File names are changed from lower- to uppercase in NCP server cache

  • 7012068
  • 03-Apr-2013
  • 03-Apr-2013

Environment

Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2) Linux Support Pack 3

Situation

On NSS volumes that are mounted using the 'Long' name space, where users store their data, there are also several processes accessing data such as Mainframe, and an FTP process.

It was witnessed that after a number of weeks, the case for certain file names had spontaneously changed from lowercase to uppercase (as viewed via the Novell client), whereas the actual file names on disk remained having the proper case.
The filename change is case is problematic for the processes that manipulated its data.

Resolution

The problem has been reported to engineering and will be resolved in a future support pack.

Code analysis suspects the problem to be with NCP server cache, causing files to be incorrectly displayed by the Novell client (since the actual file name and case on disk remained unchanged).

The first time every file is accessed, that file is being cached in NCP server. If for some reason (that is currently being investigated), the NCP server cache is populated with the file name having the wrong case, on subsequent access off the file the wrong case will be displayed.

Cause

During code analysis, a possible problem was found with NCP 89/06 (Obtain File or SubDirectory Information) when a 'dir' command was issued with a file as argument, and the argument was provided in the wrong case. This action causes the NCP server cache to be getting populated with the incorrect case.

In-house attempts of the problem duplication for this issue revealed another possible scenario with NCP 89/03 (Search for File or SubDirectory) where a 'dir /s' command was issued with a file name as argument.

Additional Information

An FTF with a potential solution is currently being verified.