Chapter 11

Connecting Other PC Clients to the Network

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In this chapter, you learn the steps required to enable Windows NT Server 4.0 client connectivity for the following environments:

One of Windows NT Server's strengths is its capability to provide file, print, and application services to a number of different Windows and Macintosh clients.

Windows 3.1+ is the least functional of the client platforms, from a networking viewpoint. Windows for Workgroups (WfWg) incorporates the network components that Windows 3.1+ lacks, making WfWg Windows NT Server-aware and providing additional flexibility in its support of other Windows NT Server 4.0 features, such as multiple networking protocols. For these reasons, WfWg is the most common 16-bit client platform in use by today's Windows NT Server networks. The prevalence of WfWg clients is beginning to decline as 32-bit Windows 95 and Window NT Workstation become the standard operating systems for mobile and desktop PCs, respectively. Much of the information in Chapter 10, "Configuring Windows 95 Clients for Networking," applies to connecting both Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 clients to the network.

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 provides the greatest functionality, flexibility, and stability of all the Windows clients. Accordingly, Windows NT Workstation requires more PC resources than Windows 3.1+ and WfWg. Windows NT takes full advantage of the new Intel Pentium Pro processors and provides symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP) for 32-bit threaded applications. An increasing number of organizations are equipping their power users with dual-processor workstations with the 32M or more of RAM required to take advantage of SMP with high-end graphics applications, such as Adobe PhotoShop.

Macintosh client support is provided as part of Windows NT Server 4.0. In essence, your Windows NT server becomes an AppleShare server to provide file and print services to your Mac clients.

Connecting Windows 3.1 Clients

Microsoft designed Windows 3.1+ as, primarily, a stand-alone product with networking capability added as an extension to the underlying MS-DOS operating system. The easiest way to provide Windows 3.1+ clients with connectivity to Windows NT 4.0 servers is to upgrade the client PCs from Windows 3.1+ to Windows for Workgroups 3.11. If you have a reason not to upgrade Windows 3.1+ clients to WfWg 3.11, the following sections describe how to install the Microsoft Client for DOS and Windows that's included with Windows NT Server 4.0.

If your Windows 3.1 clients currently connect to one or more Novell NetWare 3.x or 4.x servers, you can avoid the installation of additional network client software by setting up Windows NT Server 4.0 to provide the IPX/SPX transport, in addition to NetBEUI and/or TCP/IP. Chapter 17, "Integrating Windows NT with Heterogeneous Networks," describes how to add the IPX/SPX protocol to a Windows NT 4.0 server.

Windows 3.1, unlike WfWg 3.11, requires you to choose a single network protocol. It's possible, but inconvenient, to use a multi-boot DOS technique so that Windows 3.1 clients can change network protocols.

Creating Client Installation Diskettes

You need the Windows NT Server 4.0 CD-ROM and two high-density diskettes to create the DOS setup disks for installing the Network Client v3.0 for MS-DOS and Windows. You install from the diskettes the DOS-based drivers on each computer running Windows 3.1 that connects to your Windows NT server. Follow these steps to create the installation diskettes:

  1. If you haven't previously copied the client installation files to a \clients folder of a server drive for server-based installation, insert the Windows NT Server 4.0 CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.
  2. From the Windows NT Server 4.0 Start menu, choose Programs, Administrative Tools, and then Network Client Administrator to open the Network Client Administrator dialog.
  3. Select Make Installation Disk Set (see fig. 11.1) and click OK to display the Share Network Client Installation Files dialog.

    11.1

    Selecting the Make Installation Disk Set option of the Network Client Administrator dialog.
  4. In the Path text box of the Share Network Client Installation Files dialog, type the path to the \clients folder. If you use the CD-ROM, type or browse to the d:\clients folder, where d: is the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive. Select the Use Existing Path option (see fig. 11.2) and click OK to open the Make Installation Disk Set dialog.

    11.2

    Setting the path to the Windows NT Server 4.0 distribution CD-ROM.
  5. The Network Client or Service list box of the Make Installation Disk Set dialog lets you choose the client drivers to copy. Select Network Client v3.0 for MS-DOS and Windows (see fig. 11.3). Make sure that the diskette destination drive is correct, and click OK to create the two diskettes. If the diskettes aren't formatted, mark the Format Disks check box.

    11.3

    Selecting the Network Client v3.0 for MS-DOS and Windows in the Network Client or Service list of the Make Installation Disk Set dialog.
  6. If you anticipate the need to create additional sets of network install diskettes, copy the files from the d:\clients folder to a \clients folder on your server. Creating a \clients folder is one of the options of the Share Network Client Installation Files dialog.

Installing the MS-DOS and Windows Client

Now that you've created the installation diskettes, the next step is to install the network drivers on your Windows 3.1 client. As part of the diskette creation, a Setup program is provided to facilitate this process. The following steps describe how to install the Network Client v3.0 for DOS and Windows on a Windows 3.1 client PC:

  1. You must install the client software from DOS, so exit Windows to the DOS prompt.
  2. Insert client diskette #1 and type a:\setup at the command line. Press Enter to run the Setup application and display the initial Setup screen.
  3. Press Enter to continue to display the screen where you select the path to which to install the network drivers. The default is C:\NET (see fig. 11.4). Choose a different drive or directory, if desired, and press Enter to continue.

  4. 11.4

    Specifying the path to the client's network files.

  5. Setup first prompts you select a network card driver. Scroll the list and choose the correct driver for your network card. If your card isn't listed, choose the Network Adapter Not Shown on List Below option, which lets you load an adapter driver from diskette. The network card manufacturer usually provides a diskette with drivers for popular operating systems. In this case, Setup looks for the OEMSETUP.INF file to load the driver for the Microsoft Network Client.
  6. Setup next examines your system and proposes to allocate memory to network buffers for best performance (see fig. 11.5). Press Enter to accept the buffer allocation, or press C to continue without optimizing buffer memory.

