Use the Novell Storage Services (NSS) console commands to do the following:
Unload NSS
Display NSS module or volume information
Check NSS volume statistics
Change NSS caching
Modify other NSS tunables
For online Help for the NSS console commands, enter the following at the server console:
nss /help or nss /? opens the NSS console Help facility.
The interface returns a list of NSS commands, each with a brief definition and any constraints such as the default value, a range of valid values, and persistence information.
The default value is the setting used for a given server configuration parameter unless you modify it for your particular implementation. Default values are the best choice for a majority of server configurations, but you should review the settings as you fine-tune the server.
The range of valid values establishes the constraints for any particular variable setting.
If a command's setting is persistent, the values you set remain in effect for the server through any subsequent server reboots until you next modify the settings. If a command is not persistent, the setting remains in effect only until the next server reboot.
NSS provides the following startup commands. Startup commands are only valid when NSS is loading.
NSS Startup commands can run as part of the OES NetWare c:\nwserver\server.exe command by using the -z option. However, these commands are not persistent through a server reboot; you must enter them each time you boot your server.
At the server command line, enter
server -z“/parameter=value”
In the above example, the -z tells the server to look for specific NSS startup commands. The information in quotes is the actual command with command values, if any. For example:
server -z“CDDVD”
NSS Startup commands issued at the command line during a server boot do not persist through a server reboot. To make non-persistent command settings persist automatically through a server reboot, place the commands in the nssstart.cfg file, which NSS reads on startup.
In a text editor, create a file called nssstart.cfg in the c:\nwserver directory.
Enter any NSS startup commands that you want to persist through server reboots.
Each NSS command should be preceded by a forward slash (/) and followed with a space. For example:
/numworktodos=40 /cddvd /dosfat
Save and close your c:\nwserver\nssstart.cfg file.
NSS provides the following commands to show the status of various NSS parameters. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.
NSS provides the following maintenance for pools and volumes. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.
NSS provides the following commands for recovering the system volume on NetWare. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.
NSS offers the following commands for configuring and monitoring compression. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.
You can use NSS console commands to display volume status and to activate, mount, deactivate, or dismount encrypted volumes. You must enter a password only on the first activation following a system reboot. Thereafter, other environmental security and authentication measures control access to user data.
The following table provides the syntax for NSS commands to use with encrypted volumes. You can use this syntax to activate an encrypted volume from the console command line prompt or in a script file. In each case, replace volname with the name of the encrypted NSS volume. In general, you cannot use the wildcard option of “all” as the volname. Until an encrypted volume is activated with its password following each system reboot, the All option does not find the volume and does not execute the command. The system returns an error message, requesting more information.
Replace volpassword with the password you used when you created the encrypted volume. If the password is not supplied, and a corresponding key is not found in memory, NSS prompts for the password at the command line.
You cannot use wildcard options and commands to activate encrypted volumes, such as nss /VolumeAutoActivate.
Both PURGE and SALVAGE commands are supported and behave almost the same in NSS as in previous versions of NetWare.
The SALVAGE command for the traditional NetWare file system and previous releases of NetWare was either turned on or off for the whole file system. In NSS, you can turn SALVAGE on or off for each NSS volume.
Use SALVAGE at the server console as follows:
NSS offers the following commands for tuning the purging processes for a volume. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.
NSS offers the following Read Ahead commands for tuning your storage solution. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.
NSS provides commands to balance the cache for NSS on NetWare.
WARNING:If you give NSS more memory than you allow for the server, NSS fails to load. Your NSS-based sys: volume becomes inoperable until you load the c:\nwserver\server.exe with an NSS override to correct the situation. For information, see Load Commands.
Cddvd.nss is loaded automatically on startup by default. Use the following commands to manage CDs, DVDs, and Macintosh CDs as NSS volumes on Netware.
NOTE:The cddvd.nss module replaces cdrom.nlm and cd9660.nss for CD support, udf.nss for DVD support, and cdhfs.nss for Macintosh CD support. The following commands for cddvd.nss are the same ones used for previous CD and DVD management modules.
Cddvd.nss is loaded automatically on startup by default. Cddvd.nss provides the following commands for adding and removing CD and DVD image files as NSS Volumes.
While the CD or DVD image source file is loaded as an NSS volume, the following actions cause the image file to be removed as an NSS volume:
Any file operations on the image source file, such as open, read, or write
Deactivation of the NSS volume where the image source file resides
NSS provides the following commands for managing DOS FAT partitions.
NOTE:DOSFAT supports only hard drives. DOSFAT does not support USB drives.
The management file for pool MSAP is _admin\manage_nss\pool\poolname\zlss\msap.xml. One file exists for each pool. This file contains MSAP statistics for the pool. The MSAP attribute is displayed in the enabledAttributes tag of the poolinfo.xml management file.
For manage.cmd, the pool operation getPoolInfo returns the MSAP tag (<msap>) in the supportedAttributes tag (<supportedAttributes>) and the enabledAttributes tag (<enabledAttributes>).
For APIs, the pool feature zpool_feature_msap can be viewed and controlled using the zGetInfo and zModifyInfo commands.
NSS provides the following Media Manager commands for managing multipath connection failover.
The following table shows the server console commands you can use to manage pool snapshots.
The following table shows the attribute descriptions for pool snapshot commands.
The Security Equivalence Vector (SEV) is calculated for each NSS user based on information in the user's profile in Novell eDirectory. It is a list of eDirectory GUIDs, for example:
the user's own GUIDs
GUIDs of groups that include the user
GUIDs of parent containers for the user and his or her groups
security equivalent GUIDs
The SEV is used to validate the user against the trustee rights of the directory and file the user is attempting to access.
After you boot the Linux server, when a user first attempts to connect to the NSS file system, NSS contacts Novell eDirectory to retrieve the user's Security Equivalence Vector (SEV). eDirectory calculates the user's effective rights for the NSS volume, creates the SEV, and passes it to NSS. NSS compares the user's SEV with file system trustees and trustee rights for the specified file or directory to determine if the user can access the resource.
NSS caches the SEV locally in the server memory, where it remains until the server is rebooted or unless the user is deleted from eDirectory. NSS polls eDirectory at a specified interval for updates to the SEVs that are in cache.
In contrast, for NetWare, whenever a user connects to the NSS file system, NetWare retrieves the user's SEV from eDirectory and maintains it as part of the connection structure for the user's session. NSS retrieves the user's SEV from the connection structure.
Command line switches are available in the NSS Console utility (nsscon) to enable or disable the update, to set the update interval from 5 minutes to 90 days (specified in seconds), and to force an immediate update of security equivalence vectors. Polling too frequently can impact performance. Polling too infrequently can cause delays in granting or restricting access to certain users.
NSS provides these additional commands for managing pools and volumes. To view a complete list, use the nss /help command.