NetWare Login Script Notes
Some notes on NetWare Login Scripts. Login script documentation is here.
Quick Notes
- The @ symbol for running programs (eg, @nal.exe) asynchronously doesn't work on DOS and produces a LOGIN-4.13-600 error if it is present in the login script even if the line isn't executed. This error doesn't cause the script to fail.
Workstation Variables
These are the values for the workstation variables for various operating system and client combinations. Useful for figuring out what operating system a user is logging into and mapping the appropriate drives.
In all cases the NetWare Server version is 4.11 SP9. For OS/2 version 1.30.2 a copy of login.exe was used from NetWare 3.12 as the NetWare 4.11 version does not support that client. For OS/2 v2.0 the login.exe bundled with the client was used for the same reason.
| Variable | ||||||||||
| Operating System | Client | OS | OS_VERSION | PLATFORM | WINVER | NETWARE_REQUESTER | SHELL_TYPE | SHELL_VERSION | MACHINE | SMACHINE |
| MS-DOS and Windows 3.x | ||||||||||
| MS-DOS 6.22 | NETX 3.32 PTF (941122) | MSDOS | V6.22 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER |  |
V3.32A | V3.32A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| MS-DOS 6.22 | VLM 1.21 | MSDOS | V6.22 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | V1.21 | V4.21A | V4.21A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| MS-DOS 6.22 | Client32 2.71 | MSDOS | V6.22 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | V32.00 | V5.00A | V5.00A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| Win 3.1, MS-DOS 6.22 | Client32 2.71 | MSDOS | V6.22 | WIN | V3.10 | V32.00 | V5.00A | V5.00A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| WFW 3.11, MS-DOS 6.22 | Client32 2.11 | MSDOS | V6.22 | WIN | %WINVER | V32.00 | V5.00A | V5.00A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| WFW 3.11, MS-DOS 6.22 | Client32 2.71 | MSDOS | V6.22 | WIN | V3.10 | V32.00 | V5.00A | V5.00A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| DR-DOS | ||||||||||
| Novell DOS 7 | VLM 1.1 | NWDOS | V7.00 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | V1.10 | V4.10A | V4.10A | IBM_PC | IBM |
| Windows 9x, Novell Client | ||||||||||
| 95 RTM | 2.11 | WIN95 | V4.00 | W95 | %WINVER | V1.01 | V1.01 | V1.01 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| 95 RTM | 2.50 | WIN95 | V4.00 | W95 | 4.00.950 | V2.50 | V2.50 | V2.50 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| 95 SP1 | 3.4C | WIN95 | V4.00 | W95 | 4.00.950a | V3.40 | V3.40 | V3.40 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| 98 SE | 3.4C | WIN98 | V4.10 | W98 | 4.10.2222 A | V3.40 | V3.40 | V3.40 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| ME | 3.4C | WIN98 | V4.90 | W98 | 4.90.3000 | V3.40 | V3.40 | V3.40 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| Windows 9x, Microsoft Client | ||||||||||
| 95 RTM | MSDOS | V7.00 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | %NETWARE_REQUESTER | V4.20 | V4.20 | IBM_PC | IBM | |
| 98 SE | MSDOS | V7.10 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | %NETWARE_REQUESTER | V4.20 | V4.20 | IBM_PC | IBM | |
| ME | MSDOS | V7.10 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | %NETWARE_REQUESTER | V4.20 | V4.20 | IBM_PC | IBM | |
| Windows NT, Novell Client | ||||||||||
| Workstation 3.51 | 4.11b | WINNT | V3.51 | WNT | 3.51.0057 1057 | v4.00a | v4.00a | v4.00a | IBM_PC | IBM |
| Workstation 4.0 SP6a SRP | 4.90 | WINNT | V4.00 | WNT | 4.0.1381 Service Pack 6 | v4.90.0 | v4.90.0 | v4.90.0 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| 2000 Professional SP4 Update Rollup 1 | 4.91 SP5 | WINNT | V5.00 | WNT | 5.0.2195 Service Pack 4 | v5.91.5 | v4.91.5.20080922 | v4.91.5.20080922 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| XP Professional SP3 | 4.91 SP5 IR2 | WINNT | V5.01 | WNT | 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 | v4.91.5 | v4.91.5.20130725 | v4.91.5.20130725 | IBM_PC | IBM |
