NetWare 5 Server: Discovering Persistent SET Parameters

Articles and Tips: qna

01 Aug 2000

Dear Ab-end: On my NetWare 5 server, I have made several SET parameters, but cannot remember what all of them were. In case of a server crash, how do I know if the changes I made will persist?

-- UnSETtled in Seattle

Dear UnSETtled: In NetWare 5x, SET parameters are kept in a database using the NetWare Configuration Database Engine (CDBE), similar to the registry functionality in Microsoft Windows environments. The CDBE stores SET changes in the SERVCFG.000 file that is located on the server boot directory (typically in C:\NWSERVER). Your SET changes were either made at the server console using the SET or CSET commands or through the MONITOR or PORTAL utilities. Each SET parameter registers with the SETPARM engine so that it can exist. At the time a SET parameter registers with the SETPARM engine, it declares itself as persistent or non-persistent.

To see which of your SET parameter changes are persistent or non-persistent, you need to do a few things:

For a list of non-persistent SET parameters, type the following at the server console:
- save notper environment <filename.ext> <Enter>
Note: <filename.ext> does not allow for drive or path specification. The file is created at the root of volume SYS:.
Then from any text editor, edit the file to see which set parameters are non-persistent.
For a list of persistent SET parameters, type the following at the server console:
- save per environment <filename.ext> <Enter>
Then edit the file to see which SET parameters are persistent. If non-persistent SET parameters need to be set to a value other than the default, they must be set in the appropriate NCF file (STARTUP.NCF or AUTOEXEC.NCF). When you do make SET parameter changes, they are only written or "flushed" to disk when the server is "gracefully" downed. The settings can be forced to write to disk (called flushing), by typing at the server console the following:
- flush cdbe <Enter>

Note: When the NetWare 5 Service Pack 1 is installed, the settings in the SERVCFG.000 are lost. Part of the NetWare 5 Service Pack 1 contains fixes to prevent this from happening in the future, but for this patch, all server SET parameter changes from the default will need to be reset.

Other console commands of interest are:

Command	Function
display environment	Displays all SET parameters and their values.
save environment filename.ext	Saves all modified SET parameters to a file in the root of SYS.
display modified environment	Displays everything that the administrator has set different from their default type.
save modified environment filename.ext	Saves everything the user has set different from default type to a file in the root of SYS.

You can also see which SET parameters are considered persistent or non-persistent through the Novell Management Portal utility. By selecting Server Management/Set Parameters/Category, then clicking on the Question Mark at the right-hand side of Set parameter. The help screen that explains the parameter also signifies if the parameter is persistent or non-persistent.

* 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.