Windows NT Services for UNIX Add -On Pack

To provide interoperability between UNIX and Windows NT systems, you typically need to use additional software and services. Many third-party UNIX interoperability add-on tools are available for NT systems, including file-and-print services, command shells, and scripting commands. To date, however, Microsoft has bundled only rudimentary interoperability tools with NT. NT ships with client software for FTP, a Telnet service, and several r commands (e.g., rexec), but these client tools don't provide a lot of interoperability. Microsoft's new Windows NT Services for UNIX Add-On Pack provides plenty of interoperability. Microsoft released the beta version in the summer of 1998 and released the add-on pack to the public at the end of 1998.

Tools in the Add-On Pack
Adopting software from other companies is a Microsoft tradition. This add-on pack includes services and utilities licensed from Intergraph and Mortice Kern Systems (MKS). The add-on pack combines these third-party utilities with Microsoft functionality to provide file-and-print services, remote administration, a new command shell and several scripting commands, and password synchronization.

File-and-Print Services
A common user complaint is that users can't share UNIX and NT file-and-print resources. Microsoft's add-on pack includes DiskAccess and DiskShare, software from Intergraph's AccessNFS Solutions line. DiskAccess provides NT-based client connectivity so you can access file-and-print resources on UNIX servers or other NFS-based servers. DiskShare lets NT servers and workstations perform NFS server functions, so that UNIX and other NFS clients can access NT file-and-print resources. The add-on pack also includes Intergraph's batch-processing solution and X-terminal software so that users can access X-based UNIX applications from NT systems.

Remote Administration
The add-on pack includes a Telnet service so that UNIX clients can access NT systems remotely. If you run a Telnet server on your NT system, UNIX users can access the NT system if they use a standard Telnet client. When users log on to the Telnet client, the client presents an NT command shell. Users can then type in commands and run programs as if they were using a local NT system command shell. Users can also use NT's built-in Telnet client to connect to remote UNIX systems.

Command Shell and Scripting Commands
UNIX aficionados might balk at using an NT command shell. The NT command shell probably seems primitive to users accustomed to UNIX-style command shells. However, UNIX command shells are similar to NT's DOS command shells. UNIX command shells give you more options for running commands and programs from a text-based command line.

MKS' tools help UNIX users become accustomed to NT's command shell. Microsoft has licensed MKS's KornShell and more than 25 MKS scripting commands and executables for the add-on pack. Numerous shells are available for NT systems (e.g., borne, bash, csh); however, the MKS KornShell has an excellent track record.

MKS' KornShell helps UNIX users feel at home using NT systems. KornShell lets users use scripting commands to automate processes and administrative tasks on NT and UNIX systems. Also, users can create automation scripts to use within the shell.

The scripting commands included in the add-on pack are a subset of the MKS Toolkit commands. The licensed subset includes awk, grep, dig, uuencode, and diff. All these commands offer functionality that you can't easily get using other NT utilities.

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