INF: Tips for Setting Up NIK on Novell NetWare Networks

• Microsoft SQL Server version 4.2 for OS/2

SUMMARY

The Microsoft SQL Server Network Integration Kit (NIK) for Novell NetWare networks allows NetWare clients to communicate with Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Open Data Services using Novell IPX/SPX protocol. The NIK for NetWare provides an alternative to using Novell named pipes for communicating over a Novell Network with a SQL Server.

This article addresses common problems you may encounter when setting up NIK on NetWare. Please also consult the SQL Server "Installation Guide" and README.DOC for step-by-step setup instructions and other known limitations.

MORE INFORMATION

If you experience any problems when trying to connect to SQL Server through the NIK from MS-DOS clients, check the following:

1. If you are using the dedicated IPX, make sure the IPX.COM is version 3.10 or later. Use "IPX i" to find out the version.

   If you are using the ODI driver, make sure the IPXODI.COM is version 1.20 or later. Use "IPXODI /?" to find out the version.

2. Make sure NETX is version 3.26 or later. Use "NETX i" to find out the version.

3. After loading NETX, a message should appear that states this client is attached to a file server. If this message does not appear, this client is not configured properly or the file server is not available and you should contact your network support for assistance. If the file server is attached, you can use SQLSCANR.EXE to list the available SQL Server names on the network.

4. If the client is attached to a file server, but SQLSCANR.EXE does not list any SQL Server names, you should make sure the NIK (Net Manager) is started successfully on the SQL Server side. You may verify this by running SQLSCANP.EXE on the OS/2 server where SQL Server is running. If you don't see your SQL Server name, NIK is not started successfully.

5. DBMSSPX.EXE must be loaded to connect to SQL Server from any MS-DOS client. (DBNMPIPE.EXE is not needed here.)

1. As in steps 1 and 2 above, check the version numbers. Although the earlier versions of IPX and NETX may work from MS-DOS, they may not work from Windows.

2. Make sure you have run W3DBVER.EXE, and choose the Change button to change the default net library to SPX/IPX. You can verify this by checking the WIN.INI file as in the next step. Please note that you must use the W3DBVER.EXE that comes with the NIK because the earlier version does not allow you to change the net library.

3. Make sure the following entry is in the [SQLSERVER] section of the WIN.INI file:

   DSQUERY=DBMSSPX3

4. If you use SQL Administrator for Windows, make sure there is a file named NETAPI.DLL on the path; this file must have a size of 7168 bytes. You can get this file from the WINDOWS.NP directory of the installation disk for version 1.3 of the Novell NetWare Requester. Please note this applies only to the Windows version 3.1 client, not Windows for Workgroups.

5. If your SQL Administrator for Windows is dated 2/26/92, make sure the server name you specify in SQL Administrator does NOT match any entries in the [SQLSERVER] section of the WIN.INI file. This is a known problem with this version of SQL Administrator; it is corrected in version 4.2a (dated 9-15-92). For example, if the server name you try to connect to is MYSQL, and the following entry exists in WIN.INI

   MYSQL=DBMSSPX3

   -or-

   MYSQL=DBNMP3, \\...

   and you must keep these entries for other applications, you can work around this problem by changing the alias (MYSQL in this example) so that it is different from the SQL Server name (the service name you specify when starting Net Manager). This way, you can connect to NIK from SQL Administrator using the SQL Server name as specified when starting Net Manager.

6. Search the hard disk for any older versions of DB-LIBRARY (db-lib) file W3DBLIB.DLL. Depending on the applications, you may get different error messages if 1.x version of db-lib is used. With Q+E, you may receive a "login incorrect" error message, but with SQL Administrator, you will receive the error message, "Login failed. Network Manager only supports 4.x clients." Please note certain W3DBLIB.DLL files may have a date later than 2/26/92, but they are actually version 1.x. Pay special attention to the Excel directory if you are using Q+E.

7. If you can't connect from ODBC applications such as Access, run ODBC Admin again to reconfigure the data source for SQL Server. For example, if your SQL Server service name is "MYNIK" as specified when starting Net Manager, in the SQL Server Setup dialog box, you should have the following:

   network address: MYNIK network library: DBMSSPX3

   There should not be anything like "\\MYNIK\pipe\sql\query" for the network address.

8. If you can't use SQL Administrator for Windows to view error log, schedule backups, or view statistics, this is normal because the functions that use SQL Monitor require named pipes support on the clients as well.

9. When using SQL Administrator for Windows or other client applications, the server list box will not show the SQL Server names running the NIK.

   This feature is under review and will be considered for inclusion in a future release of Microsoft client tools.

10. Whenever you modify the WIN.INI file, you should restart your workstation, although it works without restarting in most cases.

11. Sometimes, third-party TSRs may cause certain conflicts. To isolate this, you may want to streamline the AUTOEXEC.BAT by removing all the third-party TSRs that are not needed for IPX/SPX support.

12. If you experience any EMM386 errors on a Windows for Workgroups client, make sure you use the version of EMM386 that comes with the Windows for Workgroups.

1. Make sure you have run PDBVER.EXE to change the net library to SPX/IPX in OS2.INI file. You can verify this by using INIEDIT.EXE to look at the OS2.INI entries. Please note that you must use the PDBVER.EXE that comes with the NIK (or later version) as the older version does not allow you to change the net library.

2. Verify your OS/2 workstation is attached to a server when started, and SQLSCANP.EXE shows the SQL Server name. If the SQL Server name is not listed, either the NIK is not started properly, or this OS/2 workstation is not setup correctly.

1. Make sure you are not trying to start more than one instances of NIK using the same service name. Doing so will cause "Unable to setup server side connection" error. Sometimes, it may take a few minutes to drop the service name from the bindery after you stop the NIK. If you receive the above error message, try a different service name.

2. Make sure the NetWare file server is available. Unlike named pipes, NIK requires the file server to be available in order to register service name in the bindery.

3. If you need to run more than one instances of NIK on the same computer, make sure you specify different socket numbers for different instances. The socket number must be prefixed with "0x" to designate hexadecimal format (for example, 0x843F). Please note socket number "0" (choosing a free socket number as documented) does not work.

   This feature is under review and will be considered for inclusion in a future release.

4. For NIK to listen on a pipe other than the default one, you need to specify the -p option in the following format:

         -p mypipe\query
   

   instead of

         -p mypipe or -p pipe\mypipe\query
   

The NIK is not supported on NetWare 2.x networks. Although we do not anticipate any problems on NetWare 4.0, it is not an officially certified platform for the NIK.