Creating Container Objects

You can create container objects by using either the NetWare Administrator graphical utility or the NETADMIN text utility. Each of these methods is explained in this section.

Considerations for naming container objects and suggestions for creating searchable objects are also covered.

Types of Container Objects

The kinds of container objects you can create are Country, Organization, and Organizational Unit. The top object, called Root, is created by default and is placed at the top of the Directory tree when NetWare 4.11 is installed.

NOTE: A fourth type of container object, Licensed Product, is created automatically when you install applications enabled for NetWare Licensing Services (NLS) technology. For more information, see Managing NetWare Licensing Services

Container objects form the top levels of the Directory tree. Use them to manage and organize the Directory by relating groups of objects, both container objects and leaf objects.

For more information about planning the top levels of your Directory tree, see Planning the Directory Tree Structure in Chapter 3 of Guide to NetWare 4 Networks.

Figure 2 illustrates the hierarchy of container objects and leaf objects in Novell Directory Services. (The icons represent the leaf objects as they appear in the NetWare Administrator graphical utility.)

Figure 2
Hierarchy of Objects

NOTE: The first three leaf objects in the figure---Message Routing Group, External Entity, and Distribution List---are NetWare Message Handling Service^TM (NetWare MHS) objects. They appear in NetWare Administrator only if you have installed NetWare MHS^TM Services on your NetWare server.

You can create leaf objects only under the Organization, Organizational Unit, and (in specific cases) Licensed Product container objects.

Table 4 describes each type of container object you can create and when to use it.

Table 4. Container Objects You Can Create

Container Object	Description	When to Use It
Country	Designates the countries where your network resides and organizes other objects within the country. You must always include the name type of the object in complete names when you include the Country container object in your Directory tree. Even when you refer to objects located in the same container object, you must designate the name type (CN, OU, or O) of the object.	This object is optional. You do not have to create a Country object. If you choose to create a Country object, you can use it to represent the country where your organization headquarters reside or, if you have a multinational network, to represent each country that is a part of your network. You can create a Country container object only under the Root object.
Organization	Allows you to organize other objects in the Directory, to set defaults in a login script, and to create a user template for User objects you create in this container. For example, you can use an Organization object to designate a corporation.	The Organization container object is mandatory. The Directory tree must contain at least one. You can create an Organization object only under the Root or Country object.
Organizational Unit	Allows you to organize leaf objects in the Directory tree, to set defaults in a login script, and to create a user template for User objects you create in this container.	You can use an Organizational Unit object to designate a division, a business unit, or a project team. You can create multiple levels of Organizational Units. You can create Organizational Units in Organization objects and in other Organizational Unit objects.
Licensed Product	Licensed Product container objects are created automatically when you install a license certificate or create a metering certificate using NetWare Licensing Services (NLS) technology.	When an NLS-enabled application is installed, it should add a Licensed Product container object to the Novell Directory database and a License Certificate leaf object to that container.

Naming Container Objects

Try to keep container object names short and simple. This makes it easier for users to change context and to remember their own context.

The following rules apply to most objects. For specific rules about naming leaf objects, see Naming Leaf Objects

Object Naming Rules

The name must be unique in the branch (container) of the Directory tree where the object is located.

The object name can be up to 64 characters in length.

You can use any special characters. But if the object needs to be accessed from a client running a version of NetWare earlier than NetWare 4^TM, you should avoid using special characters. (For a list of these characters, see Object Name Restrictions for Bindery Services)
You can enter object names in either upper or lowercase. Object names are displayed with uppercase and lowercase letters as they were first entered, but they are not case sensitive. Therefore, ManagerProfile and MANAGERPROFILE are considered to be identical names.
You can use both spaces and underscores, but they are both displayed as spaces. Therefore, Manager_Profile and Manager Profile are considered to be identical names.
Country objects can have only a two-character name.
IMPORTANT: If you anticipate managing objects created from different code pages, you must limit object names and properties to those characters common to all the applicable code tables.
Nondisplayable Unicode* characters for your code page are represented by an ASCII 3 character (a heart symbol). For more information, see Unicode in Concepts.

Object Name Restrictions for Bindery Services

When you create objects to be accessed from a client running a version of NetWare earlier than NetWare 4, the names of the objects must follow bindery naming rules or the non-NetWare 4.11 client will not recognize them. Object names in bindery services are interpreted as the following:

Spaces in object names are replaced by underscores.
Object names longer than 47 characters are cut off after the 47th character.

