LinuxQuestions.org - How to determine if IPX supported in distro?

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How to determine if IPX supported in distro?

We're trying to get an RHEL 6.4 machine set up, and one of the requirements given was that it needs to be able to communicate with a pre-existing Novell Netware machine. From what I've read online, I'll need to have ncpfs installed on the 6.4 to do this. A member of the local LUG graciously assisted me in finding a source rpm for ncpfs, but the README in it indicates I have to have ipx support installed on my system in order for it to work correctly.

How do I go about verifying whether I have ipx support or not? Googleing for information on this hasn't really brought anything useful to light - I've found plenty of references to ncpfs needing ipx (which the Readme had already said), and I've seen a couple of references to needing to upgrade the kernel to give it ipx support if it doesn't have it (a possible nervous worry for later), but I'm having trouble figuring out exactly what I'm supposed to do to decide -if- it's supported in the first place. Would someone please offer some assistance in figuring this out?

Check that the CONFIG_IPX kernel option is set:

Code:

zcat /proc/config.gz | grep IPX

Maybe modprobe ipx ?

"ipx_interface delall" followed by "ipx_interface add -p eth0 802.2" maybe something like that.

Quote:

zcat /proc/config.gz | grep IPX

Apologies, but my system doesn't seem to have /proc/config.gz on it. Is it possible it's there under another name?

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnderX (Post 4976264)

Apologies, but my system doesn't seem to have /proc/config.gz on it. Is it possible it's there under another name?

Not really, as the presence of config.gz in /proc is a kernel feature. I didn't know some distributions deactivate that (IMO very useful) feature.

Is your server by any chance a container (OpenVZ or lxc)? In that case, you need to check /proc/config.gz on the host.

Otherwise, see jefro's post. The modprobe command will fail if run inside a container, but the ipx_interface command should work. If it doesn't, it's fairly safe to assume that your system lacks IPX support.

I think that ipx/spx stuff has been dropped a long time ago. Suspect it has to do with Novell and Suse more than anything else.

I think you'd have to install a Centos modified kernel or try to make your own from sources.