SLES10 SP4/OES2 SP3 32 bit Clean Install - Basic Questions

Question

Hi everyone.
I am now an expert in installing the above software and ending up with a server which does not work as we require. Must be something I am doing wrong. Hope someone can spot it.
Have installed and supported Netware servers for 25 years without major problems. Decided now to move to SLES because Novell say we should and we need Groupwise 12 to replace GroupWise 8.
The operational environment we are targeting is an 80 user edirectory/NDS based single tree, single context containing two Netware 6.5 SP8 HP Proliant servers running uncomplicated file and print services , NSS volumes, Groupwise 8, DHCP, ifolder, Quickfinder and the like, spread across the two servers. It all works a treat. Client PCs are are all XP Pro with Novell client software.
The idea would be to replace one of the two Netware servers first with a SLES/OES server and then the second Netware server with a second SLES/OES server and move GroupWise functionality to one of the SLES/OES servers. Ideally users would continue to log on using their eDirectory accounts without noticing anything was going on in the background.
The test environment we have set up is a 5 user NDS/eDirectory single tree, single context already containing a single Netware 6.5 SP8 Proliant server running file and print, NSS volumes etc and Groupwise 8. Into this tree we are trying to install a 32 bit server with a empty 36 GB SCSI disc running SLES 10 SP4 with OES2 DP3 as an add in, with NSS data volumes.
Because it only takes a few hours to do we have repeatedly run the SLES 10/OES2 install (probably about 9 times!) with minor variations to see whether we can end up with a properly configured SLES/OES server but there is always one problem or another.
The major problem we have is how to configure NSS data volumes on the SLES server and how to allow users to be validated against their eDirectory entries and knowing whether the test server is 'good to go'.
The process we followed for each test install, after checking edirectory was clean and removing any entries placed in the tree by earlier attempts to install the SLES server in the same tree were:
1. Boot the SLES 10 SP4 32 DVD (downloaded ISO and burnt DVD) and selected Installation.
2. Followed the prompts on time zone and language etc and selected i386 OES CD (also downloaded ISO and burnt) as the Software Add-In.
3. Loaded SLES DVD and OES CD as and when requested
4. At the Partitioning stage we selected the EVMS proposal, and at the Software selection stage selected the base software, file server Role, Documentation, DHCP, eDirectory, iFolder, iPrint, Quickfinder, NSS and LDAP.
5. Miscellaneous errors would appear or not appear during the eDirectory stage (eg LUM error, or iFolder error) but the eDirectory stage would still seem to complete OK and get ticked.
6. The system would then reboot and appear to come up OK.
HOWEVER, we are not convinced we have created a fully working reliable server.
and
SPECIFICALLY we are unable to create NSS volumes and we cannot logon users via their eDirectory accounts.
NSSMU shows a single device sda (33.92 Gb) and three partitions sda1 (70Mb), sda2 (31.91GB), and sda3 (1.94GB). sda2 seems to contain all the 'spare' space on the disk (type Linux LVM) but says there is no spare space to create our NSS partitions.
iManager cannot see any devices to configure NSS data volumes on the SLES server but it connects OK
NSSCON status seems to show NSS to be running
EVMSGUI shows /dev/evms/lvm2/system/ro at 10 Gb, /dev/evms/lvm2/system/sw at 2GB and /dev/evms/sda1 at 70 Mb
So my questions are:
Does the above look right?
Why cannot we get at the spare disk space to set up NSS volumes? Did the EVMS proposal grab it all and if so how do we get it back?
Did not selecting the EVMS partitioning proposal do everything needed to run NSS?
[There seems to be some suggestion in the several hundred pages of SLES, OES and NSS Guides, Installation manuals, Configuration manuals etc that we have studied over several days, that we now have to edit a fstab file to make it work properly (Really? in this day and age where clicking on Setup.Exe will configure a fully working Windows server) Is that so? Is there anything else we need to do?]
How do we get the users to access their NDS accounts to log into SLES and Netware?
How do we know the server is OK for operaational use and 'works' ?
HELP!!!
ADB

