Configuring NetWare Servers to Support Windows 95

This section presents information about installing Windows 95 source files on NetWare servers, automating Setup for NetWare workstations, support for long filenames on NetWare servers, and where to place user profiles and system policy files on NetWare servers.

Installing Windows 95 Source Files on NetWare Servers

The Windows 95 master files can be placed on a NetWare server to be used as source files for installing Windows 95 locally on NetWare workstations, or to be used as a shared copy for running Windows 95 across the network. To create a directory structure and place the Windows 95 source files on a server, you must run Server-based Setup (NETSETUP.EXE), the administrative setup program provided on the Windows 95 compact disc. (This is roughly equivalent to setup /a in Windows 3.x and Windows for Workgroups.)

To set up Windows 95 source files on a NetWare server

1. On the network administrator's computer, log on to the NetWare file server where you want to place the Windows 95 source files.

   This should be a network computer that is running a local copy of Windows 95 and that is used only by support personnel for network maintenance. Make sure you log on with security privileges that allow you to create directories and copy files to the file server.

2. On the administrator's computer, run castoff all to ensure that server-to-workstation or workstation-to-workstation messages do not affect Setup.
3. Follow the procedures for copying Windows 95 source files to a server in Chapter 4, "Server-Based Setup for Windows 95."

Automating Setup for NetWare Workstations

You can create automatic installation procedures for installing Windows 95 on multiple workstations. The steps include the following:

• Creating setup scripts for installing Windows 95 on computers connected to NetWare networks, specifying the network client and supporting components, plus defining other software components to be installed
• Defining user and computer settings to be used in setup scripts for specific NetWare workstation configurations
• Creating login scripts to set up Windows 95 automatically on NetWare workstations when users log on

For a complete description of the procedures for preparing and managing automatic installation of Windows 95 on multiple computers, see Chapter 5, "Custom, Automated, and Push Installations."

Supporting Long Filenames on NetWare Servers

Computers running Windows 95 can use long filenames on NetWare 3.x and 4.x volumes configured to use the OS/2 namespace, which emulates an HPFS volume. Filenames on such NetWare volumes have a maximum length of 254 characters and use an 8.3 truncation on the first instance of the filename. For example:

longfilenameold.tst --> LONGFILE.TST
longfilenamenew.tst --> LONGFIL0.TST

To enable long filenames on a NetWare volume

1. At the NetWare server console prompt, type the following lines:

• load os2
• add name space os2 to volume sys

2. Then add the following line to the STARTUP.CNF file:

• load os2

3. Shut down the file server. Then copy the file OS2.NAM from the NetWare distribution disks or compact disc to the same disk and directory that contains SERVER.EXE on the NetWare file server.
4. Restart the NetWare file server.

If you have problems with this procedure, contact Novell for more information.

When you use long filenames for files on a NetWare volume while running Windows 95, the following exceptions occur:

• You cannot use a combination of short names and long names for a path used in an MS-DOS Prompt window
• You cannot use cd in an MS-DOS Prompt window to switch directories using first a long filename, then using a trunctated name, or vice versa
• You cannot use dir in an MS-DOS Prompt window to check a directory on a NetWare server if you used a truncated name to switch to that directory

To avoid these problems, use Windows Explorer. Otherwise, avoid long directory names if you do a lot of work at the command prompt.

NetWare 3.11 servers experience problems with applications that open a large number of files. Error messages report these problems as sharing or lock violations, or report a "file not found" error when you know the file exists, or report other errors in opening files. Novell supplies a patch for this problem, which you can obtain from the Novell forum on CompuServe®.

However, if you have not applied the patch, this problem affects how NetWare 3.11 servers handle long filenames, even if the OS/2 namespace is enabled. To avoid such problems, Windows 95 Setup only enables long-filename support with NetWare servers version 3.12 or higher.

If the NetWare patch has been applied at your site, you can ensure support for long filenames with all NetWare servers by setting SupportLFN=2 in the following Registry key:

Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\Nwredir

The possible values for this Registry key are the following:

• 0, which indicates that long filenames are not supported on NetWare servers.
• 1 (the default), which indicates that long filenames are supported on NetWare servers version 3.12 and greater.
• 2, which indicates that long filenames are supported if the NetWare server supports long filenames. This can include NetWare 3.11 servers where the patch has been applied.

These values can also be set globally using system policies. The related policy name is Support Long Filenames under the policies for Client for NetWare Networks.

Supporting Pass-Through Security for Peer Resource Sharing

If computers running Windows 95 will be providing File and Printer Sharing Services for NetWare Networks, then the NetWare server providing access validation must be configured with a special WINDOWS_PASSTHRU account. This special account is used to support pass-through validation for user-level security.

For more information about configuring and managing pass-through and user-level security for Windows 95 on NetWare networks, see Chapter 14, "Security."

Placing Profile and Policy Files on NetWare Servers

User profiles, which consist of the user-specific information in the Registry, can be used to ensure a consistent desktop for individual users who log on to multiple computers, or for multiple users logging on to the same computer. User profiles can be used on a NetWare network with computers configured to use Microsoft Client for NetWare Network. When a user account is created on a NetWare server, a subdirectory of the MAIL directory is created automatically for that user. Because a Mail directory is always available for each user, Windows 95 uses these individual directories to store user profiles. If you want to use user profiles to enforce a mandatory desktop, place the related USER.MAN file in the users' MAIL directories.

If you are using system policies to enforce specific desktop or system settings, the appropriate CONFIG.POL file must be stored in the SYS:PUBLIC directory on each NetWare server that users use as a preferred server. Windows 95 automatically downloads policies from this file.

For more information about using user profiles or creating system policies, see Chapter 15, "User Profiles and System Policies."