Anytime the server is to be shut off, the DOWN command needs to be issued at a System Console prompt or from a workstation running RCONSOLE to a System Console prompt. This will cause the server to close any open files and to write any data left in RAM so that server integrity is preserved. Failure to shut down a server properly, can result in lost data, corrupted bindery, and could even cause the server to become unusable.

If you are running mirrored drives (RAID 0), failure to down will cause the mirror to fail. They can be re-mirrored but it will take some time to re-mirror them, sometimes as long as 24 hours. In order to maintain high network bandwidth, a server keeps many things in cache RAM. These active elements in memory need to be written to disk for a shutdown to safely occur.

Novells DOWN command will allow an administrator to execute these processes for server maintenance or changing sites. Executing DOWN First one must find the system console prompt. This is usually the server name followed by a colon.

From any screen on the server, issue a Ctrl-Esc to get a menu of available screens. Option number 1 will always be the system console. Type a 1 and then hit the enter key. You will see the console prompt which will be something like: ACP: or S1: Then type the command DOWN and hit the enter key. At this point the server will start shutting down with messages such as bindery close requested or you will get a message that Active files are open do you wish to continue Y/N? If you are sure, then hit a Y to continue and you will see a bindery closed requested. WAIT for this process to finish. Once open files are closed and bindery is closed, you will get a new message that states server S1 has been shut down. Type EXIT to go to DOS. You may type EXIT or shut off the server at this point. Re-starting after DOWN If you did not power off the server, you must issue an EXIT command to get to DOS to restart. Once you enter EXIT, you can then type SERVER and enter from the DOS prompt to restart the server. If you powered the server off. Turn it back on to re-start and it should automatically re-boot without any action on your part. External Chassis If you have an external RAID or drive array, they should always be powered on before starting the server chassis. When shutting down, they should be powered off after downing the server successfully.