Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/lan/netbak23.arj/NETBAK.TXT

Text File | 1992-05-05 | 9KB | 175 lines

NetBak Version 2.3 User Manual
Program and Manual Copyright 1992 D & D Software Inc.
Portions Copyright 1983-1990 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Files:  The following files are included in this package:
NETBAK.EXE  - the program
NETBAK.TXT  - this document, the user manual
LICENSE.TXT - the license agreement
ORDER.TXT   - an order form for registering the product

All the text files can be printed from the DOS command line in
a few minutes by executing the command: copy *.txt prn

Introduction:  Doing a complete unattended tape backup of a Novell
network presents network supervisors with security problems.  Most
tape backup software requires that files be closed in order to back
them up.  This usually means backups are done after normal hours and
thus are unattended. In addition the backup is normally done from a
workstation, which must be logged into the file server.  To access
all files on the server, including the all important bindery files,
requires the workstation to be logged in as supervisor.  Very few
supervisors are happy with the thought of leaving an unattended
workstation logged in with supervisor rights all night, even if the
workstation can be secured in a locked room.

That's why NetBak was written.  It provides the ability to perform
unattended backups with a measure of security not normally
available.  Once operational, the only absolute daily requirement is
to change the tape.  This is helpful in situations where the network
supervisor will be out of the office for one or more days.

We've tried other methods to accomplish the same task and found them
lacking. Batch files inevitably require a file with the supervisor's
password on the workstation's disk. Hidden or not, such files are
easily found by reading the batch file. Utilities that log the
workstation out of the server whenever a key is pressed provide good
security but prevent the backup from taking place if a key is pressed
by accident.

With NetBak the workstation is not left in a logged in state.  After
a simple setup session, the selected password and user name are known
to the program but inaccessible to others.  Executed from the
automated backup program included with many popular tape drives,
NetBak first locks the keyboard to prevent unauthorized program
interruption and then logs into the file server using the user name
and password you have provided during setup.  It executes the tape
commands you specify in a plain text file and generates a log to both
disk and screen, providing the start and stop time of each command it
executes.  After all commands have been executed, it logs out of the
file server and unlocks the keyboard.

Installation:  Copy NETBAK.EXE to a directory on your workstation's
hard or floppy disk.  This can be the directory where your tape
software is located or any other directory as long as it is part of
your normal search path.

Activate your tape software's unattended backup program and choose the
days and time for your unattended backups.  Enter NETBAK or
NETBAK.EXE as the program to be executed.  You may instead enter the
name of a batch file containing the NETBAK command, depending on your
needs and possible limitations of the tape software.

Create a file called NETBAK.CMD with any editor that produces plain
ASCII text in the same directory as NETBAK.EXE.  Enter your tape
backup commands into this file, one command per line.  The maximum
command line length is 128 characters, a DOS limitation.  The format
of these commands should be exactly the same as you would enter on
the DOS command line if you were executing a manual backup.  Note
that any line beginning with a semicolon will be ignored. Use the
semicolon to add comments to your file.

NetBak must be able to locate COMMAND.COM to execute the commands in
netbak.cmd.  The surest way of accomplishing this is to have a copy of
COMMAND.COM at the workstation and the COMSPEC variable set to point
to this file.  Even better is to not use COMSPEC anywhere, including
the file server autoexec.bat file.

Examples of netbak.cmd for several popular tape drives follows.  The
examples assume a two volume file server with the user mapped to each
volume under drive letters G: and H: and request a verification pass
after the backup. Please consult the manual accompanying your tape
software for further information.

Colorado Memory Systems drives:
; set drive mapping on server
F:
\PUBLIC\MAP G:=SYS:
\PUBLIC\MAP H:=VOL1:
; go to directory with tape software
C:
CD \TAPE
; backup sys, any errors redirected to error.txt file
TAPE BACKUP G:\*.* /-A/C/I/J/K/-P/S/T="SYS BACKUP" > ERROR.TXT
; backup vol1
TAPE BACKUP H:\*.* /A/C/I/J/K/-P/S/T="VOL1 BACKUP" >> ERROR.TXT

Mountain Tape drives:
F:
\PUBLIC\MAP G:=SYS:
\PUBLIC\MAP H:=VOL1:
C:
CD \MTN_TAPE
TAPE SBK G:\*.* /S /NSYS /LSYS /C /-A
TAPE SBK H:\*.* /S /NVOL1 /LVOL1 /C /A

Setup:  Run NetBak manually from the DOS command line the first time
and it will request the name and password of the user to be logged in
for the backup session.  It will also ask for the drive letter where
the network login directory can be found (normally drive F:).  To
assure a complete backup enter the supervisor's password and
accept SUPERVISOR as the default user name.

For additional security you can avoid using the supervisor password
by creating another user with supervisor equivalence on the network
using Novell's SYSCON program and limit the user's access to one
workstation and specific night time hours.  Enter this user's name
and password into NetBak.

Subsequent to the first run, NetBak can be invoked with the "/s"
command line switch (i.e. NETBAK /S) when you wish to change the
current setup.  You will be prompted for the old password before any
changes can be made.  This is useful for periodic changes to the user
name or password or possible changes in the network login drive.

Log File:  The activity log is shown on screen at the end of each
session and is also stored in a file named NETBAK.LOG.  This file
will always be created in the same directory NETBAK.EXE is located.
You can examine this file by using the DOS "type" command (i.e. type
netbak.log).  Normally only the current session is stored in the log;
however, you can cause it to accumulate all subsequent sessions by
always invoking NetBak with the /a command line switch (i.e. NETBAK
/A).  The log is helpful in determining how long each of your
commands took to execute.  It should also be examined when things go
wrong for error messages and for tape program malfunctions, normally
indicated when the backup time differs radically from previous
sessions.

If you would like to make sure that the workstation shell is loaded
and the file server is running, manually execute NetBak with the /c
command line switch (i.e. NETBAK /C).  This will check for the
presence of IPX.COM and NETx.COM on the workstation and make sure the
server is available without executing the commands in netbak.cmd.

Evaluation copy:  Prior to payment of the registration fee, the
program always starts with a screen requesting that you register and
holds until a key is pressed.  Both the screen and required keystroke
are eliminated with the registered version of the package.  While you
can not do a completely unattended backup with the evaluation version
(you have to be there to provide the required keystroke), you can
examine and test the program to see if it meets your needs and decide
if you wish to register or discard the software.

Registration:  Upon payment of the registration fee you will receive a
disk containing the most recent registered version of NetBak and a
variety of other utilities written by D & D Software, along with a
registration number to use for preferred upgrade pricing on future
versions and access to our free technical support.

We have included a simple order form in the accompanying order.txt
file. Please print and use the form for all registrations.  Mail your
remittance and order form to:

                         D & D Software Inc.
                         809 Jackson Avenue
                         Lindenhurst, NY 11757

Comments:  Any suggestions on this program (all constructive comments
appreciated) can be sent by Compuserve Mail to 70406,1163 or phoned
(voice) to [phone] or mailed to the above address.

License:  See the accompanying file, license.txt, for license
provisions.