Novell NETWARE 6-DOCUMENTATION Manual page 2818

Using NetWare Loadable Modules
To display a list of all the console commands in NetWare Remote
Manager, click the Console Commands link in the navigation frame. For
help on a specific command, click the Info icon next to the command.
To see online help for an NLM that displays a menu, such as MONITOR,
load the NLM and then press F1. You can also press F1 at subsequent
menus, lists, and information windows.
When loaded, an NLM program is dynamically linked to the operating system
and the NetWare server allocates a portion of memory to it.
The amount of memory an NLM program uses depends on the task. Some
tasks make calls that cause the operating system to allocate more memory. The
NLM uses the memory to perform a task and then returns control of the
memory to the operating system when the NLM is unloaded. When an NLM
is unloaded, all allocated resources are returned to the operating system.
NetWare has five types of NLM programs:
NWPA drivers (.CDM and .HAM extensions) control communication
between the operating system and host adapters.
LAN drivers (.LAN extension) control communication between the
operating system and the network boards.
You can load and unload LAN drivers while the server is running and
while users are logged in.
PSM modules (.PSM extension) provide support for multiple processors
in server class computers.
Management utilities and server applications modules (.NLM and
.EXE extensions) let you monitor and change configuration options.
For example, you can run REBUILD or VREPAIR on a dismounted
volume or use MONITOR to view server statistics.
After you finish your tasks, you can unload the utility and free memory
for other server functions.
Name space support (.NAM extension) lets non-DOS naming
conventions be stored in the directory and file naming system.
Some NLM programs, such as utilities, can be loaded, used, and then
unloaded. Other NLM programs, such as LAN driver and disk driver NLM
programs, must be loaded every time the server is started.
Managing the NetWare Server
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