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by editor's response

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64 replies

by dmiller

have a 200 user Netware 5.1 department and running Sophos antuvirus on client and server side. antivirus works well infor 98 clients but will not auto-update for NT/XP (I think it is NDS) has anywone else encountered this and also what other Antivirus softwares manage auto updating centrally for the server. (Options could be to push updates with Zenworks)

by hekkletekk

If the user isn't a local admin, their account won't have the rights to run this or any other anti-virus software update or installation. They won't be able to do a LOT of things.
You could make the user a local Admin, but there are several problems with that, one being security, another being changing 2000 accounts.
We have the same issue here for our McAfee and Inoculan AV products as we are moving 100% to XP.
We used to make heavy use of login script deployment and updates which worked finewhen we were 98% Win9x - we visited the three sites and manually updated the 50-75 NT/2000 users. This will no longer work for us, just as it isn't working for you.
However, you mention you have ZENworks. That is your salvation, as it has been ours.
Create an Application Object or a Scheduled Action Policy in a Workstation Package and set the Object or Policy impersonation level to System or Unsecure System.
If this doesn't make sense, you'll need to get trained on ZENworks for Desktops* - spelling out how to do these things is beyond the scope of this reply.

*You also mentioned auto-updating SERVERS - that would be handled by ZENworks for SERVERS.

by exodos

We run McAfee on our desktops and servers. I have never had a problem with autoupdate on the desktop. Just configure the program to download it from the web and thats it. I could never get the servers to autoupdate when they were NetWare 5.x. After I updated them to Netware 6 the autoupdate started working and has worked since. I think that 5.x had some communication issues. I also had replia sync problems, time sync problems, etc. All went away with the upgrade.

by mehodgsonsr

I'm using Symantec Anti-virus Corporate Edition and can't say enough good about it. All updates are automatic and transparent. Tech support is great. The cost is reasonable. I get GroupWise e-mail updates that I configure for any signature updates to servers, update failures or viruses found. I think a trial version is available. I'm on a 5 server NetWare 5.1 network with 1 NT server and 150 NT/2000/XP/Win95/98 workstations.

by mis

I concur with 'Network dude'. Compared to any other antivirus including Firewall installed with virus stripping, Norton CE beats all! It is so reliable and so centrally managed that I now only spend time reviewing events and checking into new Viruses, not fixing them. One hitch, recent viruses hitting Netscape 4.x clients may lose the INBOX file to remove virus.
-mis@sens-usa

by joea

Sophos has a hard time with NDS.

If you look, it is likely that the account you created for the NT service to login to Netware, is locked out, or is locking out frequently.

It is a bug in the way Sophos does their thing, (for the NT update service login, that is) logging into NDS. They will not admit it tho.

Good as their AV stuff is, they seem to be brain dead where their NT class client service login is concerned.

Your solution is, setup an NT server to act as the CID, or, ask for your money back, if they don't fix it.

by grolan

Hmmm, odd, our w2k clients are updating just fine from a NetWare server. No service account lockouts or trouble logging into NDS. I can't say enough good about Sophos, having switched from InocuLAN. Oh well, YMMV as they say...

by jlmiller

make sure your CID is set correctly with all the desktops. Then make sure you have this line in your login script. Do a "if OS =" statement to select the correct line.
;; Virus Scanner
#\\NWFS1\sys\Sophos\W95Inst\setup -inl -a
#\\NWFS1\sys\Sophos\NTInst\i386\setup -inl -a

Also, make sure the users has access rights to the location of the CID.

If you are not too sure the workstations have the correct CID, install the next update as a new install from the server CIS location.

As a footnote, I use the savadmin component on my laptop to check all my clients updates.

by jim_farmer

Banner info does not correctly appear in NDPS print jobs using the latest HP and Novell Gateway. The problem does not appear when using the Ricoh Gateway for our copiers. Patched up to latest levels. Any ideas on how to get this one working?

by dave

We use the Xerox gateway and the Xerox NDPS printer drivers have inbuilt defaults for banners that you can't change.

Novell or Xerox Underachieving in the usefulness department.

by jkrebs

I am attempting to log into a Novell 5.1 (SP3) server using Client 4.83. I am doing this via VPN. IP and IPX are installed on the server. The VPN I
am using is hardware to hardware VPN using SonicWall firewalls - no VPN software is installed on the client computer. Normally, when I click on
the tree icon in the client it sits there for ever and then comes up with a blank screen. I have also tried entering the server IP address in the server field on the client and leaving the tree and ontext blank. It didn't log me in - just timed out. However, after doing this, I went back
and clicked on the tree icon and saw the tree and was able to log in. When I logged off and tried to go back in, once again it errored out and after
clicking onthe tree button again, a blank screen came up. I haven't been able to duplicate the results since (perhaps the allignment of the moon
and Mars hasn't been repeated )

Since doing this, I have seen several posts on Novell's site that VPN "breaks"NDS, but based on that weird success I mentioned, I was wondering if that was regarding the special funcitons carried out server to server or if clients are absolutely out of the question. Is a way to get a client to work in this environment?

