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System Administration Guide Supplement for Novell NetWare

Chapter 2: Operating System Setup

Chapter 2

Operating System Setup

This chapter discusses operating system issues that must be considered in order to run SQL Server. Topics covered include:

• Installing required Novell system Netware Loadable Modules (NLMs)

• Enabling NetWare bindery services

• Changing SQL Server configuration variables

• Setting the NetWare search path

• Starting SQL Server from the command line

• Starting SQL Server automatically when the system is started

Required Novell System NLMs

If you are using NetWare version 3.12, you must ensure that the directfs.nlm file is available in your sys:system folder. directfs.nlm is included with the NetWare version 3.12 distribution, but it is not installed with every NetWare configuration. If it is not installed on your system, you must copy it from the NetWare distribution disks.

Follow these steps to insure that directfs.nlm is available:

1. From the NetWare version 3.12 console, try loading the NLM:

    load sys:system\directfs 

   If the module loads into memory, you do not need to complete the remaining steps. If the file is not available, NetWare displays the message:

    Unable to find load file SYS:SYSTEM\DIRECTFS 

   In this case, continue with step 2.

2. Log into the file server via a client machine. See your Novell client documentation if you need help with this procedure.

3. Manually copy directfs.nlm from NetWare version 3.12
   CD-ROM to the sys:system directory. The file is located in the \netware.312\_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\c directory:

    copy \netware.312\_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\c\directfs.nlm sys:system 

   Note: The second subdirectory consists of 8 underscore (_) characters.

Bindery Services Requirement

SQL Server and its clients can use NetWare bindery services to connect to one another across a network. Using bindery services eliminates the need for using the SQL Server interfac file described later in this manual.

If you are using NetWare version 4.01, install Directory Services with the Bindery Emulation mode. SQL Server does not directly support NetWare version 4.01 Directory Services at this time.

Using sybenv .dat Variables

sybenv.dat contains the values for a number of variables SQL Server uses to locate files and manage network connections. sybenv.dat contains some of the values you filled in during installation as well as additional values that are supplied automatically.

SQL Server reads sybenv.dat variables each time it starts. Any variable values specified on the SQL Server command line during loading will supersede values defined in sybenv.dat .

If SQL Server cannot find sybenv.dat , either because it is not in sys:system or because you did not use the -E flag to indicate where to find the file, then SQL Server assumes that all the files it needs, including any NLMs, the interfac file , and the master device file, are in the root directory of the current volume, usually sys: .

You need to modify entries in the sybenv.dat file if you want to:

• Change the location of one or more SYBASE files

• Use a different interfac file

• Use the Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) features discussed in Chapter 3.

Variable Descriptions

Table 2-1 summarizes the variables you can place in the sybenv.dat file. The sample values in the table assume that your SYBASE home directory is sys:sybase .

Table 2-1: Summary of variables in the sybenv.dat file

Variable	Sample Value	Function
SYBASE	sys:sybase	Defines the SYBASE release directory.
SYBASE_NLMS	sys:sybase\nlms	Defines the location of the SQL Server NLMs directory.
SYBASE_INTERFAC	sys:sybase\interfac	Defines the location of the interfac file.
SYBASE_DMASTER	sys:sybase\master.dat	Defines the location of the master device file.
SYBASE_LOG	sys:sybase\errorlog	Defines the location of the error log file.
SYBASE_SCRIPTS	sys:sybase\scripts	Defines the location of SYBASE script files.
DSLISTEN	SYBASE	Used at SQL Server start-up; enables the server to listen for input from any front-end software.
DSQUERY	SYBASE	Defines the SQL Server to which local client applications connect.
USE_DEFAULT_SPX	TRUE	Specifies whether or not SQL Server generates a default network address if it finds no SPX interfaces file entry.

Editing sybenv.dat

To edit a variable definition in sybenv.dat :

1. Load the sybinit NLM from your hard disk:

    load sybinit 

2. From the Sybinit main menu, select View / Edit Environment Variables .

3. From the next menu, select View/ Edit Environment Variables again. sybinit lists the sybenv.dat variables and their values.

4. Use the arrow keys to highlight the value you want to change.

5. Press Return to place the cursor in the value field.

6. Type the new value and press Return.

   Note: sybinit does not verify the accuracy of the information you enter.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 to change additional variables, if necessary.

8. Press Esc to accept the displayed values. sybinit asks if you would like to write the changes to sybenv.dat now.

9. Select Yes to write the changes to sybenv.dat or No to cancel any changes you have made.

10. Exit sybinit . Then shut down and restart SQL Server for the changes to take effect.

Search Path Modifications

When you load SQL Server and other Sybase products into memory, those products attempt to load the supporting NLMs and script files that are required for operation. To ensure that Sybase products can locate their supporting files, the sybinit installation program automatically adds the SYBASE nlms and install directories to your NetWare search path. For example, if your SYBASE release directory is sys:sybase10 , sybinit appends the following lines to autoexec.ncf :

 search add sys:sybase10\nlms 

 search add sys:sybase10\install 

If you remove the SQL Server product from your file server, you can delete these commands from the autoexec.ncf file.

Starting SQL Server from the NetWare Console

Each time you install a new SQL Server or Backup Serverä, the installation program creates a runserver file in the install directory of the SYBASE release directory. The runserver file contains information that is required to start a particular server.

A runserver file has the same name as its associated SQL Server or Backup Server (truncated to 8 characters, if necessary). For example, the runserver file name for a SQL Server named TESTSERVER is testserv .

To start a SQL Server from the NetWare command line, use the startsrv NLM. The syntax for using startsrv is:

 load startsrv [ -f runserver_file ] 

where runserver_file is the full file specification of the runserver file. For example:

 load startsrv -f sys:sybase\install\testserv 

Starting SQL Server at Operating System Restart

On production systems, SQL Server should start automatically whenever NetWare restarts. To do this, add a SQL Server start-up command as the last entry in the NetWare sys:system\autoexec.ncf file. For example, if the SYBASE installation is in sys:sybase and your server is named TESTSERVER, add the following lines to sys:system\autoexec.ncf:

 load sys:sybase\install\startsrv -f sys:sybase\install\testserv 

All network resources must be available before SQL Server is started. SQL Server will not start if the network is not up. Be sure that the entry for restarting SQL Server follows any commands for loading local area network (LAN) drivers and binding protocols in the autoexec.ncf file.

Note: Slow start-up of network operations can also prevent SQL Server from starting, even if the commands in autoexec.ncf are in the correct order.

What's Next?

Chapter 3 discusses the interfaces file, the file SQL Server uses to communicate with client software.