The ZfS 3 software includes Policy and Distribution Services, which has the following components:
Server Policies: Simplifies configuration and management of your servers.
Tiered Electronic Distribution (TED): Simplifies data delivery and server policy implementation.
Server Software Packages: Simplifies the installation of software.
The following sections provide an overview of the changes in ZfS 3 Policy and Distribution Services:
ZfS 3 provides the following changes to TED:
When you install ZfS 3 in a multiple Novell eDirectoryTM tree environment, you can extend the schema and install ZfS objects to just one of the trees for centralized management of the ZfS components.
ZfS 3 supports having Distributor and Subscriber objects in a different tree than the associated servers' NCPTM objects. The Distributor and Subscriber objects can also be associated with servers that do not have NCP objects, such as Windows servers that are contained in domains. ZfS 3 can do this because it uses servers' IP addresses for sending Distributions (which includes policies in ZfS 3).
If you have ZfS 2 installed to multiple trees in your network, you will need to extend the schema in each of those trees and upgrade the ZfS 2 objects to ZfS 3, which includes installing ZfS 3 software to the Distributor and Subscriber servers. It is possible to convert from using objects in multiple trees to having objects in only one tree.
In ZfS 2, TED had two startup files for NetWare platform: DIST.NCF and SUB.NCF. In ZfS 3, the Distributor and Subscriber processes have been combined into one startup file.
The following startup methods are now used by TED for the supported platforms:
These TED commands are automatically executed when you normally start ZfS 3 using the ZFS.NCF or Novell ZfS Policies command.
After the TED startup command has been executed:
The patching option has been removed, because it is no longer necessary.
There are two new Distribution types:
Previously in ZfS 2, you associated a Policy Package object with eDirectory Server objects and/or Container objects so that the policy could be effective for the servers. In ZfS 3, using the new Policy/Package Agent, you distribute policy packages directly to the individual servers where the policies are to be enforced.
This new policy model allows you to specify which servers are to have a given policy enforced by simply creating a Distribution for that policy and distributing it to the selected servers. After a target server has extracted the Distribution, the policies contained in the Distribution are in enforced on that server according to the schedule.
The Distribution Agent distributes Policy Package types of Distributions to your servers using TED. The policies are then processed and enforced by the Policy/Package Agent.
You can distribute Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) packages using the Red Hat / Solaris Package type of Distribution. Any RPM packages you have created can be distributed to your Linux or Solaris servers through TED.
Distributions can now be prioritized in two ways:
Send Queue: You can prioritize the order in which Distributions are sent: High, Medium, or Low. For example, in a given Channel, all High priority Distributions are sent first, then the Medium priority Distributions are sent, and then the Low priority Distributions are sent.
Because Distributions with mixed priorities cannot be sent concurrently, you can control the order in which Distributions are sent by the priorities that you assign them.
I/O Rate: You can configure different I/O rate settings for a Distribution, based on a priority: High, Medium, or Low. This allows you to control the bandwidth a Distribution will use. For example, if you want your High priority Distributions to utilize the most bandwidth, you would configure their I/O rates with the High priority.
The Maximum Number of Concurrent Distributions value is affected by the priorities. This value is subordinate to the priorities set for the Distributions. For example:
Security for your Distributions is available in three ways:
The following changes have been made to the File type of Distribution:
Directory Synchronization: Normally, if a file is removed from any Distribution type (either through the Distribution object or in the Distributor's file system), that file will not be removed from a Subscriber's file system. Also, if a file is added to the distributed directory structure on the Subscriber's file system, the added file will not be removed.
If you enable the Synchronize Directories option in the File dialog box, the following happens:
Therefore, the Synchronize Directories option means that the directories and files being distributed will exactly match the directories and files extracted to the Subscribers, including deleting any directories or files not contained in the Distribution.
Verification of File Distributions: Each time a Distribution changes, such as files being modified or added, a new version is built and subsequently sent to the Subscribers. However, Subscribers might need to verify that the files contained in a Distribution have been extracted and installed to all Subscribers, even when there is no new version to send.
The verification option allows you to specify that when the Send schedule starts, if there is no new version of the Distribution to send, the Distributor should send a request for the Subscriber to re-extract the current version to ensure that the files are installed.
Unlimited Number of Files: The File type will no longer be limited to the number of files that can be handled in a single distribution process. Previously, the amount of available memory determined the number of files.
NetWare Rights Support: The File type now maintains NetWare Trustee rights.
ZfS 2 and ZfS 3 can run in the same environment, with a few limitations:
Other enhancements to TED are:
Windows NT/2000 Support: The Distributor and Subscriber will run as a true service on Windows NT or Windows 2000 servers. (The process no longer runs in a DOS box.)
New Platform Restrictions: In the Distribution object, you can now select platform restrictions for the Linux and Solaris platforms.
Cluster Support: Distributors and Subscribers will run in a clustered environment (NetWare only).
DNS and NAT Support: All certificates and configuration data support DNS naming. Static IP addresses are also supported. DNS names are required for NAT support.
Downstream Schedule Control: TED can be set up as a tiered distribution system where Subscribers can act as parents to other Subscribers. Therefore, when a Send schedule ends, all of the Distributions downstream from the Distributor will stop and not begin again until the Send schedule restarts. This provides you with better control for when Distributions will be sent through multiple parent Subscribers (Subscribers that pass on Distributions).
Linking the Build and Send Processes: This option allows you to force a Distribution to be sent immediately after a new version has been built, even though extraction on the Subscriber is still based on the Subscriber's Extraction schedule.
Multiple Object Modifications: In ConsoleOne®, you can select multiple objects (such as Distributor or Subscriber) and modify common attributes for all of them in a single dialog box.
Distribution Space Limitation: If a Subscriber runs out of disk space while it is receiving a Distribution, the send will fail.
In the Subscriber object, you can enter the amount of disk space that you require to be free over and above the size of any Distribution that is to be received. You should enter a value that is large enough to also allow room for the Distribution to be extracted and installed.
This value is added to the compressed size of a Distribution that is about to be received. If the amount of free disk space on the Subscriber server is equal to or greater than the sum of the compressed Distribution and the value that you entered, the Distribution will be received. If the sum is less, the Distribution will not be received.
Console Commands: Most console commands have been removed for the Distributor and Subscriber consoles. Instead, use the ZfS Management role in iManager.
Following are the new features for ZfS 3 policies:
Policies are employed differently in ZfS 3. Instead of associating a policy with an eDirectory object, a policy is now distributed by TED to the server where it will be enforced.
Policy packages are now a Distribution type that can be selected when creating a Distribution. The Policy/Package Agent receives all policy information via TED Distributions, instead of reading eDirectory for implementation information. Therefore, when you select the servers where the Distribution will be sent, you are identifying the servers where the policy will be enforced.
Policy packages are now supported on the NetWare 5.1, NetWare 6, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Linux (Red Hat 7), and Solaris 8 platforms.
The new Copy Files policy enables copying of files on a server from one location to another by using policy configurations. For more information, see Copy Files in Configuring Distributed Server Package Policies in Creating a Policy Package in Server Policies in Policy and Distribution Services in the Administration guide.
The SNMP Trap Target policy can now be scheduled for when to refresh it. Therefore, the SNMP Trap Target Refresh policy has been discontinued.
ZfS 3 Server Software Packages have the following enhancements:
The Remote Web Console functionality in ZfS 2 has been moved to the ZfS Management Role in iManager.
The TED objects (Distributor, Subscriber, External Subscriber, Channel, and Distribution) can be managed from the Web through iManager.
With the Internet Explorer browser (version 5.5 or later), you can use the full graphical functionality of iManager.