6.4 Migrating NSS Volumes with the DFS Move Volume or Split Volume Task

Novell Distributed File Services provides the Move Volume and Split Volume tasks for NSS volumes so you can relocate data with trustees and quotas intact, without moving the physical device to the other server.

Both the source and destination servers must be in the same DFS management context. If an NSS volume that you want to migrate is not currently in a DFS management context, you must create a new DFS management context in the eDirectory tree that includes both the NetWare server and the Linux server. The servers must reside in the same DFS management context until the move or split process is complete.

You might consider this gradual migration option under the following conditions:

  • NSS volumes on a NetWare server reside in a DFS management context, and they are the targets of one or multiple junctions.

  • NSS volumes on a NetWare server contain junctions.

  • You want to gradually migrate data from the NSS volumes on the NetWare server to one or more NSS volumes on the same or different OES 2015 SP1 servers.

  • The NSS volume is not encrypted.

    We strongly advise against using the Move Volume or Split Volume tasks for encrypted NSS volumes because the data is not secure in the new location. For more information, see Section 9.5.2, Moving or Splitting Encrypted NSS Volumes.

The Move Volume option (Storage > Volumes > Move Volume) can be used to move data from a NSS volume on the NetWare server to an NSS volume on an OES 2015 SP1 server. The NSS volume continues to support any DFS junctions it contains after the move. It moves the data, trustees, and quotas. DFS uses Novell Storage Management Services to copy the data, which is faster than a regular copy function. When the move is complete, the Volume Location Database automatically updates the location of the volume to its new location. The relocation of the data is transparent to existing junctions that pointed to the source volume.

The Split Volume option (Storage > Volumes > Split Volume) can be used to move the contents of a directory on an NSS volume on the NetWare server to a new NSS volume on an OES 2015 SP1 server. The Split Volume command moves the data, trustees, and quotas of the data beneath that directory to the new volume. When the split is complete, DFS replaces the old directory with a DFS junction that points to the new location. You must Linux-enable users on the target server before you allow users to access the data in order for quotas to be enforced.

With the Split Volume option, you can relocate the data in a single volume to multiple volumes on one or more servers so that data is gradually migrated to the OES Linux environment. Afterwards, you can keep the NetWare server running with the old junction-filled volume. Alternately, you can create an OES 2015 SP1 server with the same name as the old server and mount the old volume on it, remove the old server from the network, and rebuild the VLDB to recognize the new server. The relocation of the data is transparent to all the users' and scripts' drive mappings to the location of the DFS junction.

You can schedule any number of Move Volume or Split Volume jobs. Only four jobs can run concurrently. They are usually scheduled for non-peak hours.

For planning guidelines, see Section 9.6, Guidelines for Moving or Splitting NSS Volumes. For instructions, see the following: