I am looking for a utility that will kill connections to a NetWare server after a specified period of inactivity.
Articles and Tips: qna
01 May 1999
Q.
Dear Ab-end: I am looking for a utility that will kill connections to a NetWare server after a specified period of inactivity. I work with a school system that has a lot of problems with Windows 95 workstations locking up or with students turning off the power without logging off the network. I have looked in a couple of places but with no luck. Any assistance would be most appreciated.
Dying On the Vine
A.
Dear Dying: Your answer comes from Brent McCormick of Novell Systems Engineering. This can be done by using the SHUTDOWN.EXE utility available from the Novell Consulting toolkit. You can find out more about it at http://support.novell.com/forums/ucflinker.htm.
Here's a brief description of NCShtDwn version 1.25 (released in January 1999). NCShtDwn is a utility used to programmatically shut down Windows 95 and NT in a number of modes, including Logoff, Shutdown, and Restart. Its purpose is to affect a shut down primarily to ensure User and System policies are consistently applied under Z.E.N.works. It can also be used as a general tool to effect a shutdown/logoff for other reasons.
It can be run as a normal executable and permits the integrator to experiment with a number of modes. When the desired mode is identified, the utility can be run behind an icon, shortcut, or as a NAL application with the appropriate command line switch. For example, Mode 1 (Logoff) equates to "Shut Down all programs and login as a different user." Thus, the command C:\Novell\Client32 \NCShtDwn /1 executes the Logoff without the user interface.
Note: The "Force" options don't allow for applications to save data before termination, but conversely the options do not allow the user to interfere with the process either. It can also be used attached to a screen saver event to shut down/logoff a workstation that is left "logged in" but unattended (and therefore vulnerable) in sensitive environments.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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