You cannot use the following characters in an object name that must be accessed from a client running a version of NetWare earlier than NetWare 4:

Creating Searchable Container Objects

When you create a container object, you can enter various types of information about that object into its properties, such as location and telephone number. If you enter data into the containers' properties in a consistent format, it is easier to search the Directory database for a particular type of information.

Many container object properties are optional; you are not required to enter information about the property in order to create the object. However, information in objects' properties can help you track and manage container objects.

After you have created container objects, you can use the NetWare Administrator, NETADMIN, or NLIST utility to search for and list these objects. You can also search for their various properties.

Creating Container Objects Using INSTALL

When you install NetWare 4.11 on a server, you are required to type a context (the pathname from the container object to the Root object) in which the NetWare Server object is placed.

If you create a new context, several events happen by default:

An Organization or Organizational Unit container object is created, depending on the context you create.
Bindery services are set for that container object, so that the server you installed in the container object is running bindery services.
A read/write replica of the Directory partition that the container object is in is stored on the server that you just installed.

For more information on how to create container objects using the installation process, see Chapter 2, Simple Installation, or Chapter 3, Custom Installation, of Installation.

Creating Container Objects Using NetWare Administrator

Prerequisites

A 386 or 486 workstation running NetWare Administrator
The Create object right to the container that will contain the new container object

Procedure

From the MS Windows Program Manager or the OS/2 desktop, choose the NetWare Administrator icon.
Select the object that will contain the new container object.

For information on moving around in the browser and choosing objects, press <F1>.
Choose Create from the Object menu.
Select the new container object class that you want from the New Object dialog.

If the container object class you want to create does not appear under New Object, you cannot create that object in the selected container. Choose Cancel to return to the browser; then select a different container type.
Choose OK.

The Create Object dialog appears.
Type a name for the object in the box provided.
(Optional) Select Define Additional Properties.

Select this option if you want to enter more information for the new container object.

Examples of additional properties are Login Script, Intruder Detection, Postal Address, and See Also. The Login Script and Intruder Limit apply to User objects in the new container object.
(Optional) Select Define User Defaults.

Select this option if you want to use the same default information in the new container as was present in the parent container. This default information is used whenever you create a new user.

The user default information for each container is actually stored in a User object named USER_TEMPLATE.
Choose Create.
(Optional) Choose Yes if you want to inherit user template properties from the parent container, or No if you want to define a new user template.
(Optional) Add information to the object dialog pages.

If you chose Define Additional Properties, add the information now. Press <F1> to get help on each field.
Choose OK to save the properties you have just entered in the dialog pages.

Additional Information

For more information about	See
Objects	Object in Concepts
Rights	Rights in Concepts
User templates	Managing User Templates
Using the NetWare Administrator utility	NetWare Administrator in Utilities Reference
Using object dialog pages in NetWare Administrator	NetWare Administrator in Utilities Reference

Creating Container Objects Using NETADMIN

Prerequisites

A workstation running DOS 3.30 or later
The Create object right to the object that will contain the new container object

Procedure

At the DOS prompt, type
NETADMIN <Enter>

For information on moving around in NETADMIN and selecting objects, press <F1> after starting the utility.
Choose Manage Objects from the NETADMIN Options menu.
Select the container object that will contain the new container object.

The objects in the selected container are listed.

To see if you're in the right context, look at the title bar on the screen. Press <F1> if you need help.
Press <Insert>.
Select the container object class that you want to create from the Select an Object Class screen.

If the container object class you want to create does not appear, you cannot create that object in the selected container. Press <Esc> to return to the browser; then select a different container type.
Type the new container object name.
Enter a Mailbox Location and press <Enter>.

NOTE: If you are creating a Country object, you are not prompted to define a Mailbox Location or create a user template.
If you want to create a user template to be applied to new User objects created in this container, type Y and press <Enter>.

A user template contains default information that you can apply to users that you create to give them default property values.

The user template is actually a User object named USER_TEMPLATE.

If you do not want to create a user template, type N and press <Enter>.
Press <F10> to save the information.
If you want to create another container object, choose Yes. If you do not, choose No and then press <Enter>.

If you chose Yes, you are prompted to type the new container object name. Repeat Steps 6 through 9, and then continue with Step 12.

If you chose No, then the container object is displayed in the Directory tree. Continue with Step 12.
To edit this object, press <F10>.

A menu appears from which you can choose to view or edit properties of this object and make trustee assignments to this object and to files and directories.
Choose an option from the Actions menu and add any necessary information.
To exit, press <Esc> until you return to the NETADMIN Options menu.

Additional Information

For more information about	See
Objects	Object in Concepts
Object properties	Property in Concepts
User templates	Managing User Templates
Using the NETADMIN utility	NETADMIN in Utilities Reference