Chapter 22. Advanced Network Management

Chapter 22. Advanced Network Management
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John H. Terpstra

Samba Team

<jht@samba.org>

April 3 2003

Table of Contents

Features and Benefits

Remote Server Administration

Remote Desktop Management

Remote Management from NoMachine.Com

Network Logon Script Magic

Adding Printers without User Intervention

+This section documents peripheral issues that are of great importance to network +administrators who want to improve network resource access control, to automate the user +environment and to make their lives a little easier. +

Features and Benefits

+Often the difference between a working network environment and a well appreciated one can +best be measured by the little things that make everything work more +harmoniously. A key part of every network environment solution is the +ability to remotely +manage MS Windows workstations, remotely access the Samba server, provide customized +logon scripts, as well as other housekeeping activities that help to sustain more reliable +network operations. +

+This chapter presents information on each of these areas. They are placed here, and not in +other chapters, for ease of reference. +

Remote Server Administration

“How do I get `User Manager' and `Server Manager'?”

+ + + +Since I do not need to buy an NT4 Server, how do I get the `User Manager for Domains' +and the `Server Manager'? +

+ +Microsoft distributes a version of these tools called Nexus.exe for installation +on Windows 9x/Me systems. The tools set includes: +

Server Manager
User Manager for Domains
Event Viewer

+Download the archived file at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/NEXUS.EXE. +

+ +The Windows NT 4.0 version of the `User Manager for +Domains' and `Server Manager' are available from Microsoft via ftp. +

Remote Desktop Management

+There are a number of possible remote desktop management solutions that range from free +through costly. Do not let that put you off. Sometimes the most costly solution is the +most cost effective. In any case, you will need to draw your own conclusions as to which +is the best tool in your network environment. +

Remote Management from NoMachine.Com

+ + The following information was posted to the Samba mailing list at Apr 3 23:33:50 GMT 2003. + It is presented in slightly edited form (with author details omitted for privacy reasons). + The entire answer is reproduced below with some comments removed. +

“ + I have a wonderful Linux/Samba server running as pdc for a network. Now I would like to add remote + desktop capabilities so users outside could login to the system and get their desktop up from home or + another country. + ”

“ + Is there a way to accomplish this? Do I need a Windows Terminal Server? Do I need to configure it so + it is a member of the domain or a BDC,PDC? Are there any hacks for MS Windows XP to enable remote login + even if the computer is in a domain? + ”

+ Answer provided: Check out the new offer from NoMachine, “NX” software: + http://www.nomachine.com/. +

+ It implements an easy-to-use interface to the Remote X protocol as + well as incorporating VNC/RFB and rdesktop/RDP into it, but at a speed + performance much better than anything you may have ever seen. +

+ Remote X is not new at all, but what they did achieve successfully is + a new way of compression and caching technologies that makes the thing + fast enough to run even over slow modem/ISDN connections. +

+ I could test drive their (public) Red Hat machine in Italy, over a loaded + Internet connection, with enabled thumbnail previews in KDE konqueror + which popped up immediately on “mouse-over”. From inside that (remote X) + session I started a rdesktop session on another, a Windows XP machine. + To test the performance, I played Pinball. I am proud to announce + that my score was 631750 points at first try. +

+ NX performs better on my local LAN than any of the other “pure” + connection methods I am using from time to time: TightVNC, rdesktop or + Remote X. It is even faster than a direct crosslink connection between + two nodes. +

+ I even got sound playing from the Remote X app to my local boxes, and + had a working “copy'n'paste” from an NX window (running a KDE session + in Italy) to my Mozilla mailing agent. These guys are certainly doing + something right! +

+ I recommend to test drive NX to anybody with a only a passing interest in remote computing + http://www.nomachine.com/testdrive.php. +

+ Just download the free of charge client software (available for Red Hat, + SuSE, Debian and Windows) and be up and running within five minutes (they + need to send you your account data, though, because you are assigned + a real UNIX account on their testdrive.nomachine.com box. +

+ They plan to get to the point were you can have NX application servers + running as a cluster of nodes, and users simply start an NX session locally, + and can select applications to run transparently (apps may even run on + another NX node, but pretend to be on the same as used for initial login, + because it displays in the same window. You also can run it + fullscreen, and after a short time you forget that it is a remote session + at all). +

+ Now the best thing for last: All the core compression and caching + technologies are released under the GPL and available as source code + to anybody who wants to build on it! These technologies are working, + albeit started from the command line only (and very inconvenient to + use in order to get a fully running remote X session up and running.) +

