This chapter concerns upgrade tasks in an existing network that uses an earlier version of eDirectory. The objectives important to this chapter are found on page 9-1:
Concepts:
Prepare for Upgrading to eDirectory 8.6A stable network will run only one version of eDirectory. Even if you do not upgrade all the servers in a network to NetWare 6, you will want to upgrade the version of eDirectory that the older servers are running to be consistent with the version on your NetWare 6 servers. In order prepare to upgrade eDirectory on existing servers, you must carry out several steps.
Perform a Health Check - The text lists this as a preparation step, but it follows installation of eDirectory 8.6, so it can't be preparatory. It is, however, a step to follow before you can be sure you are done.
Use the eDirectory Import/Export Wizard to Manage LDIF FilesLDIF is an acronym that might have been LDAPDIF: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Data Interchange Format. Aren't you glad they shortened it? LDAP is based on DAP (You don't need that expanded, do you?), which is based on a broader network standard called X.500. LDIF files can be used to load information into an LDAP compliant Directory system. eDirectory is LDAP compliant. It uses NLDAP.NLM to provide LDAP service on a Novell network. LDAP service uses a different syntax than Novell services. The text makes two points about it:
Some of this will be familiar to those of you who have worked on networks that used this notation. The book offers a URL with more information about LDAP. You can't click your book, but you can click this link. The contents of an LDIF file can be read with any text editor, since the file is stored in ASCII. The file may have several entries in it, corresponding to several objects in a database. Each object entry must include:
The entry may include other attributes and values, as well as other classes
for the object. It may also include an entry ID. If the file contains
multiple object entries, they are separated by blank lines. Field identifiers
in the file itself are followed by colons. The example in the book illustrates
another concept, that of actions to be performed with the information.
In the two examples in the text, there are lines that read: The utility used in NetWare 6 to import data from or export data to LDIF files is called ICE: Import/Conversion Export. (Previous versions of eDirectory used UIMPORT or BULKLOAD for these functions.) ICE can be used from a wizard in ConsoleOne, or from a command line interface. When importing data with ICE, it is important to know the name and location of the LDIF file, and the name of a server running an eDirectory agent. It is not necessary to specify a partition or a container, since this information is included in the LDIF file. Exporting data to an LDIF file is similar. As noted above, ICE can be used to import a number of objects at once. To do so, eDirectory 8.5 (and later) uses LDAP Bulk Update/Replication Protocol, which has the rather silly acronym LBURP. The text notes that you must disable LBURP if you are importing data to a version of eDirectory earlier than 8.5. If possible, use LBURP, to send multiple requests at one time, to process them in the order intended, and to process requests as fast as the server processor can handle them. Redirect Resources in the TreeThis section of the chapter concerns two functions: moving objects in the tree, and creating alias objects.
The navigation screen is divided into two parts. The left panel is used to drill down into containers. Objects are selected in the right panel. As in Windows applications, you can select multiple objects. In the image on the right, the admin object in the sales container is selected. Suppose you hold a shift key down, and click the XYZ_SERVER object (shift-click). The effect would be to select the admin object, the XYZ server object, and the three objects between them in the list as well. If you wish to select multiple object without selecting those between them, hold down a control key and click each object (ctrl-click). To move objects in the tree, first select them, then right-click over one of them. On the screen that appears, choose Move. You will be able to browse the tree from this screen, to select the destination container for the objects. You will also have the option to create alias objects in the original location of the objects being moved. An alias object is really a pointer that knows the new location of the moved objects. It serves as a forwarding point for requests the look for the objects in their old locations. Alias objects can be created as noted above, to serve as pointers to objects that have been moved. Alias obejcts can also be created to provide easy access to objects in other parts of the tree. It is always easiest to grant a user rights to objects that are in the same container as the user's object. If, in the illustration above, a user in the sales container needed rights to an object in the manufacturing container, a simple way to do this would be to create an alias in the sales container, pointing to the specific object in the manufacturing container. In this way, a user in sales could be granted rights to the foreign object, without the possibility of being granted rights to any other object in the manufacturing container. Extend the eDirectory SchemaThe last topic in the chapter begins by defining what the schema is. (A little late for that, folks.) In short, the schema is the list of object classes that can exist in your tree. It includes the possible attributes of each object class, and specifies which attributes are required for object creation. A schema can be extended by an administrator. Schema Manager, the tool used for this purpose, is accessed in ConsoleOne, from the Tools menu. Using Schema Manager, you can add or remove attributes from an object class, you can create a new object class based on an existing class, or create a new object class based on the needs of your tree. You can also use Schema Manager to remove object classes from the schema that you do not wish to be used. Schema Manager is not to be used for ordinary eDirectory management, but for making modifications that you believe are necessary. |
The
tree can be navigated in ConsoleOne. The concept will be familiar to anyone
who has navigated a file system in Window Explorer, or the older File
Manager.