SME Server:Documentation:FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

This Section lists frequently asked questions for SME 7, problems you may have installing SME7 for the first time or upgrading from SME6.x, including from a modified version of SME6.x

Some FAQ's have separate howto's or manual entries

• How to Upgrade from SME 5.x and 6.x /sme70/sme70/Manual/UpgradeTo7 howto/UpgradeTo7
• Changing password strength /sme70/sme70/Manual/Chapter9#h77-4 Chapter 9.1.2
• Setting admin rights for users's on windows domains [Chapter 7.2.4.2]

post-upgrade and reboot

• • When is a post-upgrade and reboot required?**

There is no way to tell unless the RPM packager tells you. But we may be able to make a few generalizations.

1. A package that is not specific to SME Server won't have any actions to run

• Note*

An upgrade for an application that has templated configuration files will likely overwrite SME Servers altered configuration files, so you need to regenerate them

2. A smeserver-application rpm may or may not use the post-upgrade and reboot twin-step. Older packages probably tried to run all the events in the post rpm script Newer packages may assume you will run yum (local)install and post-upgrade

• Note*

Contribs that are being considered for the SME Extras repository will likely not have post install scripts, and will use the post-upgrade event

Email

• How can I add the admin user as an administrator for Horde?*

You can set up the admin user as an administrator for Horde. This gives you the ability to view the Horde configuration via the web interface. The web interface explains what the settings are actually for. This is helpful if you are developing any of the additional horde addon modules as you can see what the configuration should look like. After figuring out the layout you can build the default templates based on that output. By default, no user has the ability to update the default configuration files from the web interface. If you want to make a change, you can change it from the web interface, when done click on generate configuration. You will get an error stating that you could not save the backup configuration file, but the output is still displayed so you can see what the settings should be. To add this function, you will need to create a custom template. Here are the steps to take:

 ##mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/home/httpd/html/horde/config/conf.php##
 ##cd /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/home/httpd/html/horde/config/conf.php/##
 ##cp  /etc/e-smith/templates/home/httpd/html/horde/config/conf.php/120Authentication .##
 ##pico -w 120 120Authentication##

Replace

 ##$conf['auth']['admins'] = array();##

with

 ##$conf['auth']['admins'] = array('admin@{$DomainName}');##

After that regenerate the configuration file

 ##expand-template /home/httpd/html/horde/config/conf.php##

Verify your new entry

 ##more /home/httpd/html/horde/config/conf.php##

Login to webmail as admin. You should have an administration icon on the sidebar. Click setup, then your horde application. You must use the sidebar if you want to use the administration features.

This item was originally posted as [SME Server bug 831]

• Warning*

Do not use any other feature other than setup as you could cause damage to your installation!

• • I get "421 per host concurrency limit reached" when I try to send an email using IMAP**

A fix is documented [here].

Client Computers

• Samba trust relationships lost?*

This is a possible bug with an upgrade from SME6. After an upgrade, local workstations cannot log in. If you are experiencing this problem, please have a look at this bug for a fix, and provide followup: [[1]]

• Windows XP Clients - Patch to logon to SME domain*

This patch can be used when Windows XP clients won't be able to log on to the SME Server domain. The registry patch is located here: http://servername/server-resources/regedit/winxplogon.reg Double click on the winxplogon.reg file and the settings will be added to the Windows Registry.

• • How to disable password caching on Windows 95/98/ME/2000 Clients?**

This patch can be used if you don't want Windows clients to remember password for shared folders on SME Server. The registry patch is located here: http://servername/server-resources/regedit/win98pwdcache.reg Just double click on the win98pwdcache.reg file and the settings will be added to the Windows Registry.

• Note*

Although the filename seems to indicate that this patch will only work for Windows 98, but it also works in Windows 95, Windows ME and Windows 2000.