Answer 1

alandbond wrote:
> I
> have already trawled the self help Forums believing that before SLES
> 11 came along everyone must have been setting up NSS volumes on SLES
> 10/OES2 as a matter of course as they moved from Netware and so me
> trying to do it now should not be akin to rocket science.
You are partially correct. Admins who used NSS on NetWare likely did
install NSS on OES Linux but I suspect they used a separate drive for
NSS either by installing an additional drive, by carving out a chunk of
space on their RAID array and assigning it to a separate LUN, or by
running OES in a VM where storage space on a single disk/array can
appear as separate drives.
> If Novell say in that guide as they do
> (just as do you and ab and Simon in responses to my post) that the
> IDEAL way to include NSS is to have a separate disk for Suse and NSS
> volumes, BUT as long as you use EVMS to manage the volumes it IS
> SUPPORTED, then I consider it should be possible without grief to do
> this and not considered as me putting round pegs in square holes.
Semantics!
IDEAL = Recommended; EVMS != IDEAL; EVMS != Recommended;
IMO, Novell recognised that they had to provide a way for customers to
install NSS on a system that only had a single disk and provided this
procedure as a workaround. By the way, they also support 2-node
clusters but they aren't recommended either. I have also seen cases
where a supported configuration was deemed no longer to be supported as
NTS became aware of additional complications.
My point (and Simon's and ab/Aaron's) is this: Just because it is
supported doesn't mean you should do it. If we can agree on this point,
I'll try to help you to get it working. The last thing I want to do is
give others the impression that by helping you find a solution we think
this is a good idea!!!
> This latest release of software even goes as far as including an EVMS
> Partitioning proposal which can be selected (as I did) within the
> clean install process.
>
> This is what it says:
Okay! I'm only looking at the information you provided. Let's analyse
it!
>
> A.2.1 Understanding the EVMSBased Partitioning Scheme
> Using EVMS to manage the system device allows you to later add NSS
> pools and volumes
Yes, NSS requires the volume manager to be EVMS and not LVM!
> on any *unpartitioned* free space on it.
But you have not left *any* unpartitioned free space!
> You must modify the partitioning scheme to use EVMS during the
> install. It is not possible to change the volume manager for the
> system device after the install.
True.
> Beginning in OES 2 SP3, the Partitioner in the YaST Install offers the
> Create EVMS Based Proposal option to automatically create an EVMS
> solution for the system device.
> For unpartitioned devices over 20 GB in size,
This is what you have...
> this option creates a boot partition
> and a container for the swap and / (root) volumes
> in up to the first 20 GB,
> and leaves the remainder of the space on the device
> as unpartitioned free space.
But it didn't (or you didn't)!
> Table A-1 shows the default proposed setup
> for a machine with 768 MB RAM.
> The default swap size is 1 GB or larger,
> depending on the size of the RAM on your machine.
> The remainder of the device is left as unpartitioned free space.
Let's look at the default proposal. This is *not* what you have.
> Table A-1 Default EVMS Proposal for Devices over 20 GB in Size
>
> Device Size Type Mount Point
> /dev/sda1 70.5 MB Ext2 /boot
> /dev/sda2 14.9 GB Linux LVM
> /dev/evms/lvm2/system 14.9 GB EVMS lvm2/system
> /dev/evms/lvm2/system/root 10.0 GB EVMS /
> /dev/evms/lvm2/system/swap 1.1 GB EVMS swap
A single (SATA/SAS/SCSI) drive will be known as sda (/dev/sda).
/dev/sda1 is the first partition. In the example and in your
configuration this is the /boot partition. In both cases it is 70.5 MB.
/dev/sda2 is the second partition. The partition uses LVM so logical
volumes of various sizes can be created within the partition. The total
size of all logical volumes cannot be larger than the size of the
partition.
In the above example:
/root is 10.0 GB and swap is 1.1 GB. This leaves: 14.9 - (10.0 + 1.1) =
3.8 GB of additional space within /sda2 which can be used to create
additional logical volumes. Furthermore sda1 + sda2 use only ~ 15 GB.
Only 15 GB of the disk has been allocated. The remainder of the disk is
*unallocated* and *unpartitioned*. Presumably, it was left that way so
that the space could be used for NSS.
In your case: sda2 is 31.91 GB
This does not follow the Default EVMS Proposal for Devices over 20 GB
in Size. Either YaST did not allocate space according to the default
proposal or you changed it. Either way, sda2 (+sda3) consume *all* of
the available disk space. It is no wonder that there is no space
available for NSS!
> What do you reckon???
I reckon that something went wrong along the way. If you did not
specifically change the default allocation yourself, then consider this
one example of kinds the things that can happen when one tries to
exploit seldom used, but supported, features!
It looks like it is time for yet another installation. This time, make
sure you leave enough unpartitioned space on the drive for NSS and let
me know how you make out.
Kevin Boyle - Knowledge Partner
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