Today's project was to do a hardware migration of my IDM server to new hardware, you could use this process for any server but I'm focussing on the IDM stuff.

This is how I accomplished it, and some of the problems/resolutions I found during the process are listed at the end. I'm not going to list a blow-by-blow account of the Server Consolidation Migration Utility as it's very straight forward. However, if you'd like some info let me know and I can give you the step-by-step process. I may even include this in a separate blog entry.

If you've read any of my other Novell Blog entries you'll know that my IDM system runs on NetWare... let me hear you say YEAH!!!

Because I'm still running Netware, migrating to other hardware is quite easy. Novell has provided a neat little utility called the Server Consolidation and Migration Utility and it's a good time saver. Download this free product before you begin and I highly recommend you run this process through your test environment.

A few notes before we start.

I don't recommend trying to migrate to a higher DS level than the one your source server is on. ie, don't migrate from 8.7.3 to 8.8. If you wish to upgrade your DS version, do it after the migration has settled.

I do recommend using the latest patches and version of Netware as your destination server.

Side note: because my source server was a NW65SP7 server that was updated from SP6, I am still running eDir 8.7.3.9 and this is by choice. If you've installed a new Netware server from the SP7 overlay DVD you'll notice the default version of DS is 8.8sp2. So to get around this I install the pre-migration server with the SP6 overlay CD's and then apply the downloaded SP7.

Let the games begin.

1. Take note of the products/services your original server is running. You're going to re-install these on the new server so it helps to know what the old one did. Go make yourself a coffee and get comfortable.

2. Build the migration server ensuring all hardware is functioning correctly.
Use the Pre-migration server installation option in the Netware install. This installs a bare-bones Netware server with no additional products.

Note at this point: to cut down on editing in the comparison step later on, I recommend your temporary eDirectory has the same containment structure of your original tree. Create the same structure down to the server location. The following is what I typically used:

TREE Name: TEMPTREE
Server Name: OLDSERVERNAME1
Server context: Same structure as original server in production tree.
Server IP: something in the same network as the original server

3. On the source server comment out all unnecessary load lines in the AUTOEXEC.NCF. Backup clients and anything else that is not immediately required (which should be nothing as you're working inside a maintenance window or scheduled outage.. right??)

4. Stop all drivers running on the server and set them to manual start. Unload any backup clients or other applications to ensure files are not in use.

5. Export all driver configurations.

6. Start the Server Consolidation Migration utility and create a new project for your server. I usually just name the project after the server name being migrated followed by the date. Eg: SERVER1_220408

7. If your server is not a file server (ie doesn't have any volumes other than SYS) you can "next" your way through to the data copy. You can run this stage of the migration days ahead if you like. Then do a final update copy for any files that have changed at the time of the migration. This is a HUGE time-saver. This step simply backs up the trustees on the server and copies the entire contents of the SYS volume to the SYS:\SYS.MIG directory on the destination server.

Note at this point: take a bit of time to clean up your source server, delete any old patches etc that might be lingering around. The data copy stage will copy EVERYTHING, even stuff you don't necessarily need.

8. Complete the Migration process. I usually just accept the defaults given (unless you've done a pre-copy). Read each screen carefully and ensure you follow any additional steps that are suggested. Pay particular attention to the configuration file comparisons. You'll get a second warning about the Server name and IP address. Make sure these are correct.

9. At this point, your original server should be down and turned off, and your new server has now taken on the identity of the original. It's now time to install all the goodies again, but take a moment to yank the network and power cables from the old box.

10. Insert the SP7 overlay DVD and start installing the additional products. My server also ran DNS so I installed it at this point along with the following:

General:
Tomcat 4 and 5
Apache2
iManager 2.7
Novell Modular Authentication Services
reboot server.

Products required for IDM 3.5.1
Security Services 2.0.5
NMAS updates
CIMOM updates
reboot server.

11. Reinstall IDM 3.5.1 engine/utilities and any drivers. I have a blog entry on upgrading from 3.0.1 to 3.5.1 and I just followed these steps.

12. Load DSTRACE using the following:

load dstrace
load dstrace screen on
load dstrace +dvrs dxml

13. Start iManager and fire up the drivers one at a time. Watch the trace screen in step 12 for any errors. Once you've confirmed all is running, edit the driver configurations and set the drivers to auto-start.

14. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Problems encountered:

The above process is exactly how it all went... in test.

In production, however, things were slightly more "interesting".

My hardware migration went perfectly and the new server became the old one as expected. I then went and started installing all the Netware products and patches. Still all good at this point.

I then installed IDM on the server and for good measure, rebooted.

When I attempted to start the first driver, the process failed with a -783 error. This TID pointed in the right direction but didn't help me. DIRXML was loading but was not functioning.

I investigated the logger screen and saw an error loading DXLDAP.NLM and followed this TID. However, unloading DIRXML or DS simply locked the console screen and after 20 minutes still wouldn't unload the nlm's. I could see from the DSTRACE screen the drivers were caching any changes so updates weren't going to be lost.

At this point I figured something hadn't installed correctly. DS was working perfectly but DIRXML was being a precious petal. To prevent DIRXML from loading I renamed the dirxml.nlm to dirxml.old and rebooted.

After the reboot I reinstalled IDM and rebooted, but had the same problem. Did the rename dirxml.nlm thing again, rebooted. This time I uninstalled IDM and did the following:

1. Ran the Product install again and re-installed all the products and update in step 10 above.
2. Ran the IDM install again
3. Added the server back to the driver set as it was removed because of the -783 error above.
4. Enabled the drivers but didn't automatically synchronize (drivers are disabled if the server is removed from the set)
5. Started the drivers, this time all went well.

Post investigation seems to point to the NMAS installation, but I haven't confirmed this.

All is working perfectly now and the pointy-haird boss is blissfully unaware of my numerous missed heartbeats this morning.

Tags: Identity Manager, Netware, IDM