Chapter 16
Performing a Custom Installation
Certification Objectives
*Custom Installation Steps *
Volume Types *
Creating a Volume *
Mounting a Volume *
Configuring the Internet Protocol (IP) *
Configuring the Internetwork Packet eXchange (IPX) Protocol *
IPX Compatibility, DNS, and SNMP *
Certification Summary
*When you’re ready to install your server, you will see the need to customize certain components of the network operating system. In today’s networking environments there are many different components that may be used. Some companies need Internet components such as DNS or DHCP for name resolution and IP address assignment. Other companies simply need a server with the capability to share information and printing.
In this chapter, we will look at the options available to customize and configure the server for your clients’ needs. For the exam, we will look at making changes to the file system by modifying and configuring the volumes on a NetWare server. We will also focus on implementing different protocols and the options available to configure them. Other customization options such as configuring the NDS and Novell Distributed Print Services are covered elsewhere in this book.
Installing NetWare 5 Using the Custom Option
These options can be customized once you reach the summary screen of the installation. With each option you have a Customize button that opens a window.
From the dialog box you can select the Properties button on each of the items listed and see a new list of options.
To customize your NetWare installation you simply select the Customize button on the summary screen during the installation. There are other configuration tasks, such as selecting certain options or entering information.
For example, when you select Properties on the NetWare Operating System option, you will see five tabs with various information. The first of these is the Server Properties Tab, which allows you to enter a server ID number.
The second is a Language Tab, which simply asks you to select which language you want installed for the server and for administration.
NetWare 5’s GUI makes configuration and customization a lot easier for inexperienced network administrators. This new interface approach to network management and configuration at the server is becoming widely accepted.
One of the last three tabs on the NetWare Operating System Properties is Console One, which allows an administrator to choose whether to load Console One when the server reboots. The other two tabs are License and Components, which give you options to install connection licenses or additional components that we will talk about shortly (file system, protocols, and NDS).
Modifying Volume Parameters
As a network administrator, occasionally you may see different server configurations and you must be able to modify the file system and customize the volumes accordingly.
You may have one server that does not need block suballocation and another that requires block suballocation but not compression on the volume. The File System Properties give you the flexibility to make changes to your volumes and configure them the way you want them.
In this section, we will focus on two of these. For exam purposes, our focus will be on the volume parameters and how they may impact your server.
A volume divides a partition. With the volume parameters you can work with two type of volumes:
Exam Watch: The thing to remember is that a traditional volume can be created only on a traditional partition and an NSS volume can be created only on an NSS partition.
If you have a partition that has free space available, you can select it and then click on the New Volume button to create a volume. When creating a volume, you will have some decisions to make.
Exercise 16-1 will walk you through creating a new volume. Make sure you have a server with free space available on a traditional NetWare partition. We will create a traditional NetWare volume with a size of 500 MB, with migration and compression turned off, and suballocation turned on.
Exercise 16-1 Creating a Traditional Volume
It’s easy to forget that you must mount a volume in order to use it . One of the options under the File System properties is to Mount Volumes.
You can mount volumes before or after the installation is complete (or when the server reboots). Base your timing on what is going to be done next during the installation. If you plan on installing other options on the server and need to use the new volume you created, then mount the volume before you try to add the components. If, on the other hand, you are installing components only to the SYS: volume, you can probably wait until after the installation to mount the volume .
Integrating Multiple Protocols
For complete functionality, networking today may require more than one protocol to be installed. When installing NetWare you have the option to select and configure which protocols your server will use. Highlighting the Protocols option under the Customization window to open the Protocol Properties dialog.
The four tabs of this dialog box let you configure if and how a server will communicate on the network. NetWare 5 introduced support for native IP and IPX protocols. The general installation configures the basic functionality, but you may also need to configure some enhancements.
The first tab is the Protocols tab, where you can configure the IPX and IP components of a NetWare server. On the left, you see the server and network adapter cards that are installed in it. If multiple network cards are installed, highlight each individual network card to see its properties.
Configuring the Internet Protocol (IP)
In the middle of the Protocols tab is the IP information. At least two of the three components are required to use IP. The first is the IP address of the network card. The IP address is made up of four octets, which means that an IP address is a 32-bit number. Remember that an octet is a number consisting of four bits. The bits are made up of zeros and ones, but the values are represented in decimal value from 0 to 255. An IP address looks like 208.163.10.41 and each number is an octet.
