OSF DCE Administration Guide--Core Components

Managing CDS Directories
Skulk failure does not make CDS unusable. Although the skulking process is unable to
update information in a replica that it cannot contact, it always updates information in
the replicas that it can reach. Temporarily, some replicas contain the latest information
and some do not. When a skulk fails, CDS automatically repeats the skulking process,
at an interval based on the directory’s convergence value, until all replicas in the set are
updated with the latest changes. When all replicas contain identical information, CDS
considers the skulk successful.
If skulks of a particular directory continue to fail, you can determine the cause by
reviewing the log of CDS events on the server that stores the master replica of the
directory. For example, the following command initiates a skulk on the /.:/admin
directory:
dcecp> directory synchronize /.:/admin
18.4.3 Synchronizing CDS Server Clocks
After performing a skulk operation on a directory, you may receive the message
Server clocks are not synchronized
indicating that the server clocks are not synchronized. If so, you should first check to
see whether the system clocks on the server systems are indeed synchronized. If they
are and you still receive the message, then perhaps the system clock on an individual
server was mistakenly set to a future time and subsequently restored. This causes a
problem for CDS because there may be timestamps stored in a clearinghouse that are
invalid (any timestamp greater than 5 minutes in the future from the current time).
If this is the case, you should adjust the system clock to the current time and then enter
the following command:
dcecp> clearinghouse repair <clearinghouse-name> -timestamps
This command will disable the clearinghouse, analyze and repair bad timestamps,
checkpoint the clearinghouse to disk, and reenable the clearinghouse. To use the
command, you need write permission to the server on which the clearinghouse resides.
Also, you should execute this command on all clearinghouses that replicate the directory
(and its objects) that needs to be repaired.
After executing the clearinghouse repair command, you should be able to skulk the
directory successfully.
18.5 Modifying a Directory’s Convergence
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