  7. 11.5

    Specifying allocation of network memory buffers to optimize network performance.

    You can have the network drivers allocate part of your system's RAM as a packet buffer. This provides for fewer packet drops if your network card can't process packets fast enough, but consumes additional system RAM. In most cases, you can accept the default buffer allocation.

  8. Setup prompts you for a user name that identifies the client to the network. This name also becomes your computer name. Type the computer name in the User Name text box (see fig. 11.6), and press Enter to continue.

  9. 11.6

    Specifying the User Name for the client.

  10. The screen displays a list of the default values for Names, Setup Options, and Network Configuration. Use the arrow keys to select Change Network Configuration (see fig. 11.7), and press Enter to continue.

  11. 11.7

    Preparing to change the network configuration.

  12. Assuming that Setup has correctly detected your network adapter, it's identified as the Installed Network Adapter. By default, NWLink IPX is the default network protocol.
  13. To change to NetBEUI, the most common protocol for small Windows NT networks, press Tab and use the arrow keys to select the NWLink IPX Compatible Transport in the upper box. Press Tab to return to the configuration options, select Remove (see fig. 11.8), and press Enter.

  14. 11.8

    Removing the NWLink IPX Compatible Transport.

    See "NetBEUI and NetBEUI Frame," (Ch 4)

  15. From the list of protocols, select Microsoft NetBEUI (see fig. 11.9) and press Enter. Select Network Configuration Is Correct and press Enter again.

  16. 11.9

    Selecting the Microsoft NetBEUI protocol in place of NetWare's IPX.

    Many large organizations are adopting TCP/IP as the primary or sole network protocol for client/server communication. You can elect to install TCP/IP, instead of or in addition to NetBEUI or IPX, in step 9. The TCP/IP stack requires additional conventional memory. Consumption of conventional memory may be a problem for clients that load several device drivers and TSRs (terminate-and-stay-resident applications).

    See "TCP/IP," (Ch 4)

  17. Select Setup Options and press Enter to view your Microsoft Client setup options (see fig. 11.10).

  18. 11.10

    Preparing to set up domain logon during the boot process.

  19. If you want to validate your Windows 3.1 client to your Windows NT Server domain, select Change Logon Validation and press Enter. In the next screen, select Logon to Domain, press Enter, select The Listed Options Are Correct, and press Enter again (see fig. 11.11). If you plan to use Domain Logon Validation, you must make sure to use the Full Redirector (the default).

  20. 11.11

    Verifying the Setup options for the client installation.

  21. If you plan to log on to a Windows NT domain, highlight the Names option and press Enter. Change the DomainName text to correspond to your Windows NT Server domain name. After entering the domain name, use the tab and arrow keys to accept changes.
  22. Select The Listed Options Are Correct (see fig. 11.12) and press Enter to complete installation of the files required for the client.

  23. 11.12

    Verifying all your client software installation options in the final installation screen.

Viewing Changes Made to Windows 3.1 Configuration and Initialization Files

The Setup program adds the following line to the client's CONFIG.SYS file:

The client's AUTOEXEC.BAT file is modified to include the following additional instruction:

The Microsoft client software uses the PROTOCOL.INI file to store network adapter and protocol configuration. Following are typical entries in PROTOCOL.INI for NetBEUI with a NE2000-compatible network adapter:

[network.setup]
version=0x3110
netcard=ms$ne2clone,1,MS$NE2CLONE,1
transport=ms$ndishlp,MS$NDISHLP
transport=ms$netbeui,MS$NETBEUI
lana0=ms$ne2clone,1,ms$netbeui
lana1=ms$ne2clone,1,ms$ndishlp
[MS$NE2CLONE]
IOBASE=0x300
INTERRUPT=3
DriverName=MS2000$
[ndishlp$]
DriverName=ndishlp$
Bindings=
[protman$]
DriverName=protman$
[data]
version=v4.00.950
netcards=
[protman]
DriverName=PROTMAN$
PRIORITY=MS$NDISHLP
[MS$NDISHLP]
DriverName=ndishlp$
BINDINGS=MS$NE2CLONE
[MS$NETBEUI]
DriverName=netbeui$
SESSIONS=10
NCBS=12
BINDINGS=MS$NE2CLONE
LANABASE=0

The SYSTEM.INI file contains information about your NetBIOS computer name, the default user name, workgroup and/or domain, and the location of the password file for that user name. The password file (*.PWL) is stored on the local machine in an encrypted format; Windows NT clients use password files stored on the server. The first time the user logs on to Windows NT, he or she is prompted to create the password file for the user name specified in the SYSTEM.INI file. The following are typical SYSTEM.INI networking entries:

[network]
sizworkbuf=1498
filesharing=no
printsharing=no
autologon=yes
computername=WINDOWS1
lanroot=C:\NET
username=USER1
workgroup=WORKGROUP
reconnect=yes
dospophotkey=N
lmlogon=1
logondomain=MASTER
preferredredir=full
autostart=full
maxconnections=8
[network drivers]
netcard=ne2000.dos
transport=ndishlp.sys,*netbeui
devdir=C:\NET
LoadRMDrivers=yes
[Password Lists]
*Shares=C:\NET\Share001.PWL

The preceding .INI files are created during the client networking setup process. If you need to edit the entries in these files, use DOS's EDIT.EXE, or Windows SYSEDIT.EXE or Notepad. For instance, if you want to change the name of the Windows NT domain to which you log on during client startup, you edit the logondomain entry in the SYSTEM.INI file. Changes you make take effect when you reboot the client PC.