• LDAP Directory Gives Errors on Outlook 2002 or Outlook 2003*

In Outlook 2002 or 2003 when someone tries to find a contact using the LDAP server, a message stating that "Unavailable critical extension" and then a second message saying "The search could not be completed. MAPI_E_CALL_FAIL" shows up and nothing shows up from the search. The directory works beautifully in Thunderbird 1.5 as well as Outlook 2000, but not 2002 or 2003. More information can be found here:[[2]] [[3]]

===Firewall/Port Forwarding,Opening,Blocking===

• How do I configure the firewall?*

The server manager is the GUI front end for the firewall. The firewall is modified automatically in response to changes you make in the configuration, such as enabling/disabling services, marking them public/private, forwarding ports, etc. If you wish to make changes beyond those provided for by the server manager, you can do so by providing custom templates

• How do I allow public access to a service I've added to SME Server 7?*

The procedure has changed and is now much simpler in SME Server 7. For this example the service you have installed is called 'manta' and 'nnn' is the TCP port number that needs to be opened. Watch your capitalization with the command below:

 ##config set manta service access public status enabled TCPPort nnn##

For UDP services, use UDPPort instead of TCPPort. Note that you can also set restrictions with ~AllowHosts and ~DenyHosts:

 ##config setprop manta ~AllowHosts 1.2.3.4,10.11.12.0/24 ##
 ##config setprop manta ~DenyHosts 16.17.18.18##
 

Then, to activate, do:

 ##signal-event remoteaccess-update##
 

Web Applications

• • Wasn't mod_perl installed in previous versions? How do I install it?**

It may have been, but it was not used so it is no longer included. If you do want to install it do the following:

• Note*

The commands on a linux shell are case-sensitive, this means that Capital is not the same as capital.

 ##yum install mod_perl##
 ##config setprop modPerl status enabled##
 ##signal-event post-upgrade ; signal-event reboot##

• • The directory structure is visible. How do I disable indexes in ibays?**

SME Server 6.0, 6.0.1, and 6.5 all had the following for the ibays/html directory - "Options Indexes Includes". This would indicate that indexes were allowed for html directories. In SME Server 7.0 this is made a parameter and it defaults to enabled to be compatible with SME Server releases before SME Server 7.0 installations.

To disable indexes for an ibay in SME Server 7.0 do the following:

• Note*

The commands on a linux shell are case-sensitive, this means that Capital is not the same as capital.

 ##db accounts setprop //ibayname// Indexes disabled ##
 ##signal-event ibay-modify //ibayname// ##

This issue was first reported here: [[4]]

Reset the root and admin password

1. Boot your server and use the arrow keys to select the kernel you would like to boot into. 2. Press A , to append parameters to your grub boot settings. 3. Be carefull not to change anything, only add the following (Mind you there is a space before single):

 ## single##

4. Press enter. you will be presented with a prompt. 5. At this prompt type the following commands (followed by a return). You will be asked to provide a new password. Reset both your root and you admin password and set them to the same value:

 ##passwd root##
 ##passwd admin##

Reboot your server and everything should be okay now.

Log Messages

• Log message regarding permissions on /var/spool/qpsmtpd/*

You may see messages similar to this in your log file:

@400000004326e9472eccc42c 3243 trying to get config for spool_dir @400000004326e9472ed518fc 3243 Permissions on spool_dir /var/spool/qpsmtpd/ are not 0700

They can be safely ignored. Clamav runs under a different user and needs read access to the spool area to avoid copying the file. [[5]]

Known Problems

This section is to be used to document problems that cannot or will not be fixed through development of SME7.!!

Backup/Restore

• • Using a combination of hardware and software compression for tape backup causes errors **

You should use only one of software or hardware compression. Doing both may exercise bugs, and won't reduce the size of data on the tape - it is more likely to increase it. [[6]]

• • Backup to desktop 4GB limit **

As in previous versions of SME Server, the backup to desktop function has a limit of 4GB. It's not fixable until we know where the limit or limits are. All these components are involved in transferring the backup file, and at least one of them is truncating at 4GB: tar, perl, mod_proxy, apache, TCP stack, browser at desktop end. See this bug listing for details (This bug is still open): [[7]]

Hardware

• • VGA problem with VIA EPIA board**

Once the installer loads the VGA display loses sync and it is impossible to read what is being displayed. There is a workaround, see this bug report for details: [[8]]

• • Why does my clock run too fast in SME Server under VMware?**

If you are testing SME Server on VMware, you may notice the clock doen't keep time accurately. See this bug report for details and a possible fix. [[9]]

• • D-Link DFE 530TXS rev. A1 Ethernet adaptor not recognized (a.k.a. DL10050, Sundance)**

