NETWARE CLIENT 4.6 ADDS THE ZERO EFFORT NETWORKS STARTER PACK
Novell updated its client packages, including packages for Windows NT and Windows 9x clients, with the release of NetWare 5. The company's NetWare Client 4.6 for Windows NT introduces several new and interesting features. The most important of these features is a new network management product called the Zero Effort Networks (Z.E.N.works) Starter Pack.
The Starter Pack is a network-management product that distributes software updates to client systems and manages workstation profiles from a central location. This product has caused some confusion because of the similarity of its name to Novell's Z.E.N.works product. The Starter Pack is free with the NetWare client, replaces the NetWare Application Launcher (NAL) and Workstation Manager features, which shipped separately in previous NetWare versions, and expands the capabilities of NetWare Administrator. The NetWare Administrator tool aids in managing NetWare servers. Most administrators use this tool remotely on the administrator's workstation. The Starter Pack lets you centralize the creation and management of system policies and mandatory user profiles.
Another nice feature that the new NT client introduces is the Novell icon, which appears in the taskbar as a red N. Right-clicking the icon displays a menu that provides quick access to the client's administrative tools and functions. These tools and functions include logging in, mapping and disconnecting Network drives, redirecting printer output, and accessing Network Neighborhood and the Novell Client Properties dialog box, as Screen 1 shows.
The Novell Directory Services (NDS) database in the Starter Pack stores information about configuration elements such as user profiles, desktop policies, printer properties, and applications. Users can log in to the database from any workstation to see their desktop configurations. Also, the Starter Pack lets administrators create standardized workstation configurations that are user-independent and that perform workstation repairs automatically. For example, if a user deletes crucial files, Z.E.N.works will automatically reinstall them.
The Starter Pack doesn't include all the components that make up the complete Z.E.N.works package. The complete package includes additional features, such as the ability to create and maintain workstation hardware inventories in the NDS database, NDS-authenticated remote control of NT workstations, and a Help Requestor that lets users provide information about themselves and their workstations to help the troubleshooting process. Z.E.N.works permits NDS-authenticated remote control of NT workstations and lets you solve end-user software problems without having to visit the user's workstation or the NT server. For more information about the complete Z.E.N.works package, refer to the Z.E.N.works product page on Novell's Web site at http://www.novell.com or the Z.E.N.works Cool Solutions Web site at http://www.novell.com/
coolsolutions/zenworks.
Installing NetWare Client 4.6
To use the latest NetWare client, your server must have NetWare 3.11 or later and must support NT's long filenames. This requirement means that you must run either the long.nam module (for NetWare 4.11 and later) or the os2.nam module (for NetWare versions earlier than 4.11), and you must execute the Add Name Space command for all of your NetWare volumes.
The new NetWare client release supports Intel-based NT 4.0 workstations with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later. The NetWare client also supports Citrix MetaFrame; NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition; and the Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) NDS provider.
To install the client on a workstation from the NetWare server, you must have a NetWare client already running on the workstation—either the Microsoft client or a previous NetWare client. You must be able to log in to the NetWare server from the workstation. You can also store the NetWare client installation files on an NT server and install them from the server.
If you're running NT 3.51 or earlier, you can't use NetWare Client 4.6. You must use Netware Client 4.11b for Windows NT 3.51, which is available online at http://www.novell.com/download. Novell will provide no further client development for NT 3.51.
Novell provides several different methods for installing the NetWare client. You can install the client in the following ways:
- From a CD-ROM: Install the NetWare client onto a workstation from a local CD-ROM drive, or mount a NetWare server CD-ROM as a volume and install the client directly from the CD-ROM.
- From the network: Copy the CD-ROM installation files or download the latest version of the client from Novell's online services to a directory on a NetWare volume, expand the client, and execute the winsetup.exe file from this directory.
- As an unattended installation: Save time by automating the client installation and assimilating it into the NT setup process. Novell provides commands that you can include in a standard NT unattend.txt script file to configure the NetWare client at the same time you install the OS. Z.E.N.works includes the Client Install Manager utility, which lets you automate the creation of unattend.txt scripts.
- As an Automatic Client Upgrade (ACU): Use ACU to automatically upgrade NetWare client installations when Novell releases a new version.
The new NetWare client includes a unified setup program, which lets you install the client software and Z.E.N.works from the same interface. To launch the installation program, run winsetup.exe from the directory in which you expanded the client download file.
When you launch the program, a menu page appears that lets you select the language for the client installation. After you've selected a language, the installation program displays the following list of installable components: Windows NT Client, Install Z.E.N.works, and View Quick Start.
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