Configure a NetWare/IP Network

A DNS server maintains a centralized database of host names and addresses, and TCP/IP nodes use the DNS database to locate nodes on the network.

The native NetWare/IP modules allow the native NetWare server to become a DNS server. However, NetWare/IP can use the standard DNS server found on TCP/IP networks. Since DNS server functionality comes with most UNIX operating systems, the NetWare/IP modules for NetWare/9000 do not include DNS functionality.

NetWare/IP uses only a few of the features of DNS. It requires that you create and set up a special NetWare/IP domain. The domain is created like any other domain, but is different than others in that it cannot have any subdomains or hosts. It becomes a logical domain for all the NetWare/IP servers on the network, regardless of their physical location. The NetWare/IP domain unites these servers into a single domain. Figure 8-2 illustrates this concept.

Figure 8-2 Example Showing NetWare/IP Domain

The DNS server can be either a native NetWare server or an HP-UX server. Figure 8-2 illustrates it as a HP-UX server. NetWare/IP servers and clients use the DNS server to find the nearest DSS server in the NetWare/IP domain. The DSS servers, DSS1 and DSS2, must be native NetWare servers.

The DSS server maintains the database of SAP and RIP information, and NetWare/IP servers use UDP (User Datagram Protocol) packets to exchange SAP and RIP information with the DSS server. NetWare clients use the DSS server to obtain the IP address of their preferred NetWare server or tree so they can log in to the network.

On an IPX network, NetWare servers broadcast SAP and RIP information every 60 seconds. On a NetWare/IP network, NetWare/IP servers download their SAP and RIP information from the DSS database. At configurable intervals, the NetWare/IP server synchronizes its SAP and RIP information with the DSS server; and DSS servers, with other DSS servers.

The DSS server has the responsibility of maintaining an accurate list of IPX networks and services. NetWare/IP servers are configured to inform the DSS server when they initialize, when they are going down, and periodically (interval is configurable) that their services and networks are still available. If the NetWare/IP server fails to send the periodic "alive" message, the DSS server removes that server's services from its database.

When the NWIPD daemon is initialized, it opens the NWIP driver and the UDP port designated for IPX emulation and links this port to the NWIP driver. It then opens the UDP port designated for the SAP/RIP emulation and links this port to the NWIP driver.

After initialization, NWIPD is responsible for the following tasks:

These files and their purpose are described below.

Configuration File

The NWIPD daemon saves the configuration parameters downloaded from the DSS server to the nwipparam.sav file located in the /etc/opt/netware4 directory.

The first time NWIPD daemon is started, if it cannot contact a DSS server, it cannot come up. SAM allows a list of DSS servers to be configured for NWIPD. If none of these servers are available, NWIPD will contact an DNS server for the addresses of other DSS servers. Once a DSS server is contacted, NWIPD downloads the configuration information to a file. Thereafter, if a DSS server is not available when NWIPD comes up, it uses the configuration information in the file to start up.

SAP and RIP Files

The NWIPD daemon downloads the SAP and RIP information from the DSS server. The DSS server maintains a version number with the SAP and RIP information and updates the version number whenever the SAP or RIP information changes. The NWIPD daemon sends periodic requests to the DSS server for the version number. When the version number is different from the one stored by the NWIPD daemon, the updated SAP and RIP information is downloaded from the DSS server to the NWIPD daemon.

When the NWIPD daemon is first initialized, it requests a transfer of all SAP and RIP information. After that, the DSS server sends only changed information. A complete transfer of information is done only when a mismatch is detected after a transfer. An NWCM parameter controls the interval between updates. The default is five minutes.

The NWIPD daemon stores the RIP information and version number in the nwiprip.sav file located in the /etc/opt/netware4 directory, and the SAP information and version number in the nwipsap.sav file located in the /etc/opt/netware4 directory. When the NCPS server goes down and then comes back up, the NWIPD daemon reads the RIP and SAP information from their files and sends this information to the NWIP driver which forwards it to the IPX driver. The IPX driver forwards the RIP packets to the RIP driver and the SAP packets to the SAP daemon so they can populate their information tables. The NWIPD then contacts the DSS server for updates and sends these to the NWIP driver for forwarding up the IPX stack.

If your network is fairly stable, only a few packets are needed to keep the SAP and RIP agents fully informed of available services and networks.

The NWIP driver is a streams multiplexor which tunnels all IPX traffic coming down from the IPX driver to UDP, and the traffic with encapsulated IPX packets coming up from UDP to the IPX driver.

The NWIP driver provides a Data Link Provider Interface (DPLI) at the top to which the IPX driver is bound. This is the interface the IPX driver expects from a LAN driver. The NWIP driver uses the Transport Provider Interface (TPI) at the bottom to which UDP and the rest of the TCP/IP stack is bound.

The NWIP driver performs the following tasks:

The NWIP driver uses source (incoming or outgoing), packet types, and ioctls to perform these tasks.

NetWare/IP requires a Domain SAP and RIP Server, a DSS server. The HP 9000 server cannot function as a DSS server because this functionality was not implemented in NetWare 4.1/9000. You must use a native NetWare server as the DSS server. See the NetWare/IP Adminstrators Guide in the native NetWare documentation set for more information.

After you have configured a native NetWare server to use TCP/IP and have set up that server to be a DSS server, you are ready to install and configure the NetWare 4.1/9000 server to use TCP/IP as its protocol.

On UNIX, The Domain Name Server (DNS) partitions an IP internet into zones or domains. All NetWare servers using TCP/IP as their protocol must be in the same NetWare/IP domain.

NetWare/IP will be installed automatically as part of the NetWare 4.1/9000 product. However, after installation, NetWare/IP needs to be configured as the transport protocol. You can do this by following the steps below.

Before Netware/IP can be used, the parameters associated with NetWare/IP must be configured.

The NetWare/IP configuration can be performed only by the root user or owner of the system.

To configure NetWare/IP:

NWIP can co-exist with IPX/SPX on the standard NetWare network. Any system can be configured to use both NWIP and IPX stacks simultaneously.

The current implementation of NWIP does not function as a forwarding gateway. All the SAP/RIP information received from the IPX stack will not be sent to the NWIP database by the NCPS. But it will forward all the SAP/RIP information received from the NWIP database to the IPX side.

Each step is described in the section following.