Login Scripts out of sync

[iolair]

I know this is going to sound weird, and there's probably an easy solution. Yesterday, users were having trouble connecting to our main server. They would authenticate, and the login script seemed to execute, but no drives were mapped.

From my days as a 3.12 admin, I remember that the login script was net$log.dat, so I looked at it and there was no mapping there, so I added it (using DOS' edit). The mapping started working. All users are on Windows XP (ugh) and using NDS, not bindery logins. And, I know I'm gonna catch hell for this, but all the machines use the MS client for Netware except my admin machine which uses the Novell Client 4.9. I do have bindery emulation enabled because Backup Exec needs it.

I did reboot the server last night, and nothing changed. I also ran a health check, and, for fun, DSRepair. DSRepair reported that it fixed 8 errors. DSRepair's errors were cleaning up trustee assignments for users that no longer exist. Although everything is fine today as far as the users are concerned, I'm not happy as to why this happened, or, even at this point, what happened to cause the NDS login script to stop working. Users do have the proper rights to the script and container.

We are using 5.1, SP8, and I use only a container login script. There are no individual user scripts. I hope I've given enough information, but please let me know if I can give you more that will help.



Iolair MacWalter
Director of IT

 

[marvhuffaker]

Even if you're using NDS usernames, when you use the Microsoft Client for NetWare, you are essentially processing bindery scripts.

The key point for properly processing an NDS script (remember that the ms client doesn't understand what a context is), you have to set the bindery context equal to where the users are located in your tree. Without the bindery context set, the ms client has no idea where to get the script from. It may try to load net$log.dat by default, which is the same thing that would happen if you installed the Novell client and set it to Bindery mode.

So why don't you use the Novell client? Without the client you are losing out on a lot of possibilities. I used to have clients that used the MS client for Netware, but it was only because they didn't understand the full potential of eDirectory.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[iolair]

Marvin,
Thanks again for being so helpful to me and so many others on this forum. The reason I don't use the Novell client (except on my machine) is because our users really don't care about the directory, all they want is drives mapped and printers to print. I found that the MS client, at least on our network, performs faster for those tasks than the Novell client. Now, I have set the bindery context on the server to the correct container, but maybe what I should do is have the Windows clients login as bindery connections instead of NDS connections? Oh, for the simple days of Netware 3.12.....................

Thanks again Marvin.

Iolair MacWalter
Director of IT

 

[marvhuffaker]

So you are also using the MS NDS piece? I've never done much with that but found it buggy at best.. I'm not sure what to expect when using that.

How many users do you have? I understand that users only care about printers and drive maps but as an administrator, don't you like to work less instead of more? A lot of the stuff can be automated and centrally managed. Hard to visualize if you haven't seen it, so I understand that its not a priority.

Marvin

 

[iolair]

Marvin,
I've got 50 users. As an admin, I'd love to see a way to create a "metadirectory" that would run on the network without needing AD or NDS. Yes, I'm aware of the fact that Novell has a product that will do that. Because we have so few users, management doesn't want to spend the money. What I can't get them to see is, it would actually SAVE us money and time. Oh well.................

Thanks again.

Iolair MacWalter
Director of IT

 

[marvhuffaker]

With 50 users.. You could benefit dramatically from ZENworks and iPrint. Both integrate tightly into eDirectory and help to manage the users in your existing tree. No need for a separate tree or directory. Plus with eDirectory, you can use it for LDAP authentication for apps that need it - Since LDAP is a service that is part of eDirectory.

I am not sure the value of a metadirectory for 50 users. Probably would cost more than the value it would bring. You could accomplish ZENworks and iPrint without a metadirectory.

What is your beef against NDS? (I can understand why you don't wan't AD, it's a bloated overhyped pig, tied together with baling twine and bubblegum).



Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[iolair]

Marvin,
I have no beef with NDS at all. I use NWAdmin on my machine to do pretty much everything. I've tried ConsoleOne, and I like it, but there are a few things NWAdmin will do that ConsoleOne won't. Perhaps that got fixed in Netware 6.0 or 6.5?

The job I had before this one (1996) had 250 users on Netware 3.12 and we used Solaris. So, I'm getting kind of excited about making the switch to Suse OES. Or do they call it Novell OES? At any rate, I'll probably switch over to that soon. Do you know if you install a Novell Client to use that? Or does OES use Samba? Or is it something else entirely, like iPrint and iFolder?

Thanks again.

Iolair MacWalter
Director of IT

 

[marvhuffaker]

I still use NWADMIN for certain things but ConsoleOne is required for others. The direction Novell has taken with NetWare 6.5 and OES is to use iManager. The original version of iManager was pretty lame, but version 2.5 and 2.6 is pretty solid. Does many things you can't do with NWADMIN or CONSOLEONE. One of them is iPrint -- to get full Windows XP, MAC, and LINUX support for iPrint, you have to use iManager.

It's Novell OES (Open Enterprise Server).. Not Suse, just because OES gives you the ability to use either the NetWare 6.5 Kernel OR the Suse Linux Kernel. The services such as IPRINT and IFOLDER are pretty much the same.

You can use the Novell client, depending on what you need, but it's certainly not required. I prefer the NOvell client just because it provides better centralized control of the network.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[iolair]

Thanks, Marvin.

Iolair MacWalter
Director of IT

 

[iolair]

Marvin,
An interesting update - it seems that a virus got by Norton Anti-Virus and caused this condition. I can't get Norton (Symantec) to confirm this, but I believe this to be the case. Since I've scanned and removed the virus from the machine, things work fine, including the eDirectory login script. Not even sure which virus caused this at this point, as Norton calls it "Bloodhound.unknown".

Iolair

Iolair MacWalter
Director of IT