Troubleshooting Mastership Requests


This section describes commands you can use to troubleshoot failed mastership requests, and lists error messages and their meanings.

Troubleshooting Commands

To determine which replica masters a branch or branch type:

To determine whether a mastership request will succeed:

To list the event history of a branch or branch type and determine who has requested its mastership, use the lshistory –minor –fmt command:

cleartool lshistory –min –fmt "%n\t%o\n%c" file.fm@@/main 
file.fm@@/main chmaster
Reqmaster changed master replica from "boston_hub" to "buenosaires".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\fangio" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"mardelplata"
file.fm@@/main chmaster
Reqmaster changed master replica from "tokyo" to "boston_hub".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\susan" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"minuteman"
file.fm@@/main chmaster
Reqmaster changed master replica from "bangalore" to "tokyo".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\masako" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"shinjuku"
file.fm@@/main chmaster
Reqmaster changed master replica from "sanfran_hub" to "bangalore".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\kumar" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"ramohalli"
...
cleartool lshistory –min –fmt "%n\t%o\n%c" brtype:main@/vobs/doc 
main chmaster 
Reqmaster changed master replica from "sanfran_hub" to "boston_hub".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\susan" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"minuteman"
main chmaster 
Reqmaster changed master replica from "tokyo" to "sanfran_hub".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\jcole" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"goldengate"
main chmaster 
Reqmaster changed master replica from "bangalore" to "tokyo".
Requester: user "PURPLEDOC\masako" in domain "PURPLEDOC" on host 
"shinjuku"
... 

Status Messages

Table 15 describes error messages you may see when you enable or disable requests at the replica level, work with the ACL, and allow or deny requests at the branch type or branch level. Table 16 describes error messages associated with mastership requests.

Errors that occur during the mastership request process, including errors that occur during the synchronization export, are written to the msadm log file. To view it, use the cleartool getlog command or the ClearCase Administration Console (Windows).

Table 15 Error Messages from Mastership Request Management Operations
Message
Meaning of message and action to take
Could not check Request for 
Mastership permissions.
The process that checks the ACL could not determine whether you have read or write permissions on the ACL. Check the msadm and albd log files on the client and server hosts and try the command again later.
Could not edit Request Mastership 
ACL.
You do not have permission to edit the ACL.
To edit the ACL, you must be VOB owner, root (UNIX), a member of the ClearCase administrators group (Windows), or have write permission on the ACL.
Could not get Request Mastership 
ACL.
Your client computer could not retrieve the ACL from the VOB server host. There may be a network connection problem. Check the msadm and albd log files on the client and server hosts and try the command again later.
Could not resolve object 
'object-identifier'.
The command could not find the object. Check the spelling and syntax of the object selector. In a dynamic view context, mount the VOB and try the command again.
Object must be a branch or branch 
type.
Specify a branch or branch type.
Examples of branch specifications:
/vobs/dev/acc.c@@/main (UNIX)
\doc\stage.pl@@\main\debug (Windows)
Examples of branch type specifications:
brtype:main
brtype:boston_main@/vobs/dev (UNIX)
brtype:v1.0_bugfix@\tests (Windows)
Request for mastership ACL 
operations on multiple replicas are 
not allowed.
Specify only one VOB selector.
The specified selector must be a 
VOB selector.
Specify a VOB selector. For example:
vob:/vobs/dev (UNIX)
vob:\tests (Windows)
Request for mastership ACL 
operations require a VOB-selector 
argument.
The VOB family feature level is too 
low to enable requests for 
mastership.
The VOB family feature level is less than 2.
If all replicas in the VOB family are at feature level 2 or greater, raise the family feature level.
If any replica in the VOB family has a feature level less than 2, ask the administrator of that replica to upgrade to a newer version of Rational ClearCase (if necessary), raise the feature level of the replica, and send an update packet to the sibling replicas. Then raise the family feature level.
This replica does not master its 
replica object.
A replica must be self-mastering for you to enable requests for mastership in that replica. See Transferring Mastership of a Replica Object.
This replica does not master the 
branch.
For you to allow or deny mastership requests for a branch, your current replica must master the branch.
Determine which replica masters the branch and ask the administrator of the replica to change mastership of the branch to your replica.
This replica does not master the 
branch type.
For you to allow or deny mastership requests for a branch type, your current replica must master the branch type.
Determine which replica masters the branch type and ask the administrator of the replica to change mastership of the branch type to your replica.
You cannot specify -instances with 
the -enable option.
To enable requests at the replica level, use the –enable option and specify a VOB selector. To deny or allow requests for all instances of a branch type, use the –deny or –allow option with the –instances option and specify a branch type selector.

