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Advisory: Open File Manager v9.x and Novell NetWare 6.x NSS

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ISSUE:
We discovered a critical issue in Open File Manager™ 9.x versions prior to 9.302, that can cause irreparable damage to NetWare 6.x NSS partitions and the data they contain. St. Bernard has corrected this problem in versions 9.302 and later.

CAUSE:
When a NetWare 6.x server contains an NSS pool that spans two or more partitions, Open File Manager 9.301 or earlier does not detect the partition boundaries when its cache file for that pool expands beyond the end of the pool's first partition. Instead of properly splitting its cache across the two partitions containing the pool, Open File Manager improperly continues expanding its cache from the first partition into the next partition in sequence, thus overwriting the second partition's header. An important clarification is that the "second" partition may or may not host the remainder of the spanning pool. The spanning pool may in fact span partitions 1 and 3, for example, because another pool resides on partition 2. In this example, the spanning pool might not be damaged, but the pool on partition 2 would be. In fact, partition 2 would disappear along with its pool, volumes and data.

We have corrected this problem in versions 9.302 and later, by correctly splitting the extents for its cache file when a partition boundary needs to be traversed.

This issue is manifested by the NetWare 6.x NSS pool deactivating for compromised integrity, and the affected partition essentially disappearing. Here's a sample error message:

10-05-2004 11:26:10 am: COMN-3.3-1092
Severity = 4 Locus = 3 Class = 0
NSS-3.00-5001: Pool BERNIE_NW6/HELIUM is being deactivated.
An I/O error (21625(zlssMSAP.c[1783])) at block 0(file block 0)(ZID 0) has compromised pool integrity.

When this issue occurs, the partition and pool must be recreated, and the data restored from a backup. If the affected pool is the SYS: pool, the server becomes inoperable and must be rebuilt.

It is important to note that this error can also result from other issues not related to Open File Manager, including other forms of data corruption.

RESOLUTION:
This issue is fixed in Open File Manager v9.302. To resolve or avoid this issue, Open File Manager 9.x users who have NSS pools spanning multiple NetWare 6.x NSS partitions are urged to upgrade to version 9.302 or later.