SQL Server Magazine

As a Windows NT specialist, you have an appointment with a potential client. You arrive and speak with the office manager. They want PC networking: file and print sharing. Looking around the office, you see several PCs and some dumb terminals. The office manager takes you to the server. Instead of what you expect to see (a Microsoft login), you see a console with the following display:

SCO OpenServer (TM) Release 5 (server1.office.com) (tty01)

login:

The office manager explains that the company's primary software runs on SCO OpenServer, and they have several dumb terminals, serial and parallel printers, and PCs connected. Their SCO machine is near capacity on CPU cycles and memory, and they want to add an NT server for a new office application. They ask if you can install an NT server and network the PCs, maintain access to the SCO machine for logging on to their character-based applications, and let the PCs print to all the SCO printers.

Meeting the Criteria
As you contemplate your client's requirements, you browse through materials for PC to UNIX connectivity. Everything requires third-party software on the PC including PC versions of NFS, PC Interface, PC TCP/IP, Line Print Daemon (LPD), and Line Print Remote (LPR). Do these products allow PC to UNIX printing, UNIX to PC printing, file sharing, and login controls?

A simple way to provide these capabilities is Advanced File and Print Server (AFPS) from SCO. AFPS is NT networking code ported to UNIX by AT&T, the company that created UNIX in the late '60s. SCO AFPS provides PC access to UNIX for file sharing, printing from Windows to UNIX printers, and printing from UNIX to Windows printers. AFPS provides NetBIOS networking over TCP/IP and NetBEUI on an Ethernet or Token-Ring adapter. Your SCO machine will appear as a network peer when you select Network Neighborhood on your Windows 95 or NT 4.0 machine. The SCO machine also will appear when you connect to shares on Win3.1 or NT 3.51 using File Manager.

On the SCO side, the OS must be version 5 (3.2V5.0 or later) with networking (Open Server Enterprise). To determine the OS version, log on as root (the equivalent of Administrator) and run the uname -X command. Remember that all UNIX commands and filenames are case sensitive. Look for the line that says Release =. If it shows Release = 3.2v5.0.0 or 3.2v.5.0.2 or a later version, you have a version that will run with AFPS. You must also have TCP/IP configured and operational before you install AFPS.

You can deploy AFPS as the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) in a network comprising other AFPS machines, NT Servers, LAN Manager for UNIX computers, or LAN manager for OS/2 servers. AFPS can serve as a Backup Domain Controller (BDC) to other AFPS computers or NT servers. AFPS cannot function as a standalone server; it must operate as a PDC or BDC. Clients for AFPS include Win95, NT 3.51 and 4.0, Windows for Workgroups (WFW) 3.11, Win3.1, DOS, OS/2, and LAN Manager Client.

AFPS does not support Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), although a release due out later this year will support these technologies. AFPS includes the NT Server Tools for managing the NT Domain including User Manager for Domains, Server Manager, and Event Viewer. These tools are available in a share from the SCO machine, and you can install them on a client system (they do not run on UNIX). Screen 1 shows the Server Manager, which manages services on the SCO AFPS Server.

Installing AFPS
Installing AFPS is straightforward. The distribution medium is a CD-ROM. You must log on as root, which you can do through the SCO GUI or from a character-based program, scoadmin. You can access 12 logon sessions from the console, and the GUI is available on session 2. Press Ctrl+Alt+F2 to start session 2. The GUI operation will be natural for most Windows users. Be aware this environment is Motif, not Windows. They are not exactly the same. When you log on, you will see a small window with the options Continue my last session and Start a new session. To avoid resetting previous window settings to defaults, choose Continue and click OK.

Double-click the Software Manager icon to run the software install function. Click Software, and then click Install New. A pop-up window lets you install AFPS from the current host or a remote host. The current host is the default; click Continue. A pop-up window inquires about the installation media. Click on the drop-down box and select CD-ROM (if SCSI, SCSI CD-ROM will display). The system will then search the CD-ROM for available software. Click SCO Advanced Print and File Server from the product list, and click Full installation. You will see a prompt for license information. This entry is case sensitive, and the information can consist of both upper and lower case. Be sure to enter the license information exactly as it is printed on the Certificate of License and Authentication.

As the installation progresses, the system will prompt you for Advanced Server name (default is SCO system name), Server role (PDC, if no PDC is available), Server locale (new option for English, French, or German), PDC's Advanced Server name (not applicable if you're installing PDC), domain name (default DOMAIN), and administrative password (which can be the same as the root password).

The installation will relink the UNIX kernel. Device drivers are linked into the kernel at this point. Reboot the system when installation is complete, and bring the system to multiuser mode. You are now ready to use AFPS.

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