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TITLE: Network Setup
DOCUMENT ID#: FYI.P.6050
DATE: 04Dec92
PRODUCT: NetWare Lite
PRODUCT VERSION: All versions
SUPERSEDES: NA
SYMPTOM: NA
ISSUE/PROBLEM
Network Setup
Introduction
NetWare Lite is a peer-to-peer network that enables users to share printers and disk drives. In order to have a better understanding of NetWare Lite itself, many users need to learn some new network concepts and terminology. This document is designed to help make this learning process easier.
Loading the Network
NetWare Lite is a DOS based network. In other words, it relies upon DOS to communicate with your computer hardware and software (as opposed to NetWare 2.X and 3.X which do NOT use DOS to perform these functions). NetWare Lite is made up of several TSRs (terminate and stay resident programs) which load themselves into memory. These programs can be divided into two general categories--those that deal with the network interface card and those that make up NetWare Lite.
Network Interface Card
LSL
<DOS ODI Driver> (Example: TRXNET.COM)
IPXODI A
NetWare Lite
SHARE (DOS Program)
SERVER
CLIENT
These programs are normally executed from a batch file called STARTNET.BAT.
STARTNET.BAT
When NetWare Lite is installed, a file called STARTNET.BAT is created. STARTNET.BAT loads the network software into memory by running certain programs one at a time. If a machine is setup to be both a server and a client, STARTNET.BAT will look like this:
LSL
<DOS ODI Driver> (Example: NE2000)
IPXODI A
SHARE
SERVER
CLIENT
Note: All of these files, with the exception of SERVER.EXE, can be loaded into upper memory.
These files can be run from a batch file or from the command line. Some people even add these commands into their AUTOEXEC.BAT. This will work, but we recommend that you use a separate batch file (like STARTNET.BAT) to run these programs. When the network programs are loaded from a separate batch file, problems are easier to troubleshoot. STARTNET can be called from your AUTOEXEC.BAT by inserting the following command into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (usually near or at the end):
call startnet
LSL, the DOS ODI driver, and IPXODI are programs that enable the computer to interface with the network card.
Note: When you load IPXODI you will do so with an A parameter (IPXODI A). This parameter causes the program to load itself without some of the overhead that is unnecessary for NetWare Lite to run, thus saving you memory.
SHARE.EXE is a program that enables file sharing. Consequently, it must be loaded on servers (as they are likely to have files which other clients are trying to access concurrently).
SERVER.EXE must be loaded on each machine that has network resources (i.e. printers and disk drives) that need to be shared with other clients.
CLIENT.EXE must be loaded on each machine that will need to access network resources.
Example
If a user wants to use computer #1 to print to a printer on computer #2, then computer #1 must have CLIENT.EXE loaded and computer #2 must have SERVER.EXE loaded.
Likewise, if a user at computer #1 wants to access station #2's hard disk, then computer #1 must have CLIENT.EXE loaded and computer #2 must have SERVER.EXE loaded.
If a computer needs to have access to its own printer, and SERVER.EXE has been loaded, then the computer will need to load CLIENT and capture a port because the printer has become a network printer.
Users and Logging In
The supervisor can log in to the network by typing:
"net login supervisor"
NetWare Lite allows network administrators to place limits on network access via passwords and directory access rights. The supervisor must create users so that individuals will be recognized by the network--then those users will be able to log in when they need network access.
Users can be added by following these instructions:
1) Load the network (as explained above).
2) Type "net login supervisor."
3) Enter a password if requested.
4) Type "net."
5) Select "supervise the network."
6) Select "users."
7) Press the "Insert" key.
8) Enter <user name>.
9) Enter any information in about the user. For example, you can issue the user a password or give him supervisor priveleges.
Now, a user can log in when he wants to--from any machine.
Network Resources
Network resources are peripherals--usually printers, disk drives and CD Roms--that are made available to all users on the network. Local printers become network printers, and disk drives and CD Roms become network directories.
We suggest that network directories and printers be given descriptive names. Good names for network directories might be BORLANDC, WORDPERFECT, GAMES, GIFS, or PUBLIC. Good names for network printers might be LASERJET-II, EPSON-DOT, or APPLE-LAS. Names that might not be good are CDRIVE, PRINTER1, and PRINTER2. These names provide no indication of what applications or what kinds of printers are being made available.
You will notice that during installation NetWare Lite creates a CDRIVE network directory for you. When you become familiar with the product this resource ought to be given a more descriptive name.