Setting Up Windows to Use the Network Drivers

After the DOS network drivers are in place, you must tell Windows 3.1 which network drivers you're using. Start Windows, and follow these steps to install the Windows network drivers:

  1. From the Main group, double-click the Windows Setup icon to open the Windows Setup window. From the Options menu choose Change System Settings to open the Change System Settings dialog.
  2. In the Network list, select Microsoft Network (or 100% Compatible), as shown in figure 11.13. Click OK to continue.

  3. 11.13

    Installing Microsoft Networking in Windows 3.1.

  4. You're prompted for your original Windows 3.1 disk 2. Insert the diskette in the drive and press Enter. After the drivers are loaded, choose Restart Windows to make the changes effective.

Connecting to Windows NT File and Printer Resources

After installing the client network drivers and setting up Windows 3.1 for networking, you're ready to connect to Windows NT Server 4.0 resources. To connect a Windows 3.1 client to a Windows NT server, follow these steps:

  1. Open File Manager.
  2. From the Disk menu choose Network Connections to open the Network Connections dialog.
  3. Using the standard Universal Naming Convention (UNC) notation, \\SERVERNAME\SHARENAME, type the network path to a Windows NT server share. In the Drive drop-down list, select the drive letter to which you want to map the share (see fig. 11.14).

  4. 11.14

    Setting the path to a Windows NT server share.

  5. Click Connect to map the server share to the selected drive letter. The next time you open the Network Connections dialog, your mapped drive appears in the Current Drive Connections list.
  6. You connect to printers shared by Windows NT servers by following these steps:

  7. Open Print Manager from the Main program group.
  8. From the Options menu choose Network Connections to open the Printers - Network Connections dialog.
  9. Type the network path of the server and printer share to which you want to connect. Select a local LPT port (LPT1 if you don't have a local printer) to redirect to the shared printer, as shown in figure 11.15. Leave the Password text box empty, unless you want to restrict access to the printer. (Some organizations restrict access to color laser printers because of the high cost per page.)

  10. 11.15

    Connecting to a printer shared by a Windows NT server.

  11. Click the Connect button to connect to the Windows NT server's printer queue.
  12. Unlike Windows NT clients, which download the required printer driver from the server, you must install the appropriate printer driver for your networked printer on the local workstation. In most cases, you need either the Windows 3.1+ installation diskettes or a Windows 3.1+ printer driver from the printer supplier to make the shared printer operable from the client.

If you have problems connecting to your Windows NT server's resources, following are a number of potential areas for troubleshooting:

Connecting Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Clients

Windows for Workgroups 3.11 offers greatly improved networking connectivity compared with Windows 3.1. Because the network drivers for WfWg are Windows-based, you can install multiple network drivers, and the NetWare and NetBEUI drivers don't consume conventional (DOS) memory. The TCP/IP stack for WfWg 3.1+ includes TSR drivers that run in conventional memory. WfWg 3.11 includes the TCP/IP protocol stack, which Microsoft developed after the release of the original 3.1 version of WfWg.

The following sections describe how to install the TCP/IP network drivers from the Windows NT Server 4.0 CD-ROM on a WfWg client PC, how to upgrade existing networking files, and how to connect to a Windows NT 4.0 server using the TCP/IP protocol.

Installing the 32-bit TCP/IP Network Protocol

Installing or updating the TCP/IP protocol for WfWg 3.1+ requires one high-density diskette and the Windows NT Server 4.0 CD-ROM. You'll also likely need the distribution diskettes for the version of WfWg 3.1+ installed on the client and, if not supported by WfWg 3.1+, a network adapter driver diskette.

To create the required installation diskette, install the TCP/IP protocol on clients running WfWg 3.1+, and update your WfWg configuration to allow connectivity to Windows NT Server resources, follow these steps:

  1. Follow steps 1 through 4 of the procedure for creating network setup diskettes described earlier in the section "Creating Client Installation Diskettes." Only one of the two diskettes is required for installation of TCP/IP. In step 4, select TCP/IP 32 for Windows for Workgroups 3.11, rather than Network Client v3.0 for MS-DOS and Windows.
  2. Create \WIN and \SYSTEM directories on the second diskette. By using Explorer, copy NET.EXE and NET.MSG from the \Clients\update.WfW folder of the CD-ROM to the \WIN directory of the diskette. Copy all the remaining files in \Clients\update.WfW to the \SYSTEM directory. The second diskette is used to update the WfWg network files after you set up the TCP/IP protocol.
  3. Start WfWg 3.1+ and, from the Network program group, click Network Setup to open the Network Setup dialog.
  4. Click Networks to open the Networks dialog, select the Install Microsoft Windows Network option (see fig. 11.16), and then click OK to close the Networks dialog and return to the Network Setup dialog.

  5. 11.16

    Installing network drivers for a WfWg client with no network installed.

  6. Click Drivers in the Network Setup dialog to open the Network Drivers dialog. Click Add Adapter to open the Add Network Adapter dialog, and select the adapter driver installed in the client PC (see fig. 11.17). Click OK to close the Add Network Adapter dialog and return to the Network Drivers dialog.

  7. 11.17

    Selecting the client PC's network adapter card.

  8. Click Add Protocol in the Network Drivers dialog to open the Add Network Protocol dialog. Select Add Protocol, and double-click Unlisted or Updated Protocol to install the updated version of TCP/IP from the diskette (see fig. 11.18).
  9. Although WfWg 3.11 has TCP/IP, NWLink, and NetBEUI, it's a good idea to load the latest driver versions.


