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ULTRIX

Guide to System Exercisers

Order Number: AA-ME96B-TE

ULTRIX

Guide to System Exercisers

Order Number: AA-ME96B-TE
June 1990

Product Version:

ULTRIX Operating System, Version 4.0 or higher

This manual describes how to test your system using the system exercisers for file systems,
memory, and peripherals.

digital equipment corporation
maynard, massachusetts

Restricted Rights: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in
subparagraph (c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause of DFARS 252.227-7013.
© Digital Equipment Corporation 1987, 1988, 1990

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment
by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may
appear in this document.
The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in accordance
with the terms of such license.
No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on equipment that is not supplied by Digital or its
affiliated companies.

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:

IJDIDDma
CDA
DDIF
DDIS
DEC
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DEC station

DECUS
DECwindows
DTIF
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MicroVAX
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IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the USA and other countries.
MICOM is a registered trademark of MICOM Systems, Inc.

Contents

About This Manual
Audience
Organization

.....................................................................................................

Related Documents

...........................................................................................

Conventions

v
v
VI

New and Revised Infonnation

.............................................................................

vii

Testing Your System with Exercisers

1.1

Running System Exercisers

1.2

Exercising More Than One Part of the System

1.3

Using Exerciser Diagnostics

Exercising File Systems and Memory

2.1

Exercising the Local File System

2.2

Exercising the System Memory

2.3

Exercising Shared Memory

Exercising Peripherals

3.1

Exercising the Disk Drives

3-1

3.2

Exercising the Tape Drives

3-2

3.2.1
3.2.2
3.3

.......................................................................
.............................................

1-2
1-2

2-1
................................................................. .

Using mtx .................................................................................... .
Using tapex .................................................................................. .

Exercising the Lineprinters

1-1

2-2
2-3

3-2
3-3

3-8

Exercising Network and Communications Systems

4.1

Exercising the TCPIIP Network

4.2

Exercising the Tenninal Communication System

ivContents

4-1

......................................... .

4-2

About This Manual

The objective of this guide is to provide you with infonnation on system exercisers.
It describes how to run system exercisers and explains the exercisers you use for file

systems and memory, peripherals, and network and communications.

Audience
The Guide to System Exercisers is written for the person responsible for managing
and maintaining an ULTRIX operating system. It assumes that this individual is
familiar with ULTRIX commands, the system configuration, and the system's
controller/drive unit number assignments. You do not need to be a programmer to
use this guide; however, you should be familiar with an ULTRIX editor, such as vi
or ed . You should also be aware of the naming conventions used in this book.

Organization
This manual consists of three chapters and an index. The chapters are:
Chapter 1:

Running System Exercisers
Provides an overview of system exercisers. It describes how to
run system exercisers, how to exercise more than one part of the
system simultaneously, and exerciser diagnostics.

Chapter 2:

Exercising File Systems and Memory
Describes the exercisers that test file systems, system memory,
and shared memory.

Chapter 3:

Exercising Peripherals
Describes the exercisers that test disk drives, tape drives, and
line printers.

Chapter 4:

Exercising Network and Communications Systems
Describes the exercisers that test TCPlIP and tenninal
communications.

Related Documents
This document should be used in conjunction with the ULTRIX Reference Pages.

Conventions
The following conventions are used in this manual:

The default user prompt is your system name followed by a right
angle bracket. In this manual, a percent sign ( % ) is used to
represent this prompt.

A number sign is the default superuser prompt.

user input

This bold typeface is used in interactive examples to indicate
typed user input.

system output This typeface is used in interactive examples to indicate system
output and also in code examples and other screen displays. In
text, this typeface is used to indicate the exact name of a
command, option, partition, pathname, directory, or file.

UPPERCASE
lowercase

The ULTRIX system differentiates between lowercase and
uppercase characters. Literal strings that appear in text,
examples, syntax descriptions, and function definitions must be
typed exactly as shown.

rlogin

In syntax descriptions and function definitions, this typeface is
used to indicate terms that you must type exactly as shown.
In syntax descriptions and function definitions, a horizontal
ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or
more times.
A vertical ellipsis indicates that a portion of an example that
would normally be present is not shown.

cat(1)

Cross-references to the ULTRIX Reference Pages include the
appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, a
reference to cat(l) indicates that you can find the material on the
cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.

IRETURNI

This symbol is used in examples to indicate that you must press
the named key on the keyboard.

