NDO2DB and kernel parameters

NDO2DB and kernel parameters

NDO2DB and kernel parameters 150 150 Roderick Derks

What did I do:

# cat /proc/sys/kernel/msgmnb
65536
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/msgmax
65536
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/msgmni
1985

# echo 131072 > /proc/sys/kernel/msgmnb
and
# vi /etc/sysctl.conf
and adjust the appropriate value(s).

 

Why did I do it:

Because of repeating error messages in /var/log/messages:
360viewpoint ndo2db: Warning: Retrying message send. This can occur because you have too few messages allowed or too few total bytes allowed in message queues. You are currently using 64 of 1985 messages and 65536 of 65536 bytes in the queue. See README for kernel tuning options.

How did I know how to do this

Read the NDO-Utils README file:

************************
TUNING KERNEL PARAMETERS
************************

NDOUTILS uses a single message queue to communicate between the broker
module and the NDO2DB daemon. Depending on the operating system, there
may be parameters that need to be tuned in order for this communication
to work correctly. The discussion below applies specifically to Linux,
but may apply generally to other Unices as well.

There are three Linux kernel parameters that determine the resources
provided to the messaging subsystem:
        * kernel.msgmax is the maximum size of a single message in a
                message queue
        * kernel.msgmni is the maximum number of messages allowed in any
                one message queue
        * kernel.msgmnb is the total number of bytes allow in all messages
                in any one message queue

To see the current values for any of these parameters, cat
/proc/sys/kernel/msg{max|mni|mnb}.

In order for NDOUTILS to work at all, kernel.msgmax must be greater than
the size of the queue_msg struct (currently 1026 bytes). Most Linux
distributions set kernel.msgmax to a default of 65536.

If there are insufficient resources for sending messages between the
broker and the daemon, you will see an entry similar to the following
in your logs. (This is logged via the syslog facility, using the level
LOG_ERR and the default facility.)

        ndo2db: Warning: Retrying message send. This can occur because
        you have too few messages allowed or too few total bytes
        allowed in message queues. You are currently using 16 of 16
        mesages and 65536 of 65536 bytes in the queue.  See README for
        kernel tuning options.

If you see this entry, the message will likely eventually be sent,
but retrying uses system resources, and there is the possibility that
more messages will queued than can be handled, causing the broker
module to stall.

If you are close to or have exceeded the number of messages, you may
need to increase kernel.msgmni. If you are close to or have exceeded
the number of bytes in the queue, you may need to increase
kernel.msgmnb. In some cases you may need to increase both.

A conservative approach would be to double the necessary value, stop
and restart both the NDO2DB daemon and Nagios Core, and watch for any
further messages.
Note that if NDO2DB is started after Nagios Core,
you may see the warning above as the broker module first attempts to
flush its backlog of messages.

To increase a value, echo the value to /proc/sys/kernel/msgmni or
/proc/sys/kernel/msgmnb as appropriate.

For example, to increase the number of messages allowed in the queue
to 32, use the command ‘echo 32 > /proc/sys/kernel/msgmni’ (without
the quotes).

Once you have determine the correct parameters, you can make them
permanent by editing /etc/sysctl.conf. Add or update the line of
the form ‘kernel.msg{mni|mnb} = <value>’ with the value(s) determined
above. The next time the system is booted, the values of the
parameters in /etc/sysctl.conf will be loaded.

Roderick Derks

Liefhebber van fietsen, van het oplossen van IT puzzels, en van het delen van informatie om anderen te helpen.

All stories by:Roderick Derks

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