Differences in Login Scripts in NetWare 4.x and NetWare 3.x

• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you are using the Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks (Nwredir.vxd) and you log on to a Novell NetWare version 4.x server, login scripts created with NetWare's NETADMIN or NWADMIN utilities do not run.

CAUSE

The Microsoft client that is available with Windows 95 can access login scripts only through NetWare 3.x Bindery-type connections to NetWare servers. Because the login scripts for NetWare 4.x servers are stored in a different form, they are not available at logon and cannot be run.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods:

• Obtain and install the Microsoft Service for NetWare Directory Services (MSNDS). For information about obtaining MSNDS, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

        ARTICLE-ID: Q138709
        TITLE     : Microsoft Service for NetWare Directory Services
                    Available
  
  

• Set the NetWare server to Bindery emulation. Then, use the SYSCON utility from a NetWare 3.x server to connect to the NetWare 4.x server and create the System and User login scripts that you want to use.

  For assistance in modifying your NetWare configuration, please consult the Novell documentation, your network administrator, or Novell Technical Support.

MORE INFORMATION

Login scripts are stored differently on NetWare 3.x servers using Bindery services than they are on NetWare 4.x servers using NetWare Directory Services (NDS). On a Bindery server the System login script is stored in the file NET$LOG.DAT in the SYS:PUBLIC directory. The User login scripts are stored in subdirectories of the SYS:MAIL directory (with names corresponding to the users' internal IDs, usually 8-digit hexadecimal numbers) in files named LOGIN. On an NDS server, the Container, Profile, and User login scripts are stored in the Directory Services database as properties of the Container, Profile, and User objects.

Because the Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks that is included with Windows 95 can make only Bindery-type connections to a NetWare 4.x server, the server must be running Bindery emulation or you must install the Microsoft Service for NetWare Directory Services (MSNDS). To emulate a Bindery-type login, the NET$LOG.DAT and LOGIN files must exist in the proper directories. These files do not ordinarily exist on a NetWare 4.x server.

This behavior also occurs when you log on to a NetWare 4.x server using the NETX client, or when you use the VLM (NetWare MS-DOS requester) client with the "Preferred Server" setting (in the NET.CFG file) set to specify the login server name instead of using the "Preferred Tree" setting to specify the login tree name.

The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

REFERENCES

Novell NetWare version 3.11 "Concepts" manual: "Login Scripts"