Network Directories
The first type of network resource that a NetWare Lite administrator can create is a network directory. These directories need to be created so that individuals can gain access to other users' hard drives. Network directories also give the network administrator power to regulate network access. Users can only access network directories that the network administrator gives them access to.
One would create a network directory by going through the following steps:
1. Load the network (as explained above).
2. Type "net login supervisor."
3. Enter a password if requested.
4. Type "net."
5. Select "supervise the network."
6. Select "network directories."
7. Press the "Insert" key.
8. Select the server where the actual directory resides.
9. Type <directory name> (i.e. WP).
10. Type in the actual directory path (i.e. C:\WP51).
To assign rights:
11. In this same screen, you can change "default access rights" and "users with nondefault rights." Refer to the manual for instructions on how to do this.
A user cannot access another user's machine unless he maps a drive letter to a network directory that has been set up. The following section explains mapping.
Mapping
Each computer recognizes a certain number of disk drives. Normally, a machine will have two floppy drives (A: and B:) and one hard drive (C:). NetWare Lite fools DOS and your machine into thinking that there are actually more drives on your machine. Mapping a drive letter takes unused DOS drive letters and assigns them to network directories so that users are able to access the directories. This can be done both through the net utility (typing "net") and through the "net map" command.
To map a drive letter using the net utility, do the following:
1) Type "net" at the command line.
2) Select "Map drive letters."
3) Select the drive letter you wish to map (i.e. G:).
4) Select the network directory to which you wish to map.
To map a drive letter to a network directory from the command line, enter the following:
"net map <drive letter> <network directory>"
For example, after setting up a WORDPERFECT network directory, a user might enter the following command:
net map g: WORDPERFECT
For example, if the network directory WORDPERFECT is physically located on server #1 in C:\WP51, then whenever the user goes to G: (assuming G: has been mapped to WORDPERFECT) he will see the contents of C:\WP51 on server #3. He will NOT be able to access any other directories (other than subdirectories underneath C:\WP51) using G:.
For example, if server #1 has the following directory structure:
C:\WP51 |-------\USERS
|-------\DATA
\BORLANDC
and a user has mapped G: to C:\WP51, then that user will be able to access both the \USERS and the \DATA subdirectories. However, he will NOT be able to access the \BORLANDC directory.
Lastdrive
The LASTDRIVE= command in your CONFIG.SYS reserves extra DOS drive letters for NetWare Lite's use. For example, if you included the statement "LASTDRIVE=M" in your CONFIG.SYS, and you had the above configuration (A:, B: and C:), then you would have ten drive letters available for mapping (D: through M: ).
Network Printers
The setup process is similar for network printers. Network printers can be created by following these steps:
1. Load the network (as explained above).
2. Type "net login supervisor."
3. Enter a password if requested.
4. Type "net."
5. Select "Supervise the network."
6. Select "Network printers."
7. Press the "Insert" key.
8. Select the server where the printer is actually connected.
9. Type <printer name>.
10. Select one of the "Available server ports." Make sure your printer is attached to the port that you select.
11. Press "Esc" to use default settings (i.e. setup strings, CPS, etc), or change as desired.
Capturing
Now, to print to this printer, a user need only capture one of his personal ports to the network printer. The user would do this through the following command:
"net capture LPTX <network printer>"
For example: "net capture lpt1 LASER-JET"
Ports LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3 can be used to capture. Whereas, any port (parallel or serial) can be used to physically attach a printer.
Note: There is a difference between a "captured" port and the port that a printer is attached to. A printer can be physically attached to any port (parallel or serial). This port is entered in when a network printer is created so that NetWare Lite knows where to send print jobs that are directed to that printer. Once those printers are established, ports LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3 are freed up so that they can be used to capture network printers. Which means that a user could have a printer physically attached to LPT1 and could capture LPT2 to that printer. He could then capture LPT1 to a printer located on someone else's machine if he wanted to.
Example
The following is a comprehensive example that will take the reader through the setup of an imaginary network. This example will involve three machines: KENDALL-386, DAVE-286 and JOEL-486.
KENDALL-386 is set up as a client only. DAVE-286 is set up as server only, and JOEL-486 is set up as a client/server. Because DAVE-286 is a server only, it will be unable use any network resources. Likewise, KENDALL-386, because it is set up as a client only, will not be able to allow others to use its drives and/or printers.
Verify Network Connections
"Verify network connections" should be run once, after you have initially set up the network to ensure that you do not have any hardware/driver problems. It should also be run any time you think you might have a connection problem. See fax document #215 for more details. Follow this procedure to "Verify network connections":
1) Load the network (as explained above.)
