Host name change

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1

On Red Hat Linux box:
We are having to change the host names after Net-Work (WCP) is already installed, Kernels and Clients already defined. The Kernel and Client names also have to change.
Im really looking for a full checklist of what to change before and after the host name change so that Net-Work continues to work. So far we have had to reinstall SMH and Net-Work, which we don’t want to do. We are going to be doing this for a lot of our customers, so need to find a solution.

2

I have three suggestions to minimize the impact of host name changes:

  1. You could set up alias names in your enterprise DNS so that each machine running a Net-Work 7 Kernel can continue to be known by its old name. Probably a non-starter as your system people are changing node names for a good reason and will not want the old names hanging around.

  2. You can continue to use the old machine name as the Kernel node name and leave all your Directory Server entries as they are now.
    In the long term this could cause confusion to administrators if for example Net-Work 7 node “Lion” was running on machine “Tiger”.

  3. You can change all your Directory Server entries to reflect the name changes. This can be done via the SMH or you can find the source file for the Directory Server and edit it directly with you favourite editor, using find and replace functions. You probably have to take the DirServer down to make these changes and the syntax of entries is somewhat critical so good backups and a rollback ability are important.

A combination of 2&3 should allow you to add definitions for new nodes
to the DirServer at any time and then test them by restarting a Kernel with a new node name. If the Kernel works, you can change the host name and allow the Kernel to start normally.

I don’t see any good reason to reinstall products just for a host name change. There might be something in the SMH that is determined at installation time based on host name and fixed in stone but Net-Work 7 discovers its environment during startup and is pretty dynamic.

P

3

Hi Paulus
Thanks for your suggestions which have been discussed by my colleagues. The ideas about changing the Directory Server seem to be the most feasible. They are preloading a new machine to try this - the idea is to change the host name, delete the defined Kernel and Client on this machine before trying to connect to the Directory Server. They have also logged a call with SAG Support, so we will see what they suggest as well.
Thanks for your help - it has sparked good ideas.