Quick Start Guide for DiskAccess

This document is used as a step-by-step guide to get DiskAccess running. It is written from a support analyst’s point of view and deals primarily with the necessary steps to get DiskAccess ready for a typical workflow.

Additional Support Documents can be found in the Support subdirectory of the DiskAccess product directory. For detailed information regarding DiskAccess configuration for Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows 9X, see DA_NT_basics.doc and DA_W9x_basic.doc, respectively.

DiskAccess is a NFS client and runs on Windows NT, Windows 2000/XP, Windows 98. It is dependent on the Microsoft TCPIP Protocol. DiskAccess allows you to establish NFS connections to all NFS servers.

The steps below take you through a typical scenario for configuring and establishing an NFS connection with DiskAccess.

1. Verify that you are running a supported operating system.

DiskAccess Operating System:

2. Verify the Unix-to-PC and PC-To-Unix network connectivity.

What is the hostname of the NFS Server?

What is the hostname of the PC?

NOTE

To obtain the PC hostname from Windows NT or Windows 2000/XP, use the DOS key in command, ipconfig /all. On W98 or W95 use the DOS key in command, winipcfg.

a. Sitting at the PC DOS prompt, can you successfully ping the Unix hostname, do NOT use the IP Address? Yes or No.

CAUTION

If you’re using DNS, the fully qualified domain name can be used when testing network connectivity, however, NFS connections will require the FQN too.

b. Sitting at the Unix box (or a telnet window), can you successfully ping the PC hostname? Yes or No.

NOTE

You are NOT ready to connect to NFS drives or configure DiskAccess until the Unix machine can successfully ping the PC hostname and the PC can successfully ping the Unix hostname.

3. Verify that all of the necessary NFS Server programs are running.

Select Start-Programs- DiskAccess-RPC Information, accept the defaults in the dialog, key in the NFS Server hostname and select Apply.

Another dialog displays providing the registered programs on the current NFS server. Verify that the following programs are registered and running:

PORTMAPPER
NFS
MOUNTD
PCNFSD (optional, used for authentication or for printing purposes only)

NOTE

DiskAccess will encounter problems if these NFS services are not present. Contact your Unix Administrator if you get an error message similar to “Portmapper Failure” or if these services are not ready and running on the NFS Server.

4. Verify that there are exported directories or shared resources from your NFS Server.

Select Start-Programs-DiskAccess-Showmounts. Accept the defaults in the dialog, key in the NFS Server hostname, select Apply, and another dialog should appear displaying the exported directories. Record an NFS export that is available to "everyone" or to the PC hostname that DiskAccess is loaded on.

5. Authenticate from DiskAccess Configuration Dialog.

Access to NFS resources is controlled by it’s IP Address, User ID (UID), and Group ID (GID). The process of acquiring a UID/GID pair for a non-UNIX NFS client is known as authentication. There are two methods of authentication: a Unix server running the PCNFSD service and an NIS Domain.

Notes

DiskAccess on Windows NT and Windows 2000/XP delivers 2 similar NFS configuration dialogs. One affects NFS settings for DiskAccess Clients and the other affects NFS settings for Local System. See details below for more information.

The Control Panel – DiskAccess Property dialog affects settings for NFS mounts for the current logged in Windows user.

The Start-Programs-DiskAccess – Administrator Utility dialog allows you to modify settings for the Local System. These settings have no effect on NFS client connections.

It is recommended that you successfully authenticate from the Control Panel DiskAccess icon before establishing any NFS connections.

Follow the steps below to authenticate from the DiskAccess configuration dialog.

a. Select Control Panel-DiskAccess. The DiskAccess Property Sheet Dialog displays.

b. Specify your method of authentication. Key in your NFS Server hostname that is running PCNFSD or key in your NIS Domain name. (You must also know the NIS Domain Server if the Unix server containing the NIS master password file is on a different LAN than the DiskAccess machine.)

c. Key in a valid username and password that reside on the PCNFSD Server or that is in the NIS Domain.

d. Another dialog displays indicating a successful or unsuccessful authentication; it responds with a UID/GID pair, also known as NFS credentials.

A successful NFS Login or authentication returns a specific UID/GID pair. These NFS credentials (or UID/GID) determine permissions when accessing NFS resources.
A UID/GID = -2/-1 indicates that the authentication or NFS Login was unsuccessful and the current Windows user will be considered “anonymous” when accessing NFS resources.

6. Create aN NFS Connection.

Follow the steps below to create a NFS connection to an NFS server.

a. Invoke Windows Explorer. Click Tools-Map Network Drive.

b. Select a valid Drive letter.

c. In the Path field, key in the NFS Resource path or browse the NFS Network to specify the NFS exported directory. Now click Finish or Ok.

NOTE

There are three ways to specify the path to an NFS resource:

The Universal Naming Convention (UNC), such as, \\NFS_ServerName\Export_Name
The NFS syntax, such as, NFS_ServerName:/Export_Name
The mouse, used to browse the NFS Network and manually select the NFS resource.

When creating a default NFS connection, the DiskAccess configuration dialog displays allowing the user to modify or override any of the existing NFS settings. Next, a dialog displays indicating a successful or unsuccessful authentication and the UID/GID or NFS credentials display.

If the NFS connection is successful, the drive letter mapping, will display in the Explorer window of the DiskAccess machine.

In the example in Figure 1 on the next page, the NFS Network Resource, \\hplab2\usr, is mapped to Drive Letter, J. The Windows user will be able to access files and directories directly from \\hplab2\usr as it displays as J Drive in Windows Explorer.