booting (as was previously required for Itanium systems) use the following command:

/opt/ignite/data/scripts/examples/make_media_install -r B.11.31 -m/var/opt/ignite/bryan

NOTE:  Be sure you have enough room in the -m (Media Directory) that you intend to write to.(You can also specify -r as B.11.23 for example)

CAUTION:  Be sure to create this on a system that has the same version of Ignite-UX as you intend to use for the recovery... whether that be from tape or from an Ignite server using make_net_recovery.

This will create the ISO file, and burn it if you have a DVD-RW, but you can transfer this ISO image file to your PC to burn it from here if you do not have a DVD-RW connected to your HP-UX Unix System.

Output will look like this:
/opt/ignite/data/scripts/examples/make_media_install -r B.11.31 -m /var/opt/ignite/bryan

WARNING: Non-default -m option value specified along with default -p option value; the default directory could run out of disk space, should both options be given?
=== Step 1: Make Ignite-UX config files for golden image archive(s) ===
=== Step 2: Copy SD depot(s) and make config files for them ===
=== Step 3: Make a boot-image (LIF volume) ===
+ /opt/ignite/bin/make_medialif -a -r B.11.31 -f /opt/ignite/data/Rel_B.11.31/config -l /var/opt/ignite/media/pseudo_root/bootvol.lif
+ /opt/ignite/bin/instl_adm -b -F /var/opt/ignite/media/pseudo_root/bootvol.lif
=== Step 4: Make ISO media image ===
+ cp -p /opt/ignite/boot/Rel_B.11.31/EFI_CD_image /var/opt/ignite/media/pseudo_root
+ /opt/ignite/lbin/mkisofs -U -max-iso9660-filenames -no-emul-boot -b EFI_CD_image -R -eltorito-alt-boot -no-emul-boot -b bootvol.lif -o /var/opt/ignite/bryan/image.iso /var/opt/ignite/media/pseudo_root
Warning: creating filesystem that does not conform to ISO-9660.
Warning: ISO-9660 filenames longer than 31 may cause buffer overflows in the OS.
Size of boot image is 10240 sectors -> No emulation
Size of boot image is 995440 sectors -> No emulation
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Total translation table size: 2048
Total rockridge attributes bytes: 846
Total directory bytes: 4096
Path table size(bytes): 40
Max brk space used f000
251599 extents written (491 MB)
=== Step 5: Combine LIF volume and media image ===
+ /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_combine -C /var/opt/ignite/bryan/image.iso
El Torito offset for LIF volume is: 0x50e800
Adjusting LIF file: ISL (Old iplstart: 4096; New iplstart: 5306368)
Adjusting LIF file: AUTO
Adjusting LIF file: INDEX
Adjusting LIF file: CONFIG
Adjusting LIF file: HPUX
Adjusting LIF file: FWWKAR6
Adjusting LIF file: FWWKAR7
Adjusting LIF file: FWWKAR8
Adjusting LIF file: WINSTALL
Adjusting LIF file: WINSTALLFS
Adjusting LIF file: IINSTALL
Adjusting LIF file: IINSTALLFS
Adjusting LIF file: INSTCMDS
Adjusting LIF file: SYSCMDS
Adjusting LIF file: INSTCMDSIA
Adjusting LIF file: SYSCMDSIA
Adjusting LIF file: SCRIPTS
Adjusting LIF file: PAD
=== Step 6: Write image file to tape/CD/DVD media ===
+ /opt/ignite/lbin/growisofs -Z /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0=/var/opt/ignite/bryan/image.iso
:-( "/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0=/var/opt/ignite/bryan/image.iso": unexpected errno:No such file or directory
+ Error 83 /opt/ignite/lbin/growisofs failed.
/opt/ignite/data/scripts/examples/make_media_install: ERROR: /opt/ignite/lbin/growisofs failed.
# cd /var/opt/ignite/bryan
# ls -l
total 1006414
drwxr-xr-x   3 root       sys             96 Mar  1 17:59 .
drwxr-xr-x  15 root       sys           1024 Mar  1 17:57 ..
drwxr-xr-x   2 root       sys             96 Mar  1 17:57 cfgs
-rw-r--r--   1 root       sys        515274752 Mar  1 17:59 image.iso

This is the image.iso file you will need.

Sending Destinations to Your in Car Navigation System

Google Maps-send to OnStar missing from Google Maps

I noticed today that the Google maps send to car option currently does not include send to OnStar.  It was previously there, but OnStar has choosen not to continue paying Google for the service.  I did a quick Google search and noticed that another user complained about it missing the OnStar as well as the Ford Sync "Send to Car" option.  You can find his post here:  http://support.google.com/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=75505

This option is very handy and ironically is not incorporated into Googles own Google maps for android version either.

You should be presented with the following:

What are your options?
Desktop option would include using mapquest.  The desktop web app and the android app are both very good.  I did not take the time to create a mapquest account and the send to car option did not show up until after.
I created a Google Maps "Report an
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jvanier.android.sendtocar

SOLVED: sync is currently experiencing problems it will be back shortly

Notice the error message near the bottom of the Sync Settings Screen:

Sync is currently experiencing problems.  It will be back shortly.

The error message was very fleeting and appeared so quickly on the screen that it was hard to capture.  I manually synced it hundreds of times before the error message stayed on the screen long enough for me to capture it.

This error message is repeated all over the web... mostly with no resolution listed.  The error could be caused by any sync item... not just specifically contacts as mine was.  Others have had issues with their calendar.  It is important to know which you are having a problem with before attempting a resolution.



Step 1)  First backup your contacts online via http://www.google.com/contacts.  You will find the export feature under the "More" dropdown box.  Be sure to choose "All Contacts" and "Google CSV" format will be fine.  Feel free to export in other formats as well if you want.  It will give you more options in the future and doesn't take long to do.  The file sizes will be small... I recommend adding a date to the name so if you make additional backups later you will know which ones are the most recent backups. WARNING:  THIS WILL ONLY BACKUP CONTACTS STORED ON GOOGLE.  Personally I have all my contacts in google, but if you have contacts that are only on your phone internal memory... be sure to back those up as well.  You could also perform this task using Samsung Kies which should be available at http://www.Samsung.com/kies.  If you have Kies mini installed... I recommend uninstalling it.  I used Kies mini with my Samsung captivate that I was previously using.

 
Android 4.04 instructions for Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-I727
Step 2)  Turn off all Sync and set it to manual.  "Home" button, "Options" button, and then choose "Accounts and sync".  Just turn accounts and sync to "Off". Manually sync each item until you determine which sync is causing your problem.  The instructions below assume you are having a problem with contacts.


Step 3)  On your android phone press the "Home" button (House shaped) and then press the "Options" button (left most button) and choose the "Settings" popup menu.  Scroll down to "Applications" and select the "Applications" menu.  When the "Applications" menu appears choose the "All" tab on the top right.  Scroll down to Contacts... select it, and then use the "Force stop" button and then choose "Clear data".  Hit the "Back button" (which looks like an arrow circling back... it is the third key on the bottom of your phone counting from left to right).  Now choose "Contacts Storage" and repeat this process.

Step 4)  Reboot your phone and services should be restarted and hopefully your issue is resolved.

Just FYI... this was caused by the AT&T upgrade from android 2.3.6 to android 4.04.  I also had issues with Google maps crashing on start up... I performed this same procedure for the Google maps to resolve that issue.

Bryan Payne on Linkedin  https://www.linkedin.com/in/paynebryan

+Bryan Payne

If you found this information helpful... and you see an advertisement for which you have legitimate interest... every click helps.  Thanks!