NetDrive
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Background
NetDrive is a piece of software that came bundled with NetWare 6, which allows people to map drives in Windows to WebDav and iFolder connections.
The software is a re-badged version of WebDrive from RiverSoft.
Currently NetDrive is used to allow all staff to connect to the "I drive" - the Subject Area Intranet Sites. NetDrive is also used by the IS Dept to make connections to other parts of the intranet, e.g. that staff or student areas.
Owing to the lack on Universal Passwords on our network, it's not possible to use NCP or Samba to create drive mappings in the typical Novell or Microsoft methods. WebDAV was chosen as the new secure way for clients (eg Contribute) to connect to the site (vs insecure FTP).
NetDrive is, quite frankly, an ass to use in our environment. It's meant for home/remote user to connect up to iFolder, or for more techie people to make connections to remote servers. The configuration needed to use NetDrive here is at best complicated.
Configuration
FORCE RUN NetDrive.LEARNVER.VSFC
This application object is associated to all users, it force runs at login and pushes all the netdrive application files, services files, drivers, application registry settings and windows service settings. It runs for students, but the idea is purely to get NetDrive distributed ASAP to all computers so that staff can use it. Because NetDrive is installed as a service, the PC needs to reboot before a connection can be made.
STAFF APP - I Drive Connection to Ares.STAFF.VSFC
This application object is available to Staff and Support users. It distributes registry settings, fires up the netdrive connection, then opens the I:\ drive in explorer.exe.
The registry settings are applications settings and windows network settings.
The application settings are for telling NetDrive about the server to connect to. The user name and WebDAV lock name are also prefilled using an environment variable.
The windows settings include details of the I drive mapping which points back to the local NetDrive service.
The connection is started through a simple batch file:
@echo off "%PROGRAMFILES%\NetDrive\NetDrive.exe" "Subject Area WebSites" %WINDIR%\explorer.exe i:\
User Policy Packages
The user profile is saved when users log out, including details of drive mappings. In order to stop weird error messages and unexpected connections to the I Drive when users log in or open a file dialogue box, these settings must be removed.
This is done with a custom item in each of the user polciy packages. The reg.exe command is used to delete all the i drive settings as soon as each user logs in. This also helps keep the server and network load down by forcing people to only have webdav connections to ares when the actually need them. Not to mention the side benefit of not irritating the users ;-)
