3.6 Creating NCP and NSS Volumes for Home Directories

For the exercises in the guide, you need home directories for the users you create.

When you create NCP and NSS volumes before creating users, you can then create home directories at the same time as you create the user objects. For that reason, it makes sense to set up the volumes prior to user object creation.

3.6.1 Home Directories on OES

On OES, home and other data directories can reside in three possible volume types, each of which is presented in this guide. The volume types are:

  • Linux POSIX volumes: Your OES 11 SP2 getting-started lab server already contains a / (root) partition with an empty /home directory (the default location for home directories on Linux servers).

  • NCP volumes that point to Linux POSIX volumes: Your OES 11 SP2 server has NCP Server installed so you can create NCP volumes that point to the Linux POSIX file systems.

  • Novell Storage Services (NSS) volumes: Your OES 11 SP2 server has unformatted disk space available for NSS volumes. (NSS is the native file system on NetWare.)

There are important differences between the home directories in each of these locations and in the configuration steps required to create them and set the needed file/directory trustee assignments, etc.

The Linux POSIX /home Directory

For the exercises in this guide, you create POSIX home directories for two users. This lets you explore the differences between directories created through POSIX and directories created through NCP. Both directory types exist on the same physical disk space and are displayed as POSIX home directories, but only the NCP directories appear in NCP interfaces.

Creating an NCP Volume on the OES 11 SP2 Server

OES lets you create NCP volumes that point to directories on the Linux POSIX partitions of your server. For the exercises in this guide, you create an NCP volume that points to the /home directory on your server. NCP volumes support the Novell File and Directory Trustee Rights model when files are accessed through an NCP client.

NCP volumes on Linux POSIX file systems differ from NSS volumes; NCP volumes do not support NSS file attributes, such as Delete Inhibit. For more information, see Directory and File Attributes in the OES 11 SP2: NCP Server for Linux Administration Guide.

  1. Log into your server as root and click Computer > Gnome Terminal.

  2. Create an NCP volume in NCPCON that points to the /home directory by entering the following commands:

    ncpcon create volume home_ncp /home

  3. Type exit and press Enter to close the terminal window.

Creating an NSS Pool and Volume on the OES 11 SP2 Server

OES supports NSS volumes. NSS is a fast-mounting, journaled file system for OES and NetWare. It is the only file system in the industry that is integrated with identity management. NSS volumes support the Novell File and Directory Trustee Rights model and also NSS file attributes. For more information, see The Traditional Novell Access Control Model in the OES 11 SP2: Planning and Implementation Guide.

NSS volumes can span partitions and even hard disks. For a graphical overview of NSS volumes, see Section A.1, NSS Partitions, Pools, and Volumes.

  1. On your getting-started lab workstation in iManager, click the Roles and Tasks icon Roles and Tasks icon.

  2. Click Storage > Pools.

  3. Click the Browse icon Browse icon next to the Server field,

  4. Browse to and select your OES 11 SP2 getting-started lab server object (in COMPANY > LAB > SERVERS).

  5. Click New.

  6. Name the pool pool_lx and click Next.

  7. Click the box next to the system disk in your server (sda, hda, etc.).

  8. By default, all of the free space on the disk should be automatically entered in the Used Size field, and the amount should match the Free Size (MB) displayed to the right of the system disk. If the Used Size field is blank, type the free space amount.

  9. Click Finish.

    POOL_LX is listed as an available pool. Notice that the NSS pool name is uppercase, even though you typed lowercase. All NCP and NSS volumes, are created and displayed in uppercase to give a visual distinction from the Linux POSIX lowercase norm, to prevent visual confusion of letters and numbers (vol1 vs. VOL1), and because names are case insensitive on NSS.

  10. After the pool appears in the list, continue in the Storage task by clicking Volumes in the left frame.

  11. Click New.

  12. In the Name field, type home_nss, then click Next.

  13. Click the box next to POOL_LX, then click Next.

  14. Scroll down to File Information > Lookup Namespace

    Long should be selected by default.

