What to Expect: Migrating from 3.12 to 6?

[jwgrahamjr]

I am going to be migrating a Netware 3.12 server to NW 6 in the near future.
I plan to do this using Novell's Migration Wizard.
What kinds of obstacles can I anticipate? Has anyone else in this forum successfully migrated 3.12 to 6? Any helpful hints before I start?

 

[iolair]

There is a good bit of difference in going from 3 to 6. The major difference will be that you go from the bindery in Netware 3.X to eDirectory in Netware 6. I have done an in-place upgrade, and if you're careful, it works well. I'd suggest either taking the Upgrade to Netware 6 course, or, at the very least, reading one of the many books available now. Good planning ahead of time will help. Make sure you get the latest hardware drivers, as Netware 6 addresses hardware in a whole different way than Netware 3.X does. I have heard from some admins who have done the upgrade using the Migration Wizard, and they were very pleased with the results. Good luck.

Iolair MacWalter

 

[jwgrahamjr]

Thanks for the tips. I will do some supplementary reading on NW6. I have all the latest drivers for my new hardware.
I'll post back here to give a summary of how it went.

John

 

[Lou0686]

Hi,

I assume your going to new hardware. If you use the migration wizard, the wizard disables the source server (this happens on a netware 4.x and up server), not sure if this happens with a 3.12 server. If this happens and you want to go back, Novell will need to dial in and make a change to it to get it back to a functional state. This is done so as to prevent you from making the mistake of bringing both servers while connected to the LAN. If you want to play it real safe, invest in PowerQuest's Server Magic v4.0 and up software. Server Magic will duplicate your server on the other hardware and leave your source server in tact. Then you can perform an In-place upgrade on the new server. If things go really bad, you have your source server in tact as a backout.

 

[cyberdyne]

Hi ! with regard to this thread I have some queries Hope some one of you can help me out.

I want to know some basic info on Novell 6.

1. On what base OS Novell 6 runs ?
2. Is this migration easy and how much time does it take ?
3. All the login scripts are taken care off by wizard ?
4. Patches that novell has released since Y2K are included
in this?
5. How would you rate the overall performance of network
after upgradation of Novell ? Is it worth ?

Please reply at your earliest ! regards

Apoorva
An uses

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[jwgrahamjr]

First, basically anything that could have gone wrong went wrong with my migration. It was not an easy migration!

I assume you are migrating to new hardware.

1. you need to have some version of DOS installed as a "base OS". NW6 comes with a version of Caldera Dr. DOS which would be your root DOS partition. I made mine 1.2GB.
2. The migration was not easy for me...but I was plagued with problems. The main considerations are:
a. make sure all of your hardware is compatible with NW6. Pay special attention to your SCSI card (or RAID card). I finally ended up using an Adaptec 2100s which seems to work OK after you get the latest BIOS and drivers from Adaptec. Just make sure everything you have, down to the motherboard/chipset, are compatible with NW6.
b. Make sure you get a book or two on NW6 before you start. I recommend Novell's Netware 6 Administration Handbook available at major booksellers like B&N or Amazon.
3. login scripts were NOT handled by the wizard. The wizard itself gave me a lot of trouble and I had to scour the knowledgebase for solutions to get it to work. Make sure you have the latest NLM's on the server you are upgrading. I had to manually recreate all login scripts and there were some subtle differences in the scripting from 3.12 to 6. Probably a good idea to rewrite the scripts anyway - I found a lot of useless stuff in my old scripts.
4. I recommend installing from the SP2 Overlay CD which you can download from Novell. That will get you up to Service Pack 2 and then you can download some other patches that have been released since then if you need to.
Just make sure you install everything up front that you are going to use (NDPS, iManage, etc.) so you don't have to patch that stuff again if you install it later.
5. Overall performance is of course dependant on what kind of new hardware you buy. It would be hard to put numbers here not knowing what hardware you are getting and what you are upgrading from. I got pretty fast hardware for my needs. My opinion is (and others may correct me) is that the real speed is going to come from these things:
a. disk subsystem (get the fastest SCSI and best controller you can afford)
b. speed of your network - I got a gigabit server nic which is adequate for my needs...couple that with a good router/switch and make sure you have excellent wiring (not patched together junk)
c. processor & ram (DNS uses lots of ram)
d. amount of services you need to run

There are other considerations for upgrading. If you have 3.12 or earlier, you should learn about NDPS printing and the transition from queue based printing. You will need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row before beginning the upgrade - have a decent internet connection, have your licensing taken care of ahead of time, etc.

I have a small server which is fairly inexpensive. Going from a P2-400 with 128MB to a P4/2.8 with 1.5GB ram and gigabit backbone got me running a lot faster but not faster along a linear curve as you might expect. Tasks that used to take 1 hour to run now take 15 minutes...so it was a worthwhile upgrade - but it came at a cost...many lost weekends, getting intimate with how NW6 works, practically living on Novell's KB, MONEY, etc. Make sure you have some local friends who know NW before you begin and read some books first.

Good luck. I could not have done it without the help from the friendly folks on this forum.

- John

 

[cyberdyne]

Wow ! john that is a quite handsome guide and tips. I will surely take into consideration your suggestions.

Thanks alot.
regards

Apoorva
An uses

What solution I give is according to best of my knowledge and the information / feedback that you provide. So tell us more and we can lead you to right direction.
Internet is a tool respect it and use it for human wellfair.