Hints & Tips, FAQs and Troubleshooting

This page will be updated with more information as it is available.

Hints & Tips:

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  • This page refers to the Novell Netware Logins Wizard v1.21 or later.  If you are not running the latest version, then download it first and use it.  This website is the best place to get the Wizard.
  • Before you start, thoroughly read all of the documentation, including this webpage.
  • Use the fastest PC you have to run the Wizard, and avoid running other applications while the Wizard is running.
  • After you export student details from OASIS, and before you run Step 2 of the Wizard, take some time to check the SCHOOL.TXT file on the floppy disk to check for missing or poorly entered data in OASIS.  You can open the SCHOOl.TXT file using Notepad.  Common problems include:
    • Missing fields in the data - eg. no scholastic year or no given name
    • Badly entered given names such as "Gordon (Gordy)".  This will result in poorly named login names.  In the Student Information section of OASIS, there is a Given name field and a Preferred name field.  In the previous example, "Gordon" should be entered in the Given name and "Gordy" in the Preferred name field.  The W2K Logins Wizard always reads the Preferred name field.
  • As you work through the Steps in the Wizard, stop after Step 2 and verify the details in the Excel spreadsheet of accounts (accounts.csv file if SYS:PUBLIC\WIZARD).  Look for anything strange in the Login Account names the Wizard has defined.
  • When running Step 3, the Novell utility called UIMPORT will be used.  UIMPORT is a DOS program and has been known to not complete its task on every occasion.  Step 3 is NOT a step where you should walk away - it needs careful attention.  Step 3 will run the UIMPORT command once for every scholastic year selected.  Once started and after displaying one screenful of information, it will stop and prompt for action by the user.  Press C for continuous, but WATCH the screen!  You must verify that UIMPORT completes ALL accounts in a year before it moves onto the next year.  If you see that UIMPORT did not complete all student accounts in a year, run Step 3 again until it does create ALL the defined accounts.  There is no harm in running Step 3 multiple times.  Stop after Step 3 and open NW Admin (or ConsoleOne) to verify all accounts have been created in each OU as desired before continuing with Step 4.  To totally avoid this problem, run the Wizard from a Windows 98 PC - otherwise, keep your eyes open.
  • If you had a problem during Step 3, DO NOT continue with Steps 4 and 5 - it makes no sense to do so.  Check the Troubleshooting section below for more help.
  • After you have created your student accounts with the Wizard successfully, you should implement "Contextless Logins" on ALL your workstations by downloading the Contextless Logins registry patch and DLL and installing them onto each PC.  The download is available on Wizard webpage and is graciously provided by Dave Smith and Mt Druitt District Office.
  • If you wish to use the Wizard in conjunction with EduWeb, i.e. using the EduWeb Rights Utility, then it is best if you create your user logins in the same timeframe, rather than weeks or months later.
  • The EduWeb Rights Utility is designed to ONLY be run ONCE per year.  You cannot use it throughout the year to add EduWeb rights for new students that enrol part-way through the year.  These have to be done manually.  If you do run this utility more than once you are likely to damage the EWSHRTCT.DAT file, an important part of EduWeb.  It is recommended that before you run the EduWeb Rights Utility that you make a backup copy of the EWSHRTCT.DAT file.
Frequently Asked Questions:

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  • My school already has manually created individual logins for the senior years. Can we use the Wizard to create accounts for the junior years only?
    Absolutely! Just select the years you'd like accounts for and make sure you create the necessary OUs and User Templates.  But in future years, you'll only be able to manage those years' accounts using the Wizard.  The senior years will always have to be managed manually.  That's why it's always recommended to wipe all existing student accounts and recreate accounts for all students using the Wizard.
  • Previously, we created our accounts in OUs named after the year they arrived at the school.  Will the Wizard work this way?
    No.  The Wizard has been setup to create student accounts in OUs named after the year they are expected to leave the school. 
  • We would like to create student accounts in the form initial then surname - eg. Stuart Hasic would have an account name of shasic.  Is this possible?
    No. The Wizard offers three different formats for SAM account name.  You must choose one of those.
  • Will the Wizard automatically truncate account names and home folders to 8 characters?
    No, this is not necessary with the Wizard, it can create both account names and home directories with names longer than 8 characters.  The 8 character restriction is an old DOS restriction which no longer needs to apply.
  • Does the Volume Restriction apply only to each student's home folder?
    No.  It applies to the entire volume where the home folders are stored.  In other words, if students have their home folders and the EduWeb system on the same Netware volume, then the volume restriction (say 10MB) will restrict the total volume of files students can create or store in both locations combined to 10MB.
Troubleshooting:

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  • When attempting to create the USER_TEMPLATE in the student OUs, I find there is no Template object in Netware Admin on Netware 4.11.  Why not?
    The NWDMIN Schema has not been added to Netware Admin.  To solve this, go to the DOS Prompt at a workstation, change to the SYSTEM\SCHEMA folder on the SYS volume (usually F:) and run the command at the F:\SYSTEM\SCHEMA> prompt:
    F:\SYSTEM\SCHEMA>F:\PUBLIC\NDSSCH  NWADMIN.SCH
    Then run NWADMN32 again and the Template object should be available.
  • When Step 1 runs, the black (DOS) screen displays error messages.  What's happening?
    It is imperative that the Wizard is run from the \PUBLIC\WIZARD folder.  In other words, the drive letter where you run the Wizard from must be mapped to the Root of the SYS: volume.  If you open My Computer, you must be able to see a drive letter representing the SYS: volume.  When you open that, there must be a folder called PUBLIC and inside that a folder called WIZARD.  If this is not the case, then sort out your drive mappings first.  It is also essential that you have a Search Mapping to SYS:PUBLIC.  Again, in My Computer, there must be a drive letter, usually X:, Y: or Z: mapped to SYS:PUBLIC - but do NOT run the Wizard from this drive.
  • While Step 2 is starting, an Error Code 62 or 5 is displayed.  What's this mean?
    It usually means a problem in your OASIS data.  You either did not export the file (SCHOOL.TXT) correctly by not following the steps exactly, or there is data missing such as a given (preferred) name or a scholastic year.
  • During Step 2, an Error Code 64 is displayed.  What's that?
    Error 64 usually means your floppy diskette or the floppy drive in your workstation is faulty.  Make a new Wizard diskette and start again or try from another PC.
  • I have run the Wizard for the second year and asked it to remove the Login Accounts for students that have left the school.  It did this successfully, but it did not delete their home folder.  Why not?
    It was decided during development that deleting the home folders of students that have left is a simple task and should be performed by the network administrator.  This way, the folders can be checked first for important documents or other files belonging to the student, which they may ask for in the future.
  • When running the EduWeb Rights Utility, an error occurs after the Set Rights button has been clicked.  What might this be?
    If you unsuccessfully ran the EduWeb Rights Utility once, then this error might occur.  The utility will attempt to backup the EWSHRTCT.DAT file to a file called EWSHRTCT.ORG.  If the .ORG file already exists when you try to run the Rights Utility again, an error will occur.  The solution involves replacing the EWSHRTCT.DAT file with your backup original copy and deleting the EWSHRTCT.ORG file then trying again.

Any comments you may have about this Wizard and how you found using it would be most appreciated.  Please forward them to stu_hasic@yahoo.com

(c) 2002-2004 by Stuart Hasic