Chapter 7 - Managing User Profiles
The information in this chapter is intended only for networks with native VINES and StreetTalk for Windows NT servers.
User profiles contain sequences of commands that set drives, paths, and default printers automatically whenever a user logs in. Individual profiles are associated with the user's StreetTalk identity and are applied anywhere the user logs in. Profile commands let you customize the working environment of each user on your network by specifying resources such as workstation type, terminal emulation software, postlogin commands, and so on. Commands in the profile also control the contents of certain VINES menus that the user sees. These commands, listed in Table 7-1, are discussed in detail in the Command Reference.
As an administrator, you can create unique profiles for each user in your network, or you can create and apply template profiles containing commands common to many users. Profiles can be stored, edited, and applied as text files
Individual or template profiles are made up of VINES user profile commands. Administrators use these commands to specify the resources available to individuals or groups of users. Table 7-1 shows the user profile commands and the types of workstations to which they apply.
DOS and OS/2 User Profile Commands
DOS and OS/2 users must have user profiles and certain DOS and OS/2 commands can be issued from user profiles. Table 7-2 lists these commands.
The syntax for each of these commands is explained in the sections that follow.
CD
Tells DOS or OS/2 to change the current directory for the indicated drive. The drive can be a local drive or a network drive.
See your DOS or OS/2 documentation for information on the format of the CD command and changing directories.
The following command is a profile entry:
cd f:\changes
This profile entry changes the default directory of network drive F to a subdirectory called changes.
PATH
When you enter either a DOS or OS/2 command or the name of any executable file, the operating system initially searches the current default drive's directory for the executable file that corresponds to that command. PATH tells DOS which additional drives and directories to search if the executable file is not found on the current directory of the default drive. The drives in a PATH command can be local drives or network drives.
StreetTalk puts network drive Z in the search path for each user if the PATH statement is in the user's user profile. However, if you create a subdirectory on drive Z and move VINES executable files to it, you must identify that subdirectory with the PATH command so it can be searched.
Use semicolons (;) to separate all drive/directory entries in the PATH command. You can also enter a plus sign (+) as an entry anywhere in a path description. The plus sign instructs DOS or OS/2 to include the path that a previous PATH command defines, either in the profile or from the command line. The previous path is inserted at the point the plus sign appears in the path description. The plus sign enhances the standard PATH command, which does not allow more than one path. For Windows 95/98 and Windows NT users, if there is no plus sign in the PATH command in the profile, any previous path is inserted at the beginning of the PATH statement. For DOS and OS/2 users, any PATH command in the profile without a plus sign overrides the path in effect at that point.
For more information on the format of the PATH command, see your DOS or OS/2 documentation.
The following command is a profile entry:
path m:\;f:\prog;+;p:\bin\research
This profile entry contains four additional places where VINES should search after the current drive and directory. The search proceeds in the following order:
1. The root directory of drive M
2. A subdirectory called prog on drive F
3. Any path defined previously, including drive Z
4. A subdirectory called research within another subdirectory called bin on drive P
PROMPT
Sets a new system prompt that appears on the terminal screen. The complete description of the syntax for is in your DOS or OS/2 documentation.
SET
Lets you associate a value with an environment variable. The following example tells DOS to look for COMMAND.COM in the directory f:\dos:
set comspec=f:\dos\command.com
Using this SET command prevents the user's workstation from locking if an application program exits to a drive that does not contain COMMAND.COM.
One important use of the SET command is to establish the VIEWS of a given user. The SET VIEWS command sets the user environment for the SETARL, SETATTR, and VDIR commands. See Managing VINES Security for more information.
See your DOS or OS/2 documentation for further details on SET command variables.
TYPE
Displays the contents of a text file on the workstation screen whenever the user logs in. If the text file is on a network drive, the drive must be set earlier in the profile with a SETDRIVE command. See your DOS or OS/2 documentation for more information on the format of the TYPE command.
The following example shows how to use the TYPE command in a user profile:
type m:corpnews
This profile entry displays a file called "corpnews" in the directory on drive M. Drive M was set previously in the profile.
The procedures in this section describe the following tasks:
Formatting user profiles Creating a new profile Editing an existing profile Using files Writing a profile to a file Creating template profiles
Profiles contain up to 4K or 4,096 characters. Any 8-bit characters you enter in a user profile are converted to equivalent 7-bit ASCII characters. Characters that have 8-bits include accents and diacritical marks (for example, a circumflex). In addition, special alphabetic characters for country and location-specific words have eight bits. For example, the characters ê , é , ë , and è are all stored as e. A message informing you that an 8-bit character is stored as a 7-bit character appears when you save a user profile.
A new and unique profile is created for the first user in each group you create. You create additional profiles for all subsequent new users you add to the group.
When you create the profile for the first user in a group, you must either enter all the profile commands or specify a file containing a profile. Profiles created for additional new users are made by choosing another user's profile from the group and applying it to the new user, or by using a sample profile. Sample profiles are discussed in "Sample Profile" later in this chapter.
To Edit a User Profile for a New User
From StreetTalk Explorer:
1. Right-click the user and select Properties from the shortcut menu.
2. Click the Profile tab.
3. Click Read from File to a select a file that you want to use as a profile for the new user or enter the profile commands in the text window.
