Network Computingwww.networkcomputing.com

By Tom Yager

There are few issues about which Unix users feel more strongly than Microsoft operating systems. Nobody can bash Windows like a Unix-head; technically, Unix has it all over these highly successful, masterfully marketed commodity environments. If that sounds like a left-handed compliment, it is: Unix, as much as it delights us all, will never be the desktop OS of choice. Because of this, few Unix system administrators in organizations of any size will escape integration o f Windows, Windows 95, and Windows NT hosts into their TCP/IP LANs.

Despite the rhetoric, integrating Windows clients isn't all plug-and-play. For the next few months, I'll try to make the road to integration easier for you by describing the steps and issues associated with bringing various versions of Windows into your TCP/IP-based LAN. At least then you can say you didn't read any Microsoft manuals...

This month I'll integrating an Windows 95 host into a LAN. Windows 95, unlike its predecessor (Windows 3.11, a.k.a. Windows for Workgroups) includes TCP/IP. The protocol stack is pretty respectable; I've been running it for several months and I haven't had any serious trouble. The performance is good, too.

Second Rate?

Windows 95 isn't quite a full-fledged TCP/IP implementation. For instance, NFS is not included, but you do get a decent collection of networking utilities. Here's a list of the TCP/IP applications included with Windows 95:

ar p

Display and modify IP address-to-Ethernet address mappings

ftp

File transfer client

nbstat

Display protocol statistics for NetBIOS over TCP/IP

netstat

TCP/IP statistics and connections

ping

Verify ability to reach remote hosts

route

Modify and report on routing tables

tracert

Show the route to a specific host

These commands all behave just like, or close to, their same-named Unix counterparts. You'll notice these are all clients; no servers are included. A Windows 95 host will respond to ping run from another host, but all other requests are refused. It's likely you'll at least want to run an FTP server to make the system a more equal partner. Surprisingly, there are sharewa re and freeware server daemons available to cover many familiar protocols and services. These include:

You can find these and other servers on http://www.windows95.com/apps/servers.html . If you're more inclined toward the stability and supportability of commercial applications, you still have plenty of options. One I've been working with lately is Netmanage's (www.netmanage.com) popular Chameleon TCP/IP suite. This includes both clients and servers for SMTP, FTP, HTTP and BIND. Also, the quality of many of the clients is superior to the Windows 95 standard offerings. Windows 95's Telnet client, for example, provides only the most basic functionality. Chameleon's counterpart is far more versatile and configurable.

If someone wants to run an HTTP server on a Windows 95 machine, the Personal Web Server included with Chameleon probably won't cut it. You can find Alibaba and Fnord HTTP servers on www.windows95.com; they're both freeware/shareware, and Fnord comes with source code. O'Reilly's WebSite server is drawing raves. It's even inspiring a bit of Windows envy amongst tired Unix administrators who'd like a simpler way to administer their Web sites.

Making the LAN Link

Networking is standard with Windows 95, more so than in previous Microsoft desktop operating systems. The product includes support for lots of LAN adapters. What you don't find in Windows 95 will certainly be on the card vendor's drivers disk or their Web site or BBS. That's one advantage of running Windows 95: everyone has to support it.

The first thing you need to know is that the documentation included with Windows 95, both printed and hypertext, is useless for administrators. Even if you're only configuring one machine, you need Microsoft's Windows 95 Resource Kit ( Microsoft Press , ISBN 1-55615-678-2). This is the manual they'd have included with Windows 95 if retailers didn't freak out over the extra weight and cost. This is about 1350 pages of everything you wanted to know about Windows 95, with a few exceptions. It seems the Resource Kit was printed before Windows 95 was fully in the can, so some procedures--like TCP/IP network configuration--aren't covered as well as they could be.

But that's why I'm here. Let's run through the process step-by-step. But first, a pointer to something that might catch you off-guard: Windows 95 supports multiple network interfaces, but it will not route between them. Micr osoft left this tidbit out to keep Windows 95 from competing with Windows NT. If you want to route with Windows 95, skip Microsoft's TCP/IP protocol stack and run the one from Netmanage instead.

