I'm updating a proprietary database server that runs...
Articles and Tips: qna
01 Apr 2003
Q.
I'm updating a proprietary database server that runs on both Windows and NetWare servers. The Windows version uses the MAC address of the first NIC as a unique system signature. I was able to do this for Windows, but I haven't been able to find how to do this on a NetWare server.
A.
There is an example program that shows how to do this at http://www.gknw.de/development/samples/codewarrior/getip.zip
But you may want to find a different way to uniquely identify your server. On a NetWare server, there is no concept of "first NIC," since operations like "Reinitialize System" can change the logical board IDs, and hence the enumeration order. The MAC address is bad to use since it can easily change as NICs are swapped out.
You could use the Internal IPX network number (or SERVERID, after NetWare 4.x), which is guaranteed unique within a given network--and is very unlikely to change, ever. It is eight hexidecimal digits.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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