Netware 5 server to server migration

[thebook]

Have new quad box and need to migrate primary NW5 server over to this. Anyone have some tips/best practices that I can follow? Thank you

 

[dynamode]

There is software from Powerquest called ServerMagic that will allow you to move an existing NetWare on one server to a new server. The software will also allow you to resize the partitions.

Remember that you will need to change the lan and HDD drivers before you are able to boot the new server. Joshua Rothschild
j.rothschild@dynamode.com

 

[LKT]

without any additional migration tools, I used the following procedure to migrate netware between servers:

- Offline Backup source server
- DSMAINT the source NDS to file
- Clean install NW to destination server
- Restore the backup to the destination server, overwriting everything.
- Reconfig the destination server ensuring the correct HAM,CD*s modules are loaded for your new devices. SMP is a very important consideration. If the primary server was single processor and this is quad, you may need to ensure that NW has initialised the extra processors.
- DSMAINT the NDS file to the new server

Thats a simplified procedure but it works. Another point is, if the server isnt running for a period of over 3 hours in a multiple server NDS, it may be worth re-syncing the schema and timesync tables using DSREPAIR. Usually NW will do this for you though.

All the DSMAINT procedures are on support.novell.com in TID, as are the backup/restore procedures for scenarios like this.


Cheers, Andy.

 

[TheLad]

To add to what Andy said, a server should not be 'turned off' or unavailable for a lengthy period of time as it causes issues in NDS. If memory serves, Novell recommend that 24-48 hours be the maximum a server if offline before you decide whether it is better to remove it from the tree.

Basically, what I am saying is the procedure outlined above should be completed as soon as possible. I have had issues whereby a site had a server switched off over the weekend (cleaner probably unplugged it to do the cleaning), come Monday morning the server is powered on again and NDS runs like a bag of nails for a few hours whilst it catches up. -----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
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[thebook]

Thanks for the tips! We are now going to try to upgrade the original server to Netware 6 from 5 and then go server to server.

Any good tips/TID's for this venture?

Thanks

 

[LKT]

Not really.

5-6 migration is fairly painless. Watch for the Clients though, there are known issues unless the clients have the latest client.

Another thing to keep an eye on is the NDS database version. Time syncronisation might step out unless the other servers are at latest NDS release for that NW version.


Cheers, Andy.