The Problem of "Ownership"

Please find below information regarding a situation described
by several users experiencing spurious "disk full" or similar
errors when using NetWare 2.x, 3.x and 4.x.

This is a fairly common problem, affecting any application which
needs to extend a file beyond its current length, such as a
database application. It does not affect applications which read
and write whole files, such as word processors.

The problem is caused by at least one file used by the
application not having a valid Owner stored as part of its file
attributes. NetWare requires that an Owner be assigned to each
file to allow accounting of disk block usage and to enable disk
space restriction to operate effectively.

The origin of the problem is either : deletion (using SYSCON, 
NETADMIN or NWADMIN) of the user who originally created the 
file(s) OR by a backup/restore utility not correctly setting the 
Owner information during the restore process.

Without a valid Owner, an application attempting to extend a file
will receive a DOS error code, usually "disk full", which is
interpreted in a number of different ways by commercial
applications. The error 24 returned by Clipper is an example of
such an error.

One solution is to ensure that all files being used have a valid
Owner. The NetWare utility, FILER, can be used to mark one or
more files and to change the Owner of those files. The NetWare 4.x 
FLAG command now also includes the option to modify the Owner of a file 
from the command line.

In NetWare 4.x it is now possible to allow unowned files to be extended
using the console command :

SET ALLOW UNOWNED FILES TO BE EXTENDED=ON

It is suggested that unowned files have their Owner changed to SUPERVISOR, 
as this user will never be deleted.

A number of third party utilities exist which allow amendment of
the file Owner from the command line. Please see the following
page.



Third party utilities to detect/correct Ownership problem

These utilities are available from the NOVUSER forum on
Compuserve.


[72064,1052]    Lib:14
LOC200.ZIP/Bin  Bytes:  97635, Count:  162, 04-Aug-93

  Title   : LOCATE v.2.00 - File Finder and More! - DOS and
  Keywords: HUTCHINS ASP LOCATE SEARCH FIND CHANGE OWNER NOVELL NETWARE LAN

  Very fast, flexible file find and maintenance tool for DOS and
  Novell NetWare.  Colorful output.  Find files, find text within files,
  search multiple drives, search PATH or search MAP only.  Search by file
  owner under NetWare 2.x/3.x. Search by date, time, attributes.  Delete
  files. SET/ Change date, time, attributes, and even NetWare owner for
  files! Run commands and build batch files for specified files.


[70760,151]     Lib: 9
NO-OWN.ZIP/Bin  Bytes:  11160, Count:   72, 19-Jul-93

  Title   : MW-TEST - The No_Owner Demonstration Program
  Keywords: FILES NO OWNER NA NOOWNER NDIR MDIR MWATCH DANA FILE

  Does your network contain important databases? Do you know the effect
  of unowned files on your NW 2.X, 3.X, AND 4.0 File servers? Well,
  MW-TEST will show you, on your network! MW-TEST will create a user, a file,
  change the owner to the new user, delete user (creating unowned file), and
  then continously open, write, and close the file until an error occurs. The
  DOS Disk Full error can result in lost data and damaged files! Used by
  Novell to verify problem on NW 4.0! From DanaSoft - see MWATCH NLM and MDIR
  for protection!


[75730,2354]    Lib: 7
OWNER1.ZIP/Bin  Bytes:  16280, Count:  405, 05-Jul-93(09-Jul-93)

  Title   : fix "NO OWNER" problem
  Keywords: OWNER C CLIENT SDK PUBLIC DOMAIN

  v1.02 of the OWNER.EXE utility.  Searches multiple server volumes/
  subdirectories, reports "NO OWNER"  files to screen or report file, changes
  file owner to specified user name or  SUPERVISOR. Some minor fixes to
  v1.01. For further information on this version see read.me file. Public
  Domain by Hans Wieser


[70760,151]     Lib: 7
MDIR.ZIP/Bin    Bytes:  13970, Count:  432, 28-May-93

  Title   : MDIR - The Original File Ownership Utility
  Keywords: FILER MDIR NDIR FILE OWNERSHIP OWNER NA DANA MWATCH NLM

  DanaSoft releases version 2.1 of MDIR, the command-line file
  ownership utility. Protect your NetWare 2.X, 3.X (4.X soon!) network from
  unowned files. Allows you to convert from one owner to another, search for
  owners, detect and fix unowned files, AND MUCH MORE! Included demo
  identifies unowned files on your network. DanaSoft has been providing
  solutions for unowned files for more than three years! See MWATCH.ZIP and
  MW-TEST.ZIP. This utility is a must have for every administrator. [Novell
  Professional Developer] [Yes, ..]



Marcus Williamson
Novell Consulting Services (Europe)
71333,1665