Basic NetWare for Macintosh Operations

The following sections detail the features that NetWare for Macintosh brings to the Macintosh workstation. If you are unfamiliar with basic NetWare user operations, you should read the sections that follow. If you are already familiar with NetWare, you might want to carry out the tasks described in these sections to make sure that your installation is working correctly.


Logging In to a NetWare Server

A NetWare server is a computer used by multiple people to share resources such as disk space, files, applications, and printers. When you log in to a server, these actions take place:

A server's disk storage is divided into volumes. Once you log in to a server, you can open a volume as though it were a separate hard disk appearing on your Macintosh desktop.

To log in to a NetWare server, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Chooser and click the AppleShare icon.

    When you select the Chooser option in the Apple menu, the Chooser dialog box opens. When you click the AppleShare icon, the Select a File Server list displays the name of each server in the currently selected zone (Figure 6).

    Figure 6
    The Chooser Dialog Box

  2. Choose a zone.

    AppleTalk zones organize the services available to you on the network. In the AppleTalk Zones list, click the zone in which the NetWare server is located. The Select a File Server list is updated to reflect the names of the servers in the zone you selected.

  3. Choose a server.

    In the Select a File Server list, click the name of the server you want to access. For example, to access the server called MAIN, click its name in the list.

  4. Click the OK button.

    When you click OK, the Macintosh queries the server to find out which password authentication methods the server supports, Apple clear-text, NetWare encryption, or both. (Apple scrambled passwords are never supported on NetWare servers.)

    If you choose the wrong authentication method in this dialog, the server will reject your password but no harm will be done. If your password is rejected, select the other authentication method and try again.

    1. To send your password as AppleShare clear text, be sure that Apple Standard UAMs is selected (Figure 7) and then click OK.

      When you select Apple Standard UAMs, the dialog in Figure 8 opens.

      Figure 8
      Standard AppleShare Login Dialog Box

      In the text entry box labeled Name, enter your NetWare user name. In the text entry box labeled Password, enter your password. An Apple clear-text password can contain up to eight characters, and can include special characters. When you type your password, it appears as a row of bullet characters.

      To change your password, click the Set Password button. A dialog will open in which you can enter your old password and your new one.

    2. To send your password using NetWare encryption, choose Encrypted NetWare Authentication (Figure 7), and then click OK.

      When you select Encrypted NetWare Authentication, the dialog in Figure 9 opens.

      Figure 9
      NetWare UAM Login Dialog

      In the text entry box labeled Name, enter your NetWare user name. In the text entry box labeled Password, enter your password. A NetWare-encrypted password can contain up to 128 characters, and can include special characters. When you type your password, it appears as a row of bullet characters.

      To change your password, click the Set Password button. A dialog will open in which you can enter your old password and your new one.

      NOTE:  If you are logging in to a NetWare 4.0 server, the NetWare UAM dialog displays the Directory Services Tree and bindery context of the NetWare 4.0 server. If you are logging in to a NetWare 3.x server, this information will not be shown.

  5. Click the OK button.

    When you click OK, the system logs you in to the server. The Volume dialog box opens (Figure 10).

    Figure 10
    The Volume Dialog Box

    Use the Volume dialog box to mount a volume on the Macintosh desktop. When you mount a volume, you make it available to your Macintosh workstation. You can then open the volume and work with the files stored there.

  6. Choose a volume to mount.

    The Volume dialog box contains the name of each volume located on the server. If a volume name is dimmed, you either don't have rights to that volume or have already mounted it.

    Click the volume name to choose it. For example, to mount the volume called MAIN.SYS, click its name in the list. If you want to mount more than one volume on a server, you can choose more than one volume at a time.

    The checkbox next to each volume name enables you to specify whether you want the volume mounted when you start up your Macintosh workstation. To mount the volume when you start up, click the check box so that an "X" appears.

    When you click the check box, two radio buttons appear. One is labeled Save My Name Only. The other is labeled Save My Name and Password. The Volume dialog box looks like the one in Figure 11.

