CLEARED PUBNAMES.NTF!!! How do I recover?

[msdonb]

Somehow the pubnames.ntf file on my domino 5.0.11 e-mail server got wiped. All of the data still seems to be intact but the templates are different and the groups are missing? Is there anyway to restore that file?

 

[spi200]

Hi


The NTF file is the Template file and you can restore that from your backup tape from any date since your last upgrade as it does not change. The data is actually held in names.nsf and not the template.


Good luck

Dave

 

[msdonb]

If it is the names.nsf file that is corrupting our database, then can THAT file be restored by tape as well? The difference in file sizes between the pubnames.ntf is 4k vs 3.4MB. Is it possible that the pubnames is to blame for our issues? We're having a problem with the server locating itself (i.e. configuration). When I click to enter the Domino Administrator (from the server console), it says "Drive is not ready". It seems as if all of the server's configuration & settings were reset. Any ideas on how this could have happened/how it can be fixed? We're reluctant to reboot the server, as the domino router is still forwarding mails properly and if we reboot, it may cause some catastophic chaos. :\ Any ideas on how that pubnames.ntf could get wiped?

Additionally, when backing up a complete domino server/database, does everything need to be backed up @ one time? The mail files consume such a large amount of disk space that mail is only backed up once a week. But everything else in the domino server database, fits on less than 1gb, so it can be backed up often. My question is during a restore, will the domino server restore itself with a backup of the domino folder minus the mail files? Scenario: a backup of the /domino directory done last night, and a backup of the /mail files last thursday... will the domino server recognize the older mail files, even if the server files have been modified more recently? Will it work? Or does the backup have to be an image of the ENTIRE /domino directory? I understand that the mail would be reverted to over a week ago, but just wondering if this will work incase something goes terribly wrong?

Thanks guys, sorry for being such a newb. ]

 

[m4ilm4n]

From the "Drive not ready" and "server can't locate itself" errors I'd tend to suspect a missing or damaged notes.ini file, and you'd be right in not restarting without it - you'd be dead in the water. It gets read into memory when Domino starts; changes made to it are not applied until Domino is restarted.

Also, if the names.nsf is corrupt, you can't restore it without taking down the service - the file will be marked as "in use" while Domino is running.

 

[msdonb]

Any recommendations on how to resolve this issue? You said it could be either the notes.ini or names.nsf, but how do I restore either of these files? As in my question above, is every piece of data within the /domino directory sychronized? Or can I use different versons of different files? (i.e. mailes files with different dates than server files) What should I do? And btw, does anyone know how this could happen? The only change that was made on the server, was done from a client machine, where the user converted his own user.nsf template from the 'mail 5.0' template, to the 'inotes web access' template. This caused a database template conversion to take place on the server side, but I can't see how that could screw up our server so badly?

Thanks for the input.

 

[spi200]

Hi

I have seen problems using the administrator when the Pubnames has corrupted the names.nsf. Here is what i suggest.
1. Backup the Lotus file structure to disk elsewhere for easy rollback if it all stuffs up.
2. Restore and overwrite the pubnames.ntf that you believe is the problem from a backup tape. ie. Earlier version.
3. Open names.nsf without using the administrator. ie File- database-open and then select replace design. It will ask you for teh name of the template, so just point it to the pubnames.ntf you restored.
4. Close names.nsf
5. Open Administrator and check that the problems have been resolved.
6. Backup to tape
7. In the event that it does not work, rollback to original config if needed.

Regards

Dave

 

[msdonb]

Any idea how the pubnames.ntf gets corrupted in the first place? I will definately try your suggestions this afternoon. Thanks so much for your input.

 

[msdonb]

Hrmm.... *sigh* I'm afraid to implement this solution on our notes server because as I mentioned, we do not have a complete clone/image of the disk running the domino server. Also, since m4ilm4n stated that if it's a damaged notes.ini file, we'd be "dead in the water", I am extremely reluctant to reboot the server. Any other solutions out there would be greatly appreciated! Also, I haven't received a response as to whether or not I can use different file versions of the mail files vs. server system files. Guess I'll just leave it running for now, since it's still routing mail properly.

Oh and m4ilm4n, you said that it could be a damaged notes.ini file? Can this file be restored from a previous version just as the pubnames.ntf file can?

Thanks again.

 

[m4ilm4n]

What I'd suggest is restore the notes.ini to a work directory and compare the backup to the current file (it's plain text). That may give you a hint as to what might have happened. Again, if you do choose to replace an existing file with a backup copy, you'll need to stop the running Domino process to do so.

You can run mail files of a different design version; some client-side features may work differently or not at all but it shouldn't break anything. As long as all the system NSFs are pretty much in synch the server should run.

The main thing inside the names.nsf is the server configuration document itself; you should review everything on the server config doc (and make notes) to make sure it's not messed up as well.

 

[msdonb]

Did a replace design on the pubnames.ntf and that seemed to restore all of the interface/lost server settings. However, I still cannot access the (Domino Administrator (R5) on Local) button from the server's Notes client application. I'm not sure if it was ever a good link or not though. So far so good, thanks for your help everyone. Btw, the notes.ini appears to be in tact/never changed. I'm thinking that the pubnames.ntf/names.nsf files got replaced with the "Local" versions on the server. Not sure if that's possible or not, though.

Again, thanks!