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NLM Party

What about the NLMs that Novell doesn’t provide? In other words, what about third-party NLMs? Examples of these include backup software, network card drivers, software metering programs, and server-level virus protection programs. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t go for nit-picky record keeping, then keeping track of these revision levels will be a nightmare for you. This is particularly true if you have multiple servers in the mix and have multiple folks working on these servers; you never know if someone has updated one server but not the other.


Figure 13.2  Getting a list of modules from an IntranetWare 4.11 server.


If this seems like a lot of work to do manually, you’re right! Go download (for free) the CONFIG.NLM tool (along with the Config Reader) from Novell’s site:

http://support.novell.com

CONFIG.NLM reads the configuration of your server and writes a CONFIG.TXT report to your SYS:SYSTEM directory (see Figure 13.3). The Windows-based Config Reader will read the output that CONFIG.NLM drops off in the system directory and process it to make it easy to read.

The Config Reader, shown in Figure 13.4, automatically downloads current information from the Novell Web site and then shows you an overview of your system, points out NLMs that are out of date, and automates the comparison of two given servers. This makes it much easier for you to see how one server differs from another.



Figure 13.3  CONFIG.NLM must be loaded on each server before you can use the Config Reader.


Figure 13.4  The Windows-based Config Reader makes it easy to find out “which of these things are not like the other.”

Accordingly, when you’re having problems with one server but not another, you must play the Sesame Street game and compare NLM levels. You can do this manually by typing modules at the server console prompt (see Figure 13.2).

Directory Doldrums


Actually, any program that depends on the NDS can be affected by NDS damage or corruption. This includes—but isn’t limited to—print server programs, virus protection programs, automated rollout tools, workstation management tools, and so on.

Although NDS is a wonderful thing, sometimes communication problems or hardware problems that have nothing to do with the NDS itself can cause damage to it. This damage can become evident in a number of ways—most notably with problems that have to do with logging in, as well as problems with security levels once you are logged in.

You can fix many NDS problems simply by typing

LOAD DSREPAIR

at the console prompt and then selecting Unattended Full Repair from the menu (see Figure 13.5).


Figure 13.5  Like ScanDisk for your hard drive, DSRepair.NLM will fix many NDS problems.


Running DSREPAIR couldn’t hurt in many situations, and it allows you to rule out NDS damage when dealing with a complex problem.


Again, make sure you are running the latest Novell patches—many odd NDS problems have been fixed.

Your “Friend,” the ABEND

If you’ve run Novell products for any length of time, you know how aggravating it can be to get an ABEND. An ABEND, short for abnormal end, is when the server can’t handle a situation that has arisen and must terminate its operation because data might get corrupted otherwise. It’s a difficult call—would you rather continue working and risk data corruption, or would you rather be down?

What causes an ABEND? In a nutshell, hardware problems and software problems cause ABENDs. It’s understandable that a bad CPU or bad memory could take down the entire server—after all, without good memory or a working CPU, it’s sort of hard to run programs. But why should one program (such as your Web server program, for example) cause the entire server to go down? Fortunately, the latest Novell server software has started to make distinctions as to what constitutes a major problem versus a minor one.


Novell called the 4.11 version of its NetWare operating system IntraNetWare to emphasize the intranet services included with the product. The 5.0 version has dropped the Intra and is, once again, NetWare. Don’t ask me, man, I didn’t do it!

This is actually one of the really good reasons to upgrade from an earlier version of NetWare to the current versions, IntraNetWare 4.11 or NetWare 5.0.

Novell now classifies applications in two different ways:

  Applications that use the same memory and so on that the server program uses (dangerous, but fast).
  Applications that use a special protected mode where the amount of damage they can do to the server itself if they misbehave is minimized (slower, but safer). (Think of this as the rock climber who climbs bare-handed—and quickly—versus the rock climber using pitons, who is slower but safer.)


If you’re still on a lower level of NetWare, or even if you’ve upgraded to IntraNetWare, you might have hardware-related ABENDs, or ABENDs due to software that isn’t running in a protected domain. Refer to Novell TID (Technical Information Document) #2917538 or just do a search on ABEND Troubleshoot at the Knowledge Base (http://support.novell.com). It’s very well worth your time.

Novell calls the latter way “running a program in a different domain,” but whatever it’s called, it’s a lot more reliable, and it’s automatic in the latest releases. I don’t know of anyone who will complain because the server runs two percent slower due to its increased reliability.


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