    This setting avoids having the NCP server spend cycles doing Long namespace lookups.

  15. Click Finish.

    HOME_NSS is listed as an available volume.

  16. Continue with the next section, Home Directories on NetWare 6.5.

3.6.2 Home Directories on NetWare 6.5

The default file system for NetWare 6.5 is NSS, which is an NCP volume by definition.

NetWare servers don’t contain a HOME volume (partition) by default, but it is standard practice among NetWare administrators to create a HOME volume for their network users’ private directories.

Creating a HOME_NW Volume on the NetWare 6.5 SP8 Server

Your NetWare virtual machine has disk space still available for another NSS pool and volume on disk 0, which is the 25 GB file you created for the VM in Section 2.3.3, Creating a Virtual Machine and Installing NetWare.

  1. In iManager, click the Roles and Tasks icon Roles and Tasks icon.

    You can manage storage on the NetWare LAB_NW_VM server even though you are running iManager on your OES 11 SP2 getting-started lab server. This demonstrates one advantage of the tight integration of OES services with eDirectory.

  2. Click Storage > Pools.

  3. Click the Browse icon Browse icon next to the Server field,

  4. Browse to and select the LAB_NW server object (in COMPANY > LAB > SERVERS).

    Notice that a pool named SYS already exists. This pool contains the default volumes and files created with the NetWare server, including a volume that is also named SYS.

  5. Click New.

  6. Name the pool pool_nw and click Next.

  7. Click the box next to the XenHD device in your virtual machine.

    This device is the 25 GB file that you created for the virtual machine. The file currently contains all the virtualized NetWare server’s partitions and files.

  8. By default, all of the free space on the disk should be automatically entered in the Used Size field, and the amount should match the Free Size (MB) displayed to the right of the system disk. If the Used Size field is blank, type in the free space amount.

  9. Click Finish.

    POOL_NW is listed as an available pool.

  10. In the left frame, click Volumes.

  11. Click New.

  12. In the Name field, type home_nw, then click Next.

  13. Click the box next to POOL_NW, then click Next.

  14. Click Finish.

3.6.3 Summary of Getting-started Lab Home Directories and Purposes

Your getting-started lab servers now have four home directory access points in three physical locations (the first two share the same physical partition):

  • /home: This is the default home directory on SLES 11 servers. The underlying file system is Ext3. On SLES 11 servers, home directories are normally created on /home by users logging in to the server for the first time.

    Home directories on OES servers are normally created on NCP or NSS volumes. However, they can be created manually on /home. User and Group ownership must be manually adjusted because the directories belong initially to the root user that creates them.

  • HOME_NCP: This is an NCP volume mount point that points to and shares disk space with the /home directory mentioned above. In this guide, it illustrates the functionality of the NCP server, the Novell File and Directory Trustee Model, and Novell Client access to a Linux POSIX volume. (The underlying file system is Ext3.) Home directories on NCP volumes are easily created when users are created in iManager. POSIX permissions to home directories created in iManager must be adjusted before users can access the directories through non-NCP applications. This is because when the directories are created, the directory owner in POSIX is initially the eDirectory Admin User who created the users in eDirectory and their home directories on the Linux file system (NCP volume).

  • HOME_NSS: This is an NSS volume on the OES server. It illustrates the functionality of the NCP server, the Novell File and Directory Trustee Model, and NSS file attributes. Because NSS volumes are also NCP volumes by default, home directories are easily created at user-creation time in iManager. POSIX permissions do not apply to NSS volumes. However, NSS can interface with POSIX permissions for applications and access methods that require them. Trustee assignments (ownership) are automatically assigned to the eDirectory username or user when the home directory is created.

  • HOME_NW: This is an NSS volume on your virtualized NetWare server. It illustrates the functionality of the NCP server, the Novell File and Directory Trustee Model, and NSS file attributes on a NetWare server. Trustee assignments (ownership) are automatically assigned to the eDirectory user when the home directory is created.