| Windows NT, Microsoft Client | ||||||||||
| Workstation 4.0 | V5.00 | V5.00 | %%PLATFORM | %%WINVER | V1.20 | V3.26A | V3.26A | IBM_PC | IBM | |
| Windows 2000 Professional SP4 Update Rollup 1 | V5.00 | V5.00 | %%PLATFORM | %%WINVER | V1.20 | V3.26A | V3.26A | IBM_PC | IBM | |
| Windows XP Professional RTM | %%PLATFORM | %%WINVER | V1.20 | V3.26A | V3.26A | |||||
| OS/2 | ||||||||||
| IBM 1.30.2 | 1.3 NSD004 | OS2 | v10.30 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER |  |
%SHELL_TYPE | %SHELL_VERSION | ||
| 2.0 | 2.01 | OS2 | V2.0 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | v2.01a | ||||
| 2.1 | 2.12 (unsure if PT2) | OS2 | V2.1 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | v2.12a | ||||
| Warp 3 | 2.12 PT2 | OS2 | V2.3 | %PLATFORM | %WINVER | v2.12a | ||||
| Warp 4 | 2.12 PT2 | OS2 | V2.4 | %PLATFORM | v2.12a | |||||
Data was collected with the following login script:
write "OS %OS version %OS_VERSION platform %PLATFORM"
write "Winver %WINVER"
write "NetWare requester %NETWARE_REQUESTER"
write "Shell type %SHELL_TYPE version %SHELL_VERSION"
write "Machine %MACHINE short %SMACHINE"
map display off
map *1:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:
map S1:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:PUBLIC
; These are the default maps for OS2 - required otherwise you can't logout
map E:=SYS:
map L:=SYS:LOGIN
map P:=SYS:PUBLIC
pause
Default Login Script
The default login script (for users with no login script) is something like this:
MAP DISPLAY OFF
MAP ERRORS OFF
MAP *1:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:
MAP *1:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:%LOGIN_NAME
IF "%LOGIN_NAME"="SUPERVIS" OR "%LOGIN_NAME"="ADMIN" THEN MAP *1:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:SYSTEM
; On OS/2 only:
map l:=SYS:LOGIN
map p:=sys:public
; On DOS/Windows only:
MAP INS S1:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:PUBLIC
MAP INS S2:=%FILE_SERVER\SYS:PUBLIC\%MACHINE\%OS\%OS_VERSION
MAP DISPLAY ON
MAP
On OS/2 the following ends up being mapped by default. At least SYS:PUBLIC seems to be needed to make the logout command available:
MAP E:=SYS:
MAP L:=SYS:LOGIN
MAP P:=SYS:PUBLIC
My current Login Script
This login script tries to:
- Detect operating system and what APIs are available (dos, win16, win32, os2)
- Detect if you are using a proper Novell client or not
- Map drives containing apps for the available APIs (one drive for Win16 apps, one drive for Win32 apps, another for OS/2, etc)
- Run the Novell Application Launcher on Win16 or NT 3.x systems or the Novell Application Explorer on Win32 systems if logging in using a Novell client rather than a Microsoft one
And it takes the following parameters (up to four can be supplied in any order via login screen variables):
- pause - pause at the end of the login script
- phasers - makes a noise at the end of the login script
- skipnal - don't run the Novell Application Launcher
- skipwland - don't run the Seagate WinLAND agent
- nalwindow - use the NAL Window rather than Novell Application Explorer if on a platform that supports NAL
- Platform detection overrides:
- plat_os2 - OS/2 2.0+
- plat_dos - DOS
- plat_win3 - Windows 3.x
- plat_nt3_nov - Windows NT 3.x with a Novell client (supports NAL)
- plat_nt3_ms - Windows NT 3.x with a Microsoft client (no NAL)
- plat_win32_nov - Windows 9x or NT4.0+ with a Novell client (supports NAL)
- plat_win32_ms - Windows 9x or NT4.0+ with a Microsoft client (no NAL)
You can see the full script here and a table of the drives it maps here
Disclaimer & Comments
I'm not a netware expert, don't have any of those fancy novell certifications and have never administred a netware network; I've just played with it at home occasionally since 2004 or so. Email me if you've got any suggestsions or corrections for this page or any extra information you think is worth including here. My address is david at this websites domain name (without the www bit of course).