Workstations must register with NDS^TM before they can be imported into the tree and managed as NDS objects.

When the Workstation Registration program is run, the workstation sends its registration time, network address, last server, and last user information to NDS, and places a Workstation entry in the Workstation Registration page of the container.

There are three ways to register a workstation.

1. Find the Workstation object's DN.
2. Store the DN locally on the workstation.
3. Update the Workstation object and synchronize the workstation with NDS.

Once the workstation is synchronized with NDS, each time the Workstation Registration program runs on this workstation, it will update the Workstation object.

See the following sections:

ZENworks Workstation Auto-Registration requires that users have the right to write a registration request to the immediate parent container in NDS in order to register their workstations and to keep them synchronized with NDS.

During the ZENworks installation, the WM:Registered Workstation attribute is added to the Organization (O) and Organizational Unit (OU) classes. Users are granted the Write right to this attribute, either automatically during the installation, or manually.

A user with Supervisor rights or the All Properties (Attributes) Write right (set in Trustees of This Object) to the container will also implicitly have the Write right to the WM:Registered Workstation attribute.

You must enter a context to grant these rights to all users in that context.

Registering Workstations

Workstation registration involves the following five main tasks:

The workstation will register to the user's container. However, the NDS container has to be prepared before users' workstations can register to it.

To prepare a container for registration, the administrator can do one of two things:

• Run WSRIGHTS.EXE during installation.
• Using NetWare Administrator, highlight a container and click Tools > Workstation Utilities > Prepare Workstation Registration. After selecting this option, the container is ready for workstations to begin registering.

You can register a workstation for importation in one of three ways:

• Install the ZENworks client. This is the automated way of registering a workstation.
• If you don't have the ZENworks client, then you can run WSREG.EXE from a login script.
• You can run the WSREG App object in the Application Launcher (NAL).

The workstation registration agent comes in two forms: WSREG.DLL and WSREG16.EXE. WSREG.DLL is the workstation registration agent for WIN32 platforms. WSREG.DLL can run in the Workstation Manager scheduler, or it can be run with WSREG32.EXE in a login script, or through NAL. It has a resource DLL, named WSREG32R.DLL, that it uses to get internationalized resource strings. If WSREG.DLL cannot locate the resource DLL, the WSREG32.LOG file will be blank.

WSREG.DLL looks for the WSREG32R.DLL in the same directory from which the workstation registration agent is run. If WSREG32R.DLL is not there, WSREG.DLL looks for it in the <WSREG.DLL directory>\NLS\<LANGUAGE> directory. Finally, if it can't find it in the <WSREG.DLL directory>\NLS\<LANGUAGE>, it will search the Environment Path settings.

After the workstation registration agent runs, at the root of the workstation's first local drive (most cases C:) a WSREG32.LOG file will be created. This file shows what the workstation registration agent did. If errors or problems occur, you can look at the WSREG32.LOG file to determine why a workstation didn't register, or to determine why certain Workstation object attributes are not being updated correctly.

WSREG16.EXE is the second form of the workstation registration agent. WSREG16.EXE can be executed on a DOS or Windows 3.1 workstation. WSREG16.EXE will write out a log file named WSREG16.LOG to the first local drive found. It will have all the same information that is found in the WSREG32.LOG.

Under DOS, WSREG16.EXE uses the resource file WSREG16R.MSG. This file, like WSREG32R.DLL, has internationalized strings and is needed for the WSREG16.LOG file to be able to display messages. WSREG16.EXE uses the same search mechanism for finding the WSREG16R.MSG file as WSREG.DLL uses to find WSREG32R.DLL.

Under Windows 3.1, WSREG16.EXE creates the WSREG16.LOG file (just as it does when it is run under DOS), but the resource file is named WSREG16R.DLL. WSREG16R.DLL works the same as the other two resource files previously explained (WSREG32R.DLL and WSREG16R.MSG).

What Does the Workstation Registration Agent Do?

