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 L5006
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Running FCDS



Starting FCDS on Windows
To start FCDS:
1       Open the DOS command prompt window.
2       Navigate to the FirstClassDS folder.
3       Enter an fcds command using this syntax:
fcds [/FC=settings file] [/NOLOG="information to include"] [/NODUPLICATES] [/USEVOICEDN] [/TRACE=debug logging] [/REPLYTIMEOUT=minutes] [LINKTIMEOUT=minutes] [/SHOWPAB]
Using just fcds runs FCDS with the default startup parameters, or, if FCDS is running as a Windows service, with the parameters you specified.
For information on the optional startup parameters, see below.
After you have started FCDS, it will run in the background indefinitely. If you ever need to stop it, click Stop Directory Services on the Directory Monitor form in the Directory Services folder.
Other ways to start FCDS
You can also start FCDS in the following ways:


double-click fcds.exe in the FirstClassDS folder
Starts FCDS with the default startup parameters.
create a shortcut to fcds.exe
If you do this, you can either run with the default startup parameters or specify your own parameters as part of the shortcut properties.



Starting FCDS on Mac and Linux
To start FCDS:
1 Open a terminal window.
2 Enter an fcdsctl command using this syntax:
/usr/sbin/fcdsctl [/FC=settings file] [/NOLOG="information to include"] [/NODUPLICATES] [/USEVOICEDN] [/TRACE=debug logging] [/REPLYTIMEOUT=minutes] [LINKTIMEOUT=minutes] [/SHOWPAB] start | stop | force | status | help


start
Starts FCDS.
stop
Shuts down FCDS gracefully.
force
Stops FCDS immediately.
status
Checks whether FCDS is running.
help
Displays information about the fcdsctl command.

For information on the optional startup parameters, see below.
After you have started FCDS, it will run in the background indefinitely.



Startup parameters


Parameter
Values
FC
The name of the settings file you created for FCDS.
The name that FCDS expects by default is fcds.fc.
NOLOG
Logging information that you don't want in the FCDS log file.
You can type any string you want, enclosed in quotation marks. For example, you could specify a node name if you don't want to see details about a specific node.
You can type multiple strings, and combine your own strings with a standard value. Use ; to separate each string, and enclose the complete NOLOG value in quotation marks.
Example: NOLOG="Connection;BASIC"
These are the standard NOLOG values:
""
Logs everything (Debug level).
"DEBUG"
Excludes debug information (Verbose level).
"DEBUG;WARNING"
Excludes debug information and warnings (Normal level).
"DEBUG;WARNING;
INFO"
Excludes debug information, warnings, and informational messages (Basic level).
"DEBUG;WARNING;
INFO;ERROR"
Doesn't log anything (Quiet level).
NODUPLICATES
Builds the names dictionary in slow mode.
No duplicates are allowed. This optimizes the names dictionary for fast searches. The difference in search speed is only evident when the entries are bigger than 5-10K.
By default, the names dictionary is built in fast mode, allowing duplicates.
USEVOICEDN
Replicates telephone numbers to the User Information form's "Voice DN" field.
TRACE
Turns on component tracing for troubleshooting. Use , to separate each component you want to trace. These are the available components:
LINK
communication links
TCP
TCP links
SSL
SSL links
AUTH
authentication
LDAP
LDAP API
REPL
replication
REPLYTIMEOUT
How long any generic FCDS client TCP connection will wait for a reply to an issued LDAP query. The default value is 2.5 minutes.
This value will be used primarily by Generic LDAP Replicator query processing. Other client connections may have preset reply timeouts (for example, 10 seconds for authentication connections).
LINKTIMEOUT
How long any generic FCDS server TCP connection will wait with no activity on the link before being terminated. The default value is 3 minutes.
This value will be used primarily by inbound connections that issue LDAP commands and queries to FCDS.
SHOWPAB
Allows PAB retrieval in LDAP requests.
This is off by default because it is rarely used and can have a performance impact on LDAP data retrieval.