ICTRUxl

This symbol is used in examples to indicate that you must hold
down the CTRL key while pressing the key x that follows the
slash. When you use this key combination, the system sometimes
echoes the resulting character, using a circumflex (") to represent
the CTRL key (for example, "C for CTRL/C). Sometimes the
sequence is not echoed.
This symbol is used in examples to indicate that you must press
the first named key and then press the second named key. In text,
this combination is indicated as ESC-X.

vi About This Manual

New and Revised Information
In Chapter 2, the description of the rn option to s hrnx, the shared memory exerciser,
now lists the location of the SMMAX system parameter for both VAX and RISC
computers.
Chapter 3 includes a description of the new tape drive exerciser, tapex.
In Chapter 4, the description of exercising the terminal communication system
includes an expanded list of letters that can be used as part of a pseudodevice name.
Letters p through z can now be used.

About This Manual vii

Testing Your System with Exercisers

This chapter describes how to use system exercisers as a troubleshooting tool for
your ULTRIX operating system. The exercisers are commands residing in the
/ u s r / fie 1 d directory that allow you to test all or part of your system by
exercising specified parts. Note that to run the exercisers you must be logged in as
superuser.
The system exercisers test the following system areas:
•

System memory and file systems

•

Peripherals

•

Network and communications systems

Specific exercisers for each area are described in the following chapters.
Each of the exercisers has an on-line help facility that prints a description of how to
use the exerciser. To access on-line help, use the -h option. For example, to access
help for the ds kx exerciser type:
# dskx -h

For additional information on each of the exercisers, see the ULTRIX Reference
Pages.

Note
If you are running exercisers in a diskless operating system environment,
you must either use the -0 option of the exerciser, or move the
/ u s r / fie 1 d directory to a writable area. Because the net x exerciser
does not have the -0 option, you must copy netx to a writeable area
before exercising the TCP/IP network.

By default, the /usr file system is mounted read-only in a diskless
environment. Because some of the system exercisers in /usr / field
require their log files to be local to the exerciser, the read-only restriction
prevents the creation of the client's log file, causing that test to fail.
To avoid this problem, copy the desired exerciser and its associated files
to /var /tmp before executing them.

1.1

Running System Exercisers
To run any of the exercisers, you must be logged in as superuser and /usr/field
must be your current directory. For example:
% su
password:
# cd /usr/field

All of the examples in this guide assume that you are logged in as the superuser and
that your current directory is / u s r / fie 1 d .
All of the system exercisers, except netx, have the -0 option. The -0 option
allows you to specify a file where diagnostic output is saved when the exerciser
terminates.
All of the exercisers can be run in either the foreground or the background and can be
canceled at any time by pressing CTRL / C in the foreground. You can run more
than one exerciser at the same time. Keep in mind, however, that the more processes
you have running, the slower the system will perform. Thus, before exercising the
system extensively, make sure there are no other users on the system.
Section 1.2 describes how to run multiple exercisers using the syscript utility,
and Section 1.3 describes exerciser log files.

1.2 Exercising More Than One Part of the System
To exercise more than one part of the system simultaneously, use the syscript
maintenance command. The s y s c r i pt command asks you which exercisers you
want to run, how long you want to run each exerciser, and how many exercisers you
want to run at one time. The syscript command allows you to exercise a device,
a subsystem, or the entire system. For more information, refer to syscript(8) in
the ULTRIX Reference Pages.
You can start each exerciser either manually, by specifying the time parameter ( -t
option) and by placing each command in the background before executing the next
command, or you can use the syscript command. If you are using the
syscript command, type:
# syscript

Once the syscript command is running, answer the questions that it asks. The
syscript command then executes the individual exercisers and creates a file called
testsui te, which contains all of the answers you entered when you first executed
syscript. You can reexecute the commands in the testsuite file by entering:
# sh test suite

This causes t est sui t e to execute using the original commands and parameters
that you entered.

1.3 Using Exerciser Diagnostics
When an exerciser is halted (by either CTRL / C or timing out), it prints diagnostics
on the terminal. These diagnostics are also stored in the exerciser's latest logfile.
The diagnostics inform you of the tests' results.
Each time an exerciser is invoked, a new logfile is generated in the / u s r / fie 1 d
directory. For example, when you execute the cmx command for the first time, a
logfile named #LOG_ CMX_ 01 is created. The logfiles are records of each exerciser's
results and consist of the starting and stopping times, and of error and statistical
information. The starting and stopping times of exercisers are also logged into the
system errorlog file, /usr / adm/ syserr / syserr. hostname. This file also
contains information on errors reported by the device drivers or by the system.
The logfiles are especially useful if you have a video display terminal, because they
provide a record of the diagnostics. However, after reading a log file you should
delete it, as no more than nine logfiles can accumulate for each exerciser. If you
1-2 Testing Your System with Exercisers

attempt to run an exerciser when it has already accumulated nine logfiles, the
exerciser tells you to remove some of the old logfiles so that it can create a new one.
If the exercisers find errors, you can determine which device or area of the system
has the difficulty by looking at the system errorlog file
/usr / adm/ syserr / syserr. hostname, using the appropriate uerf(8)
command. For more information on the error logger, see the Guide to the Error
Logger System.

