INFO-VAX Sun, 01 Apr 2007 Volume 2007 : Issue 181 Contents: anti-spam advice Re: DBMS (Codasyl) SNP problems Free MicroVAXen in Central Illinois. Re: ghostscript on V8.n OpenVMS Re: ghostscript on V8.n OpenVMS New VMS Audio update now available to start the week - ok for external Re: OT: Re: Rules of Engagement WAS: Time for C.O.V.subgroups ? Re: SYSBOOT.EXE not found with MOP boot Re: Time for C.O.V.subgroups ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 20:31:56 +0000 (UTC) From: helbig@astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply) Subject: anti-spam advice Message-ID: Goal: avoid seeing spam (see note at bottom) without wrongly rejecting non-spam messages. Setting Symbiont-Checks-Deliverability to FALSE stops probably 80% of spam. However, the remaining 20% is too much. I experimented with routing my incoming email through a system running SpamAssassin, tagging messages with score > x and rejecting those with score > y. However, I couldn't set y low enough to reject all spam without rejecting legitimate messages. That meant that the messages addressed to non-existent users were initially accepted by the system running SpamAssassin, so when I rejected them with respect to that system, that system generated bounces as required by the RFCs. So, I stopped doing this to avoid generating backscatter spam. I am thus back to accepting all email directly and want to cut back the spam which still gets through the Symbiont-Checks-Deliverability check. I don't want to drop connections from dynamic IP addresses because a) I do occasionally receive legitimate email from those and b) while this will stop a lot of spam, it does require everyone to send email through a "trusted server" when, technically, it could be sent directly. In a sense, this is bowing down to the spammers. I am at TCPIP 5.4 with VMS 7.3-2 on ALPHA. I might upgrade soon, especially if there is more anti-spam capability with a higher version of TCPIP. What is the highest version of TCPIP for VMS 7.3-2? What is the highest version of TCPIP for the highest version of VMS? Can I upgrade directly to that from my current configuration? What non-default entries in SMTP.CONFIG are most effective in rejecting spam? What RBLs to people recommend (see note above about NOT rejecting email ONLY because it is from a dynamic IP address)? It would be nice if folks could post working versions of SMTP.CONFIg, preferably with comments. Some folks might say that not seeing spam helps me, but does nothing to fight spam. The problem here is that my resources are limited and, considering that 99% of spam comes from 100 people or whatever, if there were any effective means of reporting it such that the people got arrested or whatever, then we would be seeing much less spam. As far as reporting it so that filters can be updated etc, anyone who wants to do that can easily receive enough spam himself. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 05:52:18 +0800 From: "Richard Maher" Subject: Re: DBMS (Codasyl) SNP problems Message-ID: Hi John, "John" wrote in message news:460E589B.6000107@tx.rr.com... > We are running Oracle CODASYL DBMS V7.0-2 > > We recently encountered unexpected and explosive growth with a few > snap-shot files (SNP) on a particular database. > > Subsequently the disk drive was filling up and was close to running out > of space. > > This required that we shutdown the database, delete the SNP files, and > restart the database. > > We have no idea why this would happen. > > Anyone have any similar experiences with this or does anyone have an > idea of what is going wrong? > > TIA! > > john > (Guessing that DBMS .SNP files behave the same way as Rdb .SNP files) Has someone introduced a long running read-only transaction that might never commit? Maybe a support person at the equivilent of the SQL> prompt :-) Someone snuck-in a TOAD or other ODBC like tool that is leaving a dangling RO txn active? Alternatively you've got a run-away update transaction(s) that maybe now updating an indexed column in a (new?) index that causes "N" times more pages to be modified? Or maybe it's just natural growth and you'd better get bigger disks :-) I suppose the $64M question is "What's changed?" (and you know they're lying when they say "Nothin!". Someone here (or Oracle support) should be able to tell you how to track down the oldest active read-only TSN and try to work out who owns it. Cheers Richard Maher ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:43:32 GMT From: "John E. Malmberg" Subject: Free MicroVAXen in Central Illinois. Message-ID: I have 3 q-bus MicroVAXen + some spare parts that I need to get rid of. They are located in Tolono, Illinois. 1. VAX 4000 Model 500 with expired hobby licenses. Includes 3 RF 72? drives, and a KZQSA that is bootable, 2 CXY08 cards with cables, 128 M Memory, and TLZ06 built in. Spare DELQA is also available. This system has VMS 7.3 on it with hobby licenses that will expire in days. I have not powered it up since the move, and will likely be unable to do so. 2. VAX (Server?) 