Novell Enterprise Linux Server Install and Migration Notes

Novell NetWare 5.1 to Novell Enterprise Linux (OES2) migration scenario: The idea is to add new OES2 server to the existing NetWare 5.1 tree, add replica of the tree, transfer data files from storage volumes and then remove old NetWare 5.1 server.


Notes are for this version of Novell Linux:
# cat /etc/novell-release
Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (x86_64)
VERSION = 11.1
PATCHLEVEL = 1

Note #1

Updates - you need your registration codes and email address so you can use online updates and install from online repositories. YAST -> Software Management -> Configuration -> Online Update. This will launch browser and lead you to novell site where you need to enter your registration email/codes so the server can be authenticated as licensed one. If everything is ok the new repositories will be added automatically.

Note #2

Time between all servers in the tree must me synchronized. Use same time server for both servers.

Note #3

If you get error about Secure LDAP connection with Novell NetWare 5.x you need to generate valid certificate for Secure LDAP on NetWare with ConsoleOne app.

Note #4

"This user does not have the correct credentials to authenticate to the CIMOM client."
You get this error when trying to add the new server to existing tree. This is bug in installation process. The Unix Config Object which is needed to map users between eDirectory and linux/unix workstation/servers is not created in installation process. Solution is to remove /etc/nam.conf file and recreate it with namconfig.

# rm -f /etc/nam.conf
# namconfig add -a cn=admin,o=company_ltd -r o=company_ltd -w ou=servers,o=company_ltd -S 192.168.20.5:389 -l 636
Enter the admin(cn=admin,o=company_ltd) password:

namconfig.getSchemaName: schema name = cn=schema
NAM Schema is extended successfully.
NAM Unique id schema is already extended.
uidNumber and gidNumber attribute indices already exist in the LDAP server
Creating the Unix Config object...done.
Creating the Unix Workstation object...done.
Adding the workstation context...done.
Stopping the service 'namcd'...done.
Stopping the service 'nscd'...done.
Starting the service 'namcd'... Done.
Starting the service 'nscd'... Done.
Configure done successfully.

Now you can use iManager to enable users for linux (Linux User Management -> Enable Users for Linux)

Note #5

Removing the tree

# ndsconfig rm -a cn=adminuser.o=admincontext

Now start YAST and use OES Installation and Configuration utility to add it to the existing tree.

Note #6

OES Installation and Configuration utility won't start
This is known bug. Use command line to start what you need:

# yast edirectory

or you can see what options you have with the command:

# yast --list
Available modules:
add-on
add-on-creator
apparmor
arkmanager
audit-laf
autofs
autoyast
backup
bootloader
ca_mgm
checkmedia
common_cert
dhcp-server
dirinstall
disk
dns-server
dsl
edirectory
fingerprint-reader
.....

You can also use yast2 (graphical interface) in the same way.

Note #7

Adding replica to the newly connected server
Open your iManager with a browser, login to old server and then add the replica:

Partitions and Replica Management -> Replica View

Enter tree name: .YourTreeName. and hit OK. Now you can see your servers and replicas. Use the "Add Replica" button. If you get an error try using 'ndsrepair' on all servers and then try again.

Note #8

You can use miggui tool to transfer existing files/services to the new server but if you have files in cyrillic or in some other encoding created in the old days when nobody cared about encodings this tool won't work.

Debian GNU/Linux mounting Novell NetWare volumes

This is example of mounting Novell NetWare 5.1 partitions with Debian GNU/Linux (in this case - unstable with kernel 3.2.0).

First we need ncpfs package.

# apt-get install ncpfs

Then we need ncpfs module in kernel (it comes with debian kernel).

# modprobe ncpfs

Novell Context is support.gabrovo.hq
Username is niki
Server IP address is 10.1.42.24
Volume to mount is called - data

# ncpmount -o tcp -S 10.1.42.24 -A 10.1.42.24 -U niki.support.gabrovo.hq -V data /mnt/
Logging into 10.1.42.24 as NIKI.SUPPORT.GABROVO.HQ
Password:
# ls -la /mnt/
total 5
drwxr-xr-x  1 root root  512 Jan  1  1986 .
drwxr-xr-x 24 root root 4096 Mar  7 14:12 ..
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root root  512 Mar 12 13:57 MAN

# df -h
Filesystem                                              Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
rootfs                                                  389G   23G  362G   6% /
udev                                                     10M     0   10M   0% /dev
tmpfs                                                   596M  848K  595M   1% /run
/dev/disk/by-uuid/2e00092b-1986-4e86-9887-996ff2949e05  389G  23G  362G   6% /
tmpfs                                                   5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
tmpfs                                                   3.4G  172K  3.4G   1% /run/shm
10.1.42.24/NIKI.SUPPORT.GABROVO.HQ                               137G 132G  4.9G  97% /mnt

Mount options and what they mean as follow:
-o tcp - use tcp (or -o udp)
-S 10.1.42.24 - server name/ip address.
-A 10.1.42.24 - which server to ask for name addresses.
-U niki.support.gabrovo.hq - niki is the user name and support.gabrovo.hq is context tree.
-V data - name of the volume to mount - "data".

If you did something wrong when mounting you can clear all your connections to novell with the following command:

# ncplogout -a