The default startup parameters are
/FC=fcds.fc /NOLOG="DEBUG;WARNING"



Importing and exporting LDIF files
An LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) file is a text file that contains directory entries. You can import an LDIF file to add a large number of entries to the FirstClass Directory at once, or export FirstClass Directory entries to an LDIF file.
To import an LDIF file to the FirstClass Directory:
1       Open the Directory Setup form in the Directory Services folder.
2       Provide the full path and name of the LDIF file at "LDIF file" on the LDAP Server tab.
3       Click Import LDIF File on the Directory Monitor form in the Directory Services folder.
To export FirstClass Directory entries to an LDIF file, click Export LDIF File on the Directory Monitor form. The LDIF file is saved in the FirstClassDS folder with the name
FCDS_year_month_day_hour_second generated.LDIF



Syncing to the external LDAP server
You use buttons on the Directory Monitor form in the Directory Services folder to control syncing to the external LDAP server.
The Directory Monitor form also has indicators to show whether syncing is active and enabled.
How FCDS decides what to update
FCDS stores the Universal Serial Number (USN) or Change Sequence Number (CSN) that is incremented each time an entry on the external LDAP server is updated. You can find this information on the Replication - Scheduling tab of the Directory Setup form located in the Directory Services folder. These numbers are called hi-water-marks on that tab, and they are updated after every replication.
FCDS stores the highest USN/CSN found when it replicates these data categories:
•       organizational units
•       users
•       contacts
•       mail lists
•       deleted items.
FCDS uses this information for the next time it replicates, to determine what needs updating on the FirstClass server. For each of the categories above, the external LDAP server is asked to send all entries with a USN/CSN that is higher than the stored value.
Storing these values allows FCDS to avoid a full directory synchronization at startup, and to update entries from the last known state. This optimizes replication for very large LDAP trees.
Even full dir syncs are optimized, because the stored values are checked for each entry to determine whether that entry needs to be updated.
Enabling syncing
To make FCDS ready to accept syncing, click Enable Sync on the Directory Monitor form.
7202010_20004_0.png        Note
This doesn't actually start syncing. First, you must enable syncing. Then, you can start it.
Starting syncing
Make sure you enable syncing before you start it.
Actually starting syncing varies depending on your external LDAP server:


iPlanet DS
This server must initiate syncing. FCDS cannot do so, but must wait for syncing to start.
OpenLDAP Directory Server
This server must also initiate syncing. To get FCDS and OpenLDAP in sync for the first time, import the LDIF file you created as part of configuration, with replication disabled. After this is done, you can enable replication and start SLURPD.
Active Directory
Either this server or FCDS can initiate syncing. If you want to start syncing from FCDS, click Start Sync on the Directory Monitor form.

After you have started syncing to the external LDAP server, replication will happen in the background indefinitely unless you disable syncing.
7202010_20004_0.png        Note
If you shut down FCDS while a full dir sync is in progress, the dir sync is stopped, setting its status to incomplete.
Enabling sync autostart
2102006_35208_0.png Mainly applies if you are running FCDS as a Windows service.
You can make FCDS automatically start syncing after the FCDS machine is restarted/reset. To do this, select "Enable and start replication at system startup" on the Replication - Scheduling tab of the Directory Setup form.
Selecting this will also cause failed full directory synchronizations to restart after one minute. This is important because failed full syncs could result in dropped connections either to the external LDAP server or to the FirstClass server.
Syncing only OUs
You can sync just the OUs, before syncing users. This gives you a chance to prepare the OUs with all the necessary permissions before you sync the users.
To sync only OUs, click Sync Only OUs on the Directory Monitor form.
Disabling syncing
Normally, you won't stop syncing once it has started. If you ever need to make FCDS stop accepting syncing, click Disable Sync on the Directory Monitor form.
Reconfiguring syncing
If you have changed noncritical values (such as replication scheduling) on the Directory Setup form, make FCDS pick up the new values by clicking Update Config on the Directory Monitor form.
If you have changed critical values (such as the Directory root DN) on the Directory Setup form, make FCDS do a total system reset (including rebuilding the entire LDAP tree) by clicking Reset on the Directory Monitor form.



Making manual Directory changes
You can use third-party LDAP-enabled administrative tools to make manual changes to the FirstClass Directory. To do this, you must have sync enabled.
If there is no external master LDAP server, you must also specify the external LDAP server address as "localhost" and the external LDAP server type as Generic on the LDAP Server tab of the Directory Setup form in the Directory Services folder.