Ales Dryak <A.Dryak@sh.cvut.cz> has developed software that allows
your Linux machine to function as an NCP based fileserver. This allows you to
share files on your linux machine with users using DOS based Novell NetWare
client software. Users can attach and map filesystems to appear as local drives
on their machines just as they would to a real Novell fileserver.
Ales has called the package lwared, an abbreviation for LinWare Daemon.
The lwared server is capable of providing a subset of the full function of the Novell NCP. It incorporates messaging but it does not provide any printing facilities at all. It does not currently work very well with either Windows95 or Windows NT clients. The lwared server relies on external programs to build and update the IPX routing and SAP tables. Misbehaving clients can cause the server to crash. Importantly, filename translation facilities have not been included.
The server does work for NETX and VLM NetWare shells.
The lwared package can be built for any kernel newer than
1.2.0, I recommend you use version 1.2.13 as no kernel
patches are required if you do. Some of the IPX functionality has changed
with the version 1.3.* kernels and this means that patches are
now required to make it work properly. Appropriate patches are included for
the new kernels, so if you must use an alpha kernel you should still be able
to get lwared to work properly for you.
You can obtain the lwared package by anonymous ftp from:
sunsite.unc.edu
or mirror sites. The current version at the time of writing was:
lwared-0.95.tar.gz
Something like:
# cd /usr/src # tar xvpfz lwared-0.95.tar.gz
If you are using an alpha 1.3.* kernel then you should try and use
kernel version 1.3.17 or newer because the supplied patches were built
against it. 1.3.* kernels older than 1.3.17 will require
hand patching to install. (some information on how to do this is included
in the INSTALL file in the package.). To install the patches
against a 1.3.17 kernel or newer you should try:
# make patch
After applying the patches if necessary, the next thing you need to do is
ensure that your kernel has been built with IPX support enabled. In the
1.2.13 version kernel you need only ensure that you have answered
Y to the question: 'The IPX protocol' as
illustrated:
... ... Assume subnets are local (CONFIG_INET_SNARL) [y] Disable NAGLE algorithm (normally enabled) (CONFIG_TCP_NAGLE_OFF) [n] The IPX protocol (CONFIG_IPX) [n] y * * SCSI support ... ...In newer kernels a similar process is adopted by the actual text of the prompt may have changed slightly.
You will also need to ensure that you include an appopriate driver for your ethernet card. If you do not know how to do this then you should read the Ethernet-HOWTO .
You can then proceed to build your kernel. Make sure you remember to run lilo to install it when you have finished.
To compile lwared you
should first check, edit if necessary, the server/config.h file. This
file contains various settings that will govern the way your server will
behave when it is running. The defaults are reasonable, though you might want
to check that the directories specified for the log files and configuration
files suit your system.
# make depend # make # make installI found that the '
make depend' complained about not finding the
float.h file on my system but appeared to work anyway.
I also found that when I tried compiling with gcc 2.6.3 I found
I had to change the line:
#include <net/route.h>to
#include <net/if_route.h>in
lib/ipxkern.c as this file changed name sometime.
The 'make install' will attempt to install the server and routing
daemon programs into your /usr/sbin directory, the lwpasswd
program into your /usr/bin directory, the IPX utility programs will
be installed into your /sbin directory and last but not least the
manual pages will go into the /usr/man directory structure. If any
of these locations are not suitable for your system then you should edit
the relevant Makefile and change the target directories to suit.
Now the fun bit!
The first thing you must do is configure
your ethernet interfaces to support the IPX networks your server will support.
To do this you will need to know the IPX network addresses for each of your
lan segments, which ethernet device (eth0, eth1 etc.) is
on which segment, what frame type (802.3, EtherII etc.) each
lan segment uses and what Internal Network address your server should use
(this is really needed if your server will service more than one lan segment).
A configuration for a server that is on two dis-similar segments with IPX
network addresses 23a91300 and 23a91301 and internal network
address bdefaced might look like:
# ipx_internal_net add BDEFACED 1 # ipx_interface add eth0 802.3 23a91300 # ipx_interface add eth1 etherii 23a91301
The kernel software itself actually does the IPX packet forwarding as it does for IP, but the kernel requires additional programs to manage the routing table updates. In the case of IPX two daemons are needed and both are supplied with lwared: ipxripd manages the IPX routing information and ipxsapd manages the SAP information. To start the daemons you need only specify the location of where they should write their log messages:
# ipxripd /var/adm/ipxrip # ipxsapd /var/adm/ipxsap
There are two files that you must manually configure to allow user login to your lwared server. They are:
/etc/lwpasswdThis is where LinWare user account
information is kept. The lwpasswd program is to keep it up to date.
In its simplest form the /etc/lwpasswd file looks like:
ales: terryd: guest:Its format is a simple list of login id followed by a ':' character and then the encrypted version of the login passwd. A couple of important caveats here: No encrypted password means no password, LinWare users must have Linux accounts, that is any user you place in
/etc/lwpasswd must also
appear in /etc/passwd and root is the only account that can
change the password of another LinWare user. If you are logged in as
root you can change the password of a LinWare user as this transcript
demonstrates:
# lwpasswd rodg Changing password for RODG Enter new password: Re-type new password: Password changed.
/etc/lwvtabThis is the LinWare volume tables and it stores
information about what directories should be made available to LinWare users
(this file is similar in nature to the NFS /etc/exports file). A
simple example of its format is as follows:
SYS /lwfs/sys DATA /lwfs/data HOME /homeThe format is simple: Volume name followed by whitespace followed by Linux directory to export. You must have at least an entry for the
SYS volume for the server to start. If you intend your DOS based
users to be able use your LinWare server as their primary server then you must
install a standard SYS volume directory structure underneath the
directory you export as your SYS volume. Since these files are
proprietry and copyright to the Novell corporation you should have a license
for these. If you users will be using a Novell fileserver as their primary
server then this will not be necessary.
tada!
# lwaredIt is almost an anticlimax isn't it ? Ok so you've got a question, right? What is the fileserver name that is being advertised ? If you started the server as shown then the LinWare server name being advertised will be based on what is returned by the Linux hostname. If you'd like it to be something else then you can give the server the name when you start it, for example:
# lwared -nlinux00would start the server with the name
linux00.
The very first thing to test is
that your LinWare server appears in an slist from a DOS client
on your network. The slist program is stored on the SYS
volume of a Novell fileserver so you must do this from a machine that is
already logged in somewhere. If this is not successful then check that
ipxsapd and lwared are both running. If the slist
is successful then you should try attaching to the server and mapping
a volume:
C:> attach linux00/ales ... ... C:> map l:=linux00/data: C:> l:You should then be able to treat the new map just like any other map. The file permissions you will have will be based on those allowed to the linux account that parallels your LinWare login.
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