Thanks in Advance

by doyle

Have you tried entering the IP address of a server holding a replica of your context on the login screen ? instead of putting the IP address of the server in. We've had problems using VLANs, but we add the IP address into the "tree" box in the client, works a treat.

Have fun
Ade
CNE6, MCNE, CDE

by dave

We have Netware 5.1, IP only, and can run a PPTP VPN through our firewall. Using the Win98 VPN client on an ADSL connection, I can get Client32 to log in OK, but as soon as I try to map drives, the whole client system freezes up. If I don't login,or login and don't map drives, the VPN connection works fine for other IP resources on the internal LAN.

What can I try to fix this?

by chriskwon

Do you have SLP configured?
It sounds like your client cannot find the server because it's on a separate network. When you type in the IP address in the server area, it knows where to go thus you see your tree. If you don't have SLP configured, then you can set up a host file on the remote clients giving the ip address of the server. Another way would be to setup a DNS entry on your DNS server (if you have one set up). IPX will not travel through the internet (unless you are riding the IPXon IP through the SonicWall VPN - which I don't know if you can do) so any SAP broadcasts will not reach your remote clients.

by jtwomey

I have had similar issues. First off I recommend updating to SP4 or SP5 there have been some significant fixes in both of those SP's. Second do you have NAL.exe set to run in your login script if so, this will give you some of the time out errors that you are getting. Also just for the chance it might work, try downloading VPN client 3.7 from Novell.

by mis

Had similar issues with SonicWall and VPN to Novell 5. Replaced with ESOFT firewall and it works like a dream. SonicWall does not reliably support connection to Novell, although Microsquash connectivity okay.

by andy konecny

None of the automatic discovery mechanisms will automatically go over current IPSec standard VPNs, but there is a way of making it work.
Ignore IPX unless you are using the BorderManager VPN as that is the only one I know of that supports IPX.
First step is to have a configured SLPDA in your environment that can be pinged from VPN clients.
Next is to put that IP address(and scope) in your remote NW Client's config (client properties, 'Service Location') and should all work much better.

Andy in Toronto

by darth beavis

Has anyone found a solid solution to these damn errors? We run a NW 5.1 network using ZFD 3.2.

Our Win2k clients get this error far too often.

thanks

by macgvr

What is the error message? With XP you may not be able to load naldesk.exe from the login script but may have to put it in the startup folder instead.

by dmiller

I solved the problem .
The antivirus "CLient" had to be installed using the context.. CN=SWEEPUPD.radiology.umh.umms

Thanks all,
P.S. Sophus does have great TECH support..
I was just to proud to call them up..
-dm

by dmiller

Have you tried updating the Desktop Client to the latest download. That solved my problems.

by armourbl

I've never seen that error and we are running the same type of setup you are.

What version of NAL are you running. What are the circumstances that the error occurs?

ben

by jmd

Boot up to dos and remove all the NAL files form c:\winnt\system32 and c:\winnt\system32\nls\english, once the files are deleted go ahead and re-boot your machine, this should take care of the problem, also make sure you don't have a mix versiond ofzenworks.

by pipe guy

We get those errors on win2k machines when they attempt to login to the server, but the nic isn't enabled. Also when we login to "workstation" only.

When we can browse to the tree and context of the server... we don't seem to get the errors. Some remote users typically disable network cards to stop the Novell client from trying to "find" the network when they don't want to login to the network.
I don't know if this is helpful or not... but its observations of the same errors we've seen.

by oz_media

That's got to be the BEST suggestion I've ever read on TR. Perhapse a Netware discussion would eliminate redundant the threads regarding security paranioa that seems to plague the Windozers.
i have suggested similar idea throiugh the TR contact us links but they seem to be more interested in catering to the masses.
I think by posing more Netware related questions this may become more relevant to TR's staff.
Glad to finally find this forum.

by gustavo_betancourt

I get the following error when trying to start Web Manager in one of my NetWare 5.1 servers: "Security must be on or off when specified in admin config file". This comes up after the service says that it is listening on port 2200 which is normal. Then the error comes up and the service does not start. I tried reinstalling this service without overwriting files (so that I don't have to re-install Service Pack 5) and that did not work. I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions before I overwrite my current files with a re-install and have to re-install service pack 5 on this server as well.

by editor's response

Do you have questions or comments about the RConsoleJ application, as featured in the April 21 NetWare e-newsletter?

