NCP volume access problems while running Symantec AntiVirus for Linux

  • 7010204
  • 23-Feb-2012
  • 27-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2) Linux Support Pack 3

Situation

Unable to delete files on NSS volumes

"ncpcon volume" command returns an error:
    2 error getting volume information.

ncp2nss log shows errors:
    IPCClient::Open connect failed rc=2
    IPCServRequest open/send/received failed rc=2
    ... ncp server ping FAILED rc=2

ncpserv.log shows errors:
    znssDeleteFile: zDelete failed with rc=20859   (NSS 20859 Error=zERR_ACCESS_DENIED)

Resolution

The problem has been traced to Symantec JLU (Java LiveUpdate) process which is removing these socket files in the "/tmp" directory.  

It is described in a Symantec article TECH153886

This issue has been fixed in Symantec AntiVirus for Linux version 1.0 Maintenance Release 13.

A workaround is to reconfigure Java LiveUpdate to use a different working directory, such as "/jlu_temp" instead of the default"/tmp" directory.  

Additional Information

NCP creates sockets in the /tmp directory which it uses for IPC (Inter-Process Communication).  If these sockets are removed for any reason, NCP cannot communicate with the other processes or services which causes the symptoms described above. 

NCP sockets in the /tmp directory and how to get sockets back.
.ncp2cifs ---> rcnovell-cifs restart
.ncp2nss --->  /etc/init.d/ncp2nss restart
.ncpserv ---> rcndsd restart   -- which will restart eDir and all NCP connections will be lost and will need to reconnect.
.libnrm2ncp --> rcndsd restart creates this socket as well.

Symantec Maintenance Update 13 and supported kernels matrix.