The road has been long and difficult, but Windows NT finally has a NetWare
Directory Service (NDS) client worthy of the name. In fact, it now has two. The
Microsoft Client Service for NetWare that ships with NT 4.0 lets you log an NT
workstation on to an NDS tree, but the Microsoft client can't run the 16-bit
NetWare Administrator (NWADMIN) that ships with NetWare 4.1. The second client
is a new Novell NetWare Client for Windows NT (also called the IntranetWare
Client for Windows NT Workstation). This client offers many more features than
its Microsoft counterpart.
Similar in appearance and functionality to Novell's Client32 releases for
Windows 95 and DOS/Windows 3.1, the Novell client supports NT 3.51 and 4.0 and
includes an improved 32-bit NetWare Administrator, the new NDS Manager utility,
and the NT version of the NetWare Application Launcher (NAL). The client adds
new tabbed pages to existing Explorer and Printer Properties dialog boxes, so
you can perform many NetWare administrative functions from within the standard
NT utilities.
You can see the release of this new client as a sign of Novell's acceptance
of NT as a force to be reckoned with in the network OS marketplace. Two facts
support this view: Novell quietly renamed NDS as Novell Directory Services, and
Novell has promised to release a product in early 1997 that allows integration
of NT networks into an NDS database.
Novell's latest client is a vast improvement from previous versions. The
new NetWare Client for NT installs easily, performs file-and-print management
tasks well, offers improved NDS administration tools, and includes an
application launcher that demonstrates the true potential of NDS as a tool for
network administrators.
Installation
Novell will distribute its new NT client on CD-ROM as part of forthcoming
IntranetWare product releases, and you can download separate versions for
diskette and network installations from Novell now. The self-extracting archives
expand to create either disk images for 11 floppies or a directory structure
built off a \I386 root directory that Novell clearly designed to be stored on a
network drive with the NT installation files. This choice of installation
methods is an improvement from the previous Novell client, which forced you to
make installation diskettes from the release files.
Many more client installation alternatives are available now. For the
individual user, the easiest alternative is simply to run setupnw.exe. This
program removes the Microsoft client for NetWare, if it is present, and installs
the Novell client. Usually no further user interaction, except a reboot, is
necessary.
To install the Novell client, you need a network adapter driver. Novell's
client can operate with NT's standard Network Driver Interface Specification
(NDIS) adapter drivers, or it can use one of the 32-bit Open Data-link Interface
(ODI) drivers included with the client. The drivers support a relatively small
number of adapters. Note that with this client, you cannot use the 16-bit
drivers that ship with most network adapters.
Alternatively, you can install the Novell client from the Network option in
NT's Control Panel after you remove the Microsoft NetWare client. Although a
serviceable alternative, the Control Panel installation method provides no
advantage over the executable setup program. The Novell client includes a
separate NetWare/IP support service, which you can install from Control Panel.
For network administrators, the Novell client provides two ways to automate
installation on networked machines. For existing NT systems, the Novell package
includes an unattend.txt file, which contains the client's configuration
parameters. You set them to preconfigure the installation for network users.
Then you activate the Automatic Client Upgrade feature by running setupnw.exe
with the /acu and /u switches from your users' login scripts. The setup program
examines the client already installed on the workstation, determines whether an
upgrade is needed, and if so, presents a dialog box for the user's approval
before it proceeds with the installation. On a new workstation installation, you
can integrate the client configuration parameters into NT's unattend.txt file
and install the Novell client with the operating system.
The client installation places most of its files in subdirectories called
\netware and \nls\english, which the client creates in the \winnt directory.
Like earlier Novell Client32s, this client is not thin. The workstation half of
the installation requires 10MB of disk space, and the new administration
utilities, which you install on the NetWare server, require an additional 20MB
on the sys volume.
Users who perform administration tasks from an NT workstation require
another client installation. Run the admsetup.exe program from the workstation.
This program creates a \winnt directory off sys:public on a selected NetWare 4.x
server. This directory contains the components of the NetWare Administrator, the
NDS Manager, and the NetWare Application Launcher (if you have appropriate
rights to the server). This feature improves on the process in the earlier
client. That process required you to install from floppy disks, using the server
install.nlm utility, even though the procedure did nothing but copy files to the
sys volume.
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