    11.18

    Selecting installation of the client PC's network protocol from a diskette.

  10. At the prompt, insert the diskette with the network protocol update and click OK. A message box confirms that you're installing Microsoft TCP/IP-32 3.11b. Click OK to install the protocol files on the client's drive and then return to the Network Drivers dialog.
  11. By default, NetBEUI and NWLink are installed by WfWg 3.1+. You can remove these protocols by selecting the unneeded protocol in the Network Drivers list of the Network Drivers dialog and then clicking Remove. After you're done configuring the adapter drivers, click Close to close the Network Drivers dialog, and then click OK in the Network Setup dialog to end the network setup operation and open the Microsoft Windows Network dialog.
  12. You're prompted to provide your computer name, workgroup name, and default logon name (see fig. 11.19). For authentication by your Windows NT server, the default logon name is the user name of your server account. The workgroup name is not the name of the Windows NT domain to which you connect, and it shouldn't duplicate the name of any domain on the network.

  13. 11.19

    Providing the user name, workgroup name, and computer name.

  14. After entering user and machine information, you might be asked to supply your network adapter driver diskette(s) and/or some of your original WfWg diskettes. In some cases, you may have trouble finding the correct driver files on your network adapter driver diskette. Look for a directory such as \NDIS or \WFW, which contains an OEMSETUP.INF file. On the PC used for this example, which has a 3Com Etherlink III adapter, the correct driver files happened to be located in \NDIS\WFW. Follow the instructions of the message boxes to add or update the network adapter driver(s).
  15. After updating network adapter drivers, the Microsoft TCP/IP Configuration dialog prompts you to enter in the TCP/IP information, including IP address, default gateway, and other TCP/IP-specific parameters (see fig. 11.20). Although the appearance of the TCP/IP Properties sheet of Windows 95 varies from the TCP/IP Configuration dialog of WfWg 3.1+, you specify the same values for TCP/IP parameters in both environments.
  16. See "Configuring TCP/IP," (Ch 10)


    11.20

    TCP/IP Configuration options in WfWg.

  17. After completing the TCP/IP configuration, click OK to exit the network setup operation, and then exit to DOS.
  18. Insert the second diskette with the \WIN and \SYSTEM directories. Locate the client's existing NET.EXE and NET.MSG files (usually in c:\windows) and overwrite the existing versions with the copies in the diskette's \WIN directory. Next, copy the .DLL and .386 files in the diskette's \SYSTEM directory to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory, also overwriting the existing versions.
  19. Restart WfWg to load the updated network applications and drivers.

When WfWg starts, you're prompted for the user name that you specified in step 9 and for a password. Enter the password to be used for the Windows NT server account. The first time you log on after setting up networking, a message box asks whether you want to create a password file. As with the MS Network Client for DOS, the .PWL file is created locally and contains an encrypted version of the password. The .PWL file is used for Windows NT domain account authentication during the logon process.

Viewing Changes Made to WfWg 3.1+ Configuration and Initialization Files

The Setup program adds the following line to the client's CONFIG.SYS file:

where c:\windows is the directory containing the WfWg system files.

The client's AUTOEXEC.BAT file is modified to include the following additional instruction:

The Microsoft Network Client for DOS/Windows 3.1 stores network protocol information in the PROTOCOL.INI and SYSTEM.INI files, located in the c:\net subdirectory. Most of the network driver components in WfWg load when you start WfWg, so the preceding network installation process puts all of its changes into the SYSTEM.INI file in the WfWg system subdirectory, usually c:\windows\system.

The following additions are made to SYSTEM.INI as part of the network installation:

[boot]
network.drv=wfwnet.drv
[boot.description]
network.drv=Microsoft Windows Network (version 3.11)
secondnet.drv=No Additional Network Installed
[386Enh]
network=*vnetbios,*vwc,vnetsup.386,vredir.386,vserver.386
[Network]
FileSharing=No
PrintSharing=No
winnet=wfwnet/00025100
multinet=nonet
LogonDisconnected=Yes
EnableSharing=no
UserName=WIN31USER
Workgroup=ACCOUNTING
ComputerName=wfw1
Comment=wfw workstation
logonvalidated=yes
reconnect=yes
LogonDomain=NEWDOMNT
AutoLogon=Yes
StartMessaging=Yes
LoadNetDDE=Yes
LMLogon=1
DomainLogonMessage=Yes
cachethispassword=yes
[tcm$el59x0]
NameServer1=172.16.30.2
DefaultGateway=172.16.30.254
IPMask=255.255.255.0
IPAddress=172.16.30.40
Description=3Com Fast EtherLink (3C59x)
Binding=tcm$el59x
[MSTCP]
EnableRouting=0
Interfaces=tcm$el59x0
deadgwdetect=1
pmtudiscovery=1
[DNS]
DNSServers=
HostName=wfw1
DomainName=
DNSDomains=
[NBT]
NameServer1=172.16.30.2
LANABASE=0
EnableProxy=0
EnableDNS=0
[Password Lists]
*Shares=C:\WINDOWS\Share000.PWL
WIN31USER=C:\WINDOWS\WIN31USE.PWL
[network drivers]
devdir=C:\WINDOWS
LoadRMDrivers=No
netcard=el59x.dos
transport=ndishlp.sys

All protocol configuration information, including this client's TCP/IP configuration information, is kept in the SYSTEM.INI file, rather than the PROTOCOL.INI file used by DOS/Windows 3.1+-based clients. You can use a text editor, such as Notepad or SysEdit, to change your network settings for WfWg in the SYSTEM.INI file. Be sure to restart WfWg after you make changes to SYSTEM.INI.

