Console Commands in NetWare 5.1: Mount, Name, Native2Ascii, and the NCP Commands
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Managing Editor
Novell AppNotes
01 May 2001
This section is one in a series that intends to describe each of the NetWare 5.1 console commands (both normal and hidden) in alphabetical order and to tell when, why, and how to use them properly. To see a list of the commands that you can perform at the server console, type HELP <Enter> at the server console prompt. To use the commands described here, simply type the command at the server console prompt followed by the <Enter> key.
MOUNT
The MOUNT command is used to make server volumes available to users. A "volume" is a unit of storage space on NetWare servers. By mounting a volume, you make its information available to network users.
Note: This information applies to traditional NetWare file system volumes. Mounting Novell Storage Services (NSS) volumes will be covered in a future column.
Normally, when you start up a NetWare server, all of its volumes are mounted. The following steps occur during the volume mounting process:
The volume becomes visible to the operating system.
The volume's File Allocation Table (FAT) is loaded into memory.
The volume's Directory Entry Table (DET) is loaded into memory .
You can mount or dismount one or all volumes while the NetWare server is running. The syntax for mounting all volumes that are not currently mounted is:
MOUNT ALL <Enter>
If you set up the server's AUTOEXEC.NCF file to mount all volumes automatically each time the server comes up, you would need to use the MOUNT command only if you have dismounted a volume and want to remount it. To load a specific volume that was previously dismounted or for some reason did not mount when the server was booted, the syntax is:
MOUNT volume_name <Enter>
If your server has removable drives, you can use the MOUNT command to mount the volumes residing on the removable drive after you insert new media into the drive.
You can also use NWCONFIG to mount a volume. To do this, load the utility and select Standard Disk Options | NetWare Volume Options. From the resulting list of volumes, select the one you want to mount and press <Enter>.
NAME
This command is used at the server console to display the server name. By default, NetWare servers simply display the colon ( : ) prompt on the console screen. If you have more than one server in the same location and need to see which one is which, simply type the following command:
NAME <Enter>
The server's name will be displayed at the console as follows:
:name
This is server WILDWILDWEST
In environments where you have multiple server consoles in one location or access several servers from a single management console, it is often preferable to have the server names always displayed. To do this, type:
SET Replace Console Prompt with Server Name = servername
at the server console prompt. Since NetWare 5.1 keeps SET parameter information in its Registry, the server OS will continue to use the server name that you typed in (until you change it to something else). Then the next time the server boots, the server name will be displayed along with the colon prompt as follows:
WILDWILDWEST:
NATIVE2ASCII
If you're doing Java programming in a locale that uses non-ASCII file encoding, you might need this command. Otherwise, you can forget you ever heard about it.
Still with me? Okay then, here's the nitty-gritty on this command. It's all about Java, which is supported and loaded on every NetWare 5.1 server. Apparently the Java compiler and other Java tools are unable to process files which contain anything other than Latin-1 and Unicode-encoded characters. However, programmers in some countries (such as Japan and others) might be writing code that contains non-ASCII characters. Before running such code through the Java compiler, the developer must use the NATIVE2ASCII tool to convert the file into all 7-bit ASCII with Unicode escape sequences.
The syntax for this command is:
NATIVE2ASCII <filename>If the filename is omitted, Java's standard input and output are used.
The NCP Commands
There is a handful of hidden console commands relating to the server's handling of NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) requests. As with other hidden console commands, these should be used only by experienced technicians who have a solid understanding of the NetWare operating system's internal processes.
The NCP commands are typically used in advanced troubleshooting scenarios. It is helpful to know that every NetWare 5.1 server is represented in the Novell Directory Services (NDS) tree as an "NCP Server" object. This simply means that it provides NCP network services such as client-server connections, disk reads and writes, and other basic networking functions.
In NetWare 5.x, the NCP calls were rewritten to use either IPX/SPX (Internetwork Packet eXchange/Sequenced Packet eXchange) protocols or TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). To see the addresses of the known NCP network services on your network, type the following at the server console:
NCP ADDRESSES <Enter>You will see a list similar to the following (the IP addresses shown are not real):
Known NCP Network Service Addresses (Network Order):
[TCP] 111.22.33.44:0524 [IPX] F94B3E7:000001:451 [UDP] 111.22.33.44:0524
In a Pure IP environment, some NCP requests use UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for their communication, while others use TCP. UDP is part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Note that the IP addresses are followed by a port number of 0524. This is the port number assigned to NetWare 5 by the Internet Registration Group. The IPX address is in the form network address:node address:socket. The socket number for NetWare is 451. Ports and sockets are used by programmers to differentiate between the various sending or receiving processes on the network.
If you want to see statistics about incoming NCP requests, type the following at the server console:
NCP STATS <Enter>
This activates the NCP Statistics Screen that displays the total number of NCP requests processed by the server, as well as a breakdown of how many requests fall into certain categories.
If you need details on the NCP requests, you can activate a trace screen and either observe the requests on the console screen or redirect them to a log file. The syntax for this is:
NCP TRACE ON filename <Enter>
The log file is created at the root of the server's SYS volume. To deactivate the trace, type:
NCP TRACE OFF <Enter>
This file is also created at the root of the SYS volume. It shows how many of each of the 256 types of NCP requests have been received, as well as how many unknown NCP requests have been encountered.
If you want to see the standard deviation statistics for the NCP requests, type:
NCP DUMP <Enter>
Don't be too concerned if you don't understand all of the NCP information that is available through these commands. Few people ever have to deal with NetWare at that deep a level.
|
Console Command
|
Function
|
Example
|
|
MOUNT |
Allows you to mount one or all volumes. |
MOUNT SYS or MOUNT ALL |
|
NAME |
Displays the server's name |
NAME |
|
NATIVE2ASCII |
Converts |
NATIVE2ASCII filename |
|
NCP ADDRESSES |
Displays the addresses of known NCP network services. |
NCP ADDRESSES |
|
NCP DUMP filename |
Dumps the NCP standard deviation statistics to a file. |
NCP DUMP ncpdump.txt |
|
NCP STATS |
Displays statistics about incoming NCP requests. |
NCP STATS |
|
NCP TRACE |
Enables/disables the NCP trace screen, which displays NCP-related messages on the server console. |
NCP TRACE ON filename NCP TRACE OFF |
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
Disclaimer
The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.