Note: Windows 95's SLIP/PPP capabilities will be covered in a future column. The procedure detailed below covers only LAN connections.

About the famed (and defamed) Start menu: most everything you do with Windows 95 starts here, or with an icon on the desktop called ``My Computer.'' I won't teach you the finer points of driving the Windows 95 user interface. I will, however, guide you through the cascading menu trees that line your path to TCP/IP configuration.

The first step is to get your network card installed. Most PC network adapters are software-configurable through a DOS utility. I've been able to run them in a Windows 95 DOS dialog box (Start->Programs->MS-DOS Prompt) . To be safe, you should probably run them from DOS. You can boot DOS any time. Just reboo t the machine and press F8 right after you see ``Starting Windows 95...'' A menu of startup options will appear. Select #6, ``Command prompt only.'' This is DOS, and it's safe to run your network card, EISA configuration and other essential utilities from here. When you're finished, type "exit" to relaunch Windows 95.

In my experience, Plug 'n' Play doesn't. This is supposed to be a standard that allows adapters to configure themselves to non -conflicting settings. I paid extra for a Plug 'n' Play Ethernet card, fought with it for about four hours, then moved a jumper to make it a boring old software-configurable card. Maybe it'll be fun when they get the kinks worked out. For now, do it yourself. Then write down the settings that pass diagnostics.

Bring up the Start menu, then select Settings, then Control Panel (Start->Settings->Control Panel) . Find the Network icon and double-click it. If no network options are configured, you'll get a bl ank list box with an Add button under it. A network may be configured. If Windows 95 finds a compatible network adapter during installation, it will configure itself for it and load IPX/SPX (Netware) and NetBEUI (Microsoft) networking services.

If you don't see an adapter card in the list box, click Add, then double-click the Adapter icon . You'll see a list of manufacturers on the left, and cards on the right. Look for your card's manufacturer, or the name of the manufacturer of the card with which yours is compatible.

If your card isn't on the list, check the card's documentation to see if a Windows 95 driver is included. If it is, click ``Have Disk'' and enter the directory containing the driver in the dialog box.

Windows 95 will return you to the Network dialog; the adapter you just selected will appear in the list box. Double-click on the adapter's icon, then select the Resources tab. Enter the card's IRQ, I/O port, and memory address (if applicable ). If Windows 95 puts an asterisk next to any of these settings it means some currently-configured device is using the marked setting. It may be that the card you're setting up is already configured. If you suspect that's so, just ignore the warning and configure the card. Otherwise you'll need to reboot and run the card's DOS configuration program.

Windows NT supports multiple simultaneous protocols. The standard installation presumes you're running on either a Microsoft (Windows NT, LAN Manager, Windows for Workgroups/Windows 95 peer-to-peer) or Novell Netware LAN. If you're just running TCP/IP, you'll want to remove those superfluous protocols. But not yet; if you remove them both now, Windows 95 may remove your LAN adapter because it has no protocols bound to it.

To add TCP/IP to your LAN adapter's bound protocol list, click Add, then double-click the Protocol icon . When you double-click on ``TCP/IP'' it will be added to the list box. Now you can delete the IPX/SPX and NETBEUI protocols if you're sure you're not using them.

Most of Windows 95's TCP/IP configuration is graphical. Double-click ``TCP/IP'' in the Network Configuration list box to pop up the Properties dialog box. This is a tabbed dialog box that contains several subdialogs. Just click on the tab named for the dialog you want to view.

The first tab you'll click is labeled ``Specify an IP address'' . Here you'll enter the IP address and subnet mask of the host you're configuring. The option ``Obtain an IP address automatically'' works if you're running a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server or hooking this host to a PPP LAN.

Click the Gateway tab to enter the default gateway IP as depicted here . You can add several gateways; they'll be tried in the order they're listed.

The DNS tab lets you define the name servers for your domain(s) as shown . It's here that you'll identify th is system's name and domain. As with gateways, you can configure multiple DNS servers and multiple default domain suffixes.

