eDirectory - What's new in 8.8?

Today I was asked if it was ok to have a mixed tree with NetWare Server running eDirectory 8.7 and the new OES2 servers running 8.8. The short answer is... yes it's ok to have a mixed tree with different versions of eDirectory. It's not like in the old days with NDS v6 and v7 mixed with NDS v 8. But then I started thinking about this.

Novell Support recommends you don't have a mixed tree with mixed versions of eDirectory. You need to ask yourself; Are you running Single Sign on? Do you need Case Sensitive Passwords? Are you running IDM v3 or greater? Are you running eDirectory on Solaris? Are you using ZCM10 with automatic deployment? Are your OES2 Linux servers out numbering your older NetWare servers? Are you running eDirectory servers in the same tree over a slow WAN or the Internet?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you need to upgrade your older servers to the latest version of eDirectory 8.8. The latest version is 8.8 SP3 or 8.8.3 (20216.83)

For anyone who hasn't looked at eDirectory in awhile, there have been some major enhancements since version 8.7:

• Numerous install updates:
• Multiple package formats for installation
• Automatic deployment through ZENworks® Configuration Management
• Installation and configuration of eDirectory through YaST
• Configuring multiple instances of eDirectory on a single host
• Authentication to eDirectory through SASL-GSSAPI
• Enforcing case-sensitive universal passwords
• Priority Sync
• Encrypted attributes and replication
• Improved bulkload performance
• LDAP-based backup
• Error logging

Here is a list of all the Technical Issues, Bug fixes, and Enhancements fixed in eDirectory 8.8.

• TID 3426981

Future enhancements Novell is working on past eDirectory 8.8 SP3:

• 64 Bit Directory Engine
• More performance improvements in BIND and SEARCH
• LDAP events and monitoring enhancements
• Domain Services for Windows

Another thing you can do with eDirectory on Linux and Windows - You can locate the DIBS (eDirectory databases) and logs to any directory you want to. This makes it easy for backing up eDirectory databases.

Here is a handy reference to the location of eDirectory components and files:

• NetWare: easy - sys:\_NetWare
• Linux: Not so easy - here is the list:

Configuration - /etc/opt/novell/eDirectory/
Database - /var/opt/novell/eDirectory/data/dib
Logs - /var/opt/novell/eDirectory/log
Libraries - /opt/novell/eDirectory/{lib lib64} /opt/novell/eDirectory/{lib lib64}/nds-modules
Binaries - /opt/novell/eDirectory/bin /opt/novell/eDirectory/sbin

Files:

• /etc/opt/novell/eDirectory/conf/ - Main Configuration Directory
• nds.conf - Primary configuration file for ndsd
• nsmodules.conf
  Configures how and what modules are loaded on startup
  To troubleshoot remark them out and load one at a time
• ndsimon.conf and ndsimonhealth.conf
  Allows for customization of iMonitor
• .edir/instances.$uid
  User specific instance file

Default Ports for eDirectory on Linux and OES2 Linux:

• NCP Port 524
• SLP Port 427
• LDAP Port 389
• Secure LDAP Port 636
• HTTPSTK (imon, iconsole) Port 8028
• Secure HTTPSTK Port 8030

• Locate the current httpstk ports - ndsconfig get grep http
• Locate the NCP ports - ndsconfig get grep tcp
• Locate the LDAP ports - ldapconfig get grep -i port