What is LOADER.EXE

[MG.dnt.IT]

Hi

What is Novell patching in LOADER.EXE? Why is this updated in the service
packs? How do they patch the SERVER.EXE? I notice no new SERVER.EXE in the
service packs themselves. They do seem to patch SERVER.EXE (as well as the
LOADER it contains.)

LM

[Barry Schnur]

Which version of Netware? (4.10, 4.11, 4.2)?

Barry Schnur
Novell Support Connection Volunteer Sysop
http://support.novell.com/forums/
Please post replies ONLY via the Newsgroup

[Marcel Cox [SysOp]]

MG.dnt.IT,

SERVER.EXE is actually a kind of container holding a number of
different modules. The most important are:

LOADER.EXE : the program responsible for loading Netware, and once it
is loaded, for interfacing Netware with the BIOS and the DOS that is
still in memory
SERVER.NLM : the Netware core OS
DIAG411.NLM : the module responsible for handling abends and core dumps
POLIMGR.NLM : the policy manager responsible for enforcing licensing

In NW4SP8(a), Novell included new versions of SERVER.EXE for NW 4.11
and NW 4.2. These new versions however only contain updated versions of
POLIMGR.NLM. The other modules are not touched. The new versions of
POLIMGR.NLM are actually much worse than the old ones, so that it is
highly recommended not to use them.
Eevry support pack also contains a new LOADER.EXE file and the tools
LSWAP.EXE and LSWAP.NLM. LSWP removes the old LOADER.EXE from the
SERVER.EXE file and replaces it with the new version.
The module PK411.NLM is a collection of patches which patch SERVER.NLM
in memory.
And finally, SP8a contains a new version of DIAG411.NLM that is loaded
as external file rather than using the internal version in SERVER.EXE

Marcel Cox [SysOp]
http://support.novell.com/forums

[MG.dnt.IT]

Woa - thanks! That is very helpful information. Where did you get it? I
can't find it in the TID's or manuals - and it was not in my MCNE course
either!

"Marcel Cox [SysOp]" <marce...@myrealbox.nomail.com> wrote in message
news:VA.000001f...@myrealbox.nomail.com...

[Marcel Cox [SysOp]]

MG.dnt.IT,

I don't know if there is a Novell document which explains this for NW 4.x.
There are however a number of documents explaining this for NW 5.x.
The exact internal format of SERVER.EXE is documented on the NMRC web
site.

---
Marcel Cox
Using VA 5.50 build 311