Registry administration guidelines

Ensuring the integrity of registry data is an essential task for any DevOps Code ClearCase® administrator.

Consider the following guidelines regarding registry administration:
  • The DevOps Code ClearCase Administration Console, which runs on Windows® but can administer registries on hosts running any supported operating system, provides a graphical display of DevOps Code ClearCase registry data, which can help you understand the structure and contents of registry data even if you prefer to use cleartool commands to manipulate this data.
  • You cannot access a VOB or view (even to remove it) unless it has an object and a tag. Use the DevOps Code ClearCase Administration Console, lsvob, or lsview to see whether the tag is missing (no listing) or the object entry is missing (no storage paths are displayed in the –long output).
    • If you cannot access a VOB or view, verify that it has a tag. If the VOB or view is not displayed in the output of an lsvob or lsview command, the VOB or view has no tag. Create one with the DevOps Code ClearCase Administration console or mktag.
    • If the VOB or view has a tag, list the tag with lsvob –long or lsview –long. If the output includes incorrect pathnames (identical local and global pathnames, for example), correct the object or tag by using the DevOps Code ClearCase Administration Console (use the VOB Objects or View Objects nodes and the VOB Tags or View Tags nodes of the appropriate region). You can also use the cleartool register and mktag commands.
  • To be used with dynamic views, VOB and view storage directories must be exported (on Linux or on the UNIX system) or shared (on Windows). If a dynamic view cannot access a VOB or view storage directory on Linux or the UNIX system through the global path in its tag, verify that the directory is exported and, if it includes symbolic links to other directories, that they are also exported. If a dynamic view cannot access a VOB or view storage directory on Windows through the global path in its tag, verify that the directory is shared and that the share allows read and write access to all groups that access the VOB.
  • Always use DevOps Code ClearCase utilities to remove VOBs and views. Do not use operating system utilities such as rm, rmdir, or GUIs such as Windows Explorer. They do not clean up registry entries.
  • Do not remove tags before you delete a VOB or view storage directory; use rmvob or rmview, which removes the tags for you.
  • When performing any of these tasks, run the command on the host where the VOB or view storage directory resides, especially when you use the –host –hpath and –gpath options together:
    • Creating a VOB or view
    • Creating a VOB tag or view tag
    • Registering or unregistering a storage directory
    • Reformatting a VOB
    Doing so permits validation of the host-local pathname, which cannot occur when the command is run from a remote host.
  • Run the rgy_check utility periodically to diagnose problems and clean up obsolete or stranded registry entries.