4. When you finish, click Apply if you want to make changes in other folders or click OK to end the session.
From the System Prompt:
1. Log in to the network. You must belong to the AdminList of the group to which you want to add the new profile.
2. Enter MUSER at the command line. The Manage Users menu appears.
3. If you are not a member of the group, select Search for other names. Then, use the Search for Users screen to find the group to which you want to add the template profile. Once the group you want appears on the screen, select ADD a user from the Manage Users menu. The Add a User screen appears.
4. Enter the name of the user you want to add. Fill in the remaining fields as appropriate and press F10. The Add User Profile screen appears.
5. Use the arrow keys to select an existing user and press ENTER. This user's profile is used for the new user. If this user is the first user in the group, this screen does not appear.
6. The next screen asks if the user's password should be changed at the next login. Select NO. The Manage a User menu appears. Select MANAGE user profile. The Manage User Profile menu appears.
7. Select EDIT profile.
8. Edit the existing user's profile commands to modify those that you want applied to the new user. When you are finished, press ESC repeatedly to exit back to VINES.
From StreetTalk Explorer:
1. In the right pane, select a user.
2. Click the Profile tab.
3. Enter the appropriate commands or modify existing commands.
4. Click OK when done.
From the System Prompt:
1. At the Manage a User menu, select MANAGE user profile.
2. At the next menu, select EDIT user profile. The profile for the user appears.
3. Enter the appropriate commands or modify the existing commands.
4. Press F10 when you finish editing the profile.
When you edit user profiles, you can include a USE command with the name of another user profile.
Example Using the Use Command
Suppose you create Sample Profile in a group lab@WCTUS. Then you add another user, Toni Ruggeri, to the group. In Toni's profile, you only have to enter:
use sample profile@lab@WCTUS
Toni's profile looks like this:
use sample profile@lab@WCTUS
cd f:\Toni
If Toni requires any special setup not included in the Sample Profile, enter the required commands in Toni's profile after the USE command.
The changes you make to a profile do not take effect until the user logs out and logs back in. This is also true if you update any profiles inserted into the user's profile by means of the USE command.
You can use any text editor to produce an ASCII file that contains a profile. You can then use the file to create a profile for a user in a group or to replace an existing profile.
If you build a profile with an editor, follow the rules for profile entries and for specific commands. Profiles replaced with a file are overwritten; the profile contained in that file becomes the new profile. When creating profiles for users added with the /A switch in the MUSER command, specify a file containing an existing profile.
To Use a File to Create or to Replace an Existing Profile
From StreetTalk Explorer:
1. In the right pane, select a user.
2. Click the Profile tab.
3. Select Read from File.
4. At the prompt, enter the name of the file.
5. Click OK when done.
From the System Prompt:
1. At the Manage a User menu, select MANAGE user profile.
2. At the next menu, select REPLACE profile with a file.
3. At the prompt, enter the name of the file.
From StreetTalk Explorer:
1. From the right pane, select a user.
2. Select the Profile folder.
3. Select Write to File.
4. At the prompt, enter the name of the file to which you want the profile written.
5. Click OK when done.
From the System Prompt:
1. At the Manage a User menu, select MANAGE user profile.
2. At the next menu, select WRITE profile to file.
3. At the prompt, enter the name of the file to which you want the profile written.
A template profile is a set of user profile commands used by many users in a group. If you want all the users in a group to use the same file and print services, you may want to put the SETDRIVE and SETPRINT commands for the group in a template profile. The following procedure shows how to establish a template profile. Be sure that you belong to the AdminList of the group to which you want to add the template profile.
To Add a Template Profile
From StreetTalk Explorer:
1. From the File menu, select New User or click the User icon.
2. Enter the name of the template user you want to add in the New User window. The name should clearly identify the user as a template, so users do not use the defined name to log in. Fill in the remaining fields with the appropriate information as described in Chapter 8.
3. Do not force the user to change the password at the next login.
4. Select the Profile checkbox.
5. In the User to copy text box, enter the name of the user whose profile you want to duplicate or modify for the template.
6. Click Next or Add and Manage. Confirm that you want to add the user.
7. On the Summary folder of the User window, disable logins for the template user. The Enabled checkbox should be clear.
8. Select the Profile folder.
9. Edit the profile.
10. Some commands may already be in the user profile. Modify or delete these commands as appropriate. Enter profile commands commonly used by other users in the group.
Do not enter a SETMAIL command, because this results in a mailbox being created for the template user. When you finish, save the profile.
From the System Prompt:
1. Enter MUSER at the command line. The Manage Users menu appears.
2. If you are not a member of the group, select Search for other names. Then, use the Search for Users screen to find the group to which you want to add the template profile. Once the group you want is appears on the screen, select ADD a user. The Add a User screen appears.
3. Enter the name of the template user you want to add. The name should clearly identify the user as a template, so users don't use the defined name to log in. Fill in the remaining fields with the appropriate information. A list of the users in the group appears.
4. Select the user whose profile you want to duplicate or modify for the template.
5. You are prompted to decide if the user's password should be changed at the next login. Select NO. The Manage a User screen appears.
6. Select DISABLE/ENABLE user name.
7. Select YES to disable logins for the template user. The user status field should now read "Disabled" as shown in the previous screen example.
8. Select MANAGE user profile. The Manage User Profile menu appears.
9. Select EDIT profile.
10. Some commands may already be in the user profile. Modify or delete these commands as appropriate. Enter profile commands commonly used by other users in the group.
Do not enter a SETMAIL command, because this results in a mailbox being created for the template user. When you finish, press F10