Software Distributor Administration Guide (March 2009)

8.3 Large Numbers of Targets
The max_targetsoption applies to swinstall and swcopy operations. This option
lets you manage hundreds of targets with a single job by limiting the number of
simultaneous targets to a defined value. As each target completes the install or copy,
another target is selected and started until all targets have been completed. This keeps
the number of active operations at or below the user-defined limit.
The result of this option is that you can potentially manage hundreds of targets reliably
in a single task. This can also create a significant reduction in the time it takes to schedule
a task.
Your server and network performance will determine the optimal setting for this option.
The default setting is 25.
8.4 Timeout Options
Timeout options control how long a task continues to retry low-level communications
for file transfers before giving up.
One control is the amount of time each single RPC call waits before giving up. This
timeout is set by the rpc_timeout option. Legal values are 0 through 9. The default
value is 5, which corresponds to about 30 seconds for the UDP protocol. Each value
doubles the time of the preceding value (i.e., a value of 4 is about 15 seconds).
Another control is the number of times a target agent attempts to reconnect to the
source agent after an rpc_timeout has detected a lost connection source during an
installation of a fileset. The number of retry attempts is controlled by the retry_rpc
option. The range of values is 0 through 9. A 0 value means no retry is attempted; if
the connection is lost, the command will fail. The default value is 1. For less stable
networks, a value of 5 is recommended.
NOTE: When setting retry_rpc to a value greater than 0, the reinstall_files
option should also be set to false (the default value), so the same files are not recopied
when a fileset is retried.
The maximum possible amount of time spent waiting for the timeout is affected by a
combination of rpc_timeout, retry_rpc, and retry_rpc_interval.
For troubleshooting information on Timeout options, refer to “Connection Timeouts
and Other WAN Problems ” (page 338).
8.5 Retry RPC and Retry Interval
During a swinstall or swcopy operation, retry_rpc_interval controls the
interval schedule for repeated attempts to make a connection to a target or the source
agent after an initial failure. This option works in conjunction with retry_rpc, which
controls the number of times the target or source is re-contacted.
8.3 Large Numbers of Targets 173