Enabling hard link support for NFS after applying OES NetWare SP1 (NetWare 6.5 SP4).

  • 3160882
  • 16-Oct-2006
  • 26-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell NetWare 6.5
Novell NetWare NFS Server (XNFS.NLM)

Situation

NFS client processes failing after OES NetWare SP1 is applied.
NFS client processes which rely on creating new hard links fail after OES NetWare SP1 is applied.
Enabling hard link support for NFS after applying OES NetWare SP1 (NetWare 6.5 SP4) or higher.

Resolution

The method of supporting hard links changed in OES NetWare SP1. To enable hard link support, use the following guidelines:
1. At the client that is mounting the NFS share, use of NFS v3. NetWare NFS allows hard links in NFS v3 but is not expected to support hard links in NFS v2 until NetWare 6.5 SP6.

2. To be able to create hard links on OES NetWare SP1 or NetWare 6.5 SP4, the NSS media format needs to be converted from "beast2" to "beast3". Once an NSS volume is converted to the new media format, it cannot be migrated back. So the following steps are strongly recommended:

a. Make sure that all NetWare services are working as expected after OES SP1 / NW 6.5 SP4. Once the media format is changed on a volume, the server cannot simply be rolled back to the previous support pack.

b. Make sure to have a complete backup of the volume(s) to be converted. The only way to get back to a previous media format is to delete the volume, create a new one under theold media format, and restore.

c. For more details and for instructions to migrate the media format and enable hard link support on a volume or volumes, refer to NSS section of the OES SP1 Online Documentation. The NetWare 6.5 documentation will not have this information, as that documentation only goes up to NetWare 6.5 SP3. For documentation purposes, NetWare 6.5 SP4 should be treated as OES NetWare SP1. The two sections to carefully become familiar with are "Upgrading the Media Format for OES SP1 and NetWare 6.5 SP4" and "Managing Hard Links."

Additional Information


Formerly known as TID# 10099471