8.3 Understand Windows-to-Linux Migration Issues

You can use the Server Consolidation Utility to copy data from Windows servers to either NSS or Linux traditional file system volumes such as Reiser or ext3 on an OES Linux server. The Windows users and groups are transferred into eDirectory and their permissions are converted to NSS or Linux equivalents.

If NCP Server for Linux is installed on the server, NCP clients such as the Novell Client for Windows and the Novell Client for Linux can access the data on the Linux volumes.

8.3.1 Setting Up an NCP Volume on a Linux Traditional File System

If you want to copy data to a Linux traditional file system such as Reiser or ext3, you must first set it up as an NCP volume using either the NCPCON utility or Novell Remote Manager.

To do this using NCPCON:

  1. Create a mount point on the Linux Reiser or ext3 partition.

  2. At the shell prompt, enter

    ncpcon create volume volume_name mount_point

    For volume_name, substitute the name you want for the volume. For mount_point, specify the mount point you created in Step 1.

The NCP volume is now displayed in the Project Window when you run the Server Consolidation Utility.

8.3.2 File/Directory Rights and Attributes Supported on Linux

NCP Server for Linux provides the same trustee rights for both NSS and traditional Linux file systems. These are the same rights that exist for the NSS file system on NetWare:

  • Read

  • Write

  • Create

  • Erase

  • Modify

  • File Scan

  • Access Control

  • Supervisor

NCP Server for Linux supports the following NetWare file and directory attributes on both NSS and traditional Linux file systems on Linux:

  • Read Only

  • Hidden

Other NSS file and directory attributes are supported on NSS volumes on Linux. You can use the attrib command to view and modify these attributes. However, they are not viewable through any NCP clients.

The NCP Extended Attributes (supported in early versions of NCP) are not supported on Linux.

8.3.3 Reassigning Trustee Rights after the Migration

Because of the inherent differences between the Windows, NetWare, and Linux file systems, you might have to reassign trustee rights after copying Windows data to an OES Linux or NetWare server.

If you have a Windows or Linux workstation running the Novell Client software, you can use the Novell RIGHTS utility to change trustee rights assignments and Inherited Rights Filters. The RIGHTS utility lets you make changes recursively within the directory structure. See RIGHTS in the OES 2: Utilities Reference for more information.

To change trustee assignments on an OES Linux NCP volume, use the NCPCON utility. This utility does not change Inherited Rights Filers and does not do recursion, but you can script it with bash to perform the recursion if needed. See Managing File System Trustees, Trustee Rights, and Attributes on NCP Volumes in the OES 2: NCP Server for Linux Administration Guide for more information.