Understanding RCM configuration parameters

The RCM configuration parameters are set in an RCM-specific configuration file. The configuration file is composed of pairs of parameters and values in the format:

parameters=value

where parameter is the parameter name, and value is the value the parameter will be set to when the RCM starts up.

Secure the RCM configuration file because it contains passwords for Adaptive Servers, OpenSwitch servers, and Replication Server. To secure the RCM configuration file, set the read and write permissions on the file and the directory.

Table 4-4 lists valid configuration parameters and default values.

**Table 4-4: RCM configuration parameters**
Parameter	Description	Example	Default
ACTIVE_ASE	The name of the active Adaptive Server. This is a required parameter.	`BookServer`	None
ACTIVE_DBS	A comma-separated list of databases in the active Adaptive Server that the Replication Server switches to during a failover. The list is used only if the RS_FAILOVER_MODE parameter is set to SWITCH. If you do not provide a list, the RCM uses the database names from the logical connection list as the default.	`pubs3`	The default is the list of databases taken from the LOGICAL_CONN parameter.
ACTIVE_PASSWORD	The password that the RCM uses to connect to the active Adaptive Server.	`sa_pwd`	Empty string
ACTIVE_USER	The user name that the RCM uses to connect to the active Adaptive Server. The login must have privilege to execute the use database command on all databases defined by the ACTIVE_DBS parameter. This parameter is required.	`sa`	None
APP_POOL	The name of the OpenSwitch pool that identifies all of the application end users. This is a required parameter.	`Application`	None
ASYNC_MODE	If this parameter is set to 1 (true), network communication is handled asynchronously. If the parameter is set to 0 (false), network communication is handled synchronously.	`1` (true)	`0` (false)
CHARSET	The character set the RCM uses to communicate with the servers in the replication environment. The RCM also displays error messages using this character set.	`sjis`	`iso_1`
COORD_PASSWORD	The password that the RCM uses to connect to the OpenSwitch. The parameter must match the OpenSwitch configuration parameter COORD_PASSWORD.	`os_coord_pwd`	Empty string
COORD_USER	The user name that the RCM uses to connect to the OpenSwitch. The parameter must match the OpenSwitch configuration parameter COORD_USER. This is a required parameter.	`os_coord`	None
DISCONNECT_STBY_USERS	If this parameter is set to 1 (true), users connected to the standby Adaptive Server are disconnected before application end users are switched to the standby Adaptive Server.	`1` (true)	`0` (false)
FAILOVER_WAIT	The number of seconds the RCM waits after a potential failover is detected before initiating the failover process. This failover waiting period gives the active Adaptive Server an opportunity to recover automatically.	`120`	`60`
LANGUAGE	The language the RCM uses to communicate with the servers in the replication environment. The RCM also displays error messages in this language.	`japanese`	`us_english`
LOGICAL_CONN	A comma-separated list of Replication Server logical connections in the form dataserver.database. This is a required parameter if you have set the RS_FAILOVER_MODE parameter to SWITCH.	`LDS.LDB`	None
MONITOR_WAIT	The number of seconds the RCM monitors the Replication Server after invoking a Replication Server failover command (either switch active, or suspend log transfer) and before switching end users to the standby Adaptive Server. This gives the Replication Server time to empty its queues.	`300`	`60`
NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND	The RCM issues a maximum of NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND switch active commands to the Replication Server simultaneously before checking the status of the Replication Server. RCM checks the status of the switch active commands in batches for every NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND switch active commands. NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND should be multiples of the number of the logical connections and must be less than the number of the logical connections. RCM issues the switch active command for the first NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND logical connections and if all the switch active in a batch are completed successfully, then RCM will send the second batch of NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND switch active commands. Otherwise, RCM will check the status of those switch active commands until SWITCH_ACTIVE_INTERVAL period is elapsed. Once this period is elapsed or if the status of the NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND switch active commands have been successfully checked or verified, RCM will send the second batch of NUM_SWITCH_COMMAND switch active commands and will then check for the status of the switch active commands.	`5`	The default is `5`. The minimum is `1`.
NOTIFICATION_PROCESS	The name of a script or program that the RCM executes when an event occurs. See “Configuring the notification process” for a list of events. This is an optional configuration parameter.	`email.sh`	None
