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Speeding Up Baseline Downloads With Sun Connection

Eran Steiner, August 2007

This Tech Tip explains how you can speed up a baseline download with Sun Connection's satellite deployment architecture.

Decreasing Download Time

The first time that you run a Sun Connection job to deploy a baseline, the download can take a very long time, especially when you have 100 to 200 patches or Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) downloads. This Tech Tip explains how you can reduce the time.

Normal Operation

Let's look at the sequence of steps that are involved in the normal process of communication from agent to management server to Internet.

1. The agent determines that, for example, 200 patches are needed to bring the system up to a baseline.

2. The agent requests these patches one by one from the management server.

3. If the management server has this patch in cache, the patch is immediately provided to the agent.

The Problem

However, if the cache doesn't have the patch, either because this is the first time it's been requested or because the cache was cleaned, the management server tells the agent to wait while it requests the patch through the Internet (to Sun, Red Hat, or SUSE). Then, while the management server is working to download the patch from the Internet, the agent goes into standby for 30 seconds before it repeats a request for the patch.

The problem is that very often it takes only a few seconds to download the patch, which results in the remaining standby time being wasted. So if you have 200 patches and assume a 5-second download time, 25 seconds of inactivity for each time adds up quickly: 200 times 25 = 5000 seconds, or about 1 hour and 23 minutes of wasted time!

The Solution

The solution is quite simple. Instead of waiting for 30 seconds, you can reduce the time that the agent waits for the management server to about 5 seconds.

The agent has two configuration files: the uce.rc file with default values, and the .uce.rc file with values that you can customize. The configuration files are located in the following directories:

• For the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS):

  • /opt/SUNWuce/agent/bin/uce.rc

  • /opt/SUNWuce/agent/bin/.uce.rc

• For the Linux OS:

  • /opt/local/uce/agent/bin/uce.rc

  • /opt/local/uce/agent/bin/.uce.rc

Perform the following procedure to customize the .uce.rc file.

To Change the Agent Reconnect Interval Before You Begin

Ensure that the relevant line for this procedure isn't already included in the .uce.rc file. The relevant line is:

( all ) ( invisible.server.__general.knowledgebase_conflict_reconnect_interval, 30 );

Note - Never change the uce.rc file. Instead, copy the relevant line from uce.rc and paste it into .uce.rc. Then modify it there.

1. Access the uce.rc file by typing:

   • For the Solaris OS:

     # cd /opt/SUNWuce/agent/bin

   • For the Linux OS:

     # cd /opt/local/uce/agent/bin
     

2. Copy the relevant line from the uce.rc file to the .uce.rc file by typing:

   # grep knowledgebase_conflict_reconnect_interval uce.rc >> .uce.rc
   

3. Change the value in .uce.rc to 5:

   ( all ) ( invisible.server.__general.knowledgebase_conflict_reconnect_interval, 5 );
   

4. Restart the agent and you're done!

More Information

For more information about Sun Connection, go to the Sun Connection information hub.

To get an inside perspective of Sun Connection, Sun Management Center software, Sun N1 Service Provisioning System, and Sun N1 System Manager, visit the Sun Connection blog. Contributors to this blog include members of the Sun Connection Field Enablement team. The goal of this blog is to share information with customers who either have already implemented or will implement these products in the future. The blog also provides important information around training and other key enablement activities.

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