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VOB on-disk format compatibility issues between 32-bit and 64-bit Linux offerings in ClearCase 9.0.1.x and later releases

Troubleshooting


Problem

VOBs are intended to have a compatible on-disk format between Linux x86 (32-bit) and Linux x86_64 (64-bit) and Linux ppc64le platforms. They are not compatible in various 9.0.1.x ClearCase® releases.

Symptom

UCM operations fail with symptoms similar to:

db_ucm_activity_get_changeset_V3: RPC: Can't decode result
cleartool: Error: Trouble communicating with VOB database: "/tmp/mypvob.vbs".

Trigger-guarded operations fail with symptoms similar to:

cleartool: Error: Error from VOB database: "/vob/testvob".
cleartool: Error: Unable to fetch triggers.
cleartool: Error: Unable to check out "test.txt".

Accessing attributes of type time fail with symptoms similar to:

cleartool: Error: Error from VOB database: "/vob/testvob".

Cause

An error in the implementation of VOBs on Linux x86_64 and ppc64le platforms causes an incompatibility of the on-disk format of VOBs transferred from a Linux x86 host.  Flaws in the corrections to the error cause incompatibilities between some of the 9.0.1.x fix packs.

Resolving The Problem

  • All 32-bit offerings are compatible.  If you plan to move a VOB currently hosted on a 32-bit offering to a 64-bit offering, or to switch an existing 32-bit offering VOB server to a 64-bit offering VOB server, refer to the following information for compatibility of a VOB server hosting the VOB.
UCM project VOBs.  To determine whether a VOB is a UCM project VOB, use the "lsvob" command and look for "ucmvob" in the output:​​​​​​
# cleartool lsvob /vobs/projects
* /vobs/projects /net/blackbox/vol/vbstgloc2/public/projects.vbs public (ucmvob,replicated)

UCM project VOBs are compatible across two distinct sets of offerings:

  • All 32-bit offerings and 64-bit offerings of 9.0.1.3 through the latest 9.0.1.x, 9.0.2.x, 9.1.0.x, 10.0.0.x and 10.0.1.x releases are compatible

  • 64-bit offerings of 9.0.1.0, 9.0.1.1 and 9.0.1.2 are compatible

VOBs containing trigger definitions.  To determine whether a VOB contains trigger definitions, use the "lstype" command for triggers:
# cleartool lstype -kind trtype
1994-11-29     root        trigger type "co_atria_imsg_file"
  "Global Trigger for checkout of atria_imsg_file eltype)"
...
VOBs containing trigger definitions are compatible across two distinct sets of offerings:
  • All 32-bit offerings and 64-bit offerings of 9.0.1.3 through the latest 9.0.1.x, 9.0.2.x, 9.1.0.x, 10.0.0.x and 10.0.1.x releases are compatible
  • 64-bit offerings of 9.0.1.0, 9.0.1.1 and 9.0.1.2 are compatible
VOBs containing attribute definitions of type time.  To determine whether a VOB contains attribute definitions of type time, use an "lstype" command for attribute types and look for a value type of "time":
# cleartool lstype -l -kind attype

...

attribute type "ReleaseDate"
 2008-11-12T17:26:52-05:00 by CTG Builder (builder.user@ernie)
  "For new branching strategy"
  master replica: ctg_lex@/vobs/admin
  instance mastership: unshared
  owner: builder
  group: user
  scope: global
  value type: time

...
VOBs containing attributes of type time are compatible across two distinct sets of offerings:
  • All 32-bit offerings and 64-bit offerings of 9.0.1.8 through the latest 9.0.1.x, 9.0.2.x, 9.1.0.x, 10.0.0.x and 10.0.1.x releases are compatible
  • All 64-bit offerings from 9.0.1.0 through 9.0.1.7 are compatible
  • If a VOB falls into two or more categories (for example, contains attributes and triggers), then all compatibility options must be met.
  • If you plan to move a VOB between incompatible releases, either via moving a VOB or upgrading the server then the VOB must be dumped on the original release and loaded on the new release:
Using the original offering:
cleartool reformatvob -dump /tmp/mypvob.vbs
...

Using the new offering:
cleartool reformatvob -load /tmp/mypvob.vbs
...

[{"Type":"MASTER","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SSSH27","label":"Rational ClearCase"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m50000000L0i5AAC","label":"ClearCase"}],"ARM Case Number":"","Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"}],"Version":"10.0.0;10.0.1;9.0.1;9.0.2;9.1.0"}]

Document Information

Modified date:
30 October 2023

UID

swg22004783

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