Living with Novell NetWare

NT features let you access files and printers that are NetWare resources

Some people regard the rivalry between Windows NT and Novell NetWare as a holy war. But in many organizations, the two operating systems have to get along for many reasons, including cost, the need for applications that run on one operating system or the other, and politics. With a view toward coexistence, then, let's look at the NT features that let Windows-based clients access files and printers that are Novell resources.

Common Protocol
To communicate with a NetWare server, you need to install a protocol commonto both systems. Typically, the NetWare server runs IPX/SPX, so you need to useNWLink, which is Microsoft's 32-bit implementation of the IPX/SPX protocol. Intheory, you don't have to worry about installing NWLink: Its documentation saysthat installing the software to connect to a NetWare server automaticallyinstalls NWLink. In practice, I have found that NWLink does not always installcorrectly unless you specifically tell the software to install it.

NWLink is only a protocol: You need additional software to connect to aNetWare server. For example, a client application (such as a client/serverdatabase front end) running on a Windows-based client can use NWLink as theprotocol to connect to a database on the NetWare server. But to browse andconnect directly to resources on the NetWare server, you must install eitherClient Services for NetWare (CSNW) or Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) onyour NT computer.

Client Services for NetWare
You can install CSNW on any NT workstation. CSNW lets the NT user browse forand connect to resources on the NetWare server as if they were components of theNetwork Neighborhood. In NT 4.0, you install CSNW as a Network Service. FromControl Panel, select Network, Services. Clicking Add brings up a list of thenetwork services that you can install, as you see on Screen 1. SelectClient Services for NetWare, then click OK. As always when you install newnetworking software, NT will prompt you for the CD-ROM that contains the NTinstallation files. Reboot your computer to let the changes take effect.

When you restart your computer, NT will ask you for the name of yourpreferred NetWare server, as you see in Screen 2. Before you canconnect, you need a user account on this NetWare server and a NetWare clientaccess license. Then you can browse the network, using the Network Neighborhoodicon. When you click on Entire Network, NT offers you a choice of the MicrosoftWindows Network or the NetWare or Compatible Network. Selecting the NetWareoption will take you to the list of NetWare servers and then to the sharedNetWare volumes. You can also map an available NetWare volume to a drive letterby right-clicking on the My Computer icon and treating it like any other networkresource.

Gateway Services for NetWare
GSNW comes with NT Server and includes CSNW. GSNW lets many users obtainoccasional access to file-and-print resources on the NetWare server, withoutadditional software on each workstation. The only connection into the NetWareserver is through the NT Server. Users share this NT server connection just likeany other share; users don't connect to the NetWare server directly. To theWindows clients, the shared resource appears to be part of the NT server; aslong as they can see the NT server, they can access the resource. Because theclients don't need to communicate with the NetWare server, you don't have toload CSNW on all of the workstations. You don't even have to install NWLink oneach client computer. As long as you have installed NWLink on the NT server(which happens automatically when you install GSNW), the NT server can act as anintermediary and make the NetWare resources available to the Windows clients.

At one time, some Microsoft sales people claimed that you could use GSNWwith one Novell NetWare license to connect hundreds of users because you hadonly one connection to the NetWare server. The Novell license referred to connections,not clients, but Novell quickly changed the wording. Now you need aNovell license for each client that uses the NetWare server, even if the clientconnects through GSNW. The basis of Microsoft's claim that the gateway wouldsupport hundreds of users was that each user might connect only once or twice aday, to copy a file or send a quick print job. When more than one user tries toconnect via GSNW, the gateway becomes a bottleneck: with only one connectioninto the NetWare server, requests have to wait in line.

To install GSNW, follow the same procedure as for CSNW. However, GSNW needsan account (NTGATEWAY) set up on the NetWare server. The account must have Supervisorequivalence status (the NetWare term for administrator privileges) on theNetWare server and must be in the NTGATEWAY group on the NetWare server. GSNWuses this account to connect to the NetWare server. As with CSNW, when youinstall the service and restart the system, you must specify the name of thepreferred NetWare server.

On your NT server, in Control Panel, you will see a new icon, the NT 3.xnetwork icon, with one red end. This icon is the GSNW icon. Click it to open upthe GSNW configuration dialog box, as you see in Screen 3. This dialog gives youthe option to change your preferred server or to specify the Default Tree andContext if you are using NetWare Directory Services (NDS) for the gatewayaccount. Other options include print configuration and a logon script. TheOverview button takes you to a useful Help screen for configuring the gateway.

Click the Gateway button to configure which resources on the NetWare serveryou want to share and to select the share's drive letter. First, select theEnable Gateway option and provide the name and password for the NetWareconnection account. Then you can add shares from the NetWare server. Use auniversal naming convention path (\server_nameresource_name) to specify theNetwork Path. Set the maximum number of users to the number of Novell licensesyou own. Screen 4 shows adding a new share, using the drive letter Z. Becausethe connection account has Supervisor equivalence, set permissions on the shareto limit what the Windows clients can do to the shared data. You set permissionson the share like any other NT share permissions. Then Windows-based clients canconnect to the shared drive Z on the NT server and access it as they would anyother resource on this server.

File and Print Services for NetWare
File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) is an add-on product availablefrom Microsoft. (For a description of FPNW, see John Enck, "Behind theScenes of FPNW," December 1995.) Its purpose is the opposite of CSNW's.When you install FPNW on an NT server, NetWare clients can connect to the NTcomputer as though it were a NetWare server, and they can access files and useprinters that the NT server has shared.

Migration Tool for NetWare
One of GSNW's primary uses is to prepare to move users from NetWare to NT.You can move users one at a time, transferring their accounts while leaving themthe option to retrieve files from their old NetWare server. Or you can move allthe users and their data from a NetWare server to NT.

The Migration Tool for NetWare (in NT Server's Administrative Tools)automates the process. You can configure the migration tool to move useraccounts, groups, and some account properties. However, some properties don'ttranslate. For example, in NetWare each user can have a different passwordexpiration interval. This capability is not possible in NT. It can't read theNetWare password file. Therefore, you need to either assign blank passwords ormake the password the same as the username. In either case, the users mustchange the password when they first log on.

Screen 5 shows using the Migration Tool for NetWare to move users from aNetWare server to an NT server. You can set up multiple migration paths, fromseveral NetWare servers to one or more NT servers at the same time. You also canchoose to migrate users or data or both. If you are moving several NetWareservers to one NT server, the same person probably has accounts on more than oneNetWare server. If the accounts have the same name, you must decide on astrategy to avoid or work around possible conflicts because NT doesn't allowduplicate usernames. Fortunately you have several options, including ignoringthe duplicate names or adding a prefix.

A neat feature of the Migration Tool is its ability to run a trialmigration, which simulates the process but does not move data or accounts. Usethis tool to identify possible conflicts with duplicate user or group names.Once you have resolved the conflicts, you can start the real migration, knowingthat it will run to completion.

Moving users from a NetWare server to an NT domain is much easier thanmoving users from one NT domain to another. A utility for moving NT users thatis as easy to use as the Migration Tool for NetWare would make the life of an NTsystems administrator much easier. Are you listening, Microsoft?