• Learn about installing the TCP/IP utilities for Windows for Workgroups - Find out what software you'll need to install in order to make your Windows for Workgroups client systems able to access your Intranet.

It's likely that you'll have a wide variety of workstations on your network, especially in terms of operating systems and versions. In this book alone, we're presenting information on Windows 95, Windows NT Workstation, and Windows NT Server. It's likely that Windows for Workgroups, or Windows 3.x, is the most popular, most widely installed operating system next to DOS.

Since that's the case, and since it's likely that you'll run into it on your Intranet, it's important to understand what needs to happen to make the Intranet available to those users as well.

Microsoft has created the software you need to accommodate those users. There are several core technologies that you need to take advantage of to make the WFW 3.x users able to connect to your server:

• System security, user rights-As with any other connection to the server, the user has to have rights established that allow him to use the resources offered by the server.

• TCP/IP-You'll want to have TCP/IP installed on the different systems that will be accessing your server. The TCP/IP drivers install as an add-in to WFW and, once installed, they provide the same level of access and configurability as does the Windows 95 interface.

• Web browser-Of course, this is one tool that almost goes without saying. You need to make sure you have the WFW version of the Internet Explorer.

• Other access utilities-You need to make other utilities available to your users depending on the access you allow them. In Chapter 8, "Allowing Dynamic User Access," you learned how to become an ISP of sorts for your users. If that is your goal, you'll want to make sure they understand the use of the FTP utility that installs with the TCP/IP client software.

In this appendix, we cover the different things you need to review and set up prior to bringing a system online on your network. You'll be happy to see that the process closely resembles the Windows 95 and Windows NT installations, except for the appearance of the dialog boxes.

What You Need

You should check the Microsoft Web site frequently for updates. While WFW has been out for quite some time, it's possible that Microsoft could issue an update to the driver should a problem be found. In the file listed here, TCP32B.EXE, the B indicates a version. The version you download may have a different letter, or it may be named altogether differently. Rest assured, though, that if it's the TCP/IP driver set for Windows 3.x, the procedures outlined here are still valid.

You need to do a couple of things prior to starting the installation of your system. The first step is to obtain the driver EXE file and place it into its own subdirectory. When you start the executable, it unpacks the different files it contains and places them in the subdirectory. You may also notice that the unpacking process includes an anti-virus check, which reports on its success or failure at the end of the process of unpacking the files.

You may notice that, of the 31 files unpacked, several have .386 extensions. These are drivers that will be used by Windows when it installs the protocol on your system. Of course, you'll also see several DLLs and others. After you've installed the protocol, you can remove the files from this temporary working directory.

Installing the Drivers

Fig. 5.1 - Use the Network Setup application to add or change protocols.

When the Network Setup application starts, you're presented with the main selection dialog box that allows you to indicate what it is you need to do. In this case, you need to add a driver, so you need to click the Drivers button to begin (see fig. 5.2).

Fig. 5.2 - You configure, install, and update the protocols associated with your network with the Drivers button.

When the listing of current Network Drivers is shown, you should not see the Microsoft TCP/IP-32 3.1lb entry. If you do, the system already has the TCP/IP drivers installed and you should be able to proceed directly to the process of configuring the drivers and protocols. You may notice that the Network Drivers dialog box is a hub for configuring, maintaining, and working with drivers and adapters. You can add both adapters and protocols, the two important and key ingredients to making your network work. See figure 5.3 for an example of this dialog box.

Fig. 5.3 - You can have several protocols for each adapter on your system.

Select Add Protocol to begin the process of installing the new protocol. The next dialog box, the Add Network Protocol dialog box, allows you to select from the known protocols, or add a new one by selecting Unlisted or Updated Protocol. This last option of adding a new protocol is what you want to do. It allows you to install the TCP/IP files necessary for Windows and updates the network configuration to use the protocol.

When you select that option and click OK, you are prompted to indicate where the files can be found. You can specify a disk, or you can provide the drive and directory information for where the files are located. Once you do, Windows queries the location and lists each of the supported drivers it finds. See figure 5.4 for the resulting listing of protocols.

Fig. 5.4 - After you tell Windows where to find the updated or new protocol setup files, you are presented with a list of the protocols.

After you select the protocol, it is added to your system. You may notice a number of files are installed and that a new program group is added, providing access to the FTP utilities. The next steps require that you configure the different properties of the protocol, a process that is explained in the next few sections.

Configuring the Drivers

You can indicate that you'll be using DHCP, if you have it installed and running on one of your servers, or you can indicate the IP address manually. Figure 5.5 shows an example of this dialog box with the IP address information specified.

Fig. 5.5 - You must indicate IP information for each adapter in your system. If you don't, you won't be able to use the adapter to access the network.

Don't forget to indicate the IP information for each card installed on your system. Use the Adapter drop-down list box to select the adapter, and then provide the IP, Gateway, WINS, and other details for the card.

Setting Advanced Options

Fig. 5.6 - As with Windows NT and Windows 95, you can provide more than one IP address that will map to this system.