For the meanings of the error numbers and signal numbers, see intro(2) and
sigvec(2) in the ULTRIX Reference Pages.
The following chapters describe each of the system exercisers in detail.

Testing Your System with Exercisers 1-3

Exercising File Systems and Memory

This chapter describes the system exercisers that test local file systems, system
memory, and shared memory.

2.1

Exercising the Local File System
Use the fsx command to exercise the file systems locally. The fsx command
exercises the specified file system by initiating multiple processes, each of which
creates, writes, closes, opens, reads, validates, and unlinks a test file of random data.
For more information on the fsx command, refer to fsx(8) in the ULTRIX
Reference Pages.

Caution
Do not run fsx on a file system that is on the same partition that dskx
is currently read/write exercising. The ds kx exerciser will be
overwriting the file system that the f s x exerciser is supposed to be
using.
Do not test remotely mounted (NFS) file systems with fsx.
The format of the fsx command is:
fsx -h -ofile -pn -fpath -tmin

-h

Prints the help message for the f s x command.

-ofile

Saves the output diagnostics in file.

-pn

Specifies the number of processes you want f s x to initiate. The maximum
number of processes is 250. If you do not specify the -p option, the
default of 20 is assumed.

-fpath

Specifies the pathname of the directory of the file system to test, for
example, - flu s r or - f I ron t. If you do not specify the - f option, the
default is lusr I field.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the f s x command to exercise the
file system. If you do not specify the -t option, the f s x command runs
until you terminate it by pressing CTRL / C in the foreground.

The following is an example of the fsx command:
# fsx -p5 -f/usr -t60 &

The example shows how to test the lusr file system with five processes running for
60 minutes in the background.

2.2 Exercising the System Memory
Use the memx command to exercise the system memory. The memx command
exercises the system memory by initiating multiple processes. By default, the size of
each process is defined as the total system memory in bytes divided by 20. The
minimum allowable number of bytes per process is 4095. The memx command runs
ones and zeros, zeros and ones, and random data patterns in the allocated memory
being tested.
If you are running memx in a diskless environment, you must copy the memx file and
its associated files from / u s r / fie 1 d to a writeable area. The files that you need to
run the memx exerciser include the following:
•

memx

•

memxr

•

shmx

•

shmxb

For more information refer to memx(8) in the ULTRIX Reference Pages.

Note
The memx command is restricted by the amount of available swap space.
The size of the swap space and the internal memory available determine
how many processes can run on your system. For example, if there are
16 Mbytes of swap space and 16 Mbytes of memory, all the swap space
would be used if all 20 (the default) initiated processes were running
simultaneously. This would prevent any other process from executing.
Therefore, on systems with large amounts of memory and small amounts
of swap space, you must use the -p or the -m options, or both, to restrict
the number of memx processes or to restrict the size of the memory
being tested.
The format of the memx command is:

memx -h -ofile -5 -mn -px -tmin

-h

Prints the help message for the memx command.

-ofile

Saves the output diagnostics in file.

-5

Disables automatic invocation of s hmx, which is performed by default.

-mn

Specifies the amount of memory in bytes (n) for each process to test. The
default is the total amount of memory divided by 20, with a minimum size
of 4095 bytes.

-px

Specifies the number of processes to initiate. The maximum number is 20,
which is also the default.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the memx command to exercise the
memory. If you do not specify the - t option, the memx command runs
until you terminate it by pressing CTRL / C in foreground.

The following is an example of the memx command:
# memx

-8

-m4095 -p5 -t60 &

2-2 Exercising File Systems and Memory

This example disables automatic execution of the shared memory exerciser, shrnx,
which is performed by default. It also initiates five processes that test 4095 bytes of
memory, and it runs in the background for 60 minutes.

2.3 Exercising Shared Memory
Use the shrnx command to exercise shared memory. The shrnx command spawns a
background process called s hrnxb, and together s hrnx and s hrnxb exercise the
shared memory segments. They take turns writing and reading each other's data in
the segments.
Using s hrnx, you can test the number and the size of memory segments and s hrnxb
processes. The s hrnx exerciser runs until the process receives either a CTRL/C or a
kill -15 pid command in foreground. For more information on the kill
command refer to kill(1) in the ULTRIX Reference Pages.
You automatically invoke shrnx when you start rnernx. You can also run shrnx by
itself. The format of the shrnx command is:

shmx -h -ofile -ti -mj -sk -v

-h

Prints the help message for the s hrnx command.

-ofile

Saves diagnostic output in file.

-v

Uses the fork system call instead of the vfork system call to
spawn s hmxb.

-ti

Indicates the run time in minutes (i). The default is to run until the
process receives either a CTRL / C or a kill-IS pid command in
foreground.

-mj

Specifies the memory segment size in bytes (j) to be tested by the
processes; j must be greater than O. The default is SMMAX/6.
(SMMAX is a system parameter. On a VAX computer, SMMAX is
set in the file /sys/conf/vax/param. c. On a RISC computer,
it is set in the file /sys/conf/mips/param. c.)

-sk

Specifies the number of memory segments (k). The default is 6.
The maximum is also 6.

The following example tests six memory segments (default), each with a segment
size of SMMAX/6. The test terminates when you either press CTRL / C or issue the
command kill-IS in the foreground.
# shmx

Here is another example of the s hmx command:
# shmx -t180 -mlOOOOO -s3 &

This example runs three memory segments of 100,000 bytes for 180 minutes in the
background.

ExerCising File Systems and Memory 2-3

Exercising Peripherals

This chapter describes the system exercisers that you use to test the following
peripherals:

3.1

•

Disk drives

•

Tape drives

•

Line printers

Exercising the Disk Drives
Use the dskx maintenance command to exercise the disk drives. The dskx
maintenance command exercises specified partitions and file systems on the
designated disk.
First, ds kx checks to see if the specified file system is on the disk. If the file system
exists and if you are using either the -p or -c options, dskx asks you if you want
to continue or stop the program. These options overwrite data on the disk,
destroying any file systems on the specified partition or device.

Caution
The -p and -c options destroy data on the device you are testing. Use
extreme caution when using either of these options.
When using the -p option, ensure that the partition you are exercising
does not overlap other partitions, because you will inadvertently destroy
data on another partition. Use the chpt maintenance command with the
-q option to see which partitions overlap on the device you are testing.
For more information on the ds kx command, refer to ds kx(8) in the ULTRIX
Reference Pages.
The format of the dskx command is:

dskx -h -ofile -pdevpart -cdev -rdev -tmin -dn

-h

Prints help message for the ds kx command.

-Ofile

Saves output diagnostics in file.

-pdevpart

Performs random seeks, writes, and reads on the specified partition
(part) of the device (dev). Next, it validates the random data and
block sizes. The part specifies the partition on the device and can be
a through h.
You cannot test the c partition, because the test would corrupt the
bad block information.

dev

Specifies the raw or buffered device name and number such as rra2
for an RA device or hpO for an RM or an RP device.

-cdev

Performs random seeks, writes, and reads on all the partitions of the
specified device (dev), except for the c partition. Partition c is not
tested, because the test would corrupt the bad block information.

-rdev

Performs random seeks and reads on all partitions of the device
specified (dev), except for partition c. The -r option is safe to use
on any disk containing file systems, because it will not overwrite
data.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the dskx command to
exercise the disk. If you do not specify the -t option, the dskx
command runs until you terminate it by pressing CTRL / C in the
foreground.

-dn

Specifies in minutes how often you want the ds kx command to print
diagnostics to the terminal. The default is to print diagnostics upon
completion of the exercise.

The following are examples of the ds kx command:
# dskx -rraO -t20 -d5 &
# dskx -pralg -t60 -dlO &

The first example tests the first RA disk on the system for 20 minutes in the
background. Diagnostics are printed to the terminal every five minutes. Note that
this example shows how to seek and read the device; no file systems are overwritten.
The second example tests the g partition of the r a 1 device for 60 minutes. It runs in
the background and writes diagnostics to the terminal every 10 minutes.

3.2 Exercising the Tape Drives
There are two tape drive exercisers, mtx and tapex. Both the mtx and tapex
commands write, read, and validate random data on a tape device from the beginning
of the tape (BOT) to the end of the tape (EaT). The tapex command performs
additional tests, for example, positioning tests for records and files and tape
transportability tests. For more information on mtx and tapex, refer to mtx(8) and
tapex(8) in the ULTRIX Reference Pages.

