When you administer a server while you are working at the server command prompt, that server is called the local server. If you are administering a server from the command prompt of another server, the server being administered is called the remote server.
Some of your network users may be designated as account operators, print operators, or server operators. These users have limited administrative or operator privileges that enable them to perform specific tasks. These privileges are sufficient to use the Net command to administer a local server at the Advanced Server command prompt.
However, to use the Net command to administer a remote Advanced Server, you must be logged on to Advanced Server as an Administrator with full administrative privilege. If you have different operators responsible for parts of your network and you do not want to assign them full administrative privilege, then they must work only at the Advanced Server command prompt of the server being administered.
To administer a local Advanced Server using the Net command
1. Log on to the UNIX system hosting the Advanced Server.
2. At the UNIX system prompt, log on to the network as Administrator or as a user with administrative privileges by typing the following command:
net logon username password
3. Enter the appropriate Net command. For example, to display a list of the server’s shared resources, type net share.
Note
Remember to log off when you are finished administering Advanced Server.
To perform server administration tasks using the Net command remotely, use the net admin command and the appropriate Net command for the task. Step 2 of the following procedure describes two ways of entering the net admin command.
To enter a Net command remotely
1. Log on to the network as Administrator or as a user with administrative privileges. (Operator privileges are not sufficient to perform this procedure.)
2. Enter the net admin command using one of the following methods:
Enter a separate net admin command for each Net command you wish to execute. For example, to display statistics for a server named account, type the following:
net admin \\account /command net statistics server
This method is useful for batch files.
Enter a net admin command followed by multiple net commands. For example, to execute multiple net commands on a server named payroll, type the following:
net admin \\payroll /command
This creates an administrative command shell from which you subsequently can issue Net commands. The prompt changes to include the name of the server you are remotely administering, for example, \\payroll.
Any Net command that you type at this prompt executes on the server that you specify. For example, at the prompt, type:
[\\payroll] net share
[\\payroll] net print
where \\payroll is the prompt, and net share and net print are the commands.
To exit the command shell and return to the system prompt, type exit or press CTRL+Z.
Note
Net commands which take a domain or computer name as an option can be used for administering remote servers. This type of administration can be performed directly at the UNIX system command prompt without using the net admin command. For example, to display local groups on a remote domain named market_dom, you would type net localgroup /domain:market_dom.
Some displays provide more than one screen full of information. For example, the following command provides several screens of information on the net share command:
net help share /options
To display information one screen at a time, use the more command, for example:
net help share /options |more
After you have examined one screen of information and are ready to proceed, press the SPACEBAR to display the next screen of text.
Some commands require a password as an option. You can provide a password as a command option by typing the password on the same line as the command itself. For example, to log the user name jim with the password kahuna on the network, you would type:
net logon jim kahuna
You can also ask the Advanced Server to prompt you for your password, replacing the password with an asterisk ( * ) when you type the command.
Note
In the UNIX operating system, the asterisk ( * ) is a special character and must be preceded by a back slash ( \ ).
For example, to use the same resource described above, type:
net logon jim \*
The Advanced Server then displays the following message:
Type your password:
When you enter a password at this prompt, the password does not appear on the screen as you type. This allows you to keep your password confidential, providing added security.
If you forget to type a password with a command that requires one, the Advanced Server prompts you for it. Depending on the command that you type, the Advanced Server also may prompt you for other pertinent information such as your user name.
Some Net commands require confirmation. The /yes and /no options help expedite Net commands. When Advanced Server reads one of these options, it does not pause to display the corresponding prompt. Instead, Advanced Server accepts the /yes or /no option as your response to the prompt.
You can use Net commands with /yes ( /y ) and /no ( /n ) options to create batch files and shell scripts that are not interrupted by Advanced Server prompts.
For example, if you use the net logoff command to log off the local area network with connections to remote shared resources intact, Advanced Server displays a prompt similar to the following:
You have the following remote connections:
LPT1
Continuing will cancel the connections.
Do you want to continue this operation? (Y/N) [Y]:
You can use the /yes and /no options with any Net command to anticipate and respond to a prompt. For example, you are not prompted for confirmation when you type the following:
net logoff /yes
The command reference pages in this chapter always use the full command names, command options, and service names. However, Advanced Server recognizes abbreviations.
You can abbreviate any command option by typing enough letters to distinguish it from other command options. For example, the following is the syntax for the net accounts command:
net accounts [/forcelogoff:{minutes|no }] [/minpwlen:length] [/maxpwage:{days|unlimited}][/minpwage:days] [/uniquepw:number]
You can abbreviate the options as illustrated in the following example:
net accounts /f:10 /minpwl:6 /ma:unlimited /minpwa:7 /u:3
You cannot abbreviate option values (for example, the unlimited option for /maxpwage).
Some of the names or passwords that you need to enter may contain one or more special characters, for example, an ampersand ( & ). When you are at the UNIX system command prompt typing a name with a special character in an Advanced Server command, you must use an escape character (the back slash [ \ ]) before each special character. If you are at a client computer, you can surround the string containing the special characters in double quotes.
For example, to log on with the user name marksp and the password mrkt&dev on the UNIX system command prompt, you could type the following:
net logon marksp mrkt\&dev
Some commonly used UNIX system special characters include the following: asterisk ( * ); semi-colon ( ; ); pipe ( | ); square brackets ( [ ] ); parentheses [ ( ) ]; question mark ( ? ); ampersand ( & ); caret ( ^ ); back slash ( \ ); greater-than and less-than signs ( < > ); blank ( ) and the "at" sign ( @ ).
There are other UNIX special characters that you may encounter. For more information on special characters, consult your UNIX system documentation.
The UNIX system uses a forward slash to separate names in a path. This is different from client computers, which use back slashes. Always precede path names with c: when using the Net command.
When typing path names at a UNIX system command prompt, you can use any of the following methods:
Single forward slashes — separate each element of the path with single forward slashes, like this:
net share tmpshare=c:/tmp /us:10 /r:"Share for temporary use"
Double back slashes — separate each element of the path with double back slashes, like this:
net share tmpshare=c:\\tmp /us:10 /r:"Share for temporary use"
Single quotes — separate each element of the path with single back slashes and surround the whole path in single quotes, like this:
net share 'tmpshare=c:\tmp' r:"Share for temporary use"
When including spaces in values, you may want to enclose the value in double quotes. For example, to change the comment for the domain guests group, you could type the following command:
net group "domain guests" /comment: "All domain guests"
Client computer operating systems, such as Windows 95, Windows NT, MS-DOS, and OS/2 use back slashes to separate names in paths. For example,
net use f:\\product\data
