PC Gen: Automating Multiple Mail Logins on NetWare 3.11 (115163)

This article was previously published under Q115163

You can set up Microsoft Mail for PC Networks on a Novell 3.11 file server in such a way that any valid Mail user can automatically log in to his or her own Mail and Schedule+ accounts from any configured PC workstation, based on his or her Novell login.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

• Each user's Novell login name must match his or her mailbox name.
• Each user's Mail message file (MMF) must be stored on the file server.
• The ServerPath= line in the [Microsoft Mail] section of the MSMAIL.INI file must be the same on each workstation. It must be based on consistent default drive mappings to each user's Mail database, regardless of the Novell home server or which postoffice a user resides on.
• Each user must have his or her own home directory on the server, with a consistent drive and path that is identical for every user.
  
  NOTE: This requirement is only needed for Schedule+.

SETUP

File Server(s)

Add a routine similar to the following to your system login script so that an MS-DOS environmental variable containing the user's Novell Login Name/Microsoft Mail Mailbox Name gets set when each user first logs in to his or her home server. This variable will be used to pass the user's name to MAIL.EXE, MSMAIL.EXE, or SCHDPLUS.EXE when you start the executable file.

NOTE: You will need to adjust the following routine to match your own system.

    IF MEMBER OF "pcmail" THEN
       DOS SET Mailbox="%LOGIN_NAME"
       MAP ROOT R:=Server15/SYS:apps\mail
    END
		

Workstations

1. Each workstation must have sufficient MS-DOS environment space available to store up to a 10-digit variable and its name. Modify each workstation's CONFIG.SYS file if you need to do so to increase the command processor's environmental block. In most cases, 1024 (as shown below) is adequate; however, specific values will depend on your own configuration.

   SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /e:1024 /p

2. Log a workstation back into the Novell server and verify that step 1 is working properly. After you log in, type SET from an MS-DOS prompt. If your Novell login name was JohnDoe, you should see the following line:

   MAILBOX=JohnDoe

MS-DOS Clients

Create an MSMAIL.BAT file similar to the following, but adjust it for your own configuration.

   @Echo Off
   cd r:\data
   r:\exe\mail %mailbox% -dr
		

Windows Clients

Modify the Command Line field in the Microsoft Mail icon's Program Item Properties box (by selecting the icon and then pressing ALT+ENTER) to be similar to the following example:

Schedule+ Clients

1. Modify the Command Line field in the Microsoft Schedule+ icon's Program Item Properties box to be similar to the following example:

   c:\schdplus\schdplus.exe %mailbox%

2. Assuming all users' home directories are at the root of drive H, move and rename all users' local calendar files (*.CAL) to the H:\LOCAL.CAL subdirectory.
3. Modify the LocalPath= line in the [Microsoft Schedule+] section of each workstation's SCHDPLUS.INI file to read as follows:

   LocalPath= h:\local.cal