IJ25977: INCOMPATIBILITY AT CYGWIN VERSION 3.1.5 CAUSES MMFSD START FAIL

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• Cygwin version 3.1.5 released on June 1, 2020, has
  changed its implementation of symlinks.
  
  Please see Cygwin FAQ
  (https://cygwin.com/faq.html#faq.api.symlinks).
  Due to this change, GPFS on Windows fails to interpret
  the new format of Cygwin symlinks. This results in errors
  during the GPFS daemon startup, specifically in its
  attempt to load the authorized public key.
  
  Reported in:
  
  Spectrum Scale 5.0.2-2 , but problem belongs to all
  supported Spectrum Scale versions
  from IBM Spectrum Scale V4.2.x through V5.0.5 on Windows
  nodes
  
  Known Impact:
  
  Spectrum Scale fails to start after Cygwin 3.1.5 is
  installed
  
  2020-06-04_13:55:49.074+0200: [I] Initializing the
  cluster manager ...
  2020-06-04_13:55:49.080+0200: [E] Unable to load my
  committed public key.
  2020-06-04_13:55:49.080+0200: GPFS: 6027-311 [N] mmfsd is
  shutting down.
  2020-06-04_13:55:49.080+0200: [N] Reason for shutdown:
  Could not initialize cluster config.
  
  Verification steps:
  
  check mmfs.log for errmsg
  [E] Unable to load my committed public key.
  
  and check if Cygwin version 3.1.5 is installed
  
  Recovery action:
  
  go back to to Cygwin version 3.1.4.
  This can be accomplished during Cygwin setup.
  After choosing all necessary packages on the "Cygwin
  Setup - Select Packages" screen,
  change View to "Category" or "Pending".
  
  Expand All->Base and navigate to "cygwin".
  
  If it shows 3.1.5-1 (or higher), then from the drop-down
  list, select 3.1.4-1.
  Click on Next and proceed with the rest of the Install.
  

Local fix

Problem summary

• Cygwin version 3.1.5 released on
  June 1, 2020, has changed its
  implementation of symlinks. Cygwin symlinks
  are now Windows reparse points
  instead of the older-style system file
  with header. Due to this change,
  GPFS on Windows fails to interpret the new
  Cygwin symlinks. This results in
  errors during the GPFS daemon startup,
  specifically in its attempt to
  load the authorized public key
  

Problem conclusion

• Benefits of the solution:
  Fix issues when starting Spectrum Scale on Windows.
  Work Around:
  Revert to older level of Cygwin (version 3.1.4 or earlier).
  Problem trigger:
  Upgrade to Cygwin version 3.1.5 (or later).
  Symptom:
  Abend/Crash.
  Platforms affected: Windows.
  Functional Area affected: Windows.
  Customer Impact: High Importance.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

  IJ25579

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  GPFS NR POWER E

• Fixed component ID

  5725Q01NP

Applicable component levels