Moving the placement of the eDirectory roll forward logs ( rfls )

Document ID:3668229
Creation Date:21-Feb-2007
Modified Date:11-Apr-2014
- Micro Focus Products:
  eDirectory

Environment

Novell eDirectory 8.8 for All Platforms
Novell eDirectory 8.7.3 for All Platforms

Situation

Moving the placement of the eDirectory roll forward logs
Volume on which the eDirectory dib files directory resides is filling up
Wanting redundancy for the eDirectory roll forward logs
Error: -723 or -785 when bringing up eDirectory

Resolution

eDirectory always utilizes roll forward logs to ensure database consistency. When the roll forward logs are turned either thru the eBox client or iManager this simply means that in addition to normal database transaction activity all changes from the last backup will be saved there as well. Novell recommends that when doing so these files be on a different hard drive than the one containing the dib directory for two reasons:

1. These files continue to grow until the next backup or all space has been used, whichever comes first. They, by default, will span up to 100mb with the name equal to 00000000.rfl. Once this size is reached a new rfl is created, 00000001.rfl, it is made active and the process continues. The now inactive log can now be stored off-site.

2. To restore a previous backup all rfl's must be present on the drive. The current rfl cannot be copied or moved. Therefore if the rfls are on the same drive as the dib directory and that drive is lost the backups cannot verifiably be restored up to the last time the server's dib was online from the other server's perspective in the tree.

To move the location of where the rfl's are stored the following must be done:

1. EDIRECTORY SERVICES MUST FIRST BE STOPPED OR THE DS.NLM UNLOADED. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY RESULT IN -785 ERRORS AND HAVING TO REMOVE EDIRECTORY FROM THE SERVER!!!!

2. The rfl directory and the current rfl log files may then be moved to a volume on another drive. This is recommended if rfl logging is turned on for hot continuous backups!

3. The _ndsdb.ini file must be created if it does not exist or if it does changed to reflect the new location.

4. eDirectory services may then be re-started or the DS.NLM is re-loaded.

NOTE: Failure to follow these steps or deleting the file altogether can result in 723 and\or 785 errors. Often the only way to resolve this issue is to remove the server from the tree.

The _ndsdb.ini file will contain lines similar to the following. Below is a sample with an explanation of each line. At a minimum it is suggested that the last three lines be in the ini file.

cache=40960000 Maximum amount of memory to use for eDirectory cache. If this line does not exist it will run dynamically.
cacheadjustinterval=15 How often the cache size is adjusted. Only applies if running as a dynamic cache.
cachecleanupinterval=15 How often unsed old versions are removed from the cache.
blockcachepercent=50 Specifies an equal amount of memory for both the block and entry cache.
rflkeepfiles=1States that RFL logging is turned on for hot continuous backups. Set to 0 to disable.
logstreamfiles=0Stream file changes will not be logged to the RFL.
rfldirectory=vol1:rflSpecifies the volume and path for the RFL files.
preallocatecache=true Avaliable in eDirectory 8.7.3.6 and above. The amount of memory from the first line is permanently allocated from the host OS and maintained by eDirectory's flaim memory allocator.

NOTES:
If using the preallocatecache=true statement it is recommended that this be the last line. Further it MUST be followed by a carriage return due to how flaim parses the ini file.

An ini file may only contain the last statement, however, it is recommended that the last three lines be used when moving RFLs to a non-default location. At a minimum, if rfls have been enabled, the minimum statements that the ini file contains are in bold.

Should a RFL file not exist one will be created on the next transaction as long as there are no replayable records in the flaim database. If a RFL was deleted and there are playable events a call to Novell may be necessary (error: -6034) to recreate it. A blank file will not be sufficient since it does not have the neccesary header info in the first 512 bytes.

NOTE: Novell does not support the use of symlinks to specify the location of the eDirectory database or its roll forward logs (RFLs). Please use this TID for RFL's and modify the nds.conf file to specify database location, if it is not in the default location.

This shows how to manually perform this process. When eDirectory services start back up the _ndsdb.ini file is read and the new location as well as the other parameters will be read and used immediately. These steps can also be performed using the eMBox client as well if the platform is on Linux, Windows or a NetWare version 6.0 or greater. Please refer to the eDirectory documentation for more information.

Additional Information

Roll forward logs turned on for hot continuous backup.

Formerly known as TID# 10099351

Formerly known as TID# 10094854
Formerly known as TID# NOVL103916