Console Commands in NetWare 5.1: TRACK ON, TRACK OFF, UNBIND, UNLOAD, VERSION

Articles and Tips: article

Kevin Burnett
Senior Research Engineer
Novell AppNotes

01 Jan 2002

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 sever 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.

TRACK ON

The TRACK ON command enables the NetWare 5.1 server's router tracking screen. You would use this command at the server console to view the Router Information Protocol (RIP) Tracking Screen and make it the active screen. This screen displays RIP traffic on the server.

RIP is a routing protocol used for both IP and IPX routing, but with slightly different implementations. IP RIP and IPX RIP use similar processes for discovering, maintaining, and prioritizing routes. They both send route requests to obtain routing information and to send periodic route updates, thereby making sure the routing information tables are synchronized.

The major differences between IP RIP and IPX RIP are the protocols they are associated with, the way they prioritize routes, and how often they update the routing table. In addition to RIP, RIP II is provided on NetWare 5.1 servers. RIP II is an IP routing protocol that includes the following enhancements over RIP:

Provides a password for authentication
Allows specification of a subnet mask
Allows multicast addressing

To enable the server's TRACK ON screen, type the following at the server prompt:

TRACK ON

TRACK ON opens a RIP Tracking screen on the server and signals the server's router to display all server and network routing (RIP) packets that are received or sent. TRACK ON also displays information about servers, networks, and connection requests through a separate SAP Tracking screen.

This information is formatted according to whether the NetWare server is receiving incoming information (IN), broadcasting outgoing information (OUT), or receiving a connection request.

Incoming Information.

Incoming information looks similar to the following:

IN [00D0C200:00001B026C09] 10:53:01am 010123C5 11/22 5300DEEF
3/4 00001EF0 5/365FADE2401 12/98 00001EEE 2/3 C9008617 5/11

The packet is incoming from network address 00D0C200 and from the server at node address 0001B026C09. The packet was sent at 10:53 a.m. The columns of data that follow the line labeled IN are network numbers that the sending server knows about. For example, 010123C5 and 5300DEEF are the network numbers recognized by the server at address 00001B026C09. These numbers can be very extensive, depending on how your network and routers are configured.

The numbers 11/22 and 3/4 indicate routing information about that network. For example, the 11/ and 3/ indicate the hop count, or number of hops (gateways or routers) from the sending server to this network.

Note: The maximum number of hops a RIP packet can travel through is 16.

The /22 and /4 indicate the number of ticks (1/18th of a second) that a packet took to reach this network from the sending server.

Outgoing Information.

Outgoing information looks similar to the following:

OUT [1986DAD0:8941A801] 11:00:01am 00001EEE 2/3 5300DEEF
3/4 00001EF0 5/365FADE2401 2/3 FEED00BB 4/5 ACCCDDD 5/11

The packet is outgoing from network address 1986DAD0 and from the server at node address 8941A801. The packet was sent at 11:00 a.m. The columns of data that follow the line labeled OUT are network numbers that the sending server knows about. Again, these numbers can be very extensive.

The associated hop and tick count information is listed after each network. Hops and ticks are explained in the paragraph above about Incoming information.

Connection Requests.

When a client boots and loads a NetWare Requester (such as DOS Requester or OS/2 Requester), a Get Nearest Server request is broadcast on the network the station is connected to. Any connected server can receive the message and respond to the station with a Give Nearest Server response. The station initially attaches to the first server that responds to the Get Nearest Server request.

TRACK OFF

This command disables the router tracking screen. To disable the server's TRACK ON screen, type the following at the server console prompt:

TRACK OFF

Use this command at the server's console to prevent the server from displaying the RIP Tracking Screen.

UNBIND

You would use the UNBIND command to remove a communication protocol from the Local Area Network (LAN) driver of a network board or to disable communication on a specific network board. In order to allow a NetWare server to communicate with the network, a LAN card is required to allow data transmission between the server and the clients, as well as other servers. In order for the LAN card to interface with the NetWare server, a LAN driver needs to be loaded.

In addition, a network protocol needs to be selected for all resources on the network to use. Protocols such as IP and IPX are currently available. UNBIND is used to remove a protocol from a LAN card on a NetWare server.

The syntax for using the UNBIND command is as follows:

UNBIND protocol [FROM] LAN_driver | board_name [driver parameter/]]

Parameter	Use
protocol	Specify the name of the protocol you want to unbind.
LAN-driver \| board_name	Specify the name of the LAN driver or the network board from which you are unbinding the protocol.
driver parameter	Specify one or more driver parameters if you have more than one network board of the same type in your server. See UNBIND Driver Parameters, below. Note: Enclose driver parameters in square brackets.

UNBIND Driver Parameters

Driver Parameter	Use
[DMA=number]	Specify the DMA channel for the board. Use the same channel you did when you loaded the driver.
[FRAME=number]	Specify the frame type for the board. Use the same type you did when you loaded the driver.
[INT=number]	Specify the interrupt for the board. Use the same interrupt you did when you loaded the driver.
[MEM=number]	Specify the memory address for the board. Use the same memory address you did when you loaded the driver.
[PORT=number]	Specify the I/O port for the board. Use the same I/O port you did when you loaded the driver.
[SLOT=number]	Specify the network board by the slot that it was installed in. Use this parameter with microchannel and EISA computers. Use the same slot number you did when you loaded the driver.
[NODE=number]	Specify the node number of the board.

Here are some things to keep in mind when using the driver parameters with the UNBIND command:

You must tell the operating system which network board or LAN driver you want to unbind the communication protocol from.
If you have multiple boards or LAN drivers, you must unbind each one separately.
If your server has more than one instance of a LAN driver loaded, use one or more driver parameters to specify the particular board you are unbinding.

