Attaching to NetWare 6 with the DOS Client

Novell Cool Solutions: Trench
By Jerry Jennings

Digg This - Slashdot This Posted: 10 Jun 2002

Be sure to read the extra info provided by Kent Altena below.

We found Jerry on the forums sharing his experience with NetWare 6 and the DOS client. His work struck us as very cool so we asked if he minded sharing the same with Cool Solutions readers. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Question:
Has anyone successfully attached to a pure IP NW6 server using the DOS client?

The Answer:
Here is what finally worked for me. I got ideas from a file found on the NetWare 5.0 Client CD under products\doswin32\nls\english\DOS_IP.TXT. I used the files from the 2.71e Client and the TRANNTA.NLM file from products\win95\ibm_enu on the Client CD. The TRANNTA.NLM file seemed to be the key. This is what my files look like:

STARTNET.BAT
--------------------------
ECHO OFF
PATH %PATH%;C:\CLIENT32\
SET NWLANGUAGE=ENGLISH
LH C:\CLIENT32\NIOS.EXE
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\NBIC32.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\LSLC32.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\CMSM.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\ETHERTSM.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\3C90X.LAN FRAME=ETHERNET_II
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\TCPIP.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\TRANNTA.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\SRVLOC.NLM
LOAD C:\CLIENT32\CLIENT32.NLM

NET.CFG
--------------------------
Protocol TCPIP
	IF_CONFIGURATION DHCP LAN_NET
	PATH TCP_CFG C:\CLIENT32\TCP
	BIND 3C90X

Link Driver 3C90X
	FRAME Ethernet_II

NetWare DOS Requester
    FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F
    PREFERRED SERVER = 192.168.1.210
    NAME CONTEXT = "OU=PRODUCTION.O=WESTERNGRAPHICS"
    AVERAGE NAME LENGTH = 12
    LOCAL PRINTERS = 3
    NETWARE PROTOCAL = NDS
    USE DEFAULTS = OF

I found that if I leave out PREFERRED SERVER, the workstation will attach to the first server it finds. When I tried to use the server's name it failed every time. All is working well now.

Important Info from Kent Altena
Your tip about using the DOS Client on NetWare 6 missed a crucial point. If you want respectable write performance to a NetWare 6 box you will want to set TCP Delayed Acknowledgement to OFF on the server. We discovered this when trying to use Ghost from a DOS TCP/IP boot disk to the server. Writing of images before changing the parameter would take 25-35 hours after changing the setting it would take 30 minutes. (Honest truth!)

Here are the TIDs that reference the setting:
  http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/10061307.htm
  http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/10068360.htm

Readers might ask if there some secondary effects to turn this OFF. The answer is, no there are not. "The TCP delay ACK is defined in the corresponding RFC and it was provided to optimize low bandwidth connections."

Editor's note: If you need the DOS Client, you can download it in our Cool Tools area at: http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1066.html

Reader Comments

• good, thanks Gene
• To create a dos-bootdisc to attach NetWare 6, you can use the german tool netboot from ww.backmagic.de.
• and our "Engineering" dept said it couldn't be done . . . They should visit the Cool Solutions website more often!
• In order for Service Location Protocol to work in a non-multicast SLP DA environment, the NET.CFG file also supports (unofficially) the SRVLOC section which will allow drive mappings by server name from outside the server's subnet. See TID 10025635. I found the Unscoped scope appears to be supported.
• The article is useful, but watch out on changing the TCP ACK setting. Irregardless of what the TID says, changing this setting does affect some applications (namely; CyberQuery, from CyberScience).
• Just what I was looking for
• Good Stuff.
• Cool one guys...
• FYI: That "dang" TCP parameter impacts performance of OmniBack/DataProtector on the server too! Thanks, great article.

Novell Cool Solutions (corporate web communities) are produced by WebWise Solutions. www.webwiseone.com