Converting NetWare 6.5 Clusters to OES Linux

This applies to:

• Novell NetWare 6.5
• OES (Linux)

Summary

NetWare 6.5 SP4 and later has the option to convert NSS volumes to beast level 3, this adds support for hard links. If this conversion happens then this volume will not work with current OES Linux servers. This is important if there are plans to convert existing NetWare 6.5 clusters to Linux as these volumes currently aren't supported on Linux.

Question

How can you tell if NSS volumes are at beast level 3?

Answer

When a volume is activated it will tell you the Volume Layout version. If it says v36.03 then the volume hasn't been converted and is the traditional NetWare 6.5 format. Volumes that have been upgraded will report a version of v38.03(upgrade started), v38.04(upgrade in progress) or v38.05(upgrade complete).

A version of v37.04 means the volume is encrypted.

This information can also be found in the mediaLayout tag of the following file

_admin:/Manage_NSS/Volume/ VOLUMENAME /VolumeInfo.xml

Additional

Background reading on this subject can be found at the following Novell documentation pages

http://www.novell.com/documentation/oes/nss_enu/data/bxf3rdl.html

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Document ID: SKB0470
Published on: 22 Feb 2007