Logging On and Connecting to Windows NT Server 4.0 Resources

To access Windows NT Server resources, you must set up the domain logon process for the client. Follow these steps:

  1. From WfWg's Control Panel, double-click the Network icon to open the Microsoft Windows Network dialog.
  2. Click the Startup button to open the Startup Settings dialog. Accept the default settings in the Startup Options group, making sure that the Log On at Startup check box is marked.
  3. Mark the Log On to Windows NT or LAN Manager Domain check box and type the name of your Windows NT server domain in the Domain Name text box (see fig. 11.21). Click OK twice to close the Start Up Settings dialog and exit the Microsoft Windows Network dialog.

  4. 11.21

    Setting domain logon options in the Startup Settings dialog.

  5. Exit and restart WfWg. On startup, the Welcome to Windows for Workgroups dialog appears, requesting entry of the user name for this client and that user's password.
  6. You're prompted for a domain logon. If you use the same user name for the domain as for the workgroup, enter the same password as for the workgroup. Make sure that the Create Password File check box is marked.

The next time you start WfWg, you log on to the workgroup. If the domain user name and password are the same as that for the workgroup, you log on to the Windows NT domain without the additional prompt.

If you don't want to see the workgroup logon prompt at startup, delete the workgroup user name password so that the logon process skips the workgroup logon dialog and proceeds directly to the domain logon.

After you log on to the domain, a logon script you've defined for the client's domain user name on Windows NT Server is processed by the WfWg client. You need to create a logon script for WfWg clients only if you want to automate additional logon operations.

After the WfWg client is authenticated by the Windows NT Server domain, it's easy to share the Windows NT server's resources. To share files, start File Manager on the client. From the Disk menu choose Connect Network Drive to open the Connect Network Drive dialog. Browse network shares to find the share that you want to connect to, and then double-click the entry to map the drive to the selected drive letter (see fig. 11.22).


11.22

Mapping a Windows NT Server share to a WfWg logical drive.

To connect to printer resources, open Print Manager from the Main program group. From the Printer menu choose Connect Network Printer; from the Connect Network Printer dialog, select the Windows NT server that shares a printer; and double-click the share name of the printer you want to use (see fig. 11.23).


11.23

Using a printer shared by a Windows NT server.

If you have problems connecting to your Windows NT server resources, following are a number of potential areas for troubleshooting:

See "Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS)," (Ch 17)

Connecting Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Clients

Connecting Windows NT Workstation 4.0 clients to a Windows NT 4.0 server is similar to the process for connecting Windows 95 clients, which is described in Chapter 10, "Configuring Windows 95 Clients for Networking." Connecting a Windows NT workstation to a Windows NT server involves setting up the client's network adapter and protocol(s), and then using Windows NT Workstation 4.0's built-in tools to connect to the server's shared folders and printers. The differences between connecting clients running Windows NT Workstation 3.51 and 4.0 to a Windows NT 4.0 server primarily involve changes to the user interface. The following sections describe how to connect a Windows NT Workstation 4.0 client to a Windows NT Server 4.0 domain.

Installing the Network Software

On a Windows NT workstation, you first need to choose the network protocol you want to use, and then install it. You must choose a protocol based on what the server is running. TCP/IP is the preferred protocol for Windows NT 4.0 networks, so the following steps describe how to install and configure TCP/IP on a client running Windows NT Workstation 4.0:

  1. From the Start menu choose Settings and Control Panel, and then double-click the Network tool to open the Network properties sheet.
  2. Click the Protocols tab to display the Protocols properties page; then click Add to open the Select Network Protocol dialog.
  3. Select the TCP/IP Protocol item and click OK (see fig. 11.24).

  4. 11.24

    Adding the TCP/IP protocol in Windows NT Workstation 4.0.

  5. A TCP/IP Setup dialog appears, asking whether you want to configure your client's TCP/IP stack for use with DHCP. If you plan to use DHCP, click Yes.
  6. A Windows NT Setup dialog appears, prompting you to enter the location of the Windows NT Workstation distribution files. These files are located on the Windows NT Workstation CD-ROM. For example, if your CD-ROM drive is F: and your Windows NT client uses a Pentium processor, you type F:\i386 and click Continue.
  7. Windows NT Setup copies the TCP/IP files to your client. When the copy operation is complete, click Close.
  8. Windows NT then proceeds to bind the new protocol to your client's network adapter. When the binding process completes, the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties sheet appears (see fig. 11.25). The IP Address page displays by default, and gives you the opportunity to enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for the client. Click the Advanced button to enter additional IP addresses or default gateways for the client's network adapter.

  9. 11.25

    Setting Windows NT 4.0 TCP/IP configuration options.

    If you want to access a Windows NT server on a different network segment from your Windows NT 4.0 workstation, you need to enter a default gateway and then enter either a WINS server address or create an LMHosts file. You can install the WINS configuration and LMHosts file on your Windows NT client by selecting the WINS Address tab of the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties sheet.

  10. After you enter all the TCP/IP configuration information, click OK. Windows NT prompts you to restart the system for the changes to take effect. After the system restarts, you must decide whether you want to install the client into the Windows NT domain, or whether to make it a member of a workgroup.
  11. Domain client users can log on to Windows NT servers in their domain and seamlessly authenticate by a single logon to all resources for which they have permission. Workgroup users log on to their local machines, just as in Windows for Workgroups, and then authenticate explicitly to the needed Windows NT Domain resources. If you want the clients to take advantage of all of Windows NT's features (including centralized security and logon scripts), install Windows NT 4.0 clients into the domain. The next two steps describe this process.

  12. To install the workstation into the domain, start Control Panel's Network tool as described in step 1. On the Network property sheet, select the Identification tab. On the Identification page, you see your client's current machine name and the name of the workgroup to which your client belongs.
  13. Click the Change button to open the Identification Changes dialog and enter the new domain name you want to join (see fig. 11.26).

