Environment
Novell NetWare 6.5 Support Pack 5
Novell Modular Authentication Service (NMAS)
Situation
On an NetWare FTP server with no replica, FTP login attempts experience long delays after the password is entered, sometimes long enough for the client to timeout and disconnect before the authentication finishes.
Security Services 2.0.2 update was recently installed.
Resolution
Some recent changes in NMAS (distributed in the Security Services updates) are now intercepting certain server based login methods (including those used by NWFTPD.NLM) which did not previously use NMAS. If no replica is present, a severe delay can occur. Even if NMAS isn't specifically set up for the user accounts involved, these delays can occur.
A fix is available in NetWare 6.5 SP6.
NOTE: Other issues have been discovered in NMAS which can effect FTP. The overall recommendation is to use NetWare 6.5 SP8 plus NMAS patch 3.3.1.3 or higher. The NMAS patch can be found at: