Question:
How do I make my Novell servers talk to each other on an IP network?

Answer:
Although IPX is the preferred communications protocol on a Novell network,sometimes it may be necessary for two or more Novell 3.x or 4.x servers totalk to each other on a TCP/IP local or wide area network. Often times mycorporate wide area networks use TCP/IP as their main communicationsprotocol and prefer to have all traffic restricted to IP only.

In order to communicate on a IP link, we use a IP tunnel to disguise IPXtraffic. All the components needed to implement IP tunneling are providedwith the NetWare operating system.

Let us assume that server A and server B need to talk to each other on an IPnetwork. First, we need to load the tcpip.nlm on both theservers as follows:

On server A, type:

load tcpip.nlm

andrepeat on server B.

Next, bind IP to the LAN driver on both servers. This would be accomplishedby typing the following on server A:

:bind ip to landrv_A addr=xxx.xxx.aaa.xxxmask=255.255.255.0

where xxx.xxx.aaa.xxx is the IP address for server A and “landrv_A” is thename of the LAN driver.

On server B, type the following:

:bind ip to landrv_B addr=xxx.xxx.bbb.xxxgate=255.255.255.0

where xxx.xxx.bbb.xxx is the IP address for server B and “landrv_B” is thename of the LAN driver.

Please note that a 24-bit subnet mask is used in the above example(255.255.255.0). You should use the mask that is prevalent in you WANscenario.

We are now ready to load the IP tunneling NLM. On server A, we load theiptunnel.nlm and designate the server with which A needs tocommunicate.This is done as follows:

:load iptunnel peer=xxx.xxx.bbb.xxx

Note the peer parameter specifies that server A needs to talk to server B.

Repeat the above step on server B as follows:

:load iptunnel peer=xxx.xxx.aaa.xxx

Note that the peer parameter defines that server B needs to talk to server A.

Now, we need to bind IPX to the IP tunnel drivers on both servers asfollows:
On server A, type:

:bind ipx to iptunnel net=NNN

On server B, type:

:bind ipx to iptunnel net=NNN

Please note, the IPX network number parameter (“net”), has to be set to thesame value on both servers.

Your IP/IPX tunnel is now loaded and active. You can verify connectivitybetween the two servers by load the ping.nlm as follows:
On server A, type:

:load ping

When asked to specify the address to ping, type:

xxx.xxx.bbb.xxx

(server B’sIP address). The same process can be repeated on server B to verifyconnectivity to A. When an IP tunnel is active between two Novell NetWareservers, users on one can utilize the resources on the other and vice-versa.