A Mini-FAQ About OS/2 and "Windows Networking"

All information in this posting is at your own risk. While every effort is made to be accurate, please don't blame me if things don't work or are simply wrong. Do point out mistakes so others won't be stung by them! All trademarked terms are held by their respective owners. Any prices quoted are approximate, and should be verified with the appropriate vendor.


 * Q) What is "Windows Networking"?

Windows networking is what Microsoft is trying to rename SMB-Based Networking. Because more people will recognize that term, I'm using "Windows Networking" in the title.

LAN Manager and LAN Server are the two predominant members of a closely related family of network operating systems and products often referred to as either the "LAN Manager family" or "SMB-based networking". SMB stands for "Server Message Blocks". In this FAQ, for the purposes of product neutrality, I'll be using the term SMB-based networking" to refer to this family of offerings.

The original SMB-based network operating system that I am aware of was 3Com 3+Open. Others include: MS LAN Manager, IBM LAN Server, Windows NT Advanced Server, Windows for Workgroups, DEC Pathworks, LM/UX, AS/UX, LAN Server/400, Syntax, and Samba. I believe MS-Net and the IBM PC Lan Program are also members of this family.


 * Q) Whoa! That's a lot of products from a lot of vendors. Can they all work together?

In short, yes. You can take clients and servers from any of the above and mix and match. The limitations are licensing, and protocols. SMB-based networks use a variety of protocols, but the most popular are NetBEUI/NetBIOS, NetBIOS over TCP/IP (often called RFC/Netbios or even just TCP/IP), and DECnet. Almost all SMB implementations


 * Q) Can OS/2 connect to Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, etc?

Yes. You can use either the free MS Client or the more expensive, but better performing, IBM LAN Requester. Currently, the only way to get the IBM Lan Requester is by purchasing IBM LAN Server and additional licenses. This may change in the near future, and IBM LAN Requester will be included in OS/2 Warp LAN Client.

Remember, if you are connecting _anything_ to an NT 3.5 server, you need a $39.95 license from Microsoft to do it. This includes Windows for Workgroups, NT Workstation, MS Client for DOS or OS/2, and the IBM LAN Requester.

FYI, IBM does not require you to pay them a fee if you choose to use the MS Client software to connect to a LAN Server server. This is yet another of the attractions of LAN Server over NT!


 * Q) Can I use the MS Client to connect to IBM LAN Server servers?

Yes. And if you choose to do this, you don't have to pay IBM for a client license. This makes the IBM LAN Server Entry at under $600 the most cost-effective server available. Period.

For comparison, a 100 client network with 2 NT 3.5 Servers using the MS Client on DOS and OS/2 stations would cost $995*2+$39.95*100, for a total of $5,985. If you chose to use IBM LAN Server with the MS Client on requesters, you could spend as little as $525 (LS 4.0 Entry from Indelible Blue Inc)*2 for a total of $1050. Quite a difference.

However, the IBM LAN Requester is much faster than the MS Client, and has a number of valuable features not present in the MS Client. Additional licenses for the IBM LAN Requester list for $50, and are available for $42 from Indelible Blue. The new IBM VALU program may be able to get the client licenses for even less!


 * Q) Can I share my files/printers/etc with other WfWg, NT, LAN Manager, and other LAN Server clients?

The answer is mixed.

The IBM LAN Requester client has a limited peer functionality. Essentially, it's one resource to one user at a time.

The MS Client *used* to have this functionality, until Microsoft announced NT. The LAN Manager client for OS/2 mysteriously lost this functionality at that time.

IBM is reportedly working on a full peer to peer product. It may or may not ship with the OS/2 Warp LAN Client. The peer to peer product, if it is released, will interact with IBM LAN Requester, NT, WfWg, MS Client, LAN Manager, and other SMB-based networks.

Of course, you can always install IBM LAN Server on your machine. LAN Server does not require a dedicated machine, and you can continue to run OS/2, DOS, and Windows applications on your machine. The entry version of LAN Server 4.0 is available in the US for close to $500. A bargain for a real network operating system.

If you are interested in a peer-to-peer solution immediately, you may want to investigate Lantastic for OS/2. It is also able to connect to LAN Manager, LAN Server, NT, and WfWg machines.


 * Q) How do I install the MS Client for OS/2?

WARNING: The instructions Microsoft provides will not work for OS/2 version 2.11 and later. These instructions should be used for all releases of OS/2 2.0 and later.

