Mounting NSS Pools/Volumes via BASH scripts in OES Linux

This document (7011931) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2)

Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (OES 11) Linux

Situation

When trying to mount NSS Pools/Volumes from the terminal command line via a script or from a cron job calling a script, the script will run, no error messages will be produced, and the NSS Pools/Volumes will not be mounted.

Resolution

Generally when mounting directly from the terminal the command to mount NSS devices will look like:

nss /poolactivate=<POOL_NAME>
nss /volumeactivate=<VOLUME_NAME>

The issue arises since the NSS command is symlinked to a perl script (nss.pl) which is located in '/opt/novell/nss/sbin/'

When using a bash script/cron job to mount and/or unmount NSS Pools/Volumes, it is therefor necessary to call the absolute path to the executable.

So, in this case this would look as:

/opt/novell/nss/sbin/nss.pl /poolactivate=<POOL_NAME>
/opt/novell/nss/sbin/nss.pl /volumeactivate=<VOLUME_NAME>

Cause

This is caused by the difference of running a command in a shell, and invoking a script. When running a command natively in a shell, it knows all of the path variables. When executing the same command via a script, the path variables are not always passed on, and therefore the script fails.

When running a command via a script, it is best practice to declare the absolute path to the executable, and is advisable to declare that actual executable in the script, and not a symlinked executable.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for NetIQ/Novell/SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

Document ID:7011931
Creation Date:13-MAR-13
Modified Date:20-MAR-13
- NovellOpen Enterprise Server

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