Novell NETWARE 6-DOCUMENTATION Manual page 930

Placeholder (Unknown) Objects
Backup Software for eDirectory
Whenever insufficient information is known about an object, such as when
one of its mandatory attributes is missing, eDirectory creates as a placeholder
an Unknown object.
During a restore session of the eDirectory database information, Unknown
objects are created when restoring an object that has an
(ACL) or any other attribute that refers to other objects that do not currently
exist in the eDirectory tree structure.
This condition is common in a restore, because only one object can be restored
at a time. When this condition arises, an Unknown object is created until the
real object is restored.
For example, User object User1 has been given property and object rights to
User object User2. If User1 and User2 are deleted and only User2 is restored,
an object named User1 will be created but it will have a base class of
Unknown. This occurs because the access control list of User2 lists User1,
which was not restored. The Unknown object is used as a placeholder in the
tree. If User1 is later restored, it will replace the Unknown object.
If the restore session does not include the object for which the placeholder was
created, the object remains in the eDirectory tree structure as type Unknown.
Expect to see Unknown objects after a restore session if all network resources
such as servers, volumes, and users are not in place before the restore session
starts.
Objects that remain unknown after a restoration is completed are objects for
which eDirectory could not resolve the dependencies.
In this case, you can do one of two things:
1. Delete the Unknown objects and re-create the original object.
2. Perform a selective restore to overwrite the Unknown objects.
In order to back up the eDirectory database, the TSANDS.NLM software must
be loaded on one server in the eDirectory tree structure—preferably the server
containing a replica of the largest partition.
For large or complex networks, you can improve performance by loading the
TSANDS.NLM software for a particular partition. This minimizes network
access control list
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Overview