RELEASE NOTES—THRUnet® V2.4-01

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 Software Partners, Inc. All rights reserved

 

Overview

 

Purpose

These release notes describe new features, enhancements, and bug fixes introduced by THRUnet® V2.4, the Network Backup and Restore System from Software Partners, Inc.

 

Audience

THRUnet users upgrading from THRUnet V2.x to Version 2.4 should follow the upgrade procedure covered in these release notes.

 

  

In these notes

These release notes discuss the following topics:

 

 

Topic

See Page

 

 

Supported Platforms

2

 

 

Upgrading to V2.4

4

 

 

Changes for Version 2.3-02

5

 

 

Changes for Version 2.4

8

 

 

Changes for Version 2.4-01

9

 

 


Supported Platforms

 

Introduction

This section describes the server systems, client systems, and TCP/IP packages currently supported by THRUnet V2.4.

 

Supported server systems

THRUnet currently supports

 

  VAX/VMS systems with VMS 6.0 through 7.1 with any of the following TCP/IP packages:

   - TCPware for VMS from Process Software Corporation (V4.0)

   - MultiNet from TGV (V3.5, 4.0)

   - DEC TCP/IP Services for VMS V4.0 and 4.1.                                                                                                                           

 

  ALPHA AXP systems with OpenVMS V6.0 through 7.1 with any of the following TCP/IP packages:

   - TCPware for VMS; V4.0 from Process Software Corporation

   - MultiNet V3.3, 3.5, 4.0 from TGV, and

   - NEW!  DEC TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS AXP V4.0 and V4.1.

 

Supported client systems

The following client systems are supported:

 

  DEC ULTRIX-RISC V4.2, 4.2A, 4.3, 4.4

  SunOS (Sun4.Sun4c architecture, SunOS 4.1.x, 5.0.x)

  Sun Solaris (Sun4.Sun4c architecture, SunOS 5.2)

  HP-UX (HP 9000, HP-UX A.08.07 and A.09.01+)

  HP-UX (HP 9000 model 800, HP-UX 9.0.1)

  IBM RS6000 AIX V3.2

Digital Unix (DEC AXP 3000 model 300, Digital UNIX V3.2 and 4.0)

SGI IRIX

 

Working with TCP/IP

Software Partners has written a booklet providing a brief introduction to TCP/IP and internetworking.  This booklet,  "TCP/IP and Internetworking: a Primer," provides a basic overview of TCP/IP protocols and internetworking.  It is available upon request from Software Partners/32.

 

Continued on next page


Supported Platforms, Continued

 

Restriction: cpio and ULTRIX

When using cpio on an ULTRIX client, the cpio  -c option must be used.  The headers created by the ULTRIX cpio utility are non-standard and not recognized by THRUnet unless the -c option is used. 

 

Note:           See the cpio man page for more information about the cpio utility.

 


Upgrading to V2.4

 

Introduction

This section details the procedure followed by those THRUnet users upgrading from THRUnet V2.x to THRUnet V2.4.

 

 

Procedure: upgrading from V2.x

To perform an upgrade from THRUnet V2.x to THRUnet V2.4, follow the steps detailed in the table below.

 

 

Step

Action

 

 

1

Make sure existing THRUnet server is running.

 

 

2

Load the THRUnet V2.4 distribution media.

 

 

3

Follow the installation and configuration procedures as detailed in the THRUnet V2.4 documentation, Chapter 2.  THRUnet V2.4 has a new database format that is not compatible with previous versions of THRUnet.  During the installation, you will be prompted to convert and save your previous database.  To save this data, respond “YES”.

 

 


Changes for Version 2.3-02

 

Introduction

This section details new features, enhancements, and bug fixes for THRUnet V2.3-02.

 

New feature

THRUnet now supports the BRU™ archive utility.  BRU is a robust backup and restore utility developed and marketed by Enhanced Software Technology, Inc.

 

History files are supported for BRU.

 

History file specification format

THRUnet history files no longer require VMS format file specification.  History files are now stored in native UNIX file specification format.  This eliminates the need for conversion routines and enhances backup performance when history processing is enabled.