  14. 11.26

    Joining the Windows NT Server domain in Windows NT Workstation 4.0.

  15. You need to create for the client a machine account, which uniquely identifies your machine to the domain. To do so, you must have Administrator access to the domain. If you're a member of the Domain Administrators group, select the Create a Computer Account option in the Domain check box, and then enter your administrator name and password. Then click OK to join the domain. You see a message welcoming you to the domain if the join succeeded.
  16. If you aren't a member of the Domain Administrators group, a network administrator must create a machine account for the client with the Server Manager utility. The account must exist before you can log on to the domain, and is in addition to the user account in the domain. The process for joining the domain is the same as in step 11, except that you don't need to enter an administrative account name at the time you join the domain.

  17. After you join the domain, you're asked to restart the workstation to have the changes take effect. The next time the Windows NT logon prompt appears, the Domain text box shows the domain you belong to, plus your workstation name. To log on to the domain, make sure that the domain name appears when you enter your user name and password. If the domain name is missing, type the name in the Domain text box.

Attaching to Domain Resources

After you log on to the domain, you connect to Windows NT Server resources by the same process as Windows 95 or WfWg. Connecting to Windows NT Server 4.0 file and print shares from Windows NT Workstation 4.0 involves the following steps:

  1. From the Start menu, choose Programs and Windows NT Explorer to launch Explorer. Double-click the Network Neighborhood icon to display the available servers and their network resources (see fig. 11.27). When you open Network Neighborhood, Explorer displays all the computers in your network domain.

  2. 11.27

    Windows NT Explorer displaying computers on the network.

  3. Select the name of the server with the share to which you want to connect. The shares for the server appear in Explorer's right pane. Figure 11.28 shows the shared Export, NETLOGON, profiles, and Printers folders of the N0001tfo server share.

  4. 11.28

    Windows NT Explorer displaying server shares in the left pane and share subfolders in the right pane.

  5. From the Tools menu choose Map Network Drive, or click the Map Network Drive button on the toolbar to open the Map Network Drive dialog (see fig. 11.29).

  6. 11.29

    Mapping a server file share to a Windows NT Workstation 4.0 logical drive.

  7. If you can't connect to the share with your current user name, type the required user name in the Connect As text box. Mark the Reconnect at Logon check box if you want this share connection to be automatically re-established the next time you log on. Click OK to make the connection.
  8. To make a connection to a printer share, from the Start menu choose Settings and Printers to open the Printers window. Double-click the Add Printer icon to start the Add Printer Wizard. Click the Network Printer Server option and then click the Next button to display the Connect to Printer dialog (see fig. 11.30).
  9. Browse the available printer resources, and double-click the printer share you want to use. Then click Finish to end the Add Printer Wizard.

  10. 11.30

    Connecting to printers from Windows NT Workstation 4.0.

If you've followed the steps in this section and are still having difficulty connecting your Windows NT 4.0 workstation to Windows NT Server 4.0, the following troubleshooting tips are likely to help you make the connection:

Connecting Macintosh Clients

Windows NT Server 4.0 includes the Services for Macintosh (SfM), which allow users of Apple Macintosh computers running System 6.0.7 or higher to use folders and printers shared by Windows NT domains. File services for Macintosh, which let Mac users store and retrieve files on the Windows NT server, are provided only from partitions formatted as NTFS.

The following sections describe how to install SfM on a Windows NT 4.0 server and how to use SfM with Macintosh clients.

Adding Services for Macintosh on Windows NT Server

Following are the steps for installing Services for Macintosh on a Windows NT 4.0 server:

  1. Insert the Windows NT Server 4.0 CD-ROM in the server's CD-ROM drive.
  2. From the Start menu, open the Control Panel.
  3. Double-click the Network tool to open the Network property sheet, and then click the Services tab.
  4. On the Services page of the Network property sheet, click the Add button to display the Select Network Service dialog. In the Network Server list, scroll to and select the Services for Macintosh item (see fig. 11.31). Click OK to close the dialog and open the Windows NT Setup dialog.

  5. 11.31

    Starting installation of Services for Macintosh.

  6. Type the path to the installation files for your processor type on the CD-ROM in the text box of the Windows NT Setup dialog. For Intel-based servers, the location is d:\i386, where d: is the CD-ROM drive letter. Click Continue to copy the files.
  7. After copying is complete, click the Close button of the Network property sheet. Windows NT starts the AppleTalk network protocol and opens the Microsoft AppleTalk Protocol Properties sheet (see fig. 11.32). The default adapter displays the network adapter in your server to which AppleTalk is bound. If you have Macintosh clients connected to the specified network adapter, Windows NT finds and uses the default AppleTalk zone. If not, follow the directions in step 7 to install the Windows NT Server as a seed router, and provide the router with your zone information.

  8. 11.32

    The General page of the Microsoft AppleTalk Protocol Properties sheet.

  9. Selecting the Routing properties page lets you enable AppleTalk routing (see fig. 11.33). You must enable routing if you have multiple network adapters in your server, each of which is running AppleTalk for individual network segments; there's no other seed router for that segment; and you want to enable AppleTalk communication between the segments.

  10. 11.33

    The Routing page of the Microsoft AppleTalk Protocol Properties sheet.

