When to use the AppleShare IP First Aid Tool
You can use the AppleShare IP Tool on the following occasions to keep your server functioning properly. Remember that not all file corruption can be corrected with the tool.
How to use the AppleShare IP First Aid Tool
Verifying, reconstructing, and backing up
Making PDS files visible.
The ASIP First Aid utility also allows you to make PDS visible or invisible. Select the option you want from the Utilities menu, then select the appropriate volume. (The AppleShare PDS file, normally invisible, is located at the root level of each local read/write volume on the server's desktop.) By making it visible, you can manually back up the file to a floppy or some other volume. It is not essential that the file be made invisible again, but by doing so, you prevent the file from being inadvertently renamed or moved, which would cause a loss of privileges on the server.
You can use the AppleShare IP Tool on the following occasions to keep your server functioning properly. Remember that not all file corruption can be corrected with the tool.
- Use the ASIP First Aid tool to periodically back up your Users & Groups data file and PDS files. In addition to performing this task as part of routine server maintenance, it would be especially wise as a precaution before upgrading the server's OS or installing new hardware, or as a way of retaining access privileges when doing a clean install (after the clean install, restore the files).
- Whenever you have unexplained problems at the server, such as freezing or trouble with clients connecting, verify the state of the Users & Groups data file and PDS files. Corruption in either of these files can cause problems accessing the server.
- If the time it takes for the server to start up is very long, or the server simply never finishes starting up, verify the Users & Groups and PDS files; corruption in these files can cause problems when the server is checking the integrity of server information at start up.
How to use the AppleShare IP First Aid Tool
Verifying, reconstructing, and backing up
- Restart the ASIP 6.1 server with extensions off. Before attempting to use the ASIP First Aid Tool, quit all open applications and restart the server with the shift key down to turn off extensions. This keeps other applications from using the Users & Groups Data file; when this file is busy, the ASIP First Aid Tool cannot work on it.
- Launch the ASIP First Aid Tool.
Figure 1, ASIP First Aid Tool
- Back up your files first, by selecting the "Backup..." button and selecting the volume whose information you want to backup (backup each volume separately). This is a wise precaution, especially before you attempt a reconstruction. The data from the Users & Groups data file and the access privileges for that volume will be preserved in a file on your hard drive, that can then be used to restore the data at a later date.
Figure 2, FirstAidTool Backup icon
- Verify the PDS files. Each read/write volume on your desktop will have a PDS file, containing information about which folders are sharepoint, and what the access privileges are. After selecting the "Verify PDS" button, you'll be asked to select the volume you want to check. Verify each volume in turn. Reconstruct if problems are found, as indicated in the report below.
Figure 3, ASIP First Aid report
- Verify the Users & Groups Data file. Again, you'll be prompted to select which file to verify; be sure to select the file that is in the current startup disk's System Folder:Preferences folder.
Making PDS files visible.
The ASIP First Aid utility also allows you to make PDS visible or invisible. Select the option you want from the Utilities menu, then select the appropriate volume. (The AppleShare PDS file, normally invisible, is located at the root level of each local read/write volume on the server's desktop.) By making it visible, you can manually back up the file to a floppy or some other volume. It is not essential that the file be made invisible again, but by doing so, you prevent the file from being inadvertently renamed or moved, which would cause a loss of privileges on the server.
Figure 4, Utilities menu