The workstation registration agent's priority is to get the workstation registered for importing (creating a Workstation object in an NDS tree), and then associate the physical workstation with the Workstation object in the tree after the workstation has been imported. It will then update the following Workstation object information: Network Addresses, User History, Last User, Last Server, and Last Registered Time. If the workstation registration agent can't find the workstation in the tree, it determines whether the workstation has been moved or renamed.

How Does the Workstation Registration Agent Know Which Workstation Object Belongs to the Workstation on Which It Is Running?

Under Windows NT and Windows 95/98, the DN of the Workstation object is written to the Registry, where you can also find the registration cookie. This area is located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Novell\Workstation Manager\Identification. In this area you will find five values that the workstation registration agent uses.

• The first value is the EXE Path. This will be used in future releases.

• The second value is Registered In, which is used as a reference point for the workstation registration agent.

• The third value is Registration Object, which is the workstation registration cookie that is written to the container's Register Workstation attribute. The registration cookie looks like the following:

     1:BrianD,01010480:00c04fd8eee2,137.65.61.85, 
   BrianD.NS.Novell.com,BriansWorkstation,PRV-FLY,WINNT,PENTIUM

  The first field is the name of the user who is logged in and is registering. The next field is the IPX^TM address, followed by the IP address. The fourth field is the DNS Name, followed by the computer name, primary server, OS type, and finally the type of CPU the workstation has. If the workstation registration agent cannot find a piece of information for one of these fields, the field is left blank. The information in the registration cookie is then used as naming values for the actual importing and naming of the workstation.

• The fourth value is Tree. Under NT, the Trusted Tree can be set while installing the ZENworks client, or you can right-click Network Neighborhood > click Properties > Novell Workstation Manager > Properties > enter a Trusted Tree. Under the Windows 95/98 and 3.1 platforms, the Tree value is set when the workstation registration agent runs for the first time. The workstation registration agent will use the primary tree as the Tree value. This value then becomes the Trusted Tree for the workstation to use.

• The fifth value is Workstation Object. This value is the fully DN of the Workstation object. When a Workstation object can be located by the DN and the Tree name in the workstation Registry, the workstation is then associated. Under DOS and Windows 3.1, a hidden system file called WORKSTAT.ID is created. This file maintains all the same information that the workstation registration agent writes to the Registry.

Before you can import a workstation into the tree, you first need to create and associate a Workstation Import Policy to the user.

Importing the Registered Workstations

Workstations don't become NDS objects until they are registered in the container where the User object resides and are then imported where specified in the effective Workstation Import Policy.

Once you import a Workstation, it will no longer display on the Workstation Registration page, but will display in the NDS tree. Each subsequent time the workstation registers, it will update the corresponding Workstation object's information, such as registration time, network address, last server, and last user.

You can schedule imports to occur automatically by using the Application Launcher or the Scheduler, or you can import workstations manually from the Tools menu or the command line. You can also import workstations on a container-by-container basis (with or without subcontainers), or you can choose to import selected workstations.

The following are the various methods you can use to import registered workstations.

About WSIMPORT.EXE

WSIMPORT.EXE can be found in the SYS:\PUBLIC\WIN32 directory. It is a stand-alone executable that can be run from a command line. In NetWare Administrator, this executable can be run as an object in the ZENworks Application Launcher or added as an action in a policy package.

WSIMPORT.EXE can be use for the following purposes in the context you select:

• Importing workstations
• Clearing workstation registrations
• Setting the number of days for removing unused workstations

The following syntax can be used on both the command line and in NetWare Administrator:

   WSIMPORT.EXE <context> /T <treename> /S[-] /H /C /R <days> /?

Syntax explanation:

<context>	=	You can specify the context from which WSIMPORT.EXE will run its action
T	=	Tree name (you must include the name with this parameter)
S	=	Include subcontainers; S is the default; S- means to exclude subcontainers
H	=	Hidden, meaning no feedback will be given
C	=	Clear workstation registration
R	=	Number of days for workstation removal (you must include the number)
?	=	Help (displays these parameters)

Log Files

The following log files are created by WSIMPORT.EXE:

• NSUCCESS.LOG. Lists the workstations that were imported.
• NERROR.LOG. Lists the workstations that were not imported.

