6
Setting Up Calendar Nodes

A node is a database containing agendas and information for users, resources and event calendars. A node network is a set of two or more connected nodes. More than one node can exist on a single calendar host. This situation commonly occurs where a group of users requires a different time zone, or when there is a logical division that the administrator wishes to maintain within a group of users in the same time zone.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Creating a calendar node
• Deleting a calendar node

Creating a calendar node

Each node is identified by a unique numeric key called the node-ID. Most administrators set one or more descriptive node aliases that may also be used when connecting to the calendar server. A SYSOP (node administrator) password restricts access to the calendar account used for all node management tasks. Each node has a default time zone.

To create a node, you will need the following information:

• Node-ID: The node ID can be any number between 1 and 49999. When setting up a node, it is important to note that the node-ID cannot be changed once the node has been created. Furthermore, an existing local node will be deleted if a new local node is given a node-ID currently in use on the same computer. A warning prompt will be issued before this action is taken. Node-IDs are unique locally and across the node network. Two nodes with the same node-ID cannot be connected in a network.
• Node Alias: A descriptive word of up to 32 characters containing no spaces. When multiple nodes are configured on a server, users may need to indicate which node they want to connect to. Since, in general, a name is easier to remember than a numeric node-ID, aliases can be configured.
• Node Time Zone: Every node has a time zone associated with it. If you do not specify a time zone, your node will be created using the default time zone set during installation of the calendar server. See Appendix F, "Time Zone Table," in the Oracle Calendar Reference Manual, for a complete list of countries with their corresponding time zone notation.
• SYSOP Password: The password for the SYSOP, or node administrator. If you are not using a directory server, the password cannot have more than 15 alphanumeric characters in length. Otherwise the limit is 63 characters.
• Directory Manager Password: If you are using a directory server in a standalone calendar installation, the directory manager password must be provided when creating a node. This is the password associated with the LDAP directory server manager defined by the [LDAP]mgrdn parameter.

To create a node:

1. Use the unistop utility introduced in Chapter 5, "Calendar Server Administration", to bring down the calendar server. Please note that the server must be down in order to create a node successfully.
2. Run the uniaddnode utility. For full information on use and syntax of unistop and uniaddnode, see Appendix E, "Utilities" in the Oracle Calendar Reference Manual.

Example

To create a node with a node-ID of 144 and alias "Publications":

% uniaddnode -n 144 -a publications -w dmpasw
uniaddnode: Database initialization done
uniaddnode: node [144] has been successfully initialized

An entry similar to the following would now exist in the $ORACLE_HOME/ocal/misc/unison.ini file. Note that the name and version fields are for internal use and are automatically generated during node creation. The values in these fields must not be modified.

[144]
aliases = publications
name = N2
version = A.02.61
timezone = EST5EDT

• Use the unistart utility introduced in Chapter 5, "Calendar Server Administration", to restart the calendar server. For full information on use and syntax of unistart, see Appendix E, "Utilities" in the Oracle Calendar Reference Manual.

Deleting a calendar node

Deleting a node manually requires an advanced knowledge of the calendar server. Before attempting to remove a node, familiarize yourself with the contents of the chapters referenced in the following procedure.

To delete a node manually:

1. Make an archive of the node if necessary. Use the archive tools available on the system you are using if you want to back up only the node you are deleting. If you want to back up the entire calendar database, see "Server back up and restore" in Chapter 15, "Node Maintenance", for more information.
2. Remove the node from the node network (if it is part of one) by editing the $ORACLE_HOME/ocal/misc/nodes.ini file and applying the change. Understand the contents of Chapter 7, "Calendar Node Networks", before attempting to do this.
3. If you are running a directory server, delete all users, resources and event calendars on the node (using uniuser -ex).
4. Shut down the calendar server.
5. Delete the entire $ORACLE_HOME/ocal/db/nodes/<Nx> directory, where <Nx> is the value of the name parameter in the appropriate node section of the $ORACLE_HOME/ocal/misc/unison.ini file. For example, if you are deleting the node with node-ID 144, <Nx> is the value of the name parameter in the [144] section of the unison.ini file. For details on unison.ini parameters, see Appendix C, "Server Parameters" in the Oracle Calendar Reference Manual.
6. Delete the corresponding node section in the $ORACLE_HOME/ocal/misc/unison.ini file. For example, if you are deleting the node with node-ID 144, delete the [144] section of unison.ini.
7. Restart the calendar server.

   Note: If you are using a third-party directory server, you may want to remove all references to reserved calendar users for the deleted node. Use your directory server's ldapmodify utility or other tools available with your directory server.