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iTesting Your Installation

iThis section describes procedures for testing ILS. It details the testing scenarios that you can create to be sure the preproduction configuration works. When you complete this milestone, you will have resolved setup and configuration problems and ILS will be stable.

By this time, a number of components and interfaces should be installed on your computer as part of the ILS installation. It is important to test these components before proceeding. Dynamic directory services are tested through the LDAP, ULP, and HTTP interfaces.

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Before You Begin

To test ILS, you will need the following client-side software components:

Each of these programs is used to interact with ILS from a client computer. You can exercise your installation using the verification page provided to create, query, and delete entries.

If you have not installed Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.01 with Active Server Pages scripting and Microsoft NetMeeting, you can download them from the Internet now.

To download Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft NetMeeting

  1. Set up any Internet browser that works with Windows 95 on your client computer. Connect to the Internet and point your browser at http:/www.microsoft.com/ie.iiii
  2. Follow the online instructions to download IE 3.01.
  3. Exit your browser and open IE 3.01.
  4. Point the browser at http://www.microsoft.com/netmeeting and follow the online instructions to download and install Microsoft NetMeeting.

You can use the Internet Mail and News client to test ILS, so install this version on your client computer.i

To download Microsoft Internet Mail and Microsoft client

  1. Open IE 3.01.
  2. Point the browser at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/imn and follow the online instructions to download and install Microsoft Internet Mail and News.

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Running the Tests

In addition to the HTTP and LDAP interfaces, ILS supports a ULP interface, which NetMeeting version 1.0 uses to access and store dynamic directory information. If you plan to support NetMeeting 1.0 clients, testing this interface is recommended.

Use the following instructions to test the installation.

To test ILS

  1. Use NetMeeting to log on to ILS. When NetMeeting starts, it attempts to create an entry for you on the ILS server that you specify.
  2. Use a Web browser to query for the entry that NetMeeting created. This exercises the HTTP interface and the ILS ActiveX server component.
  3. Quit NetMeeting to delete the entry from the ILS database.i

To create an ILS entry using NetMeeting

  1. Run NetMeeting.
  2. If this is the first time you have run NetMeeting, it asks for your personal information and the network name of the ILS server. (This server is referred to as a "User Location Server" server within NetMeeting.) Give the network name of your ILS server.
  3. On the Call menu, click Select Directory. Verify that you are registered on the ILS server. This exercises the LDAP interface.

iiTo view the ILS entry through a Web browser

  1. Open the Web browser.
  2. In the Address box, type ils_computer_name/ILS/Verify/Verify.htm,
    where ils_computer_name is the computer name of your ILS server.
  3. Follow the directions for entering and viewing an ILS entry. This exercises the HTTP interface.
    -or-
    On the Call menu, click Web Directory. Verify that you are registered on the ILS server. This exercises the ULP interface.

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Evaluating System Stability

In general, if you successfully complete the tests in this section, ILS should be operationally stable. All server interfaces and a majority of core system functionality are exercised using these tests, including:

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Troubleshooting Your Installation

If you were unable to complete one or more of the tests in the previous sections, ILS might not be properly installed or configured. The following suggestions may help you solve the problem:

Answering the following questions may also help you solve the problem.

Question: I have been using Internet Locator Server for several months with no problem. Today when I tried to start the service it would not start. Why?i

Answer 1: The Windows NT registry has become corrupted. Check the following:

For more information about registry keys, see Chapter 3 in the Internet Locator Server Operations Reference, and see the documentation for the Windows operating system.i

Answer 2: The DLL file is missing. Under certain circumstances, such as when software is uninstalled, files are marked for deletion but are not deleted until the computer is restarted. Because you may not restart your computer after uninstalling software, this problem may not appear right away. To avoid this situation, make sure that you stop all Internet services, including LDAP, NNTP, WWW, Gopher, FTP, Mail, and others before you uninstall any software. If you do encounter this problem, you can correct it by reinstalling the software.

Question: I can’t seem to access the ILS Web pages. Why?

Answer: Your virtual roots may not be configured correctly. Check your virtual roots settings using the WWW Service Properties Directories tab. Make sure that the directory names exist and that they match where the files are placed.i

Question: I have ILS running on my machine. I just installed the Membership Broker agent on the ILS server. But when I try to log on, I can’t. Why?

Answer: There are several reasons for failed logon attempts. Here are some suggestions:

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Scaling ILS

iiiiScaling ILS involves adding servers to handle query load. Although actual performance numbers will be determined by operation experience, as a general rule, a single ILS server is designed to scale to tens of thousands of users and handle millions of queries per day. As your site reaches capacity, you will need to configure additional servers. Each server has a different name, and a list of all of your servers can give your users flexibility when logging on. You may find it useful to support your users with a list of servers available at your site, perhaps providing names for your servers that cause users to group themselves. For example, your Web page could list servers by area of interest names or locality designations.

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