[INFO] Ocean Grid back online
Ocean Grid has been offline since February 2016 because of MySQL problems but the database is now restored and the grid is working! The problem occurred because of the growth of the database: see details below for information.
No doubt there will be some things to fix as usual... Ed.: see the following post about functionality now restored and non-urgent work required.
Details of Problems Causing MySQL InnoDB Database Corruption
(1) The following needed to be added to /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf (a replacement for /etc/mysql/my.conf on some systems).
[mysqld]
innodb_data_file_path = ibdata1:10M:autoextendHowever, to do this it is necessary to be careful to back up the database first! Details below:
Now the files ibdata1 and ibtmp1 will have enough space to be written. If this is not possible then ibdata1 goes out of sync with the database and the temporary file cannot be written, at which point MySQL will stop unexpectedly, even if you try to drop the database that is corrupted in order to restore it.
It is worth doing a backup of /var/lib/mysql/ (with MySQL stopped) as well as using mysqldump to make a SQL backup.
(2) 4GB memory restriction on old 32 bit operating system.
The system was i686 x86, i.e. 32 bit. This cannot address more than 4GB of memory and thus cannot write a bigger file in one go, which is what mysql tries and fails to do. It had been upgraded since the year dot rather than re-installed, which was why it was now on an x64 server that could and should be running a 64 bit operating system. The restriction has been removed by installing a new operating system and this reason for database corruption has also been resolved. It should be able to address more memory and run faster in general too.
Moral of the story: do not spend 3 years thinking your database is corrupt and cannot be fixed! The backup was fine and could be restored but the index file was getting larger than the default upper limit so this was causing the corruption to reoccur. Also, do not be lazy! Lesson learned.
[RESOLVED] Email support for V2 Offline IMs
There was is a small issue with V2 Offline IMs, i.e. it does not come with email support for offline IMs like flotsam does. Trying to revert to flotsam offline IMs did not work because of updates to OpenSim and server software has not so far worked. We have now tested and deployed new PHP code. The functionality has been restored using the V1 module is temporarily unavailable unless this can be resolved.
[INFO] Voice chat now available with FreeSwitch
Voice chat has (finally) been added using FreeSwitch, described as a "scalable open source [free software] cross-platform telephony platform" or multi-protocol soft switch. By default, it has been enabled in all areas of the grid, although land owners may or may not choose to switch it off on their parcels in future.
Note that a section on voice has been added to the terms of service, which notes that no users should be put under pressure to use voice chat in this grid, which will be regarded as a form of bullying. Please respect people's preferences in this regard as in others.
[COMPLETE] Upgrade to OpenSim 0.8.2.1 (post-fixes)
The upgrade is in progress. All systems are Groups, profiles and offline IMs are working. Web interface in progress.
The upgrade was performed successfully. All systems are working as normal, including groups, profiles and offline IMs. The wifi interface that we use for user registration and web access to inventory is now provided via mono addins by Diva Canto, which is a change to how it is installed but does not affect service provision for the grid.
[INFO] Grid now running on fast fibre-optic broadband service
Grid performance may vary but should now be high, as it's running on a fast domestic fibre-optic broadband service, although upload speeds are still slower than download speeds. This is a major improvement over the previous domestic ADSL service.
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