3.2.1

Using mtx
The format of the mtx command is:

mtx -h -ofile -rn -fn -Sdev# -Idev# -vdev# -adev# -tmin

-h

Prints help message for the mtx command.

-ofile

Saves diagnostic output in file.

-rn

Specifies the record length in bytes for the long record exercise. The
range of n is 100 through 20480 bytes. The default value is 10240 bytes.

-fn

Specifies the length of the file in numbers of records. The variable n is
the number of records. The default value is EaT (-1).

-sdev#

Performs a short record test that writes, reads, and validates 512-byte
records (the default) on device dev. The variable dev# is the raw device

3-2 Exercising Peripherals

name and number, such as rmtOh for a high-density rewind tape device,
or nrmtOl for a low-density no-rewind tape device.

-Idev#

Performs a long record test that writes, reads, and validates 10240-byte
records (the default) on device dev#. The variable dev# is the raw device
name and number, such as rmtOh for a high-density rewind tape device,
or nrmtOl for a low-density no-rewind tape device.

-Vdev#

Performs a variable record length test that writes, reads, and validates
random record lengths from 512 to 20280 bytes on device dev#. The
variable dev# is the raw device name and number, such as rmtOh for a
high-density rewind tape device, or nrmtOl for a low-density no-rewind
tape device.

-adev#

Performs short, long, and variable record length tests on device dev#.
The variable dev# is the raw device name and number, such as rmtOh for
a high-density rewind tape device, or nrmtOl for a low-density no-rewind
tape device.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the mtx command to exercise the
tape drive. If you do not specify the -t option, the mtx command will
run until you terminate it by pressing CTRL / C in foreground.

The following is an example of the mtx command:
# mtx -r20480 -lrmtOh -t60 &

This example shows how to perform a long record test on the tape device rmtOh.
The record length is 20480 bytes and the test runs for 60 minutes in the background.

3.2.2

Using tapex
Some tapex options cause specific tests to be performed, for example, an end-ofmedia test. Other options modify the tests, for example, by enabling caching. The
format of the tapex command is:

tapex -options -parameters
The options are as follows:

-a

Performance measurement test that calculates the tape transfer bandwidth for
writes and reads to the tape by timing data transfers.

-b

Continuously runs the write/read tests until the process is killed. This flag can
be used in conjunction with the -r or -g flag.

-c

Enables caching on the device, where supported. This does not specifically test
caching, but it enables the use of caching on a tape device while running the
other tests.

-c

Disables caching on TMSCP tape devices. If the tape device is a TMSCP unit,
then caching is the default mode of test operation. This flag causes the tests to
be run in noncaching mode.

-d

Tests the ability to append to the media. First, the test writes records to the
tape. Then, it repositions back one record and appends additional records.

Exercising Peripherals 3-3

Finally, the test does a read verification. This test simulates the behavior of the
tar r switch.

-e

End-of-media test. This test first writes data to fill up a tape, which may take a
long time for long tapes. It then does reads and writes past the end of media,
which should fail. Next, it enables writing past end of media, writes to the
tape, and reads back the records for validation.

-E

Runs an extensive series of tests in sequential order. Due to the large number
of tests, this option takes a long time to complete. Depending on tape type and
cpu type, this series of tests can take up to 10 hours to complete.

-1 /dev/rmt#?
Specifies the name of the device special file that corresponds to the tape unit
being tested. The number sign (#) symbol represents the unit number. The
question mark (?) can be the letter h for the high density device or I for the low
density device. The default tape device is / dev / rmt 0 h.

-F

File-positioning tests. First, files are written to the tape and verified. Next,
every other file on the tape is read. Then, the previously unread files are read
by traversing the tape backwards. Finally, random numbers are generated; the
tape is positioned to those locations, and the data is verified. Each file uses a
different record size.

-G

File-positioning tests on already-written tape. This flag can be used in
conjunction with the - F flag to run the file position tests on a tape that has
already been written to by a previous version of the - F test. For this to work,
the same test parameters, for example record size and number of files, must be
used as when the the tape was written. No other data should have been written
to the tape since the previous - F test.

-g

Random record-size tests. This test writes records of random sizes. It reads in
the tape, specifying a large read size; however, only the amount of data in the
randomly-sized record should be returned. This test only checks return values
and does not validate record contents.

-h

Displays a help message describing the tape exerciser.