OPENSWITCH	The name of the primary OpenSwitch associated with this RCM. This parameter must match the RCM's administrator login connection entry associated with the primary OpenSwitch in the sql.ini (Windows) or interfaces (UNIX) file. This is a required parameter. In a redundant RCM environment, OPENSWITCH configuration parameter should be included in both the primary and the secondary or redundant RCM configuration files.	`ws_os`	None
OSW_MONITOR_WAIT	The number of seconds that the RCM attempts to reconnect to an OpenSwitch server to which the RCM has lost its connection.	`15`	`5`
OSW_TIMER_INTERVAL	The number of seconds the RCM waits between attempts to reconnect to an OpenSwitch server to which the RCM has lost its connection.	`4`	`1`
PING_TIMEOUT	The number of seconds the RCM attempts to verify that a server or database is available.	`4`	`3`
RCMNAME	A unique name for an RCM that allows OpenSwitch to identify the RCMs to which it is attached. OpenSwitch maintains an internal list of registered RCMs and uses the list to identify RCMs to shut down, or to list out to the client application when rp_rcm_list is issued. This parameter is used to support starting an RCM automatically after OpenSwitch starts. See “Starting and stopping the RCM automatically from OpenSwitch”.	`rcm1_rcm`	The name of the OpenSwitch server specified in the RCM configuration file and appended with “_rcm”; for example: `OSW1_rcm`
REP_SERVER	The name of the Replication Server that controls the warm standby environment. This is a required parameter.	`ws_rs`	None
REQUIRED_DBS	A comma-separated list of databases in the active Adaptive Server that require failover support and that the RCM should ping to determine server failure. If you do not provide this list, the RCM pings only the active Adaptive Server when determining server failure.	`pubs3`	Empty list
RS_FAILOVER_MODE	This parameter determines the Replication Server failover strategy the RCM uses when the active Adaptive Server fails. Valid values are SWITCH, QUIESCE, or NONE. SWITCH – the RCM issues the switch active command to the Replication Server. QUIESCE– the RCM issues the suspend log transfer command and the admin quiesce_force_rsi command to quiesce the Replication Server. NONE – the RCM does not issue any commands to the Replication Server, enabling you to manually perform fail over.	`SWITCH`	`SWITCH`
RS_PASSWORD	The password that the RCM uses to connect to the Replication Server.	`sa_pwd`	Empty string
RS_USER	The user name that the RCM uses to connect to the Replication Server. The user must have privileges to execute the following commands: switch active, suspend log transfer from all, admin quiesce_force_rsi, admin logical_status, and admin_health. This is a required parameter.	`sa`	None
SECONDARY_OPENSWITCH	The name of the secondary OpenSwitch associated with this RCM. This parameter must match the RCM's administrator login connection entry associated with the secondary OpenSwitch in the sql.ini (Windows) or interfaces (UNIX) file. In a redundant RCM environment, SECONDARY_OPENSWITCH should be included and is a required parameter only in the secondary or redundant RCM configuration file. This should not be included in the primary RCM configuration file unless both RCMs use the same configuration file.	`ws_os2`	None
STANDBY_ASE	The name of the standby Adaptive Server. This is a required parameter. In switch active mode only, the standby server must be identified in the Replication Server logical connection definition. See “Managing Warm Standby Applications” in the Replication Server Administration Guide, Volume 2 for more information.	`StandbyBook`	None
STANDBY_DBS	A comma-separated list of databases in the standby Adaptive Server that the Replication Server switches to during a failover. The list is used only if the RS_FAILOVER_MODE parameter is set to SWITCH. If you do not provide a list, the RCM uses the database names from the logical connection list as the default.	`pubs3`	The default is the list of databases taken from the ACTIVE_DBS parameter.
STANDBY_PASSWORD	The password that the RCM uses to connect to the standby Adaptive Server.	`sa_pwd`	Empty string
STANDBY_USER	The user name that the RCM uses to connect to the standby Adaptive Server. The login must have privileges to execute the sp_start_rep_agent and the use database commands on all databases defined by the STANDBY_DBS parameter. This parameter is required.	`sa`	None
SWITCH_ACTIVE_INTERVAL	This is the time interval in seconds that RCM waits and checks whether Replication Server has completed processing the batch of switch active commands issued. Once the switch active command is issued, RCM checks the status of the switch active command for SWITCH_ACTIVE_INTERVAL in seconds.	`60`	The default is `60` seconds. The minimum is `1` second.
SWITCH_USERS	Determines whether or not the RCM switches the connections in the OpenSwitch server from active to standby after switching the Replication Server. If this parameter is set to 0 (false), the RCM does not switch the end users, enabling you to fail over manually. If not switched, the state of the active Adaptive Server in the OpenSwitch remains LOCKED.	`0` (false)	`1` (true)
TIMER_INTERVAL	The number of seconds the RCM waits between server pings and monitoring commands. For example, if MONITOR_WAIT = 300 and TIMER_INTERVAL = 5, then the RCM issues the monitor command every 5 seconds for 5 minutes or until the switch active command completes at the Replication Server. The TIMER_INTERVAL must be less than both the FAILOVER_WAIT and MONITOR_WAIT parameters.	`10`	`5`