Table 16 Error Messages from Mastership Requests
Message
Meaning of message and action to take
An error at the sibling replica 
prevented the request for 
mastership.
The error cannot be specified. Try the request again later. If the request continues to fail, ask the administrator of the master replica to check the ClearCase and MultiSite log files.
At least one checkout prevents the 
request.
There is a blocking checkout on the branch being requested or on an instance of the branch type being requested. Try the request again later. If the request continues to fail, ask the user at the sibling replica to check in the element.
Could not resolve object 
'object-identifier'.
The command could not find the object. Check the spelling and syntax of the object selector.
Incompatible versions of ClearCase 
software and/or databases
Your client host is running a later major version of ClearCase than the replica that masters the branch or branch type. Regular ClearCase client/server compatibility rules apply to mastership requests.
Locks at the sibling replica 
prevented the request for 
mastership.
A request for mastership fails if the branch or branch type is locked at the master replica. Ask the administrator of the master replica to unlock the branch or branch type.
Note: The reqmaster command does not check the –nusers list associated with the lock, so a request for mastership will fail even if you are on the –nusers list.
Requests are denied for all objects 
mastered by the sibling replica.
Mastership requests are not enabled for the replica. Ask the administrator of the master replica of the branch or branch type to enable mastership requests at the replica level.
Requests are denied for all objects 
of the given type.
Mastership requests are denied for all instances of the branch type. Ask the administrator of the master replica of the branch to use reqmaster –allow –instances or the Properties Browser (Windows) to allow requests for all instances.
Requests are denied for the object.
Mastership requests are denied for the branch or branch type. Ask the administrator of the master replica to use reqmaster –allow or the Properties Browser (Windows) to allow requests for the branch or branch type.
Requests for mastership can be made 
only for branches and branch types.
You must specify a branch or branch type in the reqmaster command.
Examples of branch specifications:
/vobs/dev/acc.c@@/main (UNIX)
\doc\stage.pl@@\main\debug (Windows)
Examples of branch type specifications:
brtype:main
brtype:boston_main@/vobs/dev (UNIX)
brtype:v1.0_bugfix@\tests (Windows)
Requests for mastership of UCM 
objects are not supported.
You cannot request mastership of a branch or branch type associated with a UCM stream.
The object is not a branch or a 
branch type.
You must specify a branch or branch type in the reqmaster command.
Examples of branch specifications:
/vobs/dev/acc.c@@/main (UNIX)
\doc\stage.pl@@\main\debug (Windows)
Examples of branch type specifications:
brtype:main
brtype:boston_main@/vobs/dev (UNIX)
brtype:v1.0_bugfix@\tests (Windows)
The object is already mastered by 
replica 'replica-selector'.
Your current replica already masters the requested object.
The object was not found at the 
sibling replica. This may indicate 
that the replicas are not in sync.
Your current replica has more up-to-date information than other replicas in the VOB family. Ask the administrator of the current replica to do both of the following things:
  • Verify that no update packets are waiting to be imported at other replicas in the VOB family.
  • Send update packets more frequently. (Frequent exchange of packets means that replicas have up-to-date information about the state of other replicas.)
The sibling replica does not master 
the object.
Your current replica has out-of-date information about the mastership of the object. Ask the administrator of the current replica to do both of the following things:
  • Verify that no update packets are waiting to be imported at your current replica or the sibling replica.
  • Send update packets more frequently. (Frequent exchange of packets means that replicas have up-to-date information about the state of other replicas.)
You do not have permission to 
request mastership from the sibling 
replica.
You are not included on the replica’s access control list. Ask the administrator of the sibling replica to use reqmaster –acl –get to display the access control list and check the following things:
  • Spelling of user and domain names
  • All variants of the domain name are included
  • User’s access level