-i

Interactive mode. Under this mode, the user is prompted for various test
parameters. Typical parameters include the record size and the number of
records to write. The following scaling factors are allowed:
k or K for kilobyte (1024 * n)
b or B for block (512 * n)
m or M for megabyte (1024 * 1024 * n)
For example, 10k would specify 10240 bytes.

3-4 Exercising Peripherals

-j

Write phase of the tape-transportability tests. This test writes a number of
files to the tape, and then verifies the tape. After a successful verification, the
tape is brought off line to be moved to another tape unit and read in with the
- k option. The purpose of this test is to prove that a tape can be written on
one drive and read on another drive. The test parameters for the - k phase of
the transportability test must match the parameters of the - j test. Any
changes of test parameters from the defaults should also be changed during the
- k test.

-k

Read phase of the tape-transportability tests. This test reads a tape that was
written by the - j test and verifies that the expected data is read from the tape.
Success of this test proves that a tape can be written on one drive and read on
another. As stated in the description of the - j option, any parameters changed
in the - j test must also be changed in the - k test.

-L

Media loader test. For sequential stack loaders, the media is loaded, written
to, and verified. Then, the media is unloaded, and the test repeats on the next
piece of media. This verifies that all the media in the input deck is writable.
To run this test in read-only mode, also specify the -w option.

-I

End-of-file test. This test verifies that a zero byte count is returned when a tape
mark is read and that another read will fetch the first record of the next tape
file.

-m

Displays tape contents. This is not a test; it reads the tape sequentially and
prints out the number of files on the tape, the number of records in each file,
and the size of the records within the file. The contents of the tape records are
not examined.

-N

Disables the usage of n-buffered I/O on tests that support its usage. (See
nbuf(4) for a description of n-buffered I/O.)

-0

Sends output to the specified filename. The default is to not create an output
file and send output to the terminal.

-p

Runs both the record-positioning and file-positioning tests. (See the - Rand - F
options.)

-q

Command timeout test. This test verifies that the driver allows enough time
for completion of long operations. First, the test writes files to fill up the tape.
Next, a rewind is performed, followed by a forward skip to the last file. This
test is successful if the forward skip operation completes without error.

-r

Record-size test. A number of records are written to the tape and then
verified. This process is repeated over a range of record sizes.

-R

Record-positioning test. First, records are written to the tape and verified.
Next, every other record on the tape is read. Then the other records are read by
traversing the tape backwards. Finally, random numbers are generated; the
tape is positioned to those locations, and the data is verified.
Exercising Peripherals 3-5

-5

Record-size behavior test. Verifies that a record read will return at most one
record or the read size, whichever is less.

-8

Single record size test. This test modifies the record-size test ( -r option) to
use a single record size.

-T

Copies output to standard output. This flag is useful if you want to log output
to a file with the -0 option and also have the output displayed on standard
output. This flag must be specified after the -0 flag in the command line.

-v

Verbose mode. This option causes more detailed terminal output of what the
tape exerciser is doing. For example, it lists operations the exerciser is
performing, such as record counts, and more detailed error information.

-v

Very verbose mode. This option causes more output to be generated than
either the default mode or the -v flag. The output consists of additional status
information on exerciser operation.

-w

Opens the tape as read-only. This mode is only useful for tests that do not
write to the media. For example, it allows the -m test to be run on a writeprotected media.

-z

Initializes read buffer to the nonzero value 0130. This can be useful for
debugging purposes. If the - Z flag is not specified, all elements of the read
buffer will be initialized to O. Many of the tests first initialize their read buffer
and then perform the read operation. After reading a record from the tape,
some tests validate that the unused portions of the read buffer remain at the
value to which they were initialized. As a debugging tool, it may in some
cases be useful to have this initialized value set to be nonzero. In those cases,
the arbitrary character 0130 can be used.

You can change the default test parameters either by using the - i option described
previously or by specifying the parameters in the command line. To specify a value,
type the parameter name followed by a space and then the number. For example, the
parameter -min_rs 512 specifies a minimum record size of 512 blocks. The
following scaling factors are allowed:
k or K for kilobyte (1024 * n)
b or B for block (512 * n)
m or M for megabyte (1024 * 1024 * n)
For example, 10K would specify 10240 bytes.
These parameters are associated with the option - a:
-perf_num The number of records to write and read.
-perf_rs

The size of records.

3-6 Exercising Peripherals

These parameters are associated with the option - d:
-tar_num

The number of additional and appended records.