Are there other NetWare topics that you'd like us to cover in the near future? Post a reply, and let us know.

by jaredh

Now why on earth are you giving an article about a utility that is dying already. Instead of using a java utility, you can use a web browser. The Netware management portal is way better because you can do things via a web interface even if the console itself is in a locked state.

by yammiman

.....it is now called NetWare Remote Manager!
(-:
Slap a new name on it and it is a new product!

Really, I've used rconsole, rconj, portal manager, and Netware Remote Manager and I like rconj to get the "down and dirty work" done as it doesn't take so long for screen refreshes in going from screen to screen. However, NRM is great for drilling down for detail!

I did find out if you encrypt a password with Rconj, you have to encrypt 5.x and 6.x servers seperately into an LDRCONAG.NCF file as the 6.x servers won't work off of a 5.x encrypted file.

by logon01

Why would we want to learn about Rconj? Well, you wouldn't need to if you already know how it works. But if you have problems with the management portal for some reason, it's nice to have anotother way. For example, I may have to disable the RCONAG6.nlm module or the NW portal management for troubleshooting purposes.

by stephen

I personally think it's good to 'refresh' some tips and tricks using tools such as conlog, RconJ etc, but I'd imagine most people signing up for this newsletter would rather see these tips as that, and not articles in themselves.

I've only been receiving these newsletters for a couple of months so I may be already looking at things you've mentioned, but here are some ideas that may be others would like to read about:

NAMP. It's new and quite a lot of stuff will run on it with very few modifications. For something fun I'm running NetJuke MP3 jukebox on my NW6 server, and apart from not automatically updating the music lists when I add new files, it streams just fine, with a nice web browser interface.
I've also heard of a helpdesk system written with Apache/PHP/MySQL in mind that aparently runs on NW, and an online web photo gallery app. SourceForge is a great place for this type of stuff, and a few people have even started www.osnamp.com. I think a couple of articles on useful (and playful) products running in the NAMP environment and how to set them up would be a lot of fun for us to read, and try.

There are also a lot of free tools that can make people's life a little easier. Just one to mention is Webalizer which is ported to NetWare and I use this to produce HTML reports from my web server logs with nice graphics of who's visiting my site, what the most popular pages are, where they're coming from etc...

Also what about NW6.5? It's in public Beta now and I'm sure a lot of us would like to hear what's in it and what makes it better than NW6?

Just some ideas.

SteveC

by editor's response

Do you use the TIMESYNC module, as featured in the May 12 NetWare e-newsletter, to sync your network with the correct time? Are there other inexpensive alternatives that you think your IT peers should check out? Let us know which tool works best foryou.

by andy konecny

the only issue I've ever seen is that if you leave the default 'Polling Interval' many public NTP time sources will start blocking your server. Just increase the 'Polling Interval' to 60000 or there abouts on a new set of source servers and you should be just fine.
Then I use NetTime on any Windows boxes that aren't rebooted regularly.

I've collected my notes on the topic that I share with clients at
http://members.rogers.com/chaosadventurer/pro/ntp.htm

by oz_media

I've been using AdRem Free remote console for a few years now and can only say thank to the people that wrote it.
Talk about a resourceful yet robust way to view your server screens. ronsoleJ used to work for me off and on but it was day to day depending on what I had recently installed.
AdRem free console should be packaged with Netware it is by far the best solution I've seen.

by editor's response

Have you already downloaded the NetWare 6.5 beta, as featured in the May 19 NetWare e-newsletter? If so, take a few minutes to share your thoughts about the beta with your IT peers.

by david

As a very long time user of Netware, I love the new features - they're GREAT! BUT when installing on an x86 500MHZ 1GB Ram - and 100gb SCSI, with DSL Connection. All the web screens are very Very slow - even on the local lan. Clearly the machine is very underpowered - but the same box runs just fine with NW6.0 I would say "great"

David

by lwood

I installed on a pentium 650 with 512mb of memory and I concur, very slow ... but looks very promising for open source development projects.

by russell cohen

Both sides come out swinging in the open source battle

Have a look at this article. I have my opinion, but I'd like to hear others ...

by bfraziersecit

Hello

I'm currently a Netware Admin in a Novell 5 & 5.1 enviornment. I would like to persue my CNE in Netware 5.1 only because i use it daily on the job. My question is if i obtain my CNE in Netware 5.1 before or after the October 31 deadline will i still be reconized as a CNE for 5.1 or will i lose my status and have to re-study again towards the CNE for Netware 6.

