How safe is it to use DSREPAIR? 1

[50029xeOC]

:-I
my network: 4x NW5.1/SP2 servers, 2x NW4.11/SP9 servers, 1 tree.

After coming into work one morning i saw the error &quot;LSLSP.NLM: Warning: Unable to write license usage information to NDS. Historical usage information may be incomplete. Check <ROOT> partition synchronization status.’&quot; on every server on the network. I decided to leave this for some hours thinking that the NDS would sort itself out. On the next day the message was still appearing every hour or so. I then checked the NDS sync status with DSREPAIR, all servers had a -618. I then looked at the Novell

http://WWW site

for help and found a TID. That said that i should run a DSREPAIR with the 'repair local db' option with everyting set to NO except 'check local references and rebuild operation schema'. I did this but then the NDS reported a -609 on the server and the others still reported a -618.
By the next morning when i checked the NDS status, all error were gone! and the network seemed to be ok.

what did happen, is everything really ok as i been now told that some of the schemas could of been deleted?

Thanks

Richard

 

[TheBoySmith]

Sounds like you have fixed your problem. DSrepair, repair local database is the pretty much standard thing to do first if you are having problems with DS. It attempts to fix things that are broke already. If in this process some info is lost then that has to be dealt with afterwards as the original issue needs to be dealt with. I've not had any disasters running repair local ds, maybe someone else has a problem with doing it but that would be my first advise when dealing with issues. Lee Smith
Xenon Network Services
Snr. Technical Support
LSmith@xenon-uk.co.uk

 

[michigan]

Hi Richard -

I've only seen a couple times where dsrepair &quot;appeared&quot; to have caused problems was after a 4.11 sp9 --> 5.1 sbe migration

and. . .

when a server was operating with &quot;bandaids, errors, unrepaired queues, and tons of db errors&quot; in the first place. - Once dsrepair was run, oh . . . it fixed everything. Ironically, nothing worked afterwards.

Normally with typical maintenance, dsrepair works fine with no issues.

 

[DrGreen26]

In the years I have been using netware, running DSREPAIR should be something that is done at a minimum of once a month, and not just on the servers that have replicas. Don't be afraid to run it...as long as you understand all the functions, it will do as designed.

Now, why do I say you should run it a minimum of once a month, well, as objects and changes take place in NDS, DSrpepair will keep your DS healthy.

Think of it like running scandisk, but instead of cleaning up a hard disk, your cleaning up a database.

Keep in mind that DS Repair only cares about the data base that is on that server, it will NOT update any other DS databases. You will have to repair them on an individual basis.

Servers that don't have databases should have this done every couple of months as backlinks and x-refs are stored on these.

If you keep your NDS healthy, problems will be few and far between, let your NDS get away from you, and its the equivalent of having problem after problem until you repair the issues.

I also strongly recommend that you always do a proper shutdown so DS closes. If you mistakenly power cycle the machine without proper downing, the first time, it may not damage NDS..but if done often..well, we all know what happens to Win 95, 98, NT if you just power cycle it without shutting down.

anyways, best of luck

Mark

Mark C. Greenwood, CNE
m_jgreenwood@yahoo.com

CNE 4.11 and CNE 5 certified. BS Degree in MIS. Working in the industry for 8 years.

I work with NT servers, NDS for NT as well.