Auto Start FMS Services...

[digitaljunkie]

I recently read about how its bad practice to have FMS autostart on restart or login.

Two questions to follow this up if I may...

1) How do I stop a FileMaker Server from doing so if I set it up to do so initially, as I can't find this in the FMS preferences or settings.

2) Where can I read more about this or the post? or could someone explain why its bad practice to do so.

Thanks

[Vaughan]

It's only bad because after a power failure or some unexpected interruption, the files will automatically become available again *before somebody has checked whether they are OK*.

The other reason is that it takes time to start/stop the FMS service and open/close the files -- sometimes several minutes, but the shutdown peocess often only allows 45 seconds timeout before killing-off processes. I had a corporate client whose server was set to auto-start FMS, and it was also set up to auto-install OS updates pushed down from ther IT division. One update was followed by another, so the machine was restarting itself every minute or so for a couple of minutes. It toasted the hosted files.

Do a search on the FMI web site, in the Tech Info database.

[digitaljunkie]

ok found it you need to log into FMS Admin from the local server itself, the tool is under the Server>Local FileMaker Server Administration Menu item (In case anyone else needs to know)

I am pretty sure its a wrapper for a command line fix, if anyone knows how to do this via SSH would be good as would be ten times quicker than cracking open a VPN + RDC session to each remote server and doing it.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

From the Terminal:

fmserver_helperd stop

fmserverd stop

There are corresponding start commands.

There are different commands for the Web Publishing Engine.

Steven

[digitaljunkie]

Hi Steven,

Thanks for that.

Also is there CL command for permanently stopping the daemon from auto-starting on a restart.

[John May - Point In Space]

I don't understand this thread. FileMaker Server performs a consistency check on files when it starts up, and does not open them if they are damaged.

So, just make sure you don't have any silly situation like Vaughan described (with the auto-system-updates) and you should be fine with FMS auto-starting on system startup.

Or am I missing something here?

- John

P.S. I don't think there's any command-line command to change the auto-startup preference. However, you could shell script moving the StartupItems out of the /Library/StartupItems/ directory if you're determined to do what you're attempting.

[digitaljunkie]

I don't understand this thread. FileMaker Server performs a consistency check on files when it starts up, and does not open them if they are damaged.

Or am I missing something here?

Well kind of, after lengthy research on my behalf it seems that even though FMS performs a consistency check this is definately not to gospel or acurate as with any form of corruption in the extreme or most severest of instances may not be noticed until much further down the line, sometimes months of development later.

Corruption it would appear can take two basic forms

1) Data the data becomes corrupt.

2) Structural Object Based Corruption, where the actual data wrapper or platform structure becomes corrupt, as filemaker is file (object) based in that everything usually is contained in one file (Data, Structure, Scripts, Model, Definitions etc etc) there is a lot more room for unknown corruption.

Even myself have experienced corruption from a basic VPN disconnect whilst in scripts.

It is in this instance that best practice dictates you should roll back to your last available backup or take the database(s) offline and check them locally in FMP itself.

As I am relatively new to FMS I was unware that it consistency checking when automated with no human verification will always lead to possible omitted errors, as far a I see it no device is intelligent enough to check consistency of itself unless it has a 100% pure copy to check itself against.

Thinking on reflection this stands to reason anyhow that FMS can only check consistency against what it knows to be a consistent structure many things may 'seem' consistent but actually not be, for example missing relationships, corrupt tables or fields etc etc.

So in future if a remote server restarts without my intervention I want to or at least have someone check over the hosted FileMaker files on that machine before allowing users back in.

Hopefully I have summed up what others have spoken about in more detail in a readable and correct way?

Edited May 11, 2007 by Guest

[Steven H. Blackwell]

OK, in OS X there is an option in the SAT Tool for telling which of the daemons to auto-start on machine start. I recommend that only the helper daemon be told to start in that fashion.

Steven