Setting Up Network Computer Clients

You can add one NC at a time or you can very quickly add a group of NCs at one time.

• Adding multiple NCs

  • For adding groups of NC clients (with the same configuration) or setting up many NC clients at one time with identical configurations

  • IP addresses are assigned automatically (dynamic leasing)

  • IP addresses can be leased or permanent

• Adding a single NC

  • For adding individual NC clients

  • You can assign the IP address (static leasing) or choose dynamic leasing by leaving the MAC address blank

  • IP addresses can be assigned for a limited time lease or as a permanent lease

The two methods handle IP addressing differently. When you add multiple NCs, you are asked to specify a starting IP address and the number of NC clients you want to be configured. Netra j then assigns IP addresses to NC clients from this range of addresses. Also, addresses can be leased for a few days or can be assigned permanently.

On the other hand, if you add one NC, you have the option of assigning a unique IP address lease to the NC, and deciding whether that IP address belongs to the NC permanently or only for a few days.

Besides IP address, you can set some other NC specific parameters that override the corresponding global parameter values.

Once you have set up an NC, either individually or as part of a group, you can go back and modify its original parameters with the Modify function.

Adding Multiple NCs

You can use this method to set up many NCs with the same parameters. This module enables you to specify the starting IP address, the number of NCs, the lease time, the NC locale, keyboard, vendor-specific options and the default application for these clients.

Using this method works for NCs that only use DHCP for initial configuration. If your NC uses reverse address resolution protocol (RARP) for initial configuration, you need to assign the Ethernet address of the NC using either the Add single NC, or the Modify Network Computer menu. The Modify menu is only available after you have already added some NCs.

NCs added through this form use dynamic IP address leasing. This means that IP addresses are assigned on a first come first serve basis. The address is assigned for a few days (temporary lease) or forever (permanent lease) depending on the lease time value specified.

You can change NCs with dynamic leases to static leases by modifying them individually once they are added (use the Modify Network Computers option and insert an MAC (ethernet) address). Vendor specific options can also be changed on an individual basis.

To Add Multiple NCs

1. From the Main Administration page, under "Network Computer Administration," click Network Computer Server.

   The Network Computer Configuration page is displayed.

2. Under "Network Computer Management," click Add Multiple Network Computers.

   The Add Multiple Network Computers page is displayed.

3. Complete the form using the information in the following table.

   Table 2-9 Individual NC Specific Parameters

   Parameter	Description
   Host Name Prefix	The host name of any NC is generated using the name_prefix. If the IP address of the NC is aa.bb.cc.dd, then the generated host name for this computer is name_prefix-dd.
   Starting IP Address	The initial host address you assign to the NCs being set up. If a host address is already used by some other system in the network, that address is skipped.
   Number of NCs	The number of NCs to be set up. If an IP address is already used in the network, that address is not used. So the number of clients actually setup can be less than the number of NCs requested. Maximum number of NCs is 254.
   Host Name	The name of a computer within the local domain. It is a text string of up to 24 characters composed of letters (a-z and A-Z), digits (0-9) and hyphens (-). The last character cannot be a hyphen. The first character must be alphabetic.
   Host Address	An assigned number that uniquely identifies each computer connected to a TCP/IP network. The address consists of two parts: a network number and a host number. The network number identifies the network to which the computer is connected and the host number identifies the computer on that network. The host address is composed of four integers separated by periods. The first integer must be in the range 0-223, the second and third integers in the range 0-255 and the fourth integer in the range 1-254 (for example, 127.144.0.1).
   Ethernet Address	This address is a number that uniquely identifies each computer. It is built into the hardware of each computer and is displayed at boot time. The Ethernet address is composed of six hexadecimal numbers separated by colons; each number is in the range 0-ff. Upper- or lower-case letters can be used to specify non-decimal digits.
   Enter Lease Time (days)	The duration (in days) of the IP address lease to the NC client. By default, this field is set to 3 days. After this period of time, if an IP address lease is not renewed, the NC shuts down its network interface. A value of -1 specifies an infinite (permanent) lease.
   Default Application	The default application that runs on this computer. views specifies HotJava Views, browser specifies HotJava Browser, you can have none, or you can add other applications. To add other applications as options to the Default Application list use "Network Computer Application Management". If you are using the JavaOS image with a statically linked HotJava Browser, you must set the Default Application to browser. Otherwise, the HotJava Browser fails to open on the NC.
   Select NC Locale	The language the user plans to use with this NC. For Asian languages, input method and fonts need to be configured in global parameters. See "To Modify Localization Properties" for more information. See the JavaStation Client Software Guide for a detailed description on this topic.
   Select Keyboard	Select the keyboard for use with this NC. Currently, PS2 keyboards are supported
   Vendor Specific Options (optional)	A formatted text string containing definitions of either JavaOS or system properties.The JavaOS command line is delivered to JavaOS during the boot sequence. It can be delivered by DHCP or other methods. There are no spaces between the option and the value. Different command line options are separated by a space. Exact syntax must be used to specify the command line options.    By default, all JavaOS and system properties configured in the NC server database (using JOScmd1) are displayed.   For example: If you do not want the login prompt for an application to be run on the NC, type -djavaos.login=false.   See JavaStation Client Software Guide for additional information.

