With the release of OS/400 V3R7, IBM is now offering the AS/400 Enhanced Integration for Novell NetWare product. Enhanced Integration for NetWare provides AS/400 software integration with Novell NetWare file servers regardless of whether NetWare is installed on the Integrated PC Server (IPCS, formerly known as FSIOP) or on an Intel-based PC. In addition, Enhanced Integration provides these services to both NetWare 3.12 and 4.1x servers, as well as IntraNetWare servers. Among other things, the Enhanced Integration product synchronizes NetWare and AS/400 user profiles, allows AS/400 users to access data in NetWare Directory Services (NDS) trees, and provides seamless printer sharing between AS/400 and NetWare printer output queues.
In this article, I’ll show you how to use the Enhanced Integration for Novell NetWare product to redirect AS/400 printouts to NetWare printer queues, allowing you to print AS/400 spooled files on a NetWare printer. Before Enhanced Integration, getting AS/400 reports to print on NetWare printers was a hassle that involved tinkering around with Client Access or purchasing a third-party product, such as Personal Communications/400. With Enhanced Integration, it’s easy to redirect AS/400 printouts by creating an AS/400-based NetWare output queue and starting an AS/400 printer as a remote writer.
Pregame Preparation
In order to use Enhanced Integration, you must be running OS/400 V3R7 on a RISC-based AS/400. Enhanced Integration is one of the first IBM products to be offered exclusively for the advanced architecture. There are no plans to retrofit the product to V3R1 or V3R2 systems at this time, so it will not be available on CISC machines.
Once you’re on the RISC architecture, you need to do a little preparation to make Enhanced Integration work in your system. The Enhanced Integration product must
be installed and configured on both your AS/400 and on your NetWare file server. The Integrating AS/400 with NetWare V3R7 manual (SC41-4124-00) explains how to install and configure Enhanced Integration on your AS/400.
In addition to the OS/400 code, Enhanced Integration also ships with two NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) called AS4NW410 and AS4NW312. Produced by IBM for the Enhanced Integration product, these NLMs are the NetWare-based components of the product. You load the proper module on your NetWare file server and it processes AS/400 requests for NDS functions or bindery services. For NetWare
4.1x/IntraNetWare servers, you use the AS4NW410 NLM. For NetWare 3.12 systems, you load the AS4NW312 NLM. These NLMs are loaded from the system console or at NetWare startup.
To load the Enhanced Integration NLM on a NetWare 4.1x server, you would enter the following command from the NetWare system console:
LOAD SYS:/AS4NW/AS4NW410 /MAXCNN=xx /CLSALLIDL=yy
To load the Enhanced Integration NLM on a NetWare 3.12 server, you would enter this command:
LOAD SYS:/AS4NW/AS4NW312 /MAXCNN=xx /CLSALLIDL=yy
The /MAXCNN parameter refers to the maximum number of concurrent AS/400 connections the NLM will process on this NetWare server. You can specify any number between 1 and 100. If you don’t specify this parameter, the module will use a default value of 50 connections. The /CLSALLIDL parameter instructs the NLM on how to handle idle AS/400 connections with open files. It works in conjunction with the Start NetWare Connection command (STRNTWCNN) to define when to close idle connections. When an AS/400 connection is started through STRNTWCNN, the Enhanced Integration NLM monitors your AS/400 logins and closes any connection that has been idle for the amount of time specified in STRNTWCNN’s Connection idle time (CNNIDLTIME) parameter.
For connections started through an AS/400 NetWare authentication entry, the Enhanced Integration NLM will close idle connections with open files after a default inactivity time of 15 minutes. STRNTWCNN and Novell authentication entries are discussed in more detail in this issue in the companion article on page 12, “Establishing a Novell NetWare Connection from Inside OS/400.”
Creating the AS/400-to-NetWare Printer
After the Enhanced Integration product is loaded and configured on both your AS/400 and NetWare server, it’s easy to create an AS/400-to-NetWare printer in your network. In order to print AS/400 reports on your NetWare print server, a connection must be specified between your AS/400 and Novell NetWare. As mentioned above, this connection can be started by using STRNTWCNN or by specifying an AS/400 NetWare authentication entry for each user who wants to print to that NetWare output queue. There are pros and cons to each method, but one of these two connections must be established before you can send OS/400 reports to Novell NetWare. Once your connection is established, setting up your AS/400-to-NetWare printer is a simple matter of creating an OS/400-NetWare output queue and running the OS/400 Start Remote Writer (STRRMTWTR) command. Let’s look at each of these two procedures and see what’s involved.
