HMC Mathematics Computing Weblog

In the process of cleaning up the path for most users, I inadvertantly left most people using the java and similar scripts installed by the libgcj package. As those scripts don't actually do anything, that situation wasn't ideal. ;-)

I've added some code to the global.tcshrc and global.cshrc files, so you should now have /shared/local/java/bin added to your path if you're using the tcsh. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about here, then you are using the tcsh and shouldn't have to do anything.) If you're using another shell, you're already having to massage your path; you're welcome to take a look at the global.tcshrc file (which is in ~setup/global.tcshrc) to see how my code works.

The longer term solution, I think, is to figure out how to add the /shared/local/java binaries to the alternatives system such that they're used in preference to the libgcj scripts, but have a lower priority (and are replaced by) the binaries from a locally installed Java package.

Late last week F&M was able to take a look at our machine-room air conditioning. It turned out that there was a loose wire in the thermostat that was periodically breaking contact and resetting the system. (At a guess, it's possible that as the room cooled down, the wire contracted and broke contact. Once the room warmed up again, the wire expanded and the system worked again.)

Whatever the exact details were, the air conditioning is now running again, and I have restarted the Amber cluster. Please let me know if you have any issues with the cluster.

In related news, I have swapped out the thermally compromised drive from our backup array with a new drive I'd purchased for that purpose a few months ago. The array is now working as expected, as is our disk-based backup system.