Microsoft unveils Windows Services for Unix 2.0 Beta 2

Microsoft Corporation has made the Beta 2 release of its Windows Services for Unix (SFU) 2.0 available for download. SFU 2.0 allows Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 SP4 machines to interoperate more easily with Unix machines in a heterogeneous

Paul Thurrott

January 14, 2000

2 Min Read
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Microsoft Corporation has made the Beta 2 release of its Windows Services for Unix (SFU) 2.0 available for download. SFU 2.0 allows Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 SP4 machines to interoperate more easily with Unix machines in a heterogeneous environment.

This new release includes the following components:

  • Client for NFS - Provides the ability to map exported file systems directly from UNIX NFS servers just as if they were native Windows NT shares.

  • Server for NFS - Provides the ability to share file systems from Windows NT and Windows 2000 just as if they were native UNIX exports.

  • Gateway for NFS - Allows for any Windows client to map UNIX NFS exports as Windows NT Server or Windows 2000 shares.

  • Server for PCNFS - Allows Windows 2000 to act as a PCNFSD server to provide seamless user authentication services when connecting to NFS servers.

  • Over 60 UNIX Utilities - Provides the ability to run familiar UNIX command line utilities such as ls, vi, chmod, and grep, natively from Windows NT or Windows 2000.

  • Korn Shell - Provides a full-featured implementation that enables the ability to run UNIX shell scripts from Windows NT and Windows 2000 to automate network administrative tasks.

  • Telnet client - Provides a character-mode telnet client that is both faster and more robust than the default graphical-mode client provided in Windows. It has additional emulations and supports Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) authentication to speed up logon to Windows NT–based systems running the Windows Services for UNIX 2.0 Telnet Server.

  • Telnet Server - Supports NTLM for authentication of client logons, which makes using telnet completely transparent to users, while ensuring that clear-text passwords do not pass over the network.

  • Microsoft Management Console (MMC) support - Enables administrators to centralize all Windows Services for UNIX 2.0 management from a single application, as well as from the command line.

  • ActiveState ActivePerl 5.6 - Provides the ability to automate network administrative tasks by running new or existing PERL scripts natively on Windows NT or Windows 2000.

  • NIS to Active Directory Migration Wizard - Provides the ability to move UNIX NIS source files, like /etc/passwd, from the NIS domain into Windows 2000 Active Directory in order to consolidate account management.

  • Server for NIS - Allows a Windows 2000 domain controller to act as the primary NIS server and respond to NIS queries from UNIX NIS clients or other UNIX NIS servers.

  • Two-way Password Synchronization - Provides the ability to synchronize user passwords for both platforms by enabling password changes on Windows NT Server, Windows 2000 Server, and UNIX servers.

  • User Name Mapping - Server provides the ability to map Windows usernames with UNIX usernames to allow for seamless connectivity between different identities across both platforms.

Windows Services for Unix 2.0 will be finalized next month. The software requires Windows NT 4.0 SP4 (Intel only) with Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater, or Windows 2000. For more information and the free download, please visit the Windows Services for Unix Web site

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About the Author

Paul Thurrott

Paul Thurrott is senior technical analyst for Windows IT Pro. He writes the SuperSite for Windows, a weekly editorial for Windows IT Pro UPDATE, and a daily Windows news and information newsletter called WinInfo Daily UPDATE.

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