3500 in a world box that was upgraded from being a MV-II. Has TK50 drive, third party bootable SCSI controller that emulates MSCP. Inside are SCSI drives and RD54 drives. System could not find a boot disk the last time I tried to boot it. Estimate that there is either 32 M or 48 M of memory in it. Has DELQA. I suspect that one of the SCSI disks failed in a way that is causing all disks to not show up. 3. MicroVAX I. No disks in this one. However I do have somewhere an RQDX3 that will fit it, and some RD54s that are in unknown condition. There are also other spare cables and boards, including the MV-II CPU and memory that were removed from the world box. Theoretically, it may be possible to use the world box to build a 7.3 installation on an RD54 and then boot it on the MicroVAX I, even though that is not a supported configuration. I also have a number of TK50 tapes, also in unknown condition. Tolono is only a few hours drive from Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis. As this stuff needs to go, I am willing to give it to who ever will pick it up. I would like it to go as a set. If these are worth money to the person that picks them up, they can make a donation to the operation of encompasserve.org. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network malmberg@encompasserve.organization Personal Opinion Only ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 01:44:32 GMT From: VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG Subject: Re: ghostscript on V8.n OpenVMS Message-ID: <00A6575D.D98FC824@SendSpamHere.ORG> In article <21254$460edd13$cef8887a$11696@TEKSAVVY.COM>, JF Mezei writes: > > >VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote: >> Can ghostscript be used on V8.3? If so, where >> does it get font definitions? What command option >> or logical needs to be changed? > >$ gs >AFPL Ghostscript 8.11 (2003-08-16) >Copyright (C) 2003 artofcode LLC, Benicia, CA. All rights reserved. >This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file PUBLIC for details. > > >This is on VMS 8.3 > >I got the kit as : > >FREEWARE-AXPVMS-GHOSTSCRIPT-V0811--1.PCSI;1 > >(it was probably a .ZIPEXE). > >It ran out of the box. ...and it displays PostScript docs? -- VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)COM "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:53:37 -0600 From: Mark Berryman Subject: Re: ghostscript on V8.n OpenVMS Message-ID: <460ed862$1@mvb.saic.com> VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote: > In article <21254$460edd13$cef8887a$11696@TEKSAVVY.COM>, JF Mezei writes: >> >> VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote: >>> Can ghostscript be used on V8.3? If so, where >>> does it get font definitions? What command option >>> or logical needs to be changed? >> $ gs >> AFPL Ghostscript 8.11 (2003-08-16) >> Copyright (C) 2003 artofcode LLC, Benicia, CA. All rights reserved. >> This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file PUBLIC for details. >> >> >> This is on VMS 8.3 >> >> I got the kit as : >> >> FREEWARE-AXPVMS-GHOSTSCRIPT-V0811--1.PCSI;1 >> >> (it was probably a .ZIPEXE). >> >> It ran out of the box. > > ...and it displays PostScript docs? It does. You can also get a copy of ghostscript 8.54 from the archive at mvb.saic.com. The logicals names have not changed from any previous versions. I have run both 8.11 and 8.54 on VMS V8.3. Mark Berryman ------------------------------ Date: 31 Mar 2007 18:50:48 -0700 From: "Sue" Subject: New VMS Audio update now available to start the week - ok for external Message-ID: <1175392248.260407.65940@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> In this our seventh episode we'll get a Nemonix tip from Nic Clews, a T4 segment about Fiberchannel monitoring from Steve Lieman, and a review of the RX2660 from Colin Butcher. http://www.openvms.org/pages.php?page=VPN Don't forget to give your feedback after all you're the reason the Audio team is doing this. Many thanks to the audio team for all their work on this and all the prior episodes. We look forward to the next one. Warm Regards, Sue P.s. knowing the team personally if you think you have a good topic and would like to participate in the audio cast they would welcome you with open ??? Microphones I guess. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Mar 2007 16:32:01 -0700 From: "AEF" Subject: Re: OT: Re: Rules of Engagement WAS: Time for C.O.V.subgroups ? Message-ID: <1175383921.621644.118840@e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> On Mar 31, 9:19 am, s...@antinode.org (Steven M. Schweda) wrote: > From: "AEF" > > > OK, then what are the "perceived advantages" of email vs. news-reader > > for those who prefer email? [...] > > I automatically keep a copy of e-mail I send from/on my VMS system. > Will the news reader I use do that for my postings? It depends if you consider Google Groups a newsreader. (But it *is* an alternative to email, which was the original point, right?) It'll keep a copy of all your posts, and everyone else's, of course! It's free, you can use it anywhere you have access to the Web, but I admit it has poor functionality for many things, sometimes cannot correctly count the number of messages in a thread, even if it's only 3 or 4 (!), and does just plain weird things at times. But it does keep a record of your posts, though no easy way to list just all of yours, AFAIK. [...] > Steven M. Schweda sms@antinode-org [...] AEF ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 15:59:37 -0400 From: JF Mezei Subject: Re: SYSBOOT.EXE not found with MOP boot Message-ID: <55b5c$460ebdc3$cef8887a$27042@TEKSAVVY.COM> Jonathan Casiot wrote: > Node Listing, volatile database: > (Catchall entry): > VMS2 (00-00-F8-04-E0-78): > MOP DLL: Load file: APB.EXE > Load root: DISK$ALPHASYS: > Boot type: Alpha satellite > >> > dir