Environment
Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2)
Novell Storage Services (NSS)
Novell Core Protocol (NCP)
Novell Storage Services (NSS)
Novell Core Protocol (NCP)
Situation
At times it can appear that files do not keep their current case or that the case changes randomly between upper and lower case when accessing NSS volumes via the NCP Client.
Resolution
The default name space for NSS volumes under Open Enterprise Server (OES) Linux is LONG which is not case sensitive, if it is desired for the NSS file system to behave the same as other Linux file systems, change the name space for the NSS volume to UNIX.
To change the name space for a volume do the following:
1. From the command line enter NSSMU
2. Select the "Volumes" option from the main menu
3. Highlight the volume in question and press F9
4. From the list of name spaces select "Unix"
In a cluster environment there is an additional consideration that needs to be taken into account with regards to the cluster load scripts. The name space then needs to also be specified on the "ncpcon mount" line, for example to specify the UNIX name space: ncpcon mount /opt=ns=unix <VOLUMENAME>=<VOLUMEID>. For additional information see the Online Documentation.
To change the name space for a volume do the following:
1. From the command line enter NSSMU
2. Select the "Volumes" option from the main menu
3. Highlight the volume in question and press F9
4. From the list of name spaces select "Unix"
In a cluster environment there is an additional consideration that needs to be taken into account with regards to the cluster load scripts. The name space then needs to also be specified on the "ncpcon mount" line, for example to specify the UNIX name space: ncpcon mount /opt=ns=unix <VOLUMENAME>=<VOLUMEID>. For additional information see the Online Documentation.
Additional Information
Note that "case insensitive" means that with the LONG name space, NSS does not allow two files with the same name in the same directory but only with a different case eg. "MyFile" and "myfile".
The NCP engine (which runs as part of the e-Directory NDSD service) is case sensitive and when a user changes the case of a file via NCP, it will appear as if this change is saved. NCP will actually in the background attempt to have the change made on the NSS file system but this will not succeed if the name space is set to LONG. The actual file on the NSS volume will therefor retain its original case and this can be seen by listing the file directly from the server command line.
Taking the above into account and because of the NCP cache, the file in cache will show the case change and from the client side it will appear as if the change was successful, showing a difference between the case of the file via NCP and directly from the server console. When the NCP cache is refreshed or cleared (NDSD restart or server restart etc.) the file will then again be visible from the client in it's original case as it is stored on the NSS volume.
The NCP engine (which runs as part of the e-Directory NDSD service) is case sensitive and when a user changes the case of a file via NCP, it will appear as if this change is saved. NCP will actually in the background attempt to have the change made on the NSS file system but this will not succeed if the name space is set to LONG. The actual file on the NSS volume will therefor retain its original case and this can be seen by listing the file directly from the server command line.
Taking the above into account and because of the NCP cache, the file in cache will show the case change and from the client side it will appear as if the change was successful, showing a difference between the case of the file via NCP and directly from the server console. When the NCP cache is refreshed or cleared (NDSD restart or server restart etc.) the file will then again be visible from the client in it's original case as it is stored on the NSS volume.