13.2 Configuring OpLocks for NCP Server

Opportunistic locking (OpLocks) improves file access performance and is enabled by default in NCP Server. OpLocks provides a way to cache file data at the client. It allows the client to read and write data using its local cache, and interact with the file server only when necessary. OpLocks improves both client and network performance by reducing the amount of traffic on the network.

IMPORTANT:Ensure that users are running Novell Client 4.9 SP2 and later.

There are two levels of OpLocks available with NCP Server. You can set OpLocks to either of these levels or disable OpLocks completely. By default, OpLocks is set to level 2, which includes both level 1 and level 2 functionality.

You can modify the OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL parameter setting by using Novell Remote Manager for Linux as follows:

  1. In Novell Remote Manager for Linux, select Manage NCP Services > Manage Server.

  2. Click the Parameter Value link for OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL.

  3. Set the value to 0, 1, or 2.

    • 0: Disables OpLocks support.

    • 1: Enables OpLocks support at L1.

    • 2: Enables OpLocks support at L2 (the default).

  4. Click OK to apply the change.

You can also change or disable the setting by adding an OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL command to the /etc/opt/novell/ncpserv.conf configuration file. If you have never modified the OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL from the default setting of 2, then there will not be a line for that parameter in the file. You must add the parameter line. If you have previously modified the setting, the parameter appears as a line in the file, and you can simply change its value. After you manually modify the file, you must restart ndsd.

  1. Log in as the root user, then open the /etc/opt/novell/ncpserv.conf configuration file in a text editor.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • If the OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL parameter is not listed, add a line for the OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL option with the value of 0, 1, or 2.

      For example, to disable OpLocks support, set the value to 0 by adding this line:

      OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL 0

      For example, to set OpLocks support to L1, set the value to 1 by adding this line:

      OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL 1

    • If the OPLOCK_SUPPORT_LEVEL parameter is already listed in the file, change its value to the desired setting of 0, 1, or 2.

  3. Save the file.

  4. After changing the oplock level in /etc/opt/novell/ncpserv.conf, you must restart ndsd to apply the changes. Open a terminal console as the root user, then enter

    rcndsd restart