Configuring Novell IPX on a Cisco router

Configuring Novell IPX on a Cisco router Configuring Novell IPX on a Cisco router

Use this as a template when configuring Novell IPX.

Assuming you have 2 routers linking 2 offices:

Router A Config

ipx routing

interface ethernet 0
description Local LAN
ipx network 100
ipx encapsulation novell-ether

interface Serial0
description Circuit to Router B
ipx network 200

Router B Config

ipx routing

interface ethernet 0
description Local LAN
ipx network 300
ipx encapsulation novell-ether

interface Serial 0
description Circuit to Router A
ipx network 200

Important note regarding Frame Relay:

The above example assumes that the 2 routers are connected either via a T1 circuit, or directly back-to-back.

If you are using a Frame Relay circuit, and you are using subinterfaces, you need to enter the protocol-specific commands under the subinterface, not the major interface. You will define the signalling parameters under the major interface, but then everything else goes under the subinterfaces.

Assuming your Carrier has given you one Frame Relay point-to-point PVC with a DLCI value of 33, your config will look like this:

interface Serial 0.33 point-to-point
description Frame Relay PVC to other office
frame-relay interface-dlci 33 IETF
ipx network 200

If you have more than one subinterface, treat each one as a different logical interface and put all protocol commands under them, not the major interface.
The IOS will accept protocol commands under the major interface, but if there are subinterfaces present the IOS will ignore the ones under the major interface.

Explanation

Your Novell network will look like this:

Novell servers use two network numbers, an "internal network number" and an "external network number". The internal network number is applied to the name of the server and the external network number is applied to the server's NIC card, which must be the same for the NIC cards of all Novell servers on a network segment. It is this external network number that you are configuring on the router's interface. This number is a Hexadecimal number, not Decimal.

Generally there will be only one Novell server on a network segment, so you must either ask the server's administrator what external network number is already in use, or you can choose one and let them know what it is.

The IPX network number must be unique for each physical network segment, including serial links on which there are no Novell servers or clients. Use the "ipx encapsulation" command only if you suspect that the NIC card of the server on that network segment is using a different encapsulation scheme from the Cisco interface's default, which is SNAP IEEE 802.2. "novell-ether" is a common alternative, which uses 802.3 encapsulation. Type "ipx encapsulation ?" to see what encapsulation options are available.

Monitoring Commands

show ipx route

external

show ipx servers (Shows what Novell servers are visible on the network. The output is in the format of the server name followed by the server's network address, which is listed as the external network number and the NIC's hardware address, such as AA.0060.b0c9.c2e3 "AA" is the external network number and the following characters is the NIC card's hardware address)

clear ipx route (Flushes and rebuilds the Novell IPX routing table)

Very Important:

Keep in mind that IPX routing updates are propated using External Novell network numbers but that SAP advertisements are propagated using Internal Novell network numbers. Therefore routing distribute-lists are configured on the router using External network numbers (which is what you're configuring on the router's interface), but SAP access-lists are configured using Internal network numbers. Confusing the External and Internal network numbers is the most common source of Novell IPX routing problems.