-tar_size

The record size for all records written in this test.

These parameters are associated with the option - e.
Note that specifying too much data to be written past EOM could cause a reel-to-reel
tape to go off the end.
-end_num The number or records written past EOM.
The record size.
These parameters are associated with the option - F:
-num_fi

The number of files.

-pos_ra

The number of random repositions.

-pos_rs

The record size.

-rec_fi

The number of records per file.

This parameter is associated with the option -g:
-rand_num

The number of records to write and read.

These parameters are associated with the options - j and - k :
-tran_file

The number of files to write or read.

-tran_rec

The number of records contained in each file.

-tran_rs

The size of each record.

These parameters are associated with the option - R:
-pos_num The number of records.
The number of random repositions.
The record size.
These parameters are associated with the options - rand - S :
-inc

The record increment factor.

-max_rs

The maximum record size.

-min_rs

The minimum record size.

-num_rec

The number of records.

-t

Sets a time limit in minutes on how long to run the record-size test (the
- r option). The default is to run the test to completion.

Exercising Peripherals 3-7

These parameters are associated with the option - s :
-num_rec

The number of records.

-size_rec

The record size.

This parameter is used in any test which supports n-buffered I/O:
-num_nbuf

The number of buffers to use.

This parameter is associated with all tests:
-err_lines

The threshold on error printouts.

The following example runs an extensive series of tests on tape device rmtlh and
sends all output to a file called tapex. out.
#

tapex -f /dev/rmt1h -E

-0

tapex.out

The next example performs random record-size tests and uses verbose mode in
sending back output. By default, this test runs on the default tape device /dev/rmtOh
and output is sent to the terminal.
#

tapex -g -v

This example performs read/write record testing using record sizes in the range 10k
to a maximum record size of 20k. By default, this test runs on the default tape
device /dev/rmtOh and output is sent to the terminal.
#

tapex -r -min_rs 10k -max_rs 20k

3.3 Exercising the Lineprinters
Use the Ipx maintenance command to exercise the lineprinters. The Ipx command
exercises the line printers by printing a rolling character pattern repeatedly to the
device. If the device is offline, Ipx attempts to start the device every 60 seconds
until it succeeds or until you terminate it. Once the line printer starts, the Ipx
command prints five pages of a rolling character pattern, pauses for 15 minutes, and
then repeats the printing and pausing sequence until the the command terminates. For
more information refer to Ipx(8) in the ULTRIX Reference Pages.

Note
To prevent other jobs from interfering with the test, you should disable
the line printer queue of the printer you are testing before using the
Ipx. You may need to look in the / etc/printcap file to determine
the spool queue and then use the line printer control command Ipc to
accomplish this task.
The format of the Ipx command is:

Ipx -h -ofile -pn -ddev -tmin

-h

Prints help message for the Ipx command.

-ofile

Saves diagnostic output infile.

3-8 Exercising Peripherals

-pn

Specifies the pause period in n minutes. The default pause period is 15
minutes and the shortest pause can be zero (0) minutes.

-ddev

Specifies the line printer you want to test such as lp or lp 1. The device
names are listed in the / dev directory.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the lpx command to exercise the
line printer. If you do not specify the -t option, the lpx command runs
until you terminate it by pressing CTRL / C in foreground.

The following is an example of the lpx command:
# lpx -t60 -dlpl &

This example shows how to exercise the lpl lineprinter for 60 minutes in the
background.

Exercising Peripherals 3-9

Exercising Network and Communications
Systems

This chapter explains the system exercisers used to test the following network and
communications systems:

4.1

•

TCP/IP

•

Terminal communications

Exercising the TCP/IP Network
Use the netx maintenance command to exercise the TCP/IP network. The netx
command sets up a stream socket connection with netx acting as the client and the
mi s cd utility acting as the server in the T CP / I P internet domain. Using the
connection, the netx command writes random data to the miscd server. The server
loops the data back to netx, and then the data is read and verified against the
original data. For more information on the netx command, refer to netx(8) in the
ULTRIX Reference Pages.
The netx command uses the port number of the echo TCP service in the
/ et c / s e rv ice s file. The echo TCP service must be enabled in the
/ etc/ inetd. conf file. The service is enabled if there are no number signs (#) in
front of the echo service.
If you remove the number sign (#) from the echo TCP service in the
/ etc/ inetd. conf file, you must start the echo daemon. To do this, first find
the PID of inetd, using the ps -ax command. Then, type the command kill
-HUP pid.