 

History file naming convention

The history file naming convention has been changed.  All THRUnet history files are now formatted as follows:

 

 

File type

Convention

 

 

the saveset history file

<machinename>_<username>.SETS_5R0

 

 

the files history file

<machinename>_<username>.FILES_TN23

 

 

 

Note:           When a user is defined with an owner field, the history is stored in a file based upon the machine name and user name rather than the owner name.

 

 

Database format change

The THRUnet database format now allows longer media type string lengths.

 

Continued on next page


Changes for Version 2.3-02, Continued

 

The TNTHIST utility

A history processing utility is now included with THRUnet.  This program, known as TNTHIST is available for both VAX (HISTUTIL_VAX.EXE) and Alpha AXP (HISTUTIL_AXP.EXE) platforms.

 

TNTHIST can be used to:

 

  convert pre-V2.3-02 histories to the new format, and

  clean or list the contents of a history file.

 

Note:           You can still view history files with the TNT QUERY FILES command.  However, TAPESYS history query commands will no longer work.

 

Media compaction

A bug was reported in previous versions of THRUnet that prevented media compaction from working in some instances.

 

This has been fixed.

 

Device allocation error message

If TAPESYS is running and you specify a volume (with the TNT ALLOCATE command), THRUnet uses the mediatype and location found in the TAPESYS database to allocate a device.  If, when specifying a volume, you also specify a mediatype and location and it differs from those returned by TAPESYS, THRUnet displays an error message.

 

Device allocation location

Previously, THRUnet allocated a device if it exactly matched the mediatype and location specified.  It now will allocate for locations that exactly match the specified “location” and any appended characters formatted as “location...”.  For example, if the location name equals “Boston”, then THRUnet will attempt devices at “Boston1” or “Boston2”.

 

Continued on next page


Changes for Version 2.3-02, Continued

 

Additional TAPESYS support

The Allocate command now allows you to specify a Notes field and a Scratch Date.  THRUnet passes this information to TAPESYS and updates the media database.

 

To specify Notes:

 

VMS:   use the /NOTES=<notes> qualifier on the $TNT ALLOCATE command

 

UNIX: use option “N” and include a notes string in quotes for the corresponding value

 

To specify a Scratch Date:

 

VMS:   use the /SCRATCH=yy-mmm-yyyy qualifier on the $TNT ALLOCATE command

 

UNIX: use option “s” on a first or third party tnt allocate command and include the Scratch Date in the form dd-mmm-yyyy for the corresponding value

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes for Version 2.4

 

Backup and Restore

If a backup and/or restore completes successfully with zero bytes transferred, a status of "no data transferred" is returned.

 

Machine name width

The machine name width has been increased from 31 to 128 characters.

 

DEC C Run Time Library

THRUnet is now built with the DEC C RUN TIME LIBRARY.

 

UNIX command

The UNIX command 'EU' no longer requires options 'x' or 'y'.  This allows autoconfigure mode to work for UNIX client machines.

 

Help information displayed

The UNIX client now displays help information relating to command syntax.  For example:  'tnt Q?' will display syntax of all Query commands and 'tnt ?' will display syntax of all commands.

 

Portmapper

The embedded portmapper has been removed since UCX now supports a reasonably functional portmapper.

 

Diagnostic routines

The server now has improved diagnostic routines.

 

Bug fix

The server would sometimes free volumes which could not be mounted because the user had no access to them.

 

This has been fixed.

 

Nounload option

The nounload option has been fixed.

 

 

 

 

Changes for Version 2.4-01

 

tar Header Format Variations

The server has been modified to recognize additional variations in the tar header for correct check sum generation.

 

Bytes Transfered Counter

The server has been modified to accurately report bytes transfered to 15 digits within server log files.  The server has also been modified to return Kbytes (1024 bytes) transfered when queried using the TNT QUERY JOB command.

 

Job Completion Status

Some failed jobs incorrectly reported a successful completion.  The server has been modified to correctly report job completion status.