Thanks in Advance

by russell cohen

Hi,

I think all your questions have been addressed by Novell at this URL:

NOVELL Why Should I upgrade my CNE to NetWare 6

Here’s an extract of some of the most relevant information from the website:

-- clip --

Q: How does a CNE meet the latest CCR?
A: The following are the exam requirements based on your CNE status:

NetWare 5 CNEs will need to successfully pass exam #050-676 to update to NetWare 6.
NetWare 4 andIntraNetware CNEs will need to successfully pass exam #050-678 to update to NetWare 6. Fax the score report to 801.861.3900.
If you have never achieved a CNE status beyond NetWare 3x, you will need to successfully pass all of the NetWare 6 CNE exams to obtain the NetWare 6 CNE status.

Q: When does the CCR need to be completed?
A: The CCR requirement must be met by October 31, 2003.

Q: What if I don't pass the required NetWare 6 CCR exam by October 31, 2003?
A: CNEs who have not met the CCR requirement will lose all access to their benefits, which includes access to CNENet, certification forums, technical support discounts, etc. For a more comprehensive list of the CNE benefits, visit .

-- clip --

Hope this helps!

Regards,

RLC/
2003-06-09
https://www.techrepublic.com/forumdiscuss/thread_detail.jhtml?thread_id=121453&fromtm=e007

by editor's response

Do you use Rsync for NetWare, as featured in the June 16 NetWare e-newsletter? If so, please take a few minutes to post your feedback, including its pros and cons. If not, let us know what alternative you use to synchronize file changes among network servers.

by stephen

I use it for DR to another server, and understand that as a free product you can't always expect great things. So for myself it's good, but to make it better:

- Support for preservation of trustee assignments
It's a pain, but as a workaround I also use TRUSTEE.NLM in conjuction with RSync.

- It isn't realtime
To my understanding this is by design, so that's fine as long as you understand other replication products do support it.

- Output to be a bit cleaner
Currently you get all or nothing (or just about). Default option will display an RSync screen with only errors, as well as in the Logger screen. Set RSync to verbose and the logger screen fills up with RSync output, causing other system related messages to be lost.

by editor's response

Have you used ZENworks for Desktop 4 to create an Effective Policies Report, as featured in the June 23 NetWare e-newsletter? If so, tells us about the pros and cons of this method to troubleshoot policy-related problems.

by dennis

We installed Netware 5.0 for Small Business several years ago (y2k thing). As far as I know it has not been updated since. I looked through the minimum patch list. Can I use the latest consolidated patch to get us current? It says it is for Netware 5.1. Is there anywhere to find out about getting us current?

by russell cohen

A VNC Server NLM for Netware is now available from Novell Forge. I believe this will be of great interest to those who, until now, have utilised VNC for remote control of Linux/UNIX and Windows hosts, but have relied on other utilities to manage their NetWare Servers. Now, using the VNC Server NLM for Netware, it has become possible to use the same interface to remotely manage your NetWare, Linux/UNIX and Windows servers.

The VNC for NetWare project home page (VNC Server NLM for Netware) can be found here:

Novell Forge Summary - VNC for NetWare

The files (binaries and source) can be downloaded here:

Novell Forge Files - VNC for NetWare

Although the project has only been public for a day or so, enhancement requests have already been received, so the participation of developers would also be welcomed!

Russell Cohen
Project Admin., VNC for NetWare

by rich sachlis

The URLs supplied in the VNC for Netware article do not connect to a working site. Please provide the correct URLs. The utility looks very interesting.

by russell cohen

For those who might have missed it, the following notice was embedded in the NETWARE E-NEWSLETTER for August 11, 2003:

"NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS: Monday, August 18, 2003 will mark the final delivery of the NetWare e-newsletter. To stay current on the latest IT issues, we invite you to subscribe to the Server Architecture and NetAdmin Republic NetNote e-newsletters. Check out our many e-newsletter
offerings today."

I guess I'll have to start looking for a friendlier place to hang out.

by fxh

Is TechRepublic now a subsidiary company of the Gates Imperium? Or was this always true even in the past and we all did?nt notice it?
There where a lot of interesting articles about NetWare and Novell here. Will these articles be removed too?
Where can we find a similar place to got unbiased informations about Novell software? Up to now TechRepublic was my favorite place to look for articles about Microsoft, Linux and also Novell!

by ernie2502

I think there are more Novell active users than you can imgaine.
Please, keep this column alive

thanks

Ernesto Fox

by russell cohen

This recently released TechRepublic product contains no less than 3 quick reference cards for Windows operating systems and one for Linux, but nothing for NetWare. TR, you are reinforcing perceptions whil ignoring the reality of NetWare's installed base. +/- 10% of the server market should not be ignored in the cavalier manner. Please review this product and make a little bit of effort on behalf of Novell administrator readership!

This discussion is closed to new replies.