The easiest way in the world for Wesleyan faculty to access NetWare accounts on a Macintosh

This document contains:

• What is NetWare, and how is it used at Wesleyan?
• What can I do with NetWare?
• Logging in to NetWare on a Macintosh
• Logging out

What is Novell NetWare, and how is it used at Wesleyan?

NetWare (made by Novell, Inc.) is computer networking software that allows users of ordinary desktop comptuers to connect to a larger computer, called a network server. Once connected to the server, users have access to printers, hard drives (storage space), and other resources on the network. Wesleyan maintains four primary NetWare servers, named FS1, FS2, FS3, and FS4 (the letters FS simply stand for "file server"). FS1 is used by ITS and university administration; FS2 is used by PAC and the campus libraries; FS3 and FS4 are the two servers used by most students and faculty. There is no real difference between how FS3 and FS4 are used; Wesleyan students and employees are just divided up between them because there are too many of us to fit on one.

What can I do with NetWare?

For one thing, NetWare allows you to print to different printers on the network. Most computers are configured to print to the printer nearest them, but if that printer were to break down or to become too busy, printing could be re-routed to another convenient location. Many students at Wesleyan use the same procedure to choose whether documents are printed on printers in public computer labs or in their residence halls.

Another use of NetWare is for storing files. Every user on NetWare has a folder, which he or she could use for file back-up purposes (since the information is physically stored on a hard drive in the Science Tower, rather than on the user's own computer) or to move information more easily from computer to computer (students who do not have their own computers often use this technique so that their word processing and other files are available to them from any computer on campus).

There are also several applications programs kept on the NetWare computers that are not regularly found on a typical desktop computer. Running these applications off the network is somewhat slower than running them from your own hard drive, but it allows more people to access them.

One interesting thing to note about NetWare is that it exists for both Macintosh and PC-compatible computers (running DOS or Microsoft Windows). Shared printers and hard drive space can be utilized by either kind of computer.

Logging in to NetWare from a Macintosh

1. Before You Begin

Before you begin, you will need to know a few pieces of information:

• Your NetWare user name. Let's say your name is Pío Baroja, and you're a professor of Romance Languages. Your user name is probably something like

.pbaroja.rlang.wu

Note that your computer may be pre-set to make it unnecessary for you to enter your entire user name. If you log in from a Macintosh in Romance Languages, "pbaroja" may be enough to suffice. For similar reasons, in many cases the period before the user name will not be necessary. However, the safest version of the login name to use is the long form, illustrated above, because it will work from all locations.

• Your NetWare password. This password may be the same as or similar to your e-mail password, but there is no requirement that they be similar at all. Unless you make special arrangements with ITS, this password will expire monthly, forcing you to change it for security reasons.
• The location of your NetWare account. As explained above, Wesleyan faculty are divided between FS3 and FS4. While the Wesleyan network is configured to allow users of one file server to log in to any of the others, you will need to know which server contains your "home" folder--that is, the one in which you may store your own files.
• If you do not know any of these three pieces of information, you should contact Information Technology Services. NetWare accounts and passwords are currently being handled by Jerry Maguda, x2128. Faculty members can also obtain this information from their NDS representatives (for humanities faculty, this is Michael Roy).

2. Logging into the Tree

The most basic level of the NetWare network is called a "tree." At Wesleyan, we have one tree, and its name is "WU" (that's what the WU in your user name represents). To log into the tree:

• Locate the tree icon in the menu bar of your Macintosh. It should be at the top of the screen near the right.
• If you cannot locate the tree icon, NetWare may not be installed on your computer. Contact ITS for help.
• If your tree's branches are already green, somone is already logged into the NetWare tree from this computer. If someone else has been using this computer, you should log this person out (see Step 5, Logging Out, below). If you are the only person to use this computer, you are already logged in to the tree; you can go on to Step 3.
• If your tree's branches are bare, you need to log into the tree.
• Click on the tree icon and choose "Log in."
• If you are asked for only your user name and password, enter them in the appropriate boxes (note that these items are defined above).
• If you are asked at the login screen for something called your "context," click the button called "Fewer Options" and these extraneous boxes will disappear. You can now enter your user name and password as described above.
• Finally, click the "Log in" button to connect to the tree. After a moment, the tree icon should turn green.

3. Attaching to a File Server

Now that your computer is connected to the NetWare tree, you need to choose a file server for your computer to access. Look at the icons on your desktop. If you see a red file cabinet icon designated "FS3" or "FS4," you are already connected to a file server, and you may skip this step.

• Under the Apple menu (at the top left of the menu bar), choose "Chooser."
• Chooser contains two small boxes on the left (a top one and a bottom one) and a larger one on the right. In the top left box, click on the "AppleShare" icon (it looks like a hand holding a tray).
• In the bottom left box, a list of AppleTalk zones should appear. The zones are alphabetized. Scroll down to either FS3-Zone or FS4-Zone (depending on which file server contains your home folder), and click on the name of the zone you want.
• In the box on the right, the name "FS3-Acad" or "FS4-Acad" will appear. Click on this name and click "OK."
• A box will appear asking you to confirm that you want to log in to this server. The small checkbox next to this server's name should not have an "X" in it unless you want to tell your computer to look for this NetWare server every time you start the computer. In most cases, you should leave this blank. Click OK.
• If you receive a message Welcoming you to NetWare on FS3 or FS4, click OK to continue.
• An icon for the server should now appear on your desktop (it looks like a red file cabinet). You can now close the Chooser by clicking on the small "close" box in the upper left corner of the window..

4. Locating your home folder.

Navigating through the NetWare file server's hard drive is much like navigating through your own. You can double click on the file cabinet icon and any folders on the drive to open them; double clicking on a file or document will open it. To locate your home folder where you can store your own documents:

• Double click the file cabinet icon.
• Open (double click) the Home folder.
• Open (double click) the folder with your user name on it.
• You can save files to this folder or copy them to and from it as though it were a folder on your own hard drive.

5. Logging Out

When you are finished using NetWare, you should log out from the file server. There are several advantages to doing this:

• No one else will be able to access your NetWare folder from that computer (which is particularly important if more than one person uses that computer).
• While connected to the NetWare server, your computer's performance may be somewhat slowed. Logging out gives your computer on fewer thing to do.
• While printing is free for faculty members, students must pay for it by the page. Students must always log out from NetWare when finished with a computer to keep from being billed for others' printing.

To log out (from the file server and from the tree):

• If you have been running any applications from the file server (for example Photoshop or the WinSPIRS CD-ROM databases), close them.
• If you have been working with any documents stored on the file server, save them and close them.
• Click on the red file cabinet icon and drag it to the trash. If you receive a message that there are still files in use, be sure you have completed the above steps.
• Click on the tree icon and choose "Log out completely."