+ To answer your questions: +

+ You do not need to install a terminal server; XP has RDP support built in. +
+ NX is much cheaper than Citrix and comparable in performance, probably faster. +
+ You do not need to hack XP it just works. +
+ You log into the XP box from remote transparently (and I think there is no + need to change anything to get a connection, even if authentication is against a domain). +
+ The NX core technologies are all Open Source and released under the GPL + you can now use a (very inconvenient) commandline at no cost, + but you can buy a comfortable (proprietary) NX GUI frontend for money. +
+ NoMachine are encouraging and offering help to OSS/Free Software implementations + for such a frontend too, even if it means competition to them (they have written + to this effect even to the LTSP, KDE and GNOME developer mailing lists). +

Network Logon Script Magic

+There are several opportunities for creating a custom network startup configuration environment. +

No Logon Script.
Simple universal Logon Script that applies to all users.
Use of a conditional Logon Script that applies per user or per group attributes.
Use of Samba's preexec and postexec functions on access to the NETLOGON share to create + a custom logon script and then execute it.
User of a tool such as KixStart.

+The Samba source code tree includes two logon script generation/execution tools. +See examples directory genlogon and +ntlogon subdirectories. +

+The following listings are from the genlogon directory. +

+ +This is the genlogon.pl file: + +

+	#!/usr/bin/perl
+	#
+	# genlogon.pl
+	#
+	# Perl script to generate user logon scripts on the fly, when users
+	# connect from a Windows client. This script should be called from 
+	# smb.conf with the %U, %G and %L parameters. I.e:
+	#
+	#       root preexec = genlogon.pl %U %G %L
+	#
+	# The script generated will perform
+	# the following:
+	#
+	# 1. Log the user connection to /var/log/samba/netlogon.log
+	# 2. Set the PC's time to the Linux server time (which is maintained
+	#    daily to the National Institute of Standard's Atomic clock on the
+	#    internet.
+	# 3. Connect the user's home drive to H: (H for Home).
+	# 4. Connect common drives that everyone uses.
+	# 5. Connect group-specific drives for certain user groups.
+	# 6. Connect user-specific drives for certain users.
+	# 7. Connect network printers.
+
+	# Log client connection
+	#($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday,$yday,$isdst) = localtime(time);
+	($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday,$yday,$isdst) = localtime(time);
+	open LOG, ">>/var/log/samba/netlogon.log";
+	print LOG "$mon/$mday/$year $hour:$min:$sec";
+	print LOG " - User $ARGV[0] logged into $ARGV[1]\n";
+	close LOG;
+
+	# Start generating logon script
+	open LOGON, ">/shared/netlogon/$ARGV[0].bat";
+	print LOGON "\@ECHO OFF\r\n";
+
+	# Connect shares just use by Software Development group
+	if ($ARGV[1] eq "SOFTDEV" || $ARGV[0] eq "softdev")
+	{
+		print LOGON "NET USE M: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\SOURCE\r\n";
+	}
+
+	# Connect shares just use by Technical Support staff
+	if ($ARGV[1] eq "SUPPORT" || $ARGV[0] eq "support")
+	{
+		print LOGON "NET USE S: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\SUPPORT\r\n";
+	}
+
+	# Connect shares just used by Administration staff
+	If ($ARGV[1] eq "ADMIN" || $ARGV[0] eq "admin")
+	{
+		print LOGON "NET USE L: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\ADMIN\r\n";
+		print LOGON "NET USE K: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\MKTING\r\n";
+	}
+
+	# Now connect Printers. We handle just two or three users a little
+	# differently, because they are the exceptions that have desktop
+	# printers on LPT1: - all other user's go to the LaserJet on the
+	# server.
+	if ($ARGV[0] eq 'jim'
+	    || $ARGV[0] eq 'yvonne')
+	{
+		print LOGON "NET USE LPT2: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\LJET3\r\n";
+		print LOGON "NET USE LPT3: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\FAXQ\r\n";
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		print LOGON "NET USE LPT1: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\LJET3\r\n";
+		print LOGON "NET USE LPT3: \\\\$ARGV[2]\\FAXQ\r\n";
+	}
+
+	# All done! Close the output file.
+	close LOGON;
+

+Those wishing to use more elaborate or capable logon processing system should check out these sites: +

http://www.craigelachi.e.org/rhacer/ntlogon
http://www.kixtart.org

Adding Printers without User Intervention

+ +Printers may be added automatically during logon script processing through the use of: + +

+C:\> rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /?
+

+ +See the documentation in the Microsoft knowledgebase article 189105. +

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