Redhat doesn't support this ethernet adapter, so unfortunatly it won't work with SME7. See the Redhat Bugzilla entry below for more information. [[10]] [[11]]

• • Boot failure after install if you have enabled hardware raid**

There sometimes seem to be conflicts with the SME Server automatic software raid setup in combination with hardware raid. Disabling the hardware raid in your motherboard or controller card's bios is the suggested fix. See these bug reports for details: [[12]] [[13]]

• • Realtek 8169 Ethernet is not recommended**

The driver included in ~CentOS 4.1 is out of date and has problems. See this bug listing for details, and please update the bug if you have a solution (i. e. updated drivers): [[14]]

• • Booting in SMP mode results in kernel panic with certain hardware**

The combination of a 2MB Cache P4 3.0GHZ CPU, and a Giga-byte GA-81848P775-G (Intel 848P chipset) motherboard produces this problem. Other simialar hardware may be affected. If you encounter this problem, see this bug report for a workaround. [[15]]

• • Legacy ~MegaRAID driver is no longer included**

Certain raid cards that worked under SME Server 6, do not work under SME Server 7. Adapters with the following PCI vendor ID and device ID pairs are not supported by the megaraid_mbox driver: vendor, device = 0x101E, 0x9010; 0x101E, 0x9060; 0x8086, 0x1960. The lspci -n command can be used to display the IDs for adapters installed in a particular machine. Products with these IDs are known by (but not limited to) the following model names: Broadcom 5820, Dell PERC (dual-channel fast/wide SCSI) RAID controller, Dell PERC2/SC (single-channel Ultra SCSI) RAID controller, Dell PERC2/DC (dual-channel Ultra SCSI) RAID controller, Dell CERC (four-channel ATA/100) RAID controller, DRAC 1, ~MegaRAID 428, ~MegaRAID 466, ~MegaRAID Express 500, HP NetRAID 3Si and 1M. Both Dell and LSI Logic have indicated that they no longer support these models in the 2.6 kernel. As a result, these adapters are no longer supported in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 1, upon which SME Server 7 is based. See this bug listing for details, there is an unsupported workaround if needed: [[16]]

• • aic7xxx driver hangs on installation boot**

On some Compaq Proliant servers (specifically an ML370 G2), & possibly others, the aic7xxx driver will hang if there is nothing connected to the adaptor or if it is not terminated correctly. On most Proliants you can tell the BIOS to not allocate an IRQ to the device which effectively disables it; the ML370 G2 uses an AIC-7899 chip on the motherboard. This problem also exists in the ~CentOS 4.3 base. SME 6.0 loads fine which would seem to indicate that the newer driver in ~CentOS 4.3 can't handle the older system (this Proliant is probably 5 years old).

Installation (not hardware related) & Initial Configuration

• • Why is there a delay after verifying administrator password?**

There is a delay (2-5 seconds) after verifying administrator password. This is because the password is actually set and checked at this point. Everything else we wait until the script is done to perform any actions. [[17]]

• • Use /server-manager, not /e-smith-manager**

In previous versions, both aliases worked, but in SME Server 7 you must use /server-manager to access the server manager. [[18]]

• • Why can the system not be named 'mail', 'ftp' or 'www'?**

If you choose one of these for the hostmane of your server, the atalk (Appletalk) service will have errors and fail. See these bug listings for details: [[19]] [[https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=615772&aid=1264588&group_id=96750

• • Why is there no option to create reinstallation disk?**

There is no option to create a reinstallion disk during installation or later from the Administration section of the server manager. This is intended, since it required to much effort to keep it up-to-date as kernels change. The CD contains a rescue mode, which is a better environment for fixing problems, and a reinstall followed by a restore of the configuration works well without us supporting another method. Additionally, the kernel has grown too large for a floppy plus initrd. Even Redhat installs no longer offer to create a boot floppy at install time. More details van be found in [SME Server bug 792].

• • 4 disk install - md1 is raid1 and md2 is raid5**

Even if you have 4 (or more) disks, which are supported by your motherboard and ~CentOS, md1 is always set up as a 4 disk raid1. This is, because you can't boot off a raid-5. md1 is the boot partition and must either be non-raid or raid-1. md2 will be set up as a 4 disk raid5 as expected. More information can be found in [SME Server bug 759].