* The truth about the NetWare kernel and file system trustee assignments
Some of the responses to the recent newsletter about porting Novell’s file system to Linux – specifically, porting the rich fabric of trustee rights which we’ve all come to know and love – revealed that there are still some adherents of two major misconceptions concerning NetWare and its file system trustees.
The first, cited by more than one correspondent, concerned the NetWare “kernel.” There are still, today, some folks who believe that NetWare is a service running on top of DOS. They base this on the evidence of their eyes – turn on the server and it boots to a DOS prompt. Run SERVER.EXE and NetWare appears. That makes it a DOS application, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, the exact same reasoning was used to “prove” that Windows 9x wasn’t an operating system, but resided “on top of” the DOS kernel.
DOS (whether it’s MS-DOS or DR-DOS) is useful because it works with the hardware and BIOS (Basic Input/Ouptput System) that all Intel-based (and Intel clone based) computers have. It saves operating system companies (like Novell and Microsoft) hundreds of thousands of dollars on R&D of a booting system which would only be used for 10 seconds on most servers.
When SERVER.EXE is loaded it replaces DOS in server RAM. No DOS is left. It’s gone. It can come back when you unload the server operating system, but as long as NetWare is running (or 32-bit Windows, for that matter), there is no DOS present. Microsoft learned from the bad publicity that Win 9x garnered for booting DOS as a loader for Windows and renamed the process for Windows NT – it’s now called “NTLoader”. That makes sense. Twenty years ago, after booting DOS, a NetWare server ran OSLOADER.EXE to load the network operating system. Maybe Novell should change the name again.
The second misconception – approaching urban legend status, I think – is that file system trustee assignments are stored within, and enforced by, eDirectory. They’re not and they never have been. But since before there was an eDirectory, in fact before there was a Novell directory Service, NetWare has used the same management interface for both user accounts and file system security. Imanager, ConsoleOne, NWAdmin, Syscon and before that PASSWORD.EXE bring together numerous, unrelated administrative functions.
Particularly with NWAdmin and Syscon, but also with the others, while the primary function was the administration of the directory and/or bindery and user accounts they also provided a quick insight into file system trustee rights. There is a relationship between file system trustee rights and the directory, but only in that the file system uses the user ID from the directory to identify the holder of a particular trustee right. The actual rights assignment is held as part of the Directory Entry Table within the file system.
There is also, of course, the use of the term “directory” to refer to the user security system and the file storage system. Thankfully, Microsoft introduced the term “folder” for what we used to call a file system directory and, in time, this should alleviate some of the confusion. Until then, though, feel free to use this newsletter as the definitive authority. You know, like when you and your network manager buddies are gathered down at the local having a jar or two after work and someone wants to bet that NetWare runs “on top” of DOS. But be warned, I expect a cut of all drinks you win.
