Administering the Systems file

The retry interval

The retry interval specifies the minimum amount of time (in minutes) that uusched(1Mbnu) should wait before retrying a failed transmission. You can specify the retry interval using the Dialup Systems Manager.

By default, UUCP uses a method called exponential backoff to allow retry of failed calls. UUCP does not allow another call to go through until after the retry time has elapsed. This interval expands exponentially as the number of unsuccessful attempts increases. The retry interval overrides the exponential backoff algorithm. If you set the retry interval to 9, for example, UUCP allows another attempt to connect 9 minutes after each failure.

NOTE: UUCP does not automatically try a failed call again. You must have polling set up as described on the Poll(4bnu) manual page, and in ``Automated networking maintenance (cron)'', or manually invoke uucico(1Mbnu). Any files not transferred due to a connection failure are transferred at the next successful connection to that system.

A shorter retry time is usually specified for direct links than for dial-up links. If the retry interval is too short, then the maximum number of retries may be reached before the remote computer comes back online.