Installation manual

Before Upgrading the OpenVMS VAX Operating System

5.3 Examining AUTOGEN Feedback Data

After the upgrade is ﬁnished, AUTOGEN runs. If it ﬁnds valid feedback data on

your system, it tries to use AUTOGEN feedback.

5.3.1 Valid Feedback Data

Feedback data is produced by the SAVPARAMS phase of AUTOGEN and is stored

in SYS$SYSTEM:AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT. Valid feedback data is deﬁned as

follows:

• The system was up for at least 24 hours when the feedback data was

gathered.

• The feedback data is not over 30 days old.

If your feedback data is not valid, AUTOGEN will run without feedback (all

previous feedback-generated parameters will be replaced by the AUTOGEN

NOFEEDBACK calculations).

5.3.2 How to Test Feedback Data

To ensure that AUTOGEN feedback will run after the upgrade, do the following:

1. Check the validity of your current feedback data by entering the following

command:

$ @SYS$UPDATE:AUTOGEN GETDATA TESTFILES

This command is for test purposes and does not result in the modiﬁcation

of system parameters or changes to the page and swap ﬁles. If your current

feedback is valid, AUTOGEN uses it during the upgrade, and you can proceed

to the next section.

If your current feedback data is invalid, AUTOGEN issues several warnings.

If you get these warnings, go to step 2.

2. If your current feedback is invalid, you can generate new feedback data

(assuming your system was up for at least 24 hours). Enter the following

command:

$ @SYS$UPDATE:AUTOGEN SAVPARAMS TESTFILES

This command is for test purposes and does not result in the modiﬁcation of

system parameters or changes to the page and swap ﬁles. Again, AUTOGEN

warns you if the feedback data just produced is invalid.

3. If you follow steps 1 or 2 and your current feedback data is valid, AUTOGEN

uses your current feedback-generated parameters during the upgrade. Your

current feedback-generated parameters will not be lost during the upgrade.

5.4 Backing Up the System Disk

Compaq recommends that you make a standalone BACKUP copy of the system

disk and, if your conﬁguration allows it, upgrade the backup copy. If there are

problems, you will still have a working system disk.

5–6 Before Upgrading the OpenVMS VAX Operating System