If you have more than one network card in your system, and one card is on the Internet and one is not, you want to be sure to not check the Enable IP Routing option. This option has the effect of turning your system into a gateway between the two cards, passing network information between them and effectively opening your network to the Internet. In the vast majority of cases, this option should be disabled.

Once you provide the information requested, select OK to save the configuration and return to the Microsoft TCP/IP Configuration dialog box.

DNS Configuration

Fig. 5.7 - For the DNS services to run correctly with this workstation, you need to provide the host name and IP address.

The Host Name is added to the Domain Name to create a unique name for this system on the network. In the example in figure 5.7, you can see that the DNS name for this system is Stephenwyn.que.com, and resolves to the IP address you entered in the prior configuration dialog boxes.

You need to provide the IP address of each DNS server you'll be using. Note that the list is order-sensitive when it comes to referencing the DNS Servers on the list. What that means is that, if you are consistently looking up a given computer against one server more than others, be sure that server's IP address is first in the search order. This decreases the users' wait time, substantially in some cases, and generally makes your system work across the network more quickly.

After you set up all options, you are prompted to restart Windows to make the changes take effect. If you select the Continue option, the network is not active until the next time you restart your system.

About the TCP/IP Utilities

Fig. 5.8 - The two most common utilities with TCP/IP are the Telnet and FTP services. Applications supporting these uses of TCP/IP are automatically installed on your system.

The two major utilities provide access to your TCP/IP network and also provide a good testing tool to make sure your connection is valid and working correctly. Note that to use these to access a server or other system on your network, there are complementary server-side applications that must be running and allowing access. Windows NT ships with an FTP service, and IIS provides an enhanced service as well.

There are free and shareware server applications available for Telnet access to your system, but they are not included with the IIS system by default.

The FTP Client

Fig. 5.9 - FTP commands are sent to the FTP service directly, allowing you to carry out nearly any FTP command.

One item of interest is that, if you like using a graphical interface to the basic FTP commands, you can use the Windows 3.xx client in Windows 95. This gives you an alternative to the FTP command-line application shipped with the operating system. See figure 5.10 for an example.

Fig. 5.10 - The Windows 3.xx client operates in Windows 95 if you prefer the graphical interface.

The only menu options that pertain to the client and not just standard Windows functions are those under the State menu. There are two options, Pause and Resume. These options simply lock the user interface against input (in the case of Pause), or remove this lock from the FTP session. This is helpful if you're working on other things and need to be sure not to press any keys accidentally.

If you're ever in need of moving a file on the remote side of the communications link, there is a better way of accomplishing it than copying the file to your system and then re-uploading it to the server and into the directory of choice. Next time, try the RENAME command. When prompted for a new filename, enter the filename, fully qualified with the path that you want it moved to. The FTP server renames the file, moves it to the new directory, and removes it from the original location.

The balance of the menus support typical Windows functions: cutting, copying, close the session, and so on.

Most FTP client and server applications offer a Help command. If you're stuck, type Help and press Enter. You usually get a formatted list of options returned. When you find the option you need, type Help <option you need help on> and press Enter. You usually get at least a single-line description of what that command is used for.

If you're working in FTP and trying to work with extended, long filenames, you need to enclose them in quotes if they have any embedded spaces or other name-separating characters. Different FTP servers handle this differently, so you need to experiment somewhat on how best to work with these servers. With IIS, the following command is correct and works properly to access the directory indicated: cd "my long directory name"

The Telnet Client

When you telnet in to a system, it's much the same as if you were to call a traditional bulletin board system. You generally have access to the command shell and are able to issue commands and run applications. The character-based approach provides for a good use of communications bandwidth, so response times are generally quite good.

When you use the client, you select Connect, Remote System, and provide the Host Name you want to connect to. You also have the option of indicating the connection type, though the defaults for both Port and TermType should suffice without modification (see fig. 5.11).

Fig. 5.11 - After you provide the host name and click Connect, the system attempts to log on to the remote server.

Once connected, you interact directly with the remote system. Telnet is like using a traditional terminal with the server application. You don't have a means of uploading or downloading materials, but you can run different applications on the server, including mail clients, batch processes, and more. This is effectively the same interface you have if you use Hyperterminal to connect to a site, or if you use a standard modem package that allows you to dial in directly. The result is a Telnet session with the server.

From Here...

By installing the WFW 3.xx TCP/IP software on the older operating systems, you still provide the connectivity to the Intranet while at the same time somewhat lessening the impact on a department during the transition. Be sure you provide different users with the Microsoft Internet Explorer that matches their operating system environments because the Explorer is not compatible across platforms as of this writing.

Once Internet Explorer is installed, the users on older operating systems can use the same approaches and techniques to contributing to the success of your Intranet.

Copyright ©1996, Que Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws. For information, address Que Corporation, 201 West 103^rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290.

Notice: This material is from BackOffice Intranet Kit, ISBN: 0-7897-0848-5. The electronic version of this material has not been through the final proof reading stage that the book goes through before being published in printed form. Some errors may exist here that are corrected before the book is published. This material is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind.