Server frustrations

After setting up the basic, anonymous, read-only FTP server, I decided to advance to a more sophisticated configuration: an FTP server that authenticates against an LDAP directory. The first step in that change is to set up the LDAP directory server.

Installation on SuSE Linux was easy: simply run YAST, select the LDAP server, and then feed in the appropriate CD as YAST asks for it. That part went smoothly.

I even tested the LDAP server configuration, and it worked. I ran the slapd program and it was a process.

That was yesterday. Today is another story.

Today, the LDAP deamon refuses to run. The log file contains a message: "Error=98 Address aready in use".

What is particularly frustrating is that I made no changes. Aside from turning off the PC (and therefore re-starting Linux this morning) I did nothing. I did not adjust the LDAP or YAST configuration. I did not add new applications. I did not update Linux with the Novell servers. (This I know, because it is SuSE 9.2 and Novell does not update that version anymore.)

Well, I learn when I make mistakes, and when things work differently than I expect. This is an opportunity for me to learn.

[Update]

After trying a few things (unsuccessfully), I used the "Microsoft" solution: restart Linux.

Actually, I had done that to adjust the PC's clock, which was lagging by about five minutes.

And now LDAP and the slapd daemon work as I expect.

I'm not sure what I learned in this exercise. My guess is that one of the commands that I ran in my first session (slapadd and slapcat) did something that I do not understand. Which means that I will pay close attention to the commands that I use with LDAP and look for a pattern. (If the problem repeats. It is possible that this problem was a one-time issue. But my experience tells me that there are very few one-time issues. I expect it to recur, and I hope to be observant.)