    Figure 11
    Startup Mounting Enabled

    If you choose Save My Name Only, the system prompts you for your password when mounting the volume. If you choose Save My Name and Password, the system mounts the volume automatically, without requesting a password. For enhanced security, choose Save My Name Only.

    If you use a NetWare-encrypted password, you cannot check a volume in order to mount it upon startup. If you try to do so, the error message in Figure 12 appears.

    Figure 12
    Startup Mounting Not Supported

  7. Click the OK button.

    The NetWare volume is mounted on your desktop. The volume appears as a filing cabinet icon, like the MAIN.SYS volume in Figure 13.

    Figure 13
    Volume Icon

    When you work with a volume, you frequently see two small arrows flashing on and off in the upper-left corner of the menu bar. These arrows are called the network activity indicators. They indicate active communication between your Macintosh workstation and the server.

  8. Close the Chooser.

    Choose the Close option from the File menu, or click the close box.

You have now completed the login process.


Working on the NetWare Server

You begin working on the NetWare server by opening a volume and viewing the folders and files at the root, the highest level of the folder and file hierarchy. To open a volume, double-click the icon representing it. Or, highlight the icon and choose the Open option from the File menu.

Figure 14 shows the root of the SYS volume on MAIN.

Figure 14
Root of the SYS Volume

The folders shown in Figure 14 are standard folders that allow all NetWare users to open them. When you have the right to open a folder, it looks like a plain Macintosh folder on the NetWare volume. If you don't see any folders at the root of the SYS volume, you do not have access rights to any of the existing folders.


Icons That Indicate Your Access Rights

NetWare for Macintosh uses folder icons that allow you to see at a glance your general level of access rights. In addition, if you can open a folder but cannot make changes within that folder, the AppleShare access privilege icons appear in the upper-left corner of the open folder's window. You can see these icons in the upper-left corner of Figure 14.

NetWare for Macintosh uses the following folder icons to represent the type of access a user has to a folder:

After you copy folders or files to a folder on the NetWare server, they automatically acquire the same set of rights as the folder that contains them. Rights acquired in this way are called inherited rights. For complete information on all facets of NetWare rights. See Managing Rights and Flags.


Copying Folders and Files

You can copy folders and files between your local disk and a NetWare volume just as you would copy a folder or file to another Macintosh disk. Simply drag the appropriate icon to a volume window. If you are unfamiliar with copying folders and files, see the documentation accompanying your Macintosh workstation.

If you are using System 6.x and you want to copy a folder or file from a NetWare volume to your local disk, you must drag the icon to a window on the desktop. You cannot move or copy items from a NetWare volume to a desktop area not in a window. If you try to do so, the error message shown in Figure 15 appears.

Figure 15
Desktop Error Message: System 6.x

Under System 7.x, you can copy a folder or file from a NetWare volume to any desktop area, either inside or outside a window. The system will actually copy the item to the startup disk, but it will appear on the desktop. When you attempt to move the item, the message shown in Figure 16 appears.

Figure 16
Desktop Error Message: System 7.x

If you have more than one NetWare volume open on your desktop, you copy a folder or file between them just as you would between a local disk and a NetWare volume. Open a window for each volume. Then, drag the folder or file icon from one window to the other.


Creating Folders on a NetWare Volume

You can create a new folder on a NetWare volume just as you would on your local disk-by using the New Folder option from the File menu. However, be aware that you can create a new folder on a NetWare volume only if you have sufficient rights to do so.


Opening a Macintosh Application on the Server

To work with files stored on the NetWare server, you can use a Macintosh application stored on your local disk or on a NetWare volume. If you create a file on the server using a Macintosh application, you can launch the application from the server just as from your local disk-by double-clicking the icon.

See Mapping Filename Extensions for a way to launch your preferred Macintosh application on DOS files when you are working on a NetWare 4.0 server.

If the Finder cannot find the application on your local disk or any of your mounted volumes, an error message such as the one shown in Figure 17 appears.

Figure 17
The Application Cannot Be Found

This message may also indicate one of the following conditions:


Opening DOS Directories and Files

Because both Macintosh and DOS workstations can store files on a NetWare volume, you might see DOS files, applications, and directories on the server. Figure 18 shows how DOS icons appear.

