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jkirmanFlag for United States of America

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After Dell updates, Virtual Novell server under VMware 2 on Windows 2008 R2 server is now inaccessible from Vmware player clients running Novell IPX/SPX clients

Hello.  Have an emergency with VMware 2 - yes that is correct - not binding properly, I believe, on a Windows 2008 R2 SP1 server.    I am running a legacy Novell 3.2 system in the Vmware 2 environment.  Since VMW 2 is non-dedicated it can run as services on the Windows 2008 R2 server.  Clients are running Vmware Player with the Novell IPX enabled This has been working flawlessly for the last 4 years, but last night I ran some updates from Dell for BIOS, RAID firmware and driver, and lastly Dell Open Manage server administrator.  Rebooted after the updates and now none of the Vmware player clients can see the virtual Novell server.  The VMW 2 server is normally configured to use the NIC in bridged mode, which is the only way that the Novell client and IPX will be transmitted through.  NAT will not work for the Novell client to access the Novell server.  Vmware player clients are all set up with Bridged mode to their NIC's as well.  Needless to say, Dell can not assist on this.

I've removed and reinstalled the VMware 2. but am unable to connect from any VMware Player client. I am beyond desperate as the client is now down and unable to access their main case management database, Saga DOS, which runs in the Novell virtual server under the VMware 2 environment.  Any help on this would be welcome.  Probably best for someone to remote access the server / webext style.  

Thanks in advance.

jkirman
SOLUTION
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
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I'm going to Recommend creating a project in Gigs for this question for someone to interact with you live to fix this issue.
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ASKER

Andrew, many thanks for your responses.  For the moment, I was able to put in a stopgap fix using an old physical Novell server I had on my rack which I hadn't used for a number of years, but is still physically viable.  Obviously I need to get them back on the virtual Novell as soon as possible.  One thing I forgot to mention in my original case description was that their Windows 2008 R2 SP1 server crashed on Monday night, and it was for that reason Dell recommended updates for the BIOS, idrac7 and RAID driver & firmware, and also Open Manage. I'm wondering if either the updates or the crash somehow altered or corrupted some part of the virtual Novell server's network configuration.  I'll be testing a backup of the virtual server and will post the results here.  

jkirman
Changing the Host OS may have led to compatibility issues.

Windows 2008 R2 SP1 server crashed on Monday night, and it was for that reason Dell recommended updates for the BIOS, idrac7 and RAID driver & firmware, and also Open Manage.

if you've been running fine for years, unlikely this was the issue.
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Dell changes you made as advised by Dell broke it!

Don't apply updates and changes as recommended by Dell.

This is a warning shot, time to start thinking of migrating away from Novell Netware and VMware Server 2!
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Apparently I can't split points between us, since I assume I can't award points to myself - not a problem, I'm not remotely active in solving issues on this site, so glad to see the points go to you.

After this latest episode, I am thinking the same thing you said about migrating away from Novell etc.  Unfortunately case management migrations are massively expensive, but as you mentioned, this was a warning shot for operating in completely unsupported territory.

Cheers.
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Was able to solve the issue after reviewing a number of online articles.