SUPPORT - Digital Archiving & Storage FAQs - Networking

• How can I change the IP-address of the smartDAX?
• How can I change TCP/IP settings without rebooting the Solaris server?
• How can I change TCP/IP settings without rebooting the Windows NT server?
• How can I mount my XFS from a UNIX client?
• I'm getting slow write performance when copying data to an NFS mounted XFS. What can I do?
• When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get an "invalid argument" NFS error. Why?
• When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get an "access denied" NFS error. Why?
• When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get a "Permission denied" error. Why?
• When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get a "RPC: Program not registered" error. Why?
• When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get a "No such file or directory" error. Why?
• I'm getting "Failed to bind NFS socket to port xxx" when starting KNFSD. Why?
• How can I disable the standard NFS service on Solaris?
• How can I run the standard NFS service and KNFSD concurrently?
• I cannot connect to our Windows NT based DAXfs server using it's IP-address. Why not?
• When I try to connect my Windows client to the Solaris DAXfs SMB service, I get
  "The semaphore timeout has expired" on my Windows client, and
  "Error running Netbios command: LISTEN : Netbios error: no callname" on my DAXfs server. Why?
• When I use a Windows 2000 client system to connect to an DAXfs server (Appliance or separate server) and attempt to create a New Folder I get "You may not be able to access files created in the folder >. Do you want to continue?" In stead of a folder a file is always created. How can we resolve this?
• When getting the properties of the Network Mapped Drive in the Windows Explorer the amount of free space is normally the total amount of free space on (blank) subsystems. How can I change this to represent the total amount of free cache space?

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How can I change the IP-address of the smartDAX?

There are two ways to change the IP-address of the smartDAX unit:

1. using the DAXmanager configuration tool
2. manually changing the /etc/hostname.hme0 and/or /etc/hosts file(s)

Be aware that the system will be broken when the IP address is changed!

How can I change TCP/IP settings without rebooting the Solaris server?

You can change the TCP/IP settings on a running Solaris system - without having to reboot it - using the ifconfig command. I.e. in order to obtain and change the IP-address on a running system, one might use:

daxserver# ifconfig hme0
hme0: flags=863 mtu 1500
inet 192.168.1.1 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255

daxserver# ifconfig hme0 194.123.123.1

daxserver# ifconfig hme0
hme0: flags=863 mtu 1500
inet 194.123.123.1 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 194.123.123.255

How can I change TCP/IP settings without rebooting the Windows NT server?

In order to activate the TCP/IP settings Windows NT tells you to shutdown and reboot. In order to activate the settings directly (without rebooting) open the Command Prompt "Start->Run...->cmd" and type "netstat -r" followed by "netstat -R".

How can I mount my XFS from a UNIX client?

On the DAXfs server on Solaris you will need to enable sharing of XFS filesystems through the standards NFS sharing mechanism. Enter the full path of the top level XFS data directory into the /etc/dfs/dfstab file as follows:

# Place share(1M) commands here for automatic execution
# on entering init state 3.
#
# Issue the command '/etc/init.d/nfs.server start' to run the NFS
# daemon processes and the share commands, after adding the very
# first entry to this file.
#
# share [-F fstype] [ -o options] [-d ""] [resource]
# .e.g,
# share -F nfs /export/home2 share -F nfs -o ro
share -F nfs /var/dax/xfs

On the UNIX client you will need to call the correct mount command (being the root user). You will need to know the port number on which the KNFSD is running on the DAXfs server (default KNFSD port if NFSD is running in parallel is 2401) and the name of the XFS.

To mount XFS archive when KNFSD is running on the standard NFS port, use:

daxclient# mount -o vers=2,bg daxserver:archive /mnt

To mount XFS archive when KNFSD is running on a different port (default 2401) in parallel with the standard NFS service, use:

daxclient# mount -o vers=2,port=2401,bg daxserver:archive /mnt

I'm getting slow write performance when copying data to an NFS mounted XFS. What can I do?

