How to Check the GroupWise Timestamp

  • 7020801
  • 28-Oct-2009
  • 29-Aug-2017

Environment

Retain
Reload

Situation

How do you check the SmartPurge or the Retention timestamp on GroupWise for both on Linux and NetWare?

Resolution


Reload uses the GroupWise SmartPurge feature and Retain leverages the GroupWise Retention Services feature.

SmartPurge

This feature prevents users from emptying items from their trash until Reload has completed a backup containing those items.  After Reload backs up the Post Office, it leaves a "backup" timestamp on each of the backed up user databases that corresponds to beginning of the Reload backup (minus 2 minutes).   Any new messages that come into the mailbox after the beginning of the Reload job cannot be emptied from trash until the next backup job has completed.

For more information on setup and configuration of the Smartpurge feature used by Reload please consult the Reload documentation provided to you in the software download.

Reload does not have a timestamp utility of its own for checking the "backup time" setting on a user database, so to check the timestamp on the GroupWise system for the users, use the GroupWise timestamp utility called "gwtmstmp".

GroupWise Retention Services

This feature operates in a very similar fashion, not allowing any items newer than the digest retention time to be emptied from trash.  Retain leverages that feature by setting the digest retention time on a user database to the date/time of the latest item in the mailbox to be archived.  If there are errors on any items for a given mailbox where the item or one of its attachments could not be archived for some reason, Retain will not advance the digest retention time past the oldest item on which there was an error.

Retain, unlike Reload, provides that functionality on a single user basis right within the RetainServer UI.  To see the timestamps for any given user, log into the RetainServer web interface, click on the "bug" icon at the upper-left corner of the UI, and click on the "Retention Date Utility" at the bottom of that screen.  That utility also allows you to set the timestamp.  See the Retain User Administration Guide for more details.

However, if you wish to see the timestamp for all user databases at once, you would need to run the aforementioned GroupWise timestamp utility.


GWTMSTMP Instructions:

Linux

1.  Open up a terminal prompt  and navigate to the /opt/novell/groupwise/agents/bin directory on the GroupWise post office.

2.  Type ./gwtmstmp -p /[full path to the PO directory]

This will show you a list of the users and their timestamps on their user databases:


 

3.  To see what it is set to for a single user:  ./gwtmstmp -p /[full path to the PO directory] -u [userid]

4.  To see additional options for gwtmstmp, just run it without any options and a help screen will appear:  ./gwtmpstmp
 

Novell NetWare


1.  The GWMTMSTP.NLM is located the same location as the GroupWise agent nlms.

2.  Go into the system console screen and type: gwtmstmp -p /vol1:/[full path to the PO directory]

3.  Right after you run this jump into the logger screen and you can see the timestamps for all of the users in the post office.

Navigate to the logger screen and you will be able to see the timestamp for all of the users in the post office.

4.  gwtmstmp -p /vol1:/[full path to the PO directory] /u-[userid]


For additional information on checking timestamps on a GroupWise system, please refer to Novell documentation.



Using gwtmstmp to Change the Timestamp


Warning: Changing the timestamp to a time beyond the last time Retain archived can result in data loss. Confirm that messages are in Retain before changing the timestamp.

For additional information on changing the timestamp on a GroupWise system, please refer to Novell's documentation.

./gwtmstmp -p /[POST_OFFICE_DIRECTORY] -u [USER_NAME] -n -s -m [TIME_YOU_WANT_IT_SET_TO_IN_UNIX_TIMESTAMP]

for example: ./gwtmstmp -p /groupwise/po/cars/ -u mater -n -s -m 123456789

You will want a time over an hour (4,000 seconds) to about a day (100,000 seconds) from the current incorrect timestamp setting so Retain recognizes that the timestamp has changed has changed.

Here is a UNIX epoch timestamp converter.

See Also:

How To Clear Modified Digest Retention Timestamps

Additional Information

This article was originally published in the GWAVA knowledgebase as article ID 1514.