  11. For each network interface that appears in the Adapter drop-down list, you choose the AppleTalk Phase 2 network number and the default zone. Mark the Use This Router to Seed the Network check box to enable AppleTalk route seeding. Usually, there's one seed router per AppleTalk segment, and all other AppleTalk routers listen for the seed; the seed tells that segment what AppleTalk Phase 2 network address and zone to use.
  12. After you complete configuration of AppleTalk network options and click OK, you're prompted to restart your system. Click Yes to shut down and restart.
  13. After the server starts up, two new services-File Server for Macintosh and Print Server for Macintosh-are installed. You can verify installation of these services by using the Control Panel's Services tool.

AppleTalk Phase 2 network addresses are expressed as a range, such as 10-12. Each number in the range supports up to 253 nodes, so a range of 10-12 supports 3[ts]253, or 759 AppleTalk clients. Range values must be unique and can't overlap. Accepted range values are 1 to 62579.

When you assign a range, choose the minimum number of networks you need. If a given segment has only 10 Mac clients, for example, choose a network range of 20-20, which supports up to 253 clients on a single segment.

Setting Up Macintosh Clients

Clients must run Macintosh System 6.0.7 or higher to access Windows NT Server resources. You don't need to install special software for basic file and printer sharing on the Windows NT network.

From the Macintosh client's Chooser, select AppleShare; any Windows NT server running Services for Macintosh (SfM) and containing a Mac-accessible volume appears (see fig. 11.34). Click OK and provide a user name and password, which is passed to the Windows NT Server domain account database for authentication. When authenticated, the client can access available volumes based on the user's permissions.


11.34

Viewing available Windows NT servers running SfM from the Macintosh Chooser.

When you log on to the Windows NT server running SfM from a Macintosh client, the Apple User Authentication Module (UAM) handles network security. Microsoft provides a UAM that supports Windows NT 4.0 authentication and encryption. The Microsoft UAM provides greater security and recognizes the Windows NT domain name as a preface to the user logon name (for example, ntdomain\joesmith instead of joesmith). This allows a Macintosh client to connect to Windows NT servers that are running SfM and exist in multiple Windows NT domains. Figure 11.35 shows an example of a Macintosh installed with the Microsoft UAM.


11.35

The logon screen of a Macintosh with the Microsoft UAM installed.

The Microsoft UAM is installed on your Windows NT server drive when you install the Services for Macintosh. By default, SfM creates a Macintosh-accessible folder in your system partition named d:\Microsoft UAM Volume, and a subfolder named AppleShare Folder. Follow these steps to install the Microsoft UAM on your Macintosh clients:

  1. From the Macintosh Chooser, select AppleShare. When the Windows NT server running SfM appears, log on using the default Apple UAM by providing an existing domain user name.
  2. Mount the Windows NT Server's Microsoft UAM Volume on the Macintosh client. Open the volume's folder to display the AppleShare folder. Open the AppleShare folder, and drag the Microsoft UAM file from the Windows NT Server volume to the AppleShare folder on your Macintosh's System Folder. If you don't find an AppleShare folder within the System Folder, drag the whole AppleShare folder from the Windows NT Server to the System Folder. Restart the Macintosh client for the changes to take effect.

Accessing Windows NT Server Resources from the Macintosh

After installing Services for Macintosh on your Windows NT 4.0 server, a number of new services, tools, and menu choices have been added to your standard Windows NT utilities. For example, Control Panel has a new MacFile tool, which allows you to view and control the use of SfM on your server. The MacFile tool has four buttons: Users, Volumes, Files, and Attributes (see fig. 11.36).


11.36

The opening dialog of Control Panel's MacFile tool.

The following list describes the purpose of the buttons:


11.37

The Macintosh Users on SERVERNAME dialog of the MacFile tool.


11.38

The Macintosh-Accessible Volumes on SERVERNAME dialog.


11.39

The MacFile Attributes of SERVERNAME dialog.

After loading SfM, Server Manager now contains a new MacFile menu choice (see fig. 11.40). From the MacFile menu, you can create new Macintosh-accessible volumes, set permissions, and assign associations. Associations for the Macintosh are similar to File Manager associations in Windows; for instance, .DOC files are associated with the Microsoft Word application. You provide a similar association for Macintosh files stored on your Windows NT server.


11.40

Server Manager's MacFile menu commands.

Macintosh files have two "forks"-the data fork contains the data part of the file, and the resource fork contains information about the associated application and the application's icon. To set up Macintosh associations, you must start the familiar File Manager. From the Start menu, choose Run and type the command winfile. Next, choose Associate from the MacFile menu to associate resource fork information with Windows NT file extensions, so that files with extensions have the proper appearance and application association when viewed on the Macintosh client.

To provide printing services to your Mac users, you have two options: connecting a printer to the Windows NT server's parallel or serial port, or connecting an AppleTalk-compliant printer directly to your network.

In the first case (connecting the printer to a port on the Windows NT server running SfM), you can use any type of printer. The Print Service for Macintosh converts incoming Macintosh client PostScript jobs to the print language supported by the printer. The Macintosh clients connect to the network printer through the Chooser, as is the case for all Macintosh printing operations. Both Macintosh and PC clients share the same printer(s).

The second case requires an AppleTalk-based, network-attached printer. Such printers are connected to the network via LocalTalk, Ethernet, or Token Ring connections.

LocalTalk is the native MAC-Layer protocol that came standard for many years on the early Macintoshes. You can get ISA bus-based LocalTalk cards for your Intel-based Windows NT server if you need to connect clients using LocalTalk to your server running SfM. As an example, Daystar Digital makes a LocalTalk adapter that's compatible with a Windows NT server. Check the Windows NT 4.0 Hardware Compatibility List for other supported LocalTalk cards.

Windows NT Server's SfM provides support for networked AppleTalk printers. Normally, Macintosh clients printing to network-attached Macintosh printers spool the print job on a local Macintosh print spooler, which runs on the client. If you must support printing to networked AppleTalk printers on Windows NT Server 4.0, you must disable print spooling on the Macintosh client.