The pid argument is the PID of the inetd daemon.
The format of the netx command is:
netx -h -pn nodename -tmin

-h

Prints the help message for the netx command.

-pn

Specifies the port number to use in the internet domain. The variable
n must be less than 32768. By default, netx uses the port
associated with the echo service, so you should not have to use this
option.

nodename

The name of the remote or local system host running the server.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the net x command to
exercise the network connection. If you do not specify the -t
option, the netx command runs until you terminate it by pressing
CTRL / C in foreground.

The following is an example of the netx command:
# netx suez -t60 &

The example shows how to test the network connection to a remote system host
named suez. The test runs for 60 minutes in the background.

4.2 Exercising the Terminal Communication System
Use the cmx maintenance command to exercise the terminal communications system.
The cmx command writes, reads, and validates random data and packet lengths on
the communications line or lines specified. The lines you exercise must have a
loopback connector attached to the distribution panel or the cable. Otherwise, cmx
repeatedly prints an error message to the terminal until its time expires or until you
press CTRL / C. For more information on the cmx command, refer to cmx(8) in the
ULTRIX Reference Pages.
Also, the lines you specify must be disabled in the / et c / tty s file. See the Guide
to System Environment Setup for information about the / et c / tty s file.
The format of the cmx command is:
cmx -h -ofile -tmin -Iline-l line-2 line-n ...

-h

Prints help message for the cmx command.

-ofile

Saves output diagnostics in file.

-tmin

Specifies how many minutes you want the cmx command to exercise the
communications system. If you do not specify the -t option, the cmx
command runs until you terminate it by pressing CTRL / C in the
foreground.

-I line-n

Specifies the line or lines you want to test. The values for line-n are
found in the / dev directory and are the last two characters of the tty
device name. For example, if you want to test the communications
system for a device named tty02, tty03, and tty14, line-l is 02, line-2 is
03, and line-3 is 14. Additionally, the line-n argument can specify a
range of lines to test, such as 00-08.

You cannot test pseudodevice lines or Ita device lines. Pseudodevices have a p, q, r,
s, t, U, v, w, x, y, or z as the first character after tty, such as ttyp3. The Ita
devices have a major number of 39.
The following examples show how to use the cmx command. The first example
exercises communications lines tty22 and tty34 for 45 minutes in the background.
The second example exercises lines ttyOO through tty07 until you press CTRL / C.
# cmx -1 22 34 -t45 &
# cmx -1 00-07

4-2 Exercising Network and Communications Systems

Index

Ipx exerciser (cont.)
options, 3-8

cmx exerciser, 4-2
Ita lines and, 4-2
options, 4-2
pseudodevice lines and, 4-2
communications system

M
magnetic tape drive
mtx exerciser, 3-2

See terminal communications system

tapex exerciser, 3-3
testing, 3-2

o
disk drive

memory
shared memory, 2-3
shmx exerciser, 2-3

dskx exerciser, 3-1
testing, 3-1

system memory, 2-2

dskx exerciser, 3-1 to 3-2

memx exerciser, 2-2
memx exerciser, 2-2 to 2-3

-c option and, 3-1c
chpt command and, 3-1 c
options, 3-1
-p option and, 3-1c

options, 2-2
swap space and, 2-2n
mtx exerciser, 3-2 to 3-3
options, 3-2

file system
fsx exerciser, 2-1
testing, 2-1
fsx exerciser, 2-1

network
See TCP/IP network

netx exerciser, 4-1 to 4-2
echo TCP service and, 4-1
miscd utility and, 4-1

dskx and, 2-1 c
options, 2-1

options, 4-1

line printer
lpx exerciser, 3-8
testing, 3-8
Ipx exerciser, 3-8 to 3-9
line printer queue and, 3-8n

shmx exerciser, 2-3
memx and, 2-3
options, 2-3
shmxb and, 2-3

syscript command
testsuite file and, 1-2
system
syscript command, 1-2
testing, 1-2
system exercisers
description, 1-1 to 1-3
diagnostics, 1-2
disk drives, 3-1
file system, 2-1
help facility, 1-1
in a diskless environment, I-In
line printers, 3-8
memory, 2-2
network, 4-1
requirements, 1-1
tape drives, 3-2
tenninal communications, 4-2

T
tape drive

See magnetic tape drive
tapex exerciser, 3-3 to 3-8
options, 3-3
parameters, 3-6
TCP/IP network
netx exerciser, 4-1
testing, 4-1
terminal communications system
cmx exerciser, 4-2
testing, 4-2

Index-2

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