DISK$ALPHA:SYSBOOT.EXE shows the file is > there... I know this may appear to be pedandic but... LANCP shows a device of DISK$ALPHASYS: Your DIR command used DISK$ALPHA: Is it possible this might be the reason ? (And yes, I made a mistale i my earlier post as someone else pointed it, LANCP is NOW the recommended tool). And just to be sure, you might wish to do a DIR/FULL of the SYSBOOT in the SYS10.SYSCOMMON.SYSEXE as well as that of SYS0.SYSCOMMON.SYSEXE as well as VMS$COMMON.SYSEXE to ensure that they are all have the same file ID. You can use LANCP to modify the load root definition , it is simpler than trying to reconfigure it with cluster_config. (SET NODE VMS2 /ROOT= ) You need to use the < > directory specifications. And you can specify actual device names (like $3$dia0). %SYSMAN-I-OUTPUT, command execution on node VELO Node Listing, volatile database: (Catchall entry): BIKE (08-00-2B-87-3D-64): MOP DLL: Load file: APB.EXE Load root: $3$DIA0: Boot type: Alpha satellite BIKE1 (08-00-2B-11-1F-81): MOP DLL: Load file: NISCS_LOAD.EXE Load root: $4$DIA5: Boot type: VAX satellite ------------------------------ Date: 31 Mar 2007 15:56:52 -0700 From: "Doug Phillips" Subject: Re: Time for C.O.V.subgroups ? Message-ID: <1175381812.625745.74600@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com> Mark Daniel wrote: > > However, freedom is not license. > > (I had to go and pour a glass of cognac before typing that line - it's > definitely only for after-dinner conversation - and does this make me an > honorary Republican? :-) > I don't think so. I just finished a bottle of beer, but don't feel like Democrat. I do have a strange urge to go buy a pick-up truck, though. I don't really feel like a Republican, either. Maybe I'll go pour a glass of frozen vodka and see what that does;-) > I have been looking around at alternatives. [to c.o.v.] > > To provide a bit of background as to why I even continue to inhabit > c.o.v. I'm basically in the position of not working with VMS in my > day-job anymore. However it gave me the most enjoyable (at least so > far) fifteen years of my working life (for all manner of reasons) and I > like to hang on to it in my spare time. Hence continuing with the WASD > package, etc., small contract stuff and trying to keep my skills at > least there if not sharp. It's much easier in these days of broadband. > C.o.v. has been part of that for a long while. I'm reluctant to lose > it but if it has significantly non-relevant traffic then it's a > chat-room by another name. Of course, if that's what the denizens want! > > It appears as if I would have to go back to the ITRC fora for technical > content - they currently appear to be quite comprehensive and high > volume. Pity about everything else associated with the facility - > closed, proprietory, moderated, unaccountable, brownie-points, and that > posting interface! > I agree. ITRC's "new hat" threads do get out-of-hand occasionally, and it's down or at least sluggish way too often. It's interesting that new topics here in c.o.v. seem to run about 70% to 80% technical lately, but the OT threads draw considerably more posts. > I would need to use openvms.org for more general VMS news and my > occasional software announcements. I'm sure someone here would > cross-post from there. > I hope that the one or two people who start all of the "really" off- topic threads don't drive you away. If one person in particular would stop, things would certainly get better around here. There will always be the "problem" of an on-topic discussion degrading into off-topic, but as long as someone changes the subject to "OT: ---" you can ignore it. Discussions that start on and end off usually get there linearly. I find it entertaining to follow many of those. It's starting a completely new thread that's OT that I find just plain wrong --- and totally against the purpose of this forum. > Oh yeah, and 'what's new' at HP's VMS site. > > There are a hodge-podge of other fora and BBS-style sites scattered > around however I also believe the VMS community cannot afford the > fragmentation that's already occured, let alone more. > > To sum up - I agree with other posters who have also suggested that if > the current self-discipline cannot keep the on/off-topic mix at an > acceptable and workable ratio then that same issue will essentially > scuttle any alternate arrangement. > > You did ask Doug, so you also must think something's askew. > Yep. Subgroups could be way way to help segregate the OT's, but ignoring them works just as well for me. > Cheers, Mark. > > PS. It's interesting that this whole thing has blown back over me > through the fickle finger of fate. I have a draft folder with a number > of messages either partly or fully composed over a wide range of topics, > put together over the years, and that have never ended up being posted > because they're on non-technical topics, or otherwise not up-to-scratch. > Occasionally I've succumbed. Hey! The one I originally posted against > this topic (that ended up with me in a fit of pique tendering my > 'resignation' to Bill) would almost certainly have remained one of those > drafts. Unfortunately, part-way through the editorial process, I hit > [send] instead of [save]. "Such is life." > And, life is weird. In fact, the more I think about it, I can't think of anything that isn't weird.;-) ------------------------------ End of INFO-VAX 2007.181 ************************