No referrals to the user object could be found 2

[Kooch]

I'm getting the above error when attempting to log onto a Novell 6.5 server. The story is thus: my current employer bought out my previous employer about a year ago. At that time we were using Novell severs at all sites. During the purchase we switched to Windows 2003 servers and migrated all the data over.

Now of course someone has noticed that some files are missing that were on the Novell server. So I dug out the old server from storage and hooked it up to a small closed network with one other PC to log in and get the data off. Unfortunately I can't log in and am receiving the above error. I know my credentials are correct... am I missing something major?

Thanks.

 

[goombawaho]

Take a look at this:

http://www.novell.com/documentation/nwec/index.html?page=/documentation/nwec/nwec/data/al39nlh.html

By chance, did you have several servers in the Novell Tree and then you disconnected/shut down all of them and then maybe plugged in just ONE of them which you are now trying to log into. If that's the case, NDS/edirectory is probably all confused because servers are missing and with them, replicas are missing. A dsrepair is a must to see what's going on.

You may have to remove all references to other servers and before that, make sure that this one server has the master partition of all replicas that can put on it.

 

[Kooch]

That is exactly the setup we had going. We used to have eight servers and now we just want to start the one up. I've tried to run dsrepair a few times and it always freezes at 0%, saying "Waiting for Directory Services to release the local database files".

 

[goombawaho]

First of all, somebody needs to be punished for not shutting things down properly. You guys shut things down as if nothing would ever be needed from any server again. Now reality sets in. Ok, we won't kick you any more.

Check this out (below) but first you may want to apply Winsock updates as I've seen that on the intrawebz as a suggestion. You may need professional help and things may not be good if some partitions have been lost on other servers.

http://www.novell.com/support/php/s...ID_1_1&dialogID=10953397&stateId=1 0 18546028

 

[marvhuffaker]

Here's what I would do..

Take Directory Services completely off the server. Then install a new tree. Login with the new credentials, files will be in tact.

To remove Directory Services

-LOAD INSTALL -DSREMOVE
-Directory Options
-Remove Directory Services
-Humor it by pressing enter on any error screens you get. When done, reboot the server.

After server is back up
-Load Install
-Directory Options
-Install Directory Services
-Step through the screens to create a new tree. Note your credentials.

The reason your current setup is failing, is probably that your server doesn't have a replica of the part of the tree where your admin account is located.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[goombawaho]

^^^^ The brute force method of doing it. Requires less troubleshooting!!!

Grant yourself rights to the volumes or login as admin afterwards.

 

[marvhuffaker]

If the server did not hold a replica with valid info to the admin object, there's not a lot of other choice in the matter.. And removing DS and reinstalling DS does not affect the file system whatsoever, at least not as far as content and file structure. So you can do whatever you want to the Directory Services, and the file system will remain intact. And by reinstalling DS, you WILL have an administrative login based on information you enter during the process.

Marvin

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[Kooch]

Sorry to revive, but after trashing the idea of using a USB drive this is what I'm getting when attempting to remove DS:

An attempt to remove Novell eDirectory failed. Error code - 634 (nwconfig-634)

Any ideas?

 

[goombawaho]

Try this:

http://support.novell.com/docs/Tids/Solutions/10013746.html

 

[marvhuffaker]

If you do NWCONFIG -DSREMOVE....

It doesn't matter what errors you get. Ignore them and keep pressing stuff till it says it is removed. Once it says that, if you go back in and try to remove it again, it will say its already removed.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[goombawaho]

A reboot afterwards is a good idea before reinstalling.

 

[Kooch]

Thanks for the help everyone! Saved again!!