User

A User object is required for logging in. When you install the first server into an NDS tree, a User object named Admin is created. The first time you log in, you will use the Admin account.

You can create User objects with NWAdmin, or import them automatically from Windows NT* domains using NDS for NT. You can also import User objects in batches from database files. Additionally, NetWare upgrade utilities import Users from existing bindery servers.

What a User Object Represents

A User object represents a person who uses the network.

Usage

You should create User objects for all users who need to use the network. Although you can manage User objects individually, you'll save time by

• Using Template objects to set default properties for most User objects. The Template applies automatically to new Users you create (not to already-existing ones).
• Creating Group objects to manage sets of Users.
• Assigning rights using the container objects as trustees when you want that assignment to apply to all User objects in the container.
• Selecting multiple Users. When you do (with standard Windows* shift-clicking or control-clicking), you can change property values for all selected User objects.

Important Properties

User objects have over 80 properties. For a complete list of properties, select a User object in NWAdmin, then choose Object > Details. To display a description for each page of properties, click Help.

The Login Name and Last Name properties are required. These and some of the most useful properties are listed below.

Account Expiration Date

This property lets you limit the life of a user account. After the expiration date, the account is locked so the user cannot log in.

Account Disabled

This property has a system-generated value that indicates a lock on the account so the user cannot log in. The lock might occur if the account has expired or because the user has given too many incorrect passwords in succession.

Force Periodic Password Changes

This property allows you to enhance security by requiring the user to change passwords after a specified interval.

Group Membership

This property lists all the Group Objects that include the User as a member.

Home Directory

The Home Directory property refers to a NetWare volume and file system path for the user's own files. Most administrators like to create such a directory so that a user's working files can be kept on the network.

The directory referred to in this property can be created automatically when you create the User object.

Last Login

This is a system-generated property that lists the date and time that the user last logged in.

Last Name

The Last Name property, though required, is not used directly by NDS. Applications that take advantage of the NDS name base can use this property, along with other identification properties such as Given Name, Title, Location, and Fax Number.

Limit Concurrent Connections

This property allows you to set the maximum number of sessions a user can have on the network at any given time.

Login Name

This is the name shown in NWAdmin by the User icon. It is also the name supplied by the user when logging in.

NDS does not require that login names be unique throughout the network, only in each container. However, you may want to keep login names unique across the company to simplify administration.

Typically, login names are a combination of first and last names, such as JOHNT or JTHOMAS for John Thomas.

Login Script

The Login Script property allows you to create specific login commands for a User. When a user logs in, the container login script runs first. Then a profile login script runs if the User has been added to the membership list of a Profile object. Finally, the user login script runs (if one exists).

You should put most of the login commands in container login scripts to save administrative time. The User login script can be edited to manage unique exceptions to common needs.

Login Time Restrictions

This property allows you to set times and days when the user can log in.

Network Addresses

This property contains system-generated values that list all the IPX and/or IP addresses from which the User is logged in. These values are useful for troubleshooting network problems at the packet level.

Require a Password

This property allows you to control whether the user must use a password. Other related properties let you set common password constraints such as password length.

Rights to Files and Directories

This property lists all rights assignments made for this user to the NetWare file system. Using NWAdmin, you can also check a user's effective rights to files and directories, which include those inherited from other objects.