Setting Up Nodes

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A node is a database containing agendas and information for users and resources. A node network is a set of two or more connected nodes. More than one node can exist on a single calendar host. This situation is commonly encountered when a group of users requires a different time zone, or when there is a logical division that the administrator wants to maintain within a group of users in the same time zone.

This chapter will cover the following topics:

• Creating a node
• Deleting a node

Creating a node

Each node is identified by a unique numeric key called the node-ID. Most administrators set one or more descriptive node aliases that may also be used when connecting, to make it easier to tell nodes apart. A SYSOP (node administrator) password restricts access to the calendar account used for all node management tasks. Each node has a default time zone.

• Node-ID: Steltor's recommended node-ID ranges are:

  Table 5.1 · Recommended node-ID ranges

  1-5	Evaluation Node-IDs
  6-100	Test Node-IDs
  101-9999	Permanent Node-IDs
  10000-59999	Future Use
  60000+	Reserved

  When setting up a node, it is important to bear in mind that the node-ID cannot be changed once the node has been created. Furthermore, an existing local node will be deleted if a new local node is given a node-ID currently in use on the same computer. A warning prompt will be issued before this action is taken. Node-IDs are unique locally and across the node network. Two nodes with the same node-ID cannot be connected in a network.

• Node Alias: A descriptive word of up to 32 characters containing no spaces. When multiple nodes are configured on a server, users need to indicate which node they want to connect to. Since, in general, a name is easier to remember than a numeric node-ID, aliases can be configured.
• Node Time Zone: Every node has a time zone associated with it. If you do not specify a time zone, your node will be created using the default time zone set during installation of the calendar server. See Reference Appendix D, "Time Zone Table," for a complete list of countries with their corresponding time zone notation.
• SYSOP Password: The password for the SYSOP, or node administrator, can be any string of up to 15 alphanumeric characters in length.
• Directory Manager Password: The password for the SuperUserDN, required only for installations using an external directory server.

Cmd line

To create a node:

1. Use the unistop utility introduced in Chapter 4, "Server Administration," to bring down the calendar server. For full information on use and syntax, see Reference Appendix C, "Utilities." Please note that the server must be down in order to create a node successfully.
2. Run the uniaddnode utility. For full information on use and syntax, see Reference Appendix C, "Utilities."

Example

% uniaddnode -n 144 -a publications

Please enter Sysop password:

Please enter Sysop password again:

unidsndini: working, please wait ...

uniaddnode: unidsndini done

uniaddnode: Database initialization done

An entry similar to the following would now exist in the /users/unison/misc/unison.ini file. Note that the name and version fields are for internal use and are automatically generated during node creation. The values in these fields must not be modified.

[144]

aliases = publications

name = N2

version = A.02.61

timezone = EST5EDT

3. Use the unistart utility introduced in Chapter 4, "Server Administration," to restart the calendar server. For full information on use and syntax, see Reference Appendix C, "Utilities."

Admin GUI

The CorporateTime Server Administrator can only be used to create nodes on a local NT host.

1. Stop CorporateTime Server using one of the methods introduced in Chapter 4, "Starting and stopping the calendar server."
2. Select Node | Add Local Node to open the Add Local Node dialogue box.
3. Edit the suggested value for the Node-ID field if you wish to assign another number.
4. Enter a node alias. This field is not mandatory and may be left blank.
5. If you wish to configure a time zone different from that set for the server, select this value from the Time Zone drop-down list box or select your region in the Region list box. This will display the appropriate time zone in the Time Zone box.

Steps 6-8 are necessary only for installations of CorporateTime Server using an LDAP directory server.

6. Select the Password tab.
7. Enter a new password for the SYSOP (node administrator) in the first box and confirm it in the second box.
8. Enter the Directory Server Superuser's password in the third box. The root DN password is required to connect to the Directory Server.
9. Restart the calendar server.

Deleting a node

Deleting a node manually requires an advanced knowledge of the calendar server. Before attempting to remove a node, familiarize yourself with the contents of the chapters referenced in the following procedure.

Cmd line

To delete a node manually:

1. Make an archive of the node if necessary. Use the archive tools available on the system you are using if you want to back up only the node you are deleting. If you want to back up the entire calendar database, see Back up and restore for more information.
2. Remove the node from the node network (if it is part of one) by editing the /users/unison/misc/nodes.ini file and applying the change. Understand the contents of Chapter 6, "Node Networks," before attempting to do this.
3. If you are running a directory server, delete all users and resources on the node (using uniuser -ex and unires -ex respectively) from the directory server.
4. Shut down the calendar server.
5. Delete the entire /users/unison/db/nodes/<Nx> directory, where <Nx> is the value of the name parameter in the appropriate node section of the /users/unison/misc/unison.ini file. For example, if you are deleting the node with node-ID 144, <Nx> is the value of the name parameter in the [144] section of the unison.ini file . See Reference Appendix B, "Server Parameters," for details on unison.ini parameters.
6. Delete the corresponding node section in the /users/unison/misc/unison.ini file. For example, if you are deleting the node with node-ID 144, delete the [144] section of unison.ini.

Steps 7-11 are necessary only for calendar server installations using an external LDAP directory server.

7. Use ldapmodify to delete all references to reserved calendar users for the node scheduled for deletion.
8. Generate an LDIF file from the contents of your LDAP directory server.
9. Edit the LDIF file to delete all references to reserved calendar users for the node scheduled for deletion.
10. Import the modified LDIF file back into your directory server.
11. Restart the calendar server.

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