To prevent a driver from binding automatically when the server boots, delete the following line from the AUTOEXEC.NCF file:

BIND IPX TO 
LAN_driver
 NET=
number

Here are some usage examples. To unbind IP from an NE3200 driver that has been loaded only once, type:

UNBIND IP FROM NE3200

To unbind IPX from an NE3200 driver that has been loaded more than once, using driver parameters to specify the particular network board, type:

UNBIND IPX FROM NE3200 [SLOT=3, FRAME=ETHERNET_II]

UNLOAD

This server console command is used to unload a module that was previously loaded with the LOAD command. You can also use this command to unload outdated NLM programs so that updated modules can be loaded.

You can also use UNLOAD at workstations running Novell Client software for client modules that have been previously linked with LOAD.

The syntax is as follows:

UNLOAD 
NLM_name

UNLOAD ADDRESS SPACE=
address_space
 [
NLM_name
]

UNLOAD KILL ADDRESS SPACE=
address_space

The following table lists the available parameters and their use:

Parameter	Use
NLM_name	Specify the module you want to unload.
ADDRESS SPACE= address_space	Specify the address space you want to unload. This command unloads all modules from the address space, removes the space, and returns its resources to the system.
ADDRESS SPACE=address_space NLM_name	Specify the module you want to remove from the designated address space. This command unloads the specified module from the address space, but does not remove the address space.
KILL ADDRESS_SPACE=address_space	Remove the specified address space, but without unloading modules from it first. Use this command only if you know the address space can't be unloaded any other way.

The UNLOAD command unlinks a loadable module from the operating system that was previous linked to the operating system with the LOAD command. When you unload a module, all resources are returned to the system. To unload a module from an address space, you can specify its address space.

Note: If an address is specified without a module, all modules in that address space will be unloaded.

Keep in mind the following information when unloading LAN drivers, name space modules, or disk drivers.

LAN Drivers.

When you unload a LAN driver, the driver is unbound from all communication protocols and is removed from all the network boards it was linked to. After a LAN driver is unloaded, users with network boards that require the unloaded driver receive the following error message:

Network error on Server <
fileserver
>: Error receiving from network. Abort, Retry?

If this occurs, perform the following:

Retry once to see if an alternate route to the NetWare server is available on another network.
If the retry fails, try again after the LAN driver is reloaded and bound to the communication protocol.

A user who receives the error message must reestablish a connection within 15 minutes. If the connection is broken for more than 15 minutes, the server watchdog algorithm terminates the station's connection. If the LAN driver will be unloaded for 15 minutes or longer, have users log out before unloading the LAN driver.

Name Space Modules.

Before unloading name space modules, dismount all volumes that are using the module. These volumes cannot be remounted until the module is loaded again.

You need to use the VREPAIR utility if you are going to permanently delete a name space from a volume; do this before you unload the name space module.

Disk Drivers.

Before unloading a disk driver, dismount all of the volumes stored on the hard disks that are connected to the controller or host bus adapter.

If you don't dismount the volumes, the system warns you that the driver is in use and lists the volumes using the driver.

If you override the warning and unload the driver without dismounting the volumes, the server dismounts the volumes and notifies those who are using the volumes.

Below are some examples of how to use the UNLOAD command. To unload MONITOR, type:

UNLOAD MONITOR

To unload the CLIB module from the address space for GroupWise, type the following:

UNLOAD ADDRESS SPACE=GRPWISE CLIB

To unload all modules from the GroupWise address space and shut down the address space, you would type:

UNLOAD ADDRESS SPACE=GRPWISE

To shut down an address space that cannot be unloaded any other way, type:

UNLOAD KILL ADDRESS SPACE=ADDRESS_SPACE1

VERSION

The VERSION console command provides pertinent NetWare and associated Novell product version information. You can also see Support Pack revision information. Typing VERSION on a NetWare v5.1 server console produces output similar to the following:

Novell NetWare 5.1
Support Pack Revision 02
  1983-2000 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Patent Pending.
Server Version 5.00.09 September 21, 2000
NDS Version 8.73 September 13, 2000

Let's look at each line individually:

Line	Explanation
Novell NetWare 5.1	Name of NetWare Operating System (OS) and version.
Support Pack Revision 02	The Revision of the support pack for the above mentioned NetWare Operating System.
1983-2000 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Patent Pending.	Novell's legal copyright for the NetWare OS. Novell reserves all rights (legally) for the product. One or more patents are pending for this version of the NetWare OS.
Server Version 5.00.09 September 13, 2000	The version number of the NetWare server and build date of the server software.
NDS Version 8.73 September 13, 2000	The version number of eDirectory and the build date of eDirectory that ships as an integral part of this release of NetWare. This can be important information when troubleshooting eDirectory issues.

The five Console Commands we have discussed in this article are summarized in the following table:

Console Command	Function	Example
TRACK ON	Enables the router tracking screen and the Service Advertising Protocol screen.	Track on
TRACK OFF	Disables the router tracking screen.and the Service Advertising Protocol screen.	Track off
UNBIND	Unlinks a specific network board from a communication protocol.	Unbind IP from ne3200 [slot=3,frame=ethernet_ii]
UNLOAD	Unlinks a loadable module from the operating system that was previously linked to the operating system with the LOAD command. An address space can also be specified with the unload command to unload a module from a specific address space. If an address space is specified without a module, all of the NLMs in that address space will be unloaded.	Unload monitor Unload address space = Groupwise Unload address space = Groupwise CLIB
VERSION	Displays the NetWare version information and copyright notice.	Version

* 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.