Adding Single NC

You can add one NC using this form. NCs added through this form use static leasing that means this NC always is assigned the same IP address either for a few days (temporary lease) or forever (permanent lease) depending on the lease time value specified.

To Add an NC

1. From the Main Administration page, under "Network Computer Administration," click Network Computer Server.

   The Network Computer Configuration page is displayed.

2. Under "Network Computer Management," click Add Single Network Computer.

   The Add A Network Computer page is displayed.

3. Complete the form using the information in Table 2-9.

To List Network Computers

1. From the Main Administration page, under "Network Computer Administration" click Network Computer Server.

   The Network Computer Configuration page is displayed.

2. Under "Network Computer Management," click List.

   A list of the NCs on your network is displayed.

To Modify a Network Computer

1. From the Main Administration page, under "Network Computer Administration" click Network Computer Server.

   The Network Computer Configuration page is displayed.

2. Under "Network Computer Management," click Modify.

   Select one NC, and make the changes in the form using Table 2-9 as a reference.

To Delete a Network Computer

1. From the Main Administration page, under "Network Computer Administration" click Network Computer Server.

   The Network Computer Configuration page is displayed.

2. Under "Network Computer Management," click Delete.

   Select one or more NCs, and click OK, then confirm the operation.

Network Computers - Local Printer Setup

You can use this form to configure a printer attached to the serial port of a specific NC. You need to set up the NC before setting up the local printer.

To Set Up a Local Printer

1. From the Main Administration page, under "Network Computer Administration" click Network Computer Server.

   The Network Computer Configuration page is displayed.

2. Under "Network Computer Management," click Configure Local Printer for a Network Computer.

   The Network Computer - Local Printer Setup window is displayed.

3. Complete the form using the information in the following table.

   Table 2-10 Local Printer Setup Options

   Option	Description
   Select Network Computer	Choose the NC for this local printer setup.
   Port	This property sets the communications parameters for the serial port. The port portion of this property is the name of a serial port which can be:   SerialA or SerialB for an onboard JavaStation serial port One of SerialP1 - SerialP8 for a virtual serial port enabled by the multi-port serial card (MPSC).
   Select Bit Rate	The bit rate of the serial port. The bit rate is the rate at which data is sent over a communication line. The default bit rate is 4800.
   Number of Data Bits	The number of data bits. The default is 7.
   Number of Stop Bits	The number of stop bits. Stop bits are extra "1" bits which follow the data and any parity bit. They mark the end of a unit of transmission (normally a byte or character). The default is 1.
   Select Parity	The parity. An extra bit added to a byte or word to reveal errors in transmission. Even (odd) parity means that the parity bit is set so that there are an even (odd) number of one bits in the word, including the parity bit. The default is "no parity."
   Enter Handshake	The handshake identifier. A handshake is the exchange of predetermined signals between the NC and local printer to assure each that it is connected to the other (and not to an impostor). The default is hh.

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   Note -

   Peripherals other than printers can be added to NC ports. See the JavaStation Client Software Guide for more detail.

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Example for Adding Groups of NCs

A small company just purchased fifteen NCs with a server. The company plans to have 10 English speaking accountants, 2 French speaking people responsible for operations, and 3 English speaking engineers. The accountants need to connect to a mainframe (OCS) and use HJV; the operations people need HJB; and the engineers need X-windows (GO-Joe). This is how the company set up its network.

First they set up the hardware and installed the Netra j software. Then they filled out the Network Computer Configuration Form in Appendix A, Network Computer Configuration Form.

The system administrator started a web browser on the server with URL servername:81 and logged in (setup, setup). For the initial configuration system defaults, the system administrator, chose CST and English (most users were English speaking). Next the system administrator selected the Sun WebServer as the default web server and set the web server document root.

Because this NC network was not added to an already existing network, there were no NIS or DNS servers. So the system administrator went to Name Service Administration and set up the Netra server as a caching (basic) DNS server, then as a client to itself.

After setting the document root and configuring global parameters, the system administrator selected adding multiple computers. This form was filled out for the ten NCs used by the accountants since that was the largest group. Prefix: acc, starting IP address: 125.144.35.101, Number of NCs: 10, Lease Time: 3, Default Application: views, NC locale: English, Keyboard: Canadian. The system administrator made the leasing dynamic.

The system administrator clicked on OCS; the number of licenses was correct, so the administrator finished the install, chose English as the language for the server, then filled in the configuration page: TN3270 gateway host: xxxxx, TN3270 gateway port:xx.

The system administrator added the remaining five NCs individually. The administrator assigned host addresses, so the leasing is static.

For the operations people:

Host name: ops1, ops2; MAC address: xxx,xxx; Host address: 125.144.35.111, 125.144.35.112; Lease time: -1 (indefinite or permanent lease); Default Application: browser; NC locale: French; Keyboard: Canadian French.

For the engineers:

Host Name: eng1,eng2,eng3;Mac address:ss,xxx,ddd; Host Address: 125.144.35.113, 125.144.35.114, 125.144.35.115; Lease time: -1;Default Application: views; NC locale: English, Keyboard: Canadian.

The system administrator went to Network Computer Application Management to add Go-Joe, an applet that runs in HotJava Views.