2) Insert PROGRAM DISKETTE into a disk drive.
3) Type "install."
4) Select "Verify network connections."
5) Enter in the name of each machine.
6) "Verify network connections" should be running on all machines.
7) Each screen should look something like this (all machines that are running "Verify network connections" should show up):
Name Address
JOEL-486 00001B1E6082
KENDALL-386 00002C3I4983
DAVE-286 00008B9N4440
Let "Verify network connections" run for about five minutes to make sure that none of the machines disappear or flicker on and off.
If "Verify network connections" fails, then you know that you either have a hardware problem or a driver problem. Please see fax document #215 for possible solutions.
User Setup
Next, log in to the network to setup users. Follow the instructions above for setting up users. In our example, we set up seven users:
Joel
Kendall
Dave
Rebecca
Kevin
Steve
Chad
Joel, Kendall and Dave were given supervisor privileges which means that they can perform the same functions as the supervisor.
Remote Management
If a server allows "Remote management," then users can change the server configuration from remote stations (clients). We set up KENDALL-386 and JOEL-486 so that they could NOT be remotely managed. We set DAVE-286 so that it could be remotely managed by issuing the following commands:
1) Type "net" at the DOS prompt.
2) Select "Supervise the network."
3) Select "Server configuration."
4) Select <server name>.
5) Arrow down to "Allow remote management" and select "Yes" or "No."
6) The change will take effect once the server has been rebooted.
Setting up Network Resources
Next, we set up network printers and network directories. JOEL-486 has a printer attached to COM1. It is an HP Laserjet III. We named the network printer HPIII. DAVE-286 has a dot matrix printer attached to its LPT1 port. This one is called OKIDATA.
Any time someone on the network wants to print to one of these printers, they need to capture a port.
We got rid of all of the CDRIVE directories that NetWare Lite created for us and created the following four network directories:
WP51
DBASE
COMMON
DATA
WP51 is physically located on JOEL-486. Because JOEL-486 is set up as a server/client, the user who is using JOEL-486 can use the machine, even though people might be accessing Wordperfect off of his machine.
DBASE is physically located on DAVE-286. Because DAVE-286 is set up as a server only, employees using DAVE-286 cannot access network resources, although they will still be able to access their local drives (but not local printers).
COMMON and DATA are both located on DAVE-286.
KENDALL-386 cannot contain network directories because it is set up as a client only.
Sample Files
The following is an example of the files we used to fine tune NetWare Lite, followed by a list of configuration tips for each file:
CONFIG.SYS
AUTOEXEC.BAT
STARTNET.BAT
LOG.BAT <NAME.BAT>
NET.CFG
CONFIG.SYS
The server keeps track of all files that are open. As more workstations (clients) attempt to access a server, more files will be opened. The number of files that can be opened needs to be increased on any server which will be allowing clients to access files. Enter the following command somewhere in the CONFIG.SYS, or increase it if it is already there:
FILES=XX
AUTOEXEC.BAT
At the end of AUTOEXEC.BAT we have included the following command so that the network will automatically be loaded when the computer is booted:
call STARTNET
STARTNET.BAT
The STARTNET.BAT file will be different on each machine depending on its configuration. The following is an example of the ones we set up. All lines that do not have a specific designation are included in all three versions of STARTNET.BAT. Other lines are only included in the STARTNET.BAT files for the designated machines:
lsl
ne2000
ipxodi a
share (on DAVE-286 and JOEL-486) See fax document on configuring SHARE.EXE.
server (on DAVE-286 and JOEL-486)
client (on KENDALL-386 and JOEL-486)
<NAME>.BAT
We created a batch file for each user that logs him/her into the network for each user (i.e. Rebecca logs in using a batch file called BEC.BAT). An individual batch file might contain the following commands:
net login rebecca
net map d: wp51
net map e: dbase
net map f: common
net map g: data
net capture lpt1 HPIII
net capture lpt2 OKIDATA
We made a directory on each machine where all of these batch files exists called \NETBATCH, and included this directory in the path of each machine. Now, whenever Rebecca wants to log in to the network, she can go to any machine that has client loaded and type BEC, and she will be logged in. Remember, this only works because we copied the BEC.BAT batch file over to the \NETBATCH directory of each machine.
NET.CFG
This file was created by NetWare Lite at installation. It contains information specific to the network card on each machine. See document #215 for more information on this file.