Currently the NFS service included does not handle multiple threads. When a client is used that opens a multi-thread connection the KNFSD daemon's performance will degrade. To avoid this issue add the following statement to the /etc/system file of a Solaris NFS client:

set nfs:nfs_max_threads=0

(Other settings might be required for other types of NFS clients - e.g. AIX. Check the system's documentation on how to change these settings).

When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get an "invalid argument" NFS error. Why?

The KNFSD service does some basic security checking and it failed to identify the client system as a 'known' host. You will need to add the hostname and IP-address to the server's naming service, either the /etc/hosts file, NIS(+) or DNS.

When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get an "access denied" NFS error. Why?

There are a few possible reasons for this error to occur:

1. You forgot to share the XFS top level data directory. Add the correct line to /etc/dfs/dfstab.
2. The directory cache file /var/dax/xfs//dircache.mdc is not present or corrupted. Resolve this before attempting to do an NFS mount.
3. The control file /var/dax/xfs//control is not present or corrupted. Resolve this before attempting to do an NFS mount.
4. The XFS is in an incorrect state. Resolve this before attempting to do an NFS mount.

The last three issues can be resolved by running xfs_correct and xfs_check as described in the DAXfs User Manual.

When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get a "Permission denied" error. Why?

The KNFSD service currently does not support NFS version 3, which is the default when trying a mount. You will need to specify the correct option to the mount command to specify NFS version 2. On a Solaris client this would be:

daxclient# mount -o vers=2 daxserver:archive /mnt

Refer to your UNIX documentation for your system specific mount option.

When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get a "RPC: Program not registered" error. Why?

Your KNFSD service on the DAXfs server has not been started properly. You will need to start the service on the server before you can attempt a mount.

When I try to mount from an UNIX client, I get a "No such file or directory" error. Why?

The XFS you are trying to mount is probably left in an incorrect state. Please run xfs_correct and xfs_check from the command line or use the web GUI to check and correct the XFS.

I'm getting "Failed to bind NFS socket to port xxx" when starting KNFSD. Why?

Another process is already using the port mentioned. This can either be KNFSD, so it means it is already running, or you are trying to start the KNFSD on the standard NFS port while the standard NFS service is already using that port. In that case you will need to disable the standard NFS service.

How can I disable the standard NFS service on Solaris?

In some circumstances the system will start the standard NFS services after a server reboot. You will then need to manually disable the standards NFS service. Edit the file /etc/rc3.d/S15nfs.server and replace the section:

if [ $startnfsd -ne 0 ]; then

/usr/lib/nfs/mountd
/usr/lib/nfs/nfsd -a 16

with:

if [ $startnfsd -ne 0 ]; then

/usr/lib/nfs/mountd
#/usr/lib/nfs/nfsd -a 16

How can I run the standard NFS service and KNFSD concurrently?

If you did not select this option during installation of DAXfs, you can force the KNFSD service to use a different port by editing the XFS startup script: /etc/rc3.d/S93daxfs and add the -p xxxx -P options, where xxxx is the number of the port to use:

#
# DAX Archiving Solutions bv XFS daemons startup file
#

case "$1" in
'start')

echo 'starting DAX Archiving Solutions bv XFS Daemons.'
/opt/DAXfs/bin/xfsd &
/opt/DAXfs/bin/kmountd
/opt/DAXfs/bin/knfsd -p 2401 -P
/opt/DAXfs/bin/nmbd -D
/opt/DAXfs/bin/ksmbd

I cannot connect to our Windows NT based DAXfs server using it's IP-address. Why not?

Connecting to the DAXfs SMB service using the server's IP-address is not supported in the current version of DAXfs. Use the server's computer name (hostname) instead.

When I try to connect my Windows client to the Solaris DAXfs SMB service, I get
"The semaphore timeout has expired" on my Windows client, and
"Error running Netbios command: LISTEN : Netbios error: no callname" on my DAXfs server. Why?