To import workstations with user interface, feedback, and log files:

   WSIMPORT "admin.orm.novell" /T NOVELL_INC

To import workstations without feedback, but with log files:

   WSIMPORT "admin.orm.novell" /T NOVELL_INC /H

To remove workstations that have not been registered in 30 days with no feedback:

   WSIMPORT "admin.orm.novell" /T NOVELL_INC /R 30 /

To clear workstation registration with no feedback:

   WSIMPORT "admin.orm.novell" /T NOVELL_INC /C /H

Re-Registering Workstations

For a workstation to be associated to a Workstation object in the tree, the distinguished name needs to be written to the Registry (WIN32 client) or the WORKSTAT.ID file (WIN16/DOS client) in the Workstation Object field. That fully distinguished name found in the Workstation Object field is what ZENworks programs use to identify which Workstation object to update or modify.

To complete registration of the workstation and to associate the physical workstation with a Workstation object in the tree, WSREG.DLL (Win32) or WSREG16.EXE (Win3.1/DOS) must run a second time after an import has been completed.

The workstation registration agent actually serves two purposes: 1) it creates and associates the workstation created in the tree, and 2) it updates certain Workstation object attributes in order for other applications to work.

For example, the physical workstation can have the IPX address changed by replacing the old network card with a new network card or even have the IP address change periodically through Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Keeping the workstation's network addresses up to date is vital for some applications, such as Remote Control. Because of this, you should run the workstation registration agent periodically, at least at every login, with one exception: if you are running the Windows NT workstation scheduler. In this case, after the workstation is associated to the Workstation object in the tree, the scheduler will not run the workstation registration agent again, and the scheduler will make all workstation updates that are needed, including the updating of the network addresses for the workstation.

The only time the Windows NT workstation scheduler will run the workstation registration agent again is if you move or rename a Workstation object, or if you remove a Workstation object from the tree. In all other cases, the workstation registration agent is run at login, or is scheduled in the Application Launcher.

Other attributes that are updated by the workstation registration agent are as follows: User History, Last User, and Registered Time. The User History is a list of users who have modified the Workstation object by running the workstation registration agent. For example, the Last User is the user who modified the Workstation object last by running the workstation registration agent. The Last Registered Time is set every time the workstation registration agent runs.

Un-Registering Workstations to Start Over

You can un-register and start over in one of the following three ways:

• Run UNREG32 (Windows 95/98, or Windows NT) or UNREG16 (Windows 3.1) at the workstation.

  Under Windows 95/98, UNREG32.EXE will delete the WSREG32.LOG and the WORKSTAT.ID file along with all the settings, including the Tree value, in the Registry located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Novell\Workstation Manager\Identification. The WORKSTAT.ID file under Windows 95/98 is a special case and is only used for Remote Control purposes. It is a copy of the Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Novell\Workstation Manager\Identification and is treated as such under Windows 95/98. Under Windows 3.1, the WSREG16.LOG is removed along with the WORKSTAT.ID file.

  After the workstation has been un-registered, the workstation is ready to be registered and imported again.

• Delete the Workstation object from the tree.

  If the Workstation object is removed from the tree, the workstation registration agent will create a new registration cookie and will re-register for importation. It is important to note that the workstation registration agent will only re-register for importation if the workstation has a DS Authenticated connection to the Trusted Tree or the tree where the workstation should be. If the workstation ever logs in to a different tree and does not have a DS Authenticated connection to that Trusted Tree, the workstation registration agent will not un-register but will maintain its identity.

• Remove the registration cookie from the workstation registration page.

  By removing the registration cookie, the workstation registration agent will create a new registration cookie and will register it to the user's location in the tree.

If you are part of an IS group that works on the workstation boxes in your own area and then sends them back to the users, you must prepare your container for importing. Otherwise, the registration will never occur, and users will receive workstations that have not been registered.