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NetDrive How-To
Table of Contents
NetDrive Introduction
Downloading and installing the NetDrive client on Windows PC's will map the SI Novell Netware servers (e.g. Groups, Users, Students, etc) to a drive letter accessible via My Computer or Windows Explorer.
NetDrive is only secure on Windows NT4, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
If you use Windows 95/98 or ME, NetDrive will not work securely.
For Windows 95/98/ME users we recommend you use SmartFTP ( SmartFTP HowTo )
or NetStorage ( NetStorage HowTo )
We are currently researching NetDrive-like clients for Mac and Linux machines. We will send an announcement out when we have more information.
Note: SI Computing is currently in the public beta test phase of NetDrive. While we have installed and tested the product, we are now looking to expand the test user base. You may encounter issues not documented here. Please let us know (si.computing@umich.edu) if you encounter undocumented issues.
Note: The servers which provide the service NetDrive may be changed. When this occurs, you will need to re-configure the NetDrive client to connect to the new servers. Documentation will be provided on this page.
Download and Install the NetDrive client
Double-click the ndint.exe file to start the NetDrive installation. The installation should be straight forward, all configuration will occur post-install. All defaults can be left during the install.
Configuring NetDrive
When the installation is complete, a window will open with three shortcuts:
"Help on NetDrive", "NetDrive", and "Uninstall NetDrive"
NetDrive now needs to be configured to access the SI Novell Netware Network. Double-click the "NetDrive" shortcut to start the program.
In the "NetDrive Version 4.1" window, we will be creating two sites pointing to SI.
SI Computing has two NetStorage servers running to provide redundancy.
We will create one site pointing to each server, thus if one of the servers is down you can use the other to access your files.
Creating the first SI Site
Click the "New Site" button (lower left corner).
This will bring up a "Add new site" window.
Enter a name for this new site (We suggest you name it "SI-1"). Enter the following URL into the url field:
https://terri.si.umich.edu/oneNet/NetStorage
Important Notes:
- this address is case-sensitive
- https: is required
Click the "Finish" button after you have entered the name and the URL.
- At the "NetDrive Version 4.1" window, highlight the "SI-1" entry.
- With the "SI-1" entry highlighted, choose a drive letter for NetDrive to use to map to the Novell Netware servers. Remember all of the Novell servers will be mapped as folders within this one Drive letter.
- Make sure the "Server Type:" is set to WebDAV
- Also uncheck the "Anonymous/Public Logon" check box.
- Uncheck the Save Password button (if you do not do this, anyone who uses this computer will have access to all of your files).
- Enter your uniqname in the "Username:" field.
Before continuing, verify the "Site Address/URL:" shown is https. Only https will be secure!
NetDrive also lets you mirror the files that are uploaded and downloaded to your computer.
If the connection is lost during a file transfer, a local copy of your changes is on your computer.
To enable mirroring, highlight the "SI-1" site, click the "Advanced" button, go to the "General" tab, check the boxes by:
- Mirror Uploaded/Modified Files
- Mirror Downloaded Files
- Mirror on upload failure
Creating the second SI Site
Next we will create and configure the second SI Server (in case the first server is down or otherwise unavailable). Either configured site can be used.
Click the "New Site" button (lower left corner).
This will bring up a "Add new site" window.
Enter a name (We suggest you name it "SI-2"). Enter the following URL into the url field:
https://sherri.si.umich.edu/oneNet/NetStorage
Important Notes:
- this address is case-sensitive
- https: is required
Click the finish button after you have entered the name and the URL.
- At the NetDrive Version 4.1 window, highlight the "SI-2" entry.
- With the "SI-2" entry highlighted, choose a drive letter for NetDrive to use to map to the Novell Netware servers. Remember all of the Novell servers will be mapped as folders within this one Drive letter.
- Make sure the "Server Type:" is set to WebDAV
- Also uncheck the "Anonymous/Public Logon" check box.
- Uncheck the Save Password button (if you do not do this, anyone who uses this computer will have access to all of your files).
- Enter your uniqname in the "Username:" field.
Before continuing, verify the "Site Address/URL:" shown is https. Only https will be secure!
NetDrive also lets you mirror the files that are uploaded and downloaded to your computer.
If the connection is lost during a file transfer, a local copy of your changes is on your computer.
To enable mirroring, highlight the "SI-2" site, click the "Advanced" button, go to the "General" tab, check the boxes by:
Mirror Uploaded/Modified Files
Mirror Downloaded Files
Mirror on upload failure
Using NetDrive
After you have both sites configured, choose one (they operate with equal functionality), and highlight it in the "NetDrive Version 4.1" window, and click the "Connect" button.
You will be prompted to provide your Novell password. Enter your password and click "OK".
If the login is successful, a Windows Explorer window will open up to the drive letter you supplied in the configuration steps you performed above. This drive letter will contain folders representing each of the drives you normally see when logged into SI PC's.
The "HomeDirectory-SI-MICHIGAN" folder is your Novel home directory at SI, your H:\ drive on SI PC's
For students this means \\Skinner\Students\Uniqname
For faculty and staff this means \\Selma\Users\uniqname.
Each of the other drives listed will be named according the drive letter that is normally mapped when you are logged into SI PC's. For example, when you are logged into SI PC's the S:\ drive is mapped to Skinner\Students, in NetStorage this will be shown as "S-Students".
Closing the NetDrive connection
When you are finished using the connection, you can disconnect by right clicking the NetDrive drive letter in Windows Explorer and choosing disconnect. The disconnect will take 1-2 minutes to complete.
When you logout of Windows or restart the computer the drive will be disconnected.
Re-establishing the NetDrive connection
You can re-establish the NetDrive connection by going to Start Menu>Programs>NetDrive>NetDrive, this will open up the "NetDrive Version 4.1" window where you can highlight one of the configured sited and connect.
or
You can establish a NetDrive connection by right-clicking the NetDrive icon in the system tray. Choose "Connect To", and select one of the sites listed.
More information on NetDrive
For more information on NetDrive, refer to the NetDrive documentation. To access the help system, right-click the NetDrive icon in the system tray, then click Help Topics, or click the Help button in the NetDrive main window.
Uninstalling NetDrive
To uninstall NetDrive use Windows Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
If you have anything you believe would be useful to add to this list, please let us know si.computing@umich.edu.
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