Notes on eDirectory Installation

Getting this software, as for all Novell software (except for openSuSE Linux which is obtained from a sort-of non-Novell source), you will have to register as a developer and use an authenticated account. This is free, however.

It's a really good idea to have the host on which you wish to install eDirectory reside in the network where it will function and set up with a static IP address. eDirectory does not work without a static IP address and, at least when I was at Novell, it can be devilishly hard to modify that address once it's established and working. (This should have changed since then, but I live by primitive, tribal superstititions when it comes to success with computer software and hardware in my environment. Feathers, maracas, tom-toms and other paraphenalia don't go amiss when you're installing temperamental software.)

Download latest eDirectory from http://download.novell.com/. If you are doing this on Windows, skip to here. Otherwise, for a Linux installation, pay attention to the instructions for openSuSE (I'm not certain eDirectory works for Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.)


Windows

  1. Run downloaded file to extract files. Choose to extract files to C:\Novell/eDirectory rather than C:.
     
  2. Change to C:\Novell\eDirectory\nt and launch Setup.exe.
     
  3. Agree to EULA. You are creating a new tree since you've never installed eDirectory before. Work these details out mostly by taking defaults until you reach the following dialog (click to enlarge detail):

     
  4. Fill in per shown in image above substituting your favorite names. Note that you may not call your server by the same name as your computer, hence, tuonela-server here. It is customary to name the tree XXXXXXX_TREE, where XXXXXXX is the upper-case version of your significant name (computer name, server name, favorite fantasy-novel wizard, etc. In my case, tuonela.
     
  5. To create the organizational unit object before using it, click on the little control to the extreme right of “Admin Context” and set it up (by adding it, etc.).
     
  6. Click Next and take the defaults for port assignment including
    • HTTP stack ports (8028 and 8030)
    • LDAP ports (389 and 636)
     
  7. Take the default NMAS login methods (mostly all of them).
     
  8. At this point, the installation will go out to lunch for a very, very long time, especially if you're setting this up under VMware.
     
  9. Finish the installation by closing out when asked. The installation will go out for another long coffee break claiming it's closing installation files.
     
  10. You are now set up to install GroupWise.

openSuSE Linux

  1. Search for product "eDirectory" and choose the latest, for example, 8.8.3. When faced with which package to choose, do not take the "tarball" one, but choose the "regular" one. This will get you a tarball (uh, anyway since the installation package comes down as a tarball) that, when expanded (and untar'd) will contain a setup subdirectory.

    The formal name of this package is “Novell eDirectory 8.8.3 Regular Install on non-OES Linux Platforms.” This is assuming you're using openSuSE Linux instead of the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) distribution.

    The other package mentioned does not have an install script and you have to install by hand using rpm and doing other things you might not know how to do. The package containing the setup subdirectory will also have the ndsinstall script.

    See documentation for this installation. Click on d-g, then on eDirectory 8.8.

  2. Get root and launch the installation via setup/ndsinstall. Things should go mostly the same way as for Windows from this point on.