Make sure that you disable spooling on the Macintosh client by running Chooser, selecting the LaserWriter or appropriate printer driver, and turning off background printing. If you don't disable background printing-and more than one client is accessing the Windows NT Server-based AppleTalk printer-print jobs spooled locally will conflict with those spooling on the server. The result will be chaos at the printer.

After you disable background printing, your Macintosh clients share the Windows NT server's print queue with PC clients. To set up a Windows NT Server 4.0 print queue for an AppleTalk printer, follow these steps:

  1. From the Start menu, choose Settings and Printers to bring up the Printers window (see fig. 11.41).

  2. 11.41

    Adding a new AppleTalk printer from the Printers window.

  3. Double-click the Add Printer icon to start the Add Printer Wizard; select the My Computer button; and click Next.
  4. In the next Add Printer Wizard dialog, you see a list of printer ports to use (see fig. 11.42). If you're adding a printer that's connected to your Windows NT server via a parallel or serial port, mark the check box next to the appropriate port, click Next, and skip to step 5.

  5. 11.42

    Selecting a printer port from the Add Printer Wizard.

  6. If you're adding a network-attached AppleTalk printer, click Add Port to open the Printer Ports dialog. Highlight AppleTalk Printing Devices and click OK. The Available AppleTalk Printing Devices dialog appears (see fig. 11.43), listing all AppleTalk zones available on your Widows NT server. Select the AppleTalk printer you want to use by double-clicking the zone and the printer name; then click OK to close the dialog.

  7. 11.43

    Selecting a network-attached AppleTalk printer.

  8. The next Add Printer Wizard dialog (see fig. 11.44) prompts you to specify the make and model of printer you're creating and click Next.

  9. 11.44

    Specifying the make and model of your AppleTalk printer.

  10. The next Add Printer Wizard dialog asks you to enter the printer name. This should be a descriptive name that your users will see when they browse printer resources (for example, 8th floor LaserWriter). Click Next after entering a name.
  11. The next dialog lets you set up the printer to be shared by Microsoft Windows clients as well as Macintosh. Unless you plan on supporting these Windows clients on this printer, select the Not Shared button and then click Next.
  12. The final dialog asks whether you want to print a test page after the printer is set up. Choose Yes or No and click Finish.
  13. The Copying Files - Files Needed dialog appears next, prompting you for the path to the Windows NT Server CD-ROM. On Intel-based systems, enter d:\i386, where d: is the CD-ROM drive letter.
  14. After the appropriate printer drivers have been copied from the CD-ROM, the properties sheet appears for your new printer (see fig. 11.45). Here is where you can add comments, change configuration, set security on the printer, or modify the printer scheduling properties. Click OK to complete the printer's configuration.

  15. 11.45

    Displaying the Macintosh printer's properties sheet.

  16. The Print Server for Macintosh service is installed with the System account as the Startup user name. If you print to a network printer, you need to change the System account to a domain account that has network access. From the User Manager for Domains utility, create a new user account for use with the Print Server for Macintosh service (you might call the account MacPrintUser).
  17. See "Managing User Accounts," (Ch 12)

  18. Use the newly created account to assign permissions to your network-attached AppleTalk printer(s). From the Start menu, choose Settings and then Printers; then highlight your AppleTalk printer in the Printers window. Then choose Properties from the File menu, click the Security tab, and then click the Permissions button to assign your new user account access to this printer through the Printer Permissions dialog (see fig. 11.46).

  19. 11.46

    Adding user permissions to the AppleTalk printer.

  20. From the Printer Permissions dialog, click the Add button; from the Add Users and Groups dialog, click Show Users, and then scroll to your new user account defined in step 11. Assign the user Full Control rights to the printer in the Type of Access pull-down list (see fig. 11.47). Click OK three times to eventually close the property sheet.

  21. 11.47

    Assigning user MacPrintUser Full Control rights to the printer.

  22. You need to assign the new user account to the Print Server for Macintosh Service. From the Start menu, choose Settings and Control Panel, and then double-click the Services tool. In the Services dialog, scroll to Print Server for Macintosh, click Startup, click the This Account option, and then type the user account name you created in the preceding step in the This Account text box. Enter and confirm the password for the account (see fig. 11.48), and then click OK to complete the change.

  23. 11.48

    Modifying the account for the Print Server for Macintosh service.

If you've installed Macintosh support on a Novell NetWare server, you're certain to find that Windows NT Server's SfM is much easier and more intuitive than Novell's approach. If you follow the steps described in this section, you can quickly and painlessly add file and print service for your Macintosh clients. If you do have problems after SfM is installed, however, here's a list of common problems you might encounter, and their possible solutions:

From Here...

This chapter discussed connecting a variety of client computers to a Windows NT Server 4.0 network. Windows 3.1+, which uses the DOS-based Microsoft Network Client that comes with Windows NT Server 4.0 to provide network access to Windows NT Server resources, is limited in networking capability and flexibility. Windows for Workgroups 3.11, which uses Windows-based drivers, provides more networking flexibility to the client, including support for logon scripts and integrated resource-sharing options. Clients running Windows NT Workstation 4.0 provide the greatest networking flexibility and robustness by better integrating with the Windows NT Server 4.0 network.

The chapter closed with a description of the support provided by Windows NT Server 4.0 for Macintosh file and print services, including the steps to install Services for Macintosh on Windows NT 4.0 servers. Also discussed were the configuration options for printer setup on a Windows NT 4.0 server, to allow both Mac and PC clients to use AppleTalk-based networked printers.

The following chapters contain information relating to or complementing the contents of this chapter:


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