All of the files needed for this process, except OS/2 itself, may be obtained from ftp.microsoft.com, /BusSys/MSClient/OS2/* and /BusSys/LanMan/sup-ed/fixes/*

If you are using the MSClient diskettes that came with NT 3.5 Server, you should try following steps 0-4 and then follow the instructions for installing that version of the MS Client. Since MS hasn't released this to the general public (yet?), I haven't been able to test this.


 * (0) If you've tried installing the MS-Client already, and failed, remove the aborted installation completely before proceeding.
 * (1) At an OS/2 prompt, issue the command:

attrib -r -s -h os2ver
 * (2) Using an editor, add the following lines to OS2VER

20=setup.exe 20=netwksta.sys 20=netvdd.sys
 * (3) At an OS/2 prompt, issue the command:

attrib +r +s +h os2ver
 * (4) Shutdown and reboot.
 * (5) Insert the MS Client for OS/2 disk in drive A and invoke SETUP.EXE. Follow all instructions *UNTIL* the "Shutdown and restart your system" message.

[Do NOT install the MSTCP protocol if you plan to use IBM or FTP Corp's TCPIP for OS/2 offerings. The MSTCP protocol is used solely for transporting NetBIOS across TCPIP - there are no truly useable tools such as telnet or ftp for this protocol stack.]


 * (6) Without shutting down or rebooting, insert the Lan Manager 2.2B OS/2 Patch Diskette 1 in drive A and invoke SETUP.EXE.
 * (7) Before shutting down and rebooting, use an editor to examine, and if necessary, correct the LANMAN\PROTOCOL.INI file.
 * (8) Shutdown and reboot.


 * Q) Can I use the MS Client with IBM's TCP/IP for OS/2?

Definitely.

DO NOT USE THE MSTCP PROTOCOL WITH THE MS CLIENT IF YOU PLAN TO USE IBM'S TCP/IP FOR OS/2. EVEN MICROSOFT WILL ADMIT THAT MSTCP IS *ONLY* FOR NETBIOS OVER TCP/IP. There is an IBM product that you can use to add NetBIOS over TCP/IP functionality.

The real trick and question come about when you decide whether you are going to use LAPS to support your network adapter, or use Microsoft's NDIS management. I've been using Microsoft's, but you can load the MS Client on top of LAPS if you prefer. (I have not yet done this.)

To do this, I've used the following steps:
 * Install TCP/IP & LAPS on one machine. Get it working. Make sure that you have a copy of INET.SYS and IFNDIS.SYS in \TCPIP\BIN. Then remove the IBMLAN, IBMCOM, and MUGLIB directories, and all references to them in the CONFIG.SYS. Comment out the run statements for TCP/IP.
 * Install the MS Client for OS/2. Get it working.
 * Add the lines to various files needed to get TCP/IP working with the MS Client. These are:

Add to LANMAN\PROTOCOL.INI [TCPIP_XIF] DriverName = TCPIP$ Bindings = "your_nic_binding_string_here" Add to CONFIG.SYS, following your NDIS driver in the LANMAN section: DEVICE=x:\TCPIP\BIN\INET.SYS DEVICE=x:\TCPIP\BIN\IFNDIS.SYS Uncomment the run statements for TCP/IP in CONFIG.SYS

At this point, everything should work fine.


 * Q) What if I need to have NetBIOS over TCP/IP with my system?

It's doable.

You need NetBIOS over TCP/IP (often called RFC/NetBIOS) if and only if you need to access a server that is located across an IP based router.

The MS Client does come with a TCP/IP stack called MSTCP. Unfortunately, there are no TCP/IP apps available for it. (To be completely fair, MS did make some. But even MS reps will tell you that they are worthless.)

IBM has a product called the NetBIOS kit for TCP/IP. I have successfully used it with the MS Client.

Install the NetBIOS kit for TCP/IP from IBM on a system that already has a working MS Client and IBM TCP/IP for OS/2 combination.

There are some differences in the installation of the kit since you are using the MS Client instead of LAN Requester. First, you don't need to comment out a netbios.sys line in CONFIG.SYS. And you *DO* need to put this line in \LANMAN\IBMLAN.INI: net2 = netbios$,0,nb30,32,50,14 and make sure that the wrknet=net1 line is changed to wrknet=net1, net2 (and srvnet if you are running the server).

Note: The only protocol you will need to install in the LAN Manager Setup screen is the NetBEUI protocol.
 * Q) How about the MSIPX protocol to connect to NT servers running it?

According to Microsoft, the MSIPX protocol is not currently supported by the MS Client for OS/2. I expect this will change in the future. For now, your NT server will need to be using the NetBEUI and/or NetBIOS over TCP/IP (MSTCP) protocols.