Creating the AS/400-NetWare Output Queue
You create an OS/400-NetWare output queue for combined AS/400-NetWare printing the same way you create other AS/400 output queues—by using the OS/400 Create Output Queue (CRTOUTQ) command. For our example, let’s assume you want to create a
combined output queue called NETPRT1 that redirects your AS/400 reports to a NetWare printer queue called PUBS on your local NetWare 4.1x server. To do this, you enter the CRTOUTQ command on your AS/400 and fill in the parameters as shown in Figures 1 and
2. Keep in mind that this isn’t programming your VCR here. Most of the parameters you enter are the exact same values you enter for any other AS/400 output queue. The only difference is that you enter additional values as shown in our figures to specify that OS/400 is to redirect any report sent to that output queue to a NetWare printer.
One of these parameters needs a little more explanation—the Remote system parameter. It specifies which NetWare file server this output queue services. There are three possible values you can specify here: the actual name of the NetWare 3.12 server, the tree name of the NetWare 4.1x or IntraNetWare server, or the literal *NWSA that tells OS/400 to use the default NetWare Network Server attributes that are defined systemwide in OS/400.
When you use *NWSA for the RMTSYS value, OS/400 takes the remote system name from the default NetWare network server attributes defined in OS/400. When V3R7 is installed, those values are set for users of the IBM LAN Server for OS/400
product, so they have to be modified for NetWare usage. To view the default NetWare network server attributes for your system, type in the Display Network Server Attributes (DSPNWSA) command with the following parameters:
DSPNWSA OPTION(*NETWARE)
To change your default NetWare attributes, type in the Change Network Server Attributes (CHGNWSA) command as follows and press F4:
CHGNWSA PMTCTL(*NETWARE)
This brings up the screen shown in Figure 3. This command allows you to view and change the default NetWare network server attributes for your AS/400. More information about network server attributes can be found in the Integrating AS/400 with NetWare V3R7 manual.
The remaining parameters for the CRTOUTQ are as follows: Remote printer queue: This parameter specifies the full NetWare context of the NetWare printer queue that will receive your AS/400 reports.
Connection type: This specifies the protocol you are using to communicate with the NetWare server. You must specify the connection type as *IPX for AS/400-to-NetWare printing.
Destination type: This specifies the type of computer you are sending data to, such as a NetWare NDS server or another OS/400 machine. For combined printing, set this parameter to *NDS for NetWare 4.1x and IntraNetWare systems and *NETWARE3 for NetWare 3.12 servers.
Manufacturer type and model: This specifies how OS/400 should format the report output for the actual printer attached to the NetWare printer queue. For example, should it be formatted to print on a Hewlett-Packard or other non-IBM printer?
Destination options: These are additional parameters you can specify that tell OS/400 and NetWare how the printed output should be handled. Multiple values can be entered here, but the most significant value is the *NOWAIT option. If *NOWAIT is specified, a spooled file is removed from the AS/400 output queue as soon as the entire file is sent to the NetWare queue. If you don’t select this option, spooled files are kept on the AS/400 until they are printed in NetWare or they are deleted from the NetWare printer queue.
Starting the AS/400-to-NetWare Printer
As long as you have established a connection to your NetWare server through the STRNTWCNN command or through an AS/400 NetWare authentication entry, you can begin printing AS/400 reports on your NetWare printer. To start sending AS/400 printouts
to a NetWare printer, use the OS/400 Start Remote Writer (STRRMTWTR) command. If you wanted to tell your NETPRT1 writer to send OS/400 reports to the PUBS printer on our NetWare 4.1x server, you would enter the following command:
STRRMTWTR OUTQ(NETPRT1)
Any AS/400 printouts in NETPRT1 would automatically start printing on the NetWare printer that services the PUBS printer queue.
Putting It All Together
As you can see, printing AS/400 reports to a NetWare-connected printer isn’t very hard as long as you know the drill. Here are the steps you go through to bring up your AS/400-to-NetWare printer on a V3R7 machine.
1. Install Enhanced Integration for NetWare on your AS/400.
2. Load the Enhanced Integration NLM on your NetWare 4.1x, IntraNetWare, or NetWare 3.12 file server.
3. Create an AS/400-NetWare output queue using the CRTOUTQ command.
4. Start an AS/400-to-NetWare connection by using the STRNTWCNN command or through an AS/400 NetWare Authentication entry.
5. Start your AS/400-to-Netware printer by using the STRRMTWTR command. And that’s all there is to it—instant shared printing between the AS/400 and Novell NetWare, courtesy of V3R7 and the Enhanced Integration for NetWare product.
Figure 1: Sample CRTOUTQ Command for OS/400-NetWare Printing, Part 1
Figure 2: Sample CRTOUTQ Command for OS/400-NetWare Printing, Part 2 Figure 3: Sample Change Network Server Attributes (CHGNWSA) Command
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