Figure 18
Sample Contents of a DOS Directory

DOS files and applications show the word DOS in their file icons. You can't open DOS files without the appropriate software. However, you can use the Rights utility to check your security rights on DOS folders and files; and you can use the File and Folder Flags utility to look at flags for DOS files and folders.

If a Macintosh application is designed to read the format of a particular DOS file, you can open that DOS file from within the Macintosh application. This capability depends on both the application that created the file and the application that is attempting to read the file. For example, both the Macintosh and DOS versions of WordPerfect can read WordPerfect files created by a DOS or Macintosh user.

See Mapping Filename Extensions for a way to launch your preferred Macintosh application on DOS files when you are working on a NetWare 4.0 server.


DOS and Macintosh File Names

If you are sharing folders and files with DOS users, be aware that they will see DOS names rather than Macintosh names for the folders and files you create. These differing folder and file names can cause confusion if you are not aware of how NetWare works.

When converting a Macintosh name to a DOS name, NetWare removes any space characters (which are invalid in DOS names) and drops off all but the first eight characters. For example, if you have a folder named Alpha Test, DOS users see the same folder named ALPHATES.

Suppose you give a folder a name that is the same as the name of an existing DOS directory. When NetWare creates a DOS name for the folder, it drops the last letter and puts a zero in its place. For example, if you name a folder My Folder and the DOS directory MYFOLDER already exists, NetWare gives the new folder the DOS name MYFOLDE0.

If you attempt to create yet another folder that has the same name as the original DOS directory, NetWare drops the last character and appends a 1. For example, if you create a folder called My Folder, and the DOS directories MYFOLDER and MYFOLDE0 already exist, the new DOS name for the folder is MYFOLDE1.

If you want DOS users to see the same folder and file names that you do, follow these naming guidelines:


Printing a File Using a NetWare Print Queue

A NetWare print queue stores your print jobs very quickly and sends them to the appropriate type of printer on a first-come, first-served basis. When you send a print job to a queue instead of directly to a printer, your Macintosh becomes available for other tasks more quickly than if you had to wait for the printer to accept your print job.

NOTE:  For NetWare print queues to be visible in the Chooser, the administrator must configure an AppleTalk "front end" or "spooler" on the server, which responds to Chooser requests on behalf of the queue. Usually a spooler is assigned the same name as the queue it represents, and they are referred to collectively as a print queue.

To send a print job to a NetWare print queue from a Macintosh workstation, you must first select the queue in the Macintosh Chooser. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Chooser and click a printer icon (for example, the LaserWriter icon).

    When you select the Chooser option in the Apple menu, the Chooser dialog box opens. When you click a printer icon, the Select a Printer list displays the name of each printer or print queue of the selected type (LaserWriter) in the currently selected zone (Figure 19).

    Figure 19
    Choosing a Print Queue in the Chooser

    If you do not see a print queue name immediately, click another zone name until you find the queue you want to use.

  2. Choose a NetWare print queue name in the Select a LaserWriter list.

    If you see printer names as well as queue names in this list, you can print directly to the printer or use the queue. Using the queue frees up your keyboard much more quickly, especially if many users have access to the printer.

    You can have Background Printing on or off. Either way, the system sends your job to the queue you choose.

  3. Close the Chooser.

    NetWare will now submit your print jobs to the selected queue whenever you print a document. You can change your queue selection any time you want by using the Chooser again.

  4. Send a print job.

    You can send print jobs to the queue from within an application (by choosing the Print option from the File menu), or from the desktop.

Print queues are usually created to accept print jobs from all users, but this is not always the case. If a queue was created to be accessible only to Queue Users and you are not an eligible Queue User, you might see the following message:

Can't place job in queue: no queue rights

This message will be displayed in the standard Macintosh PrintMonitor utility or if Background Printing is not enabled, in the Finder's printing window. Your attempt to print will fail, announced by a standard Macintosh printing error message.


Logging Out of a NetWare Server

When you are finished working on a server, you can log out by dragging all the volume icons for that server to the Trash icon on the Macintosh desktop.

You can also log out of the server by shutting down your Macintosh workstation.