Merging partitions

You might want to merge two partitions if the Directory information in the partitions is closely related. In other words, you would merge a partition with its parent partition when you want to delete the partition without deleting the objects in the partition.

Consider keeping partitions separate if the newly combined partitions would be large, because large partitions slow down response time.

The partitions are merged when the process is completed on the servers. To see that the icon of the partition you merged is gone (which signifies that the merge is complete), you need to refresh the screen by choosing the up-arrow and then expanding the container again.

Merging a partition with its parent partition might take some time, since the replicas need to be deleted and the parent replicas updated with the merging partition information.

You can merge a subordinate partition with its parent partition using either NetWare Administrator or PARTMGR. Both procedures are documented in this topic.

Merging partitions using NetWare Administrator

The following list describes the prerequisites:

• A 386 or later workstation and NetWare Administrator

• A minimum of 6MB of memory available on the workstation

• The Supervisor object right to the object and its parent partition

1. From the Windows Program Manager, click on the ``NetWare Administrator'' icon.

2. Choose Partition Manager from the Tools menu.

3. To locate the container object that you want to merge with the parent partition, browse the ``Partition Manager'' screen.

   If the partition object does not appear in the window, browse the Directory tree by either selecting an object to see its subordinates or by choosing the arrow key to move toward the Root. Your current context appears in the upper left corner of the screen.

   For information about moving around in the ``Partition Manager'' screen and selecting objects, choose the Help button.

4. Select the partition you want to merge.

5. Choose ``Merge Partition''.

6. To merge the partition with its parent, choose Yes.

   The partition is merged when the process is completed on the servers. To see that the icon of the partition you merged is gone (which signifies that the merge is complete), you need to refresh the screen by choosing the up arrow and then expanding the container again.

   Merging a partition with its parent partition might take some time, since the replicas need to be deleted and the parent replicas updated with the merging partition information.

   The replicas of the partitions are also merged.

   A partition with no parent merges with the Root partition.

Merging partitions using PARTMGR

The following list describes the prerequesites:

• A workstation running DOS 3.30 or later and PARTMGR

• A minimum of 512KB of memory available on the workstation

• The Supervisor object right to the object at the root of the parent partition

1. At the DOS prompt, type
   
   PARTMGR

2. From the Partition Administration menu, choose Manage Partitions.

3. Select the partition to merge.

   • If the partition appears in the list, select it and press <F10>.

   • If the partition is not on the list, browse the directory by selecting objects and pressing <Enter> until you see the partition you want. Select it and press <F10>.

4. Choose ``Merge with the Parent Partition''.

5. Choose Yes to merge the selected partition with the parent.

   The partition is merged when the process is completed on the servers. To see that the icon of the partition you merged is gone (which signifies that the merge is complete), you need to refresh the screen by choosing the up arrow and then expanding the container again.

   Merging a partition with its parent partition might take some time, since the replicas need to be deleted and the parent replicas updated with the merging partition information.