The KSMBD service does some basic security checking and it failed to identify the client system as a 'known' host. You will need to add the hostname and IP-address to the server's naming service, either the /etc/hosts file, NIS(+) or DNS.

When I use a Windows 2000 client system to connect to an DAXfs server (Appliance or separate server) and attempt to create a New Folder I get "You may not be able to access files created in the folder >. Do you want to continue?" In stead of a folder a file is always created. How can we resolve this?

Adding the -n option to the KSMBD daemon or service will resolve this problem. This option disables support for Windows NT SMBs. Because this standard is not well defined it is in some cases unclear how the handle these requests. Disabling this option will cause all clients to negotiate down to the same next level of SMBs. This is somewhat similar to modem handshaking. This has no implications to other SMB client performance or behaviour.

On DAXfs on Windows NT:

Use Regedit to add the -n option to the following Registry Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREChessksmbdoptions

 

On DAXfs on Solaris or smartDAX Appliances:

Add the -n option to the ksmbd startup line in /etc/rc3.d/S93daxfs:

#
# DAX Archiving Solutions bv XFS daemons startup file
#

case "$1" in
'start')

echo 'starting DAX Archiving Solutions bv XFS Daemons.'
/opt/DAXfs/bin/xfsd &
/opt/DAXfs/bin/kmountd
/opt/DAXfs/bin/knfsd -p 2401 -P
/opt/DAXfs/bin/nmbd -D
/opt/DAXfs/bin/ksmbd -n

Note: After changing the settings remember to restart the daemon/services.

When getting the properties of the Network Mapped Drive in the Windows Explorer the amount of free space is normally the total amount of free space on (blank) subsystems. How can I change this to represent the total amount of free cache space?

Use the XFU command line program to set this property. Make sure your path settings are correct before executing this program. To enable this option, use the following command sequence after running xfu from the command prompt:

xfu - XFS Utility 1.2 99/07/08

- enter ? for help
xfu> open myXFS
xfu> set properties
1: allocation algorithm
2: label
3: owner
4: group
5: access mode
6: Apple Resource Forks in Helios format
7: Support alternate 8.3 file names
8: Allow removal of files on write-once disks
9: Zero-file files before deletion
10: Load locked files into cache on subsystem add
11: Use UFS on read/write disks
12: offline mail recipients
13: command run for offline media
14: operator requests for offline media
15: generate error if disc offline
16: delay before re-checked offline media
17: load disc request repeat interval
18: log file name
19: logging flags
20: logging file size
21: flush check interval
22: manual flushing
23: purge files after flush
24: flush only once to each disc
25: flush only files older than
26: flush only files not accessed for
27: flush when dirty size greater than
28: allowed flush times
29: flush image device
30: directory to flush
31: Lock File System during flush
32: flush zero-length files
33: Do not allow flushing from root directory
34: Flush file when closed after creation
35: CD/DVDs use Rock Ridge
36: CD/DVDs use Joliet
37: CD/DVDs use Apple extensions
38: CD/DVDs use UDF
39: CDs in XA mode 2
40: Finalise CDs
41: Verify CDs
42: CD write buffers
43: CD record speed
44: Cache purge age
45: Cache High Water Mark
46: Cache Low Water Mark
47: Cache load on open
48: Cache file head on open
49: Cache load timeout
50: Cache semaphore signalling
51: Cache block size
52: Cache included in free space
53: Cache limits free space
54: Typical file size
55: When to backup
56: Backup device
57: Last backup time
58: event notification mail recipients
59: command run for event notification
60: operator messages for event notification
61: transaction log directory
62: transaction log file size
63: maximum transaction log files
64: block if no space in transaction log
65: Apple extensions supported
66: Files written to CD/DVD are logged to audit log
Property number [ 0] : 52
Cache included in free space: YES
Property number [ 0] :
xfu> quit