The second component of successful IP configuration is the subnet mask. A subnet mask tells us that the IP address is made up of two parts. One part is the network address, which can be compared to a street. For example, Bob and Tim live on Main Street and their network address is Main Street. The other part of the IP address is the host address. The host address is similar to a house number. Bob’s house number is 111 and Tim’s is 214. This differentiates them on the street. So looking at 208.163.10.41, we have to know which part is the network address and which part is the host address. For two or more computers to be on the same network (or subnet) they must have a portion of the address in common, just as Bob and Tim both live on Main Street. A subnet mask masks each portion of the address. For example, with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 we know that every IP address on our network starting with 208.163 are on the same network. Any other computers starting with two different octets are on another network. The most common subnet masks are:
Subnet masks tell us where to break the address up. The corresponding locations in the IP address that are the same as the subnet mask value of 255 are the network portion of the address. The corresponding locations in the IP address that are the same as the subnet mask value of 0 are the host address. For more details on IP addressing and subnetting check your local bookstore. There are many books on the subject.
The last component of IP is the gateway, which is the IP address of a router that connects the network to another network such as the Internet. The IP address of the router tells the server where to direct traffic to reach another network. This is a component that may or may not need to be configured depending on your network configuration.
Configuring the Internetwork Packet eXchange (IPX) Protocol
The IPX protocol is the most commonly associated with Novell networks. IPX has been the default NetWare protocol for a long time. The right-hand section of the Protocols tab has the IPX configuration information. There are different frame types that can be used with IPX, with Ethernet_802.2 being the most common, since the introduction of NetWare 3.12.
Along with the frame type is the network address or cable segment of that frame type. The IPX network number tells your server what cable segment it is on so you can differentiate between two Ethernet network cards in a server. Maybe one is a 10 Mbps card and the segment (or IPX network number) is 00000010, and the other card is a 100 Mbps card and the IPX network number is 00000100. This can help distinguish between cable segments when you’re troubleshooting and configuring the network.
IPX Compatibility, DNS, and SNMP
The last three tabs in the Protocol Properties screen are the IPX Compatibility tab, the Domain Name Service tab, and the SNMP tab. These tabs allow further configuration options but for the exam we will only hit on a couple of key areas.
The IPX Compatibility tab enables a new feature of NetWare 5 to be utilized. IPX compatibility, when enabled, provides support for applications requiring IPX. This means the server will not broadcast services using RIP and SAP, but the server will process IPX requests that arrive at the server.
On the Job: IPX compatibility mode is needed only if pure IP is being used and IPX is not the primary protocol stack on the network.
The Domain Name Service tab is a key component for IP if your network is connected to the Internet. As you recall, the Domain Name Service (DNS) is what translates novell.com to an IP address such as 111.111.110.23. The Domain Name Service tab allows you to enter the IP addresses of known DNS servers either on the internal network or provided by your Internet Service Provider. Multiple addresses can be listed and NetWare 5 will start at the top of the list and work down until the name is either resolved or the list is exhausted.
The last tab on the Protocol Properties window is the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) tab. This protocol is becoming more widely used. Products such as Novell’s Managewise and Compaq’s Insight Manager use SNMP to gather data. These utilities allow a network administrator to retrieve data about various hardware components or network traffic. Certain thresholds can be set to allow the administrator to set alarms so they can be notified if there is an abnormal number of errors on the network. These tools are especially important in larger network situations.
In this chapter, we looked at some of the custom installation options for NetWare 5. To customize a NetWare installation use the Customize option on the Installation summary screen. From there you can select five options. We discussed two of these five options: File System and Protocols. The other three options are covered elsewhere in this book.
With the File System Properties you can customize your server by making changes to volume configuration. The options available with the File System Properties are the following:
When creating volumes, remember that a Traditional NetWare volume must be created on a traditional NetWare partition, and an NSS volume can be created only on an NSS partition.
We also looked at integrating different protocols on a NetWare server. With NetWare 5 you now have the option for IP or IPX. With IP you need an IP address and a subnet mask to tell which part of the IP address is the network address and which is the host address. With IPX you must specify a frame type and an IPX network number, which should be the same for computers on the same cable segment.
Two-Minute Drill
