NOVELL TECHNICAL BULLETIN

           TITLE:  Possible Data Destruction during v2.0a to v2.2
                   Upgrade
    DOCUMENT ID#:  TB.P.295
            DATE:  4 October 1991
         PRODUCT:  NetWare
PRODUCT REVISION:  v2.0a, v2.2
 CROSS-REFERENCE:  N/A

         SYMPTOM:  "Drive not set up for Hot Fix" error

ISSUE/PROBLEM

When upgrading using any -U option of the NetWare v2.2 INSTALL
utility, a situation can arise where data may be lost.

In v2.2 INSTALL, the partition tables of the NetWare hard disks
being upgraded are modified before Hot Fix is synchronized.  The
latter operation is performed when the user is in the File Server
Definition window and presses F10 to continue installation upon
finishing changes to this window.

However, when the file server is being upgraded from Advanced
NetWare v2.0a, a problem arises because Advanced 2.0a does not
incorporate Hot Fix.  The error "Drive not set up for Hot Fix"
occurs when the user presses F10 to exit the File Server Definition
screen of v2.2 Install and the upgrade then fails.  At this point
it is impossible to reboot the Advanced v2.0a server, since the
partition table has been changed, and the only remaining choice for
the user is to run the PREPARE utility to set up his or her file
server hard disks for Hot Fix.  Normally, PREPARE should run
successfully, after which upgrade can be successfully run.  But if
PREPARE does not run successfully, the user is suspended
permanently between the two versions and cannot recover his or her
data without reinitializing the file server drives.  A situation in
which PREPARE does not run successfully occurs when at least 2% of
the drive is not available for Hot Fix because the drive in
question is full.

ELS Level I NetWare v2.0a and SFT NetWare v2.0a do not have this
problem, as they both are previously set up for Hot Fix.   

SOLUTION

The first priority in planning an upgrade is to have at least one
full system backup.  This backup ensures a rapid and effective
recovery from unforseen situations such as that described above.

The solution to the above situation is to take the following two
preventative steps beyond the necessary system backup.  These two
steps will be effective ONLY if they are implemented BEFORE running
v2.2 INSTALL and trying to upgrade.

The first step is to verify that at least 2% of a disk's space is
available on each of the Advanced v2.0a file server's drives.  If
it is not, a backup should be made or obsolete files should be
deleted until 2% of disk's space is available.

The second step is to obtain the PREPARE utility PREP.ZIP
(available on NetWire in downloadable Library 6) and run it on the
Advanced v2.0a file server's drives.  PREPARE sets up the file
server drives for SFT Level I, or Hot Fix redirection.  With Hot
Fix redirection in place on the file server drives, v2.2 INSTALL
completes the upgrade procedure successfully.  Do NOT proceed with
the upgrade until PREPARE has run successfully.

In the near future, a new version of the v2.2 INSTALL utility will
be made available which will prevent the user from upgrading if he
or she does not have Hot Fix capabilities.  Until that time, the
above procedure must be followed to avoid data loss.