After you've gone through this, click ``OK'' in the main Network dialog. You may be asked to mount the Windows 95 CD-ROM; if TCP/IP hasn't run here before, it isn't loaded. After the software's loaded, you'll be asked if you want to reboot.

You do. When the system comes back, it should be running TCP/IP. Open up a DOS dialog box (Start->Programs->MS-DOS Prompt) and ``ping'' a remote host by name. If it works, you're in business. If it doesn't, the likely culprit is network-card configuration.

Windows 95 knows whether the card is working. Click the right mouse button over the My Computer icon on the desktop and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Click the Device Manager tab on the dialog that appears. Check under Network Adapters (click on the plus sign to open that part of the device tree). If the adapter is running, it will show a healthy-looking green circuit card. If Windows 95 couldn't initialize the adapter it will be wearing an ugly yellow circle with an exclamation point in it. Try changing the card's hardware settings. Remember to use Control Panel to match the software to those settings if you change them.

The Rate of Exchange

Windows 95 includes a pretty cool e-mail client called Exchange. It handles multiple MIME attachments and automatically decodes and displays rich-text messages. For intranets, Exchange is a boon: users will love the ability to send formatted messages to each other. For outsiders without rich-text capabilities (read that: everyone not running Windows 95) Exchange includes an ASCII version of the message.

You may not have Exchange running on your system. If you're in doubt, pull up a list of installed applications: Start->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Windows Setup . If you don't see a checkbox next to Microsoft Exchange, check it, then click O K. Mount the Windows 95 CD-ROM and wait a few seconds.

When Exchange loads it doesn't know anything about TCP/IP. You need to tell it, but it's all automated. Use Start->Programs->Accessories->Internet Tools->Internet Setup Wizard . (Feeling nearly cascaded->to->death yet?)

The Internet Setup Wizard will ask you some questions you've already answered, and one you haven't: whether you'd like to use Internet mail with Exchange. You can give that one the big yes, then move on to inform Exchange of your user's e-mail address and POP3 mail server host name.

Once Exchange knows about TCP/IP, you can configure its parameters through Start->Settings->Control Panel->Mail and Fax . Double-click Internet Mail and you'll see the dialog box as shown . Parameters including the POP3 user name and password are found here.

When launched, Exchange will automatically reach across the LAN to pull in new messages. It automatically deletes them from the Unix mail file after transfer so running Exchange is a bad idea for anyone who wants to do a non-destructive read from a remote machine. Tell them to use the Telnet client instead, or a mail reader that offers the option of leaving the mail on the server.

Outgoing e-mail is queued for your LAN's SMTP server. If it's reachable, Exchange will send the message immediately. I've grown quite fond of Exchange; it's now my standard e-mail program. My editor, Becca Thomas, gets oddly-formatted messages sometimes. My colleagues on other systems don't complain, but you might check your MIME, rich text and character set options (within Exchange) to make sure they're compatible with remote readers. You can set message formatting options differently for each address. Exchange's address book has lots of fields for additional information. Exchange also endears itself to overworked users by acting as a combined repository for e-mail and fax traffic. Outgoing faxes, if you 're using the fax software built into Windows 95, are filed along with e-mail and distinguished in the outbox list by an icon. Incoming faxes, if the system has a local fax machine, are listed in Exchange's inbox.

E-mail and faxes are composed the same way. A message editor is part of Exchange. You can also format your message with most Windows applications. When Exchange is loaded, a Send option appears on the File menu of most Windows 95 programs. This will mail the current document to a selected address.

Why Hate?

My Unix friends sneer at me for running Windows on my desktop. As a freelance technical writer, I have the perfect excuse. ``Gee, fellas, I have to use it. It's what all the magazines want me to write about.'' That's true, but even given a choice, I can't help but be intrigued by this technology. Enhanced with the wealth of tools available on the Internet and through talented software writers like O'Reilly and Associates , Mortice Kern Systems Inc. , and Netmanage , Windows 95 and Windows NT become more palatable.

Next month I'll examine Windows 95's standard PPP/SLIP support. You'll find out what's wrong with it, how to fix it, and the easy way to configure systems to dial the Internet. Until then, thanks for reading.