I think it is incorrect to assume that a command that continues after detecting the working directory has been removed is going to cause damage to the file system. Further, there is no a priori means to confirm if the lack of a working directory will cause the command to fail. I will agree that there may be admins that would prefer the command fail fast and allow them to restart the command anew, but I suspect there are admins that prefer the command press ahead in hopes that it can complete successfully and not require another execution. I'm sure we can conjure scenarios that support both points of view. Perhaps what is desired is a message that more clearly describes what is being undertaken. For example, "The current working directory, <directory_name>, no longer exists. Execution continues."
Regards, The Spectrum Scale (GPFS) team ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you feel that your question can benefit other users of Spectrum Scale (GPFS), then please post it to the public IBM developerWroks Forum at https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/forums/html/forum?id=11111111-0000-0000-0000-000000000479 . If your query concerns a potential software error in Spectrum Scale (GPFS) and you have an IBM software maintenance contract please contact 1-800-237-5511 in the United States or your local IBM Service Center in other countries. The forum is informally monitored as time permits and should not be used for priority messages to the Spectrum Scale (GPFS) team. From: Jonathan Buzzard <jonathan.buzz...@strath.ac.uk> To: gpfsug-discuss@spectrumscale.org Date: 09/08/2020 12:10 PM Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [gpfsug-discuss] Best of spectrum scale Sent by: gpfsug-discuss-boun...@spectrumscale.org On 08/09/2020 14:04, IBM Spectrum Scale wrote: > I think a better metaphor is that the bridge we just crossed has > collapsed and as long as we do not need to cross it again our journey > should reach its intended destination :-) As I understand the intent of > this message is to alert the user (and our support teams) that the > directory from which a command was executed no longer exist. Should > that be of consequence to the execution of the command then failure is > not unexpected, however, many commands do not make use of the current > directory so they likely will succeed. If you consider the view point > of a command failing because the working directory was removed, but not > knowing that was the root cause, I think you can see why this message > was added into the administration infrastructure. It allows this odd > failure scenario to be quickly recognized saving time for both the user > and IBM support, in tracking down the root cause. > I think the issue being taken is that you get an error message of The command may fail in an unexpected way. Processing continues .. Now to my mind that is an instant WTF, and if your description is correct the command should IMHO have exiting saying something like Working directory vanished, exiting command If there is any chance of the command failing then it should not be executed IMHO. I would rather issue it again from a directory that exists. The way I look at it is that file systems have "state", that is if something goes wrong then you could be looking at extended downtime as you break the backup out and start restoring. GPFS file systems have a tendency to be large, so even if you have a backup it is not a pleasant process and could easily take weeks to get things back to rights. Consequently most system admins would prefer the command does not continue if there is any possibility of it failing and messing up the "state" of my file system. That's unlike say the configuration on a network switch that can be quickly be put back with minimal interruption. JAB. -- Jonathan A. Buzzard Tel: +44141-5483420 HPC System Administrator, ARCHIE-WeSt. University of Strathclyde, John Anderson Building, Glasgow. G4 0NG _______________________________________________ gpfsug-discuss mailing list gpfsug-discuss at spectrumscale.org http://gpfsug.org/mailman/listinfo/gpfsug-discuss
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