How do I manually adding an entry in the PRODUCTS.DAT file?

Novell Netware 6.5

Novell NetWare 6.0

Novell NetWare 5.1

A product will not install due to corruption in PRODUCTS.DAT.

Error: "NWMKDE - 103: System Error: 116.6.0 File:SYS:\SYSTEM\PRODUCTS.DAT"

Upon installing a patch, the installation script attempts to check the PRODUCTS.DAT file to confirm preexistent conditions for the patch to be installed.  In some cases, the problem is that a prior patch needs to be installed before installation of these can proceed.

Delete or rename the SYS:\SYSTEM\PRODUCTS.DAT and SYS:\SYSTEM\BTRIEVE.TRN files and either copy like files from another server which has good copies of these files, or load NWCONFIG | Product Options | View/Configure/Remove installed products which will recreate these files.  In either case, product entries may need to be added or deleted.

To delete an existing entry, type the following line at the console prompt of the server in question:

LOAD UINSTALL <CodeWord>

The CodeWord is specific to the patch/product installed.  Examples of common codewords are "CONSOLE1" for ConsoleOne, "NICI" for Novell Cryptographic Services, "NLS" for Novell Licensing Services, "PKIS" for Novell Certificate Server, "PORTAL" for Portal, and "SPACK" for the OS support pack.

To add an entry, a script needs to be created and run to add the appropriate information to the Installed Products listing.  To do this, create a text file with the extension <Filename>.IPS with the following information:

ProductRecord SPACK, 0, "5.1.1"
ProductRecord SPACK, 1, "v1.0 Support Pack for NetWare 5.1"

Display 1, "Edits to PRODUCTS.DAT file are complete.\n\n Please unload NWCONFIG.NLM before installing anything else."

Run this by going to NWCONFIG | Product Options | Install a product not listed, then specify the path to your file.
Running this will create an entry in the Installed Products listing that looks like this:

SPACK   5.1.1    v1.0 Support Pack for NetWare 5.1

Other products or patches can be entered into the Installed Products listing by copying the ProductRecord lines and changing the SPACK to a different codeword, changing the version (shown as 5.1.1 above) to the correct version, and changing the description field to accurately describe the entry.  With wildcards, the ProductRecord lines will look as follows:

ProductRecord <CodeWord>, 0, "<Major Version>.<Minor Version>.<Patch Version>
ProductRecord <CodeWord>, 1, "Product Description"

For adding other products to the products.dat file (assuming that they are actually installed on the server but not showing in products.dat ), if you can find another server that also has the product installed, view the installed products screen in nwconfig. There are three columns. The keyword (BRDRMGR, in the examples here) that goes right after ProductRecord in both lines of the .ips file, is in the first column. The version that goes in quotes in the first line of the .ips file, is listed in the second column of the installed products screen.  The description of the product that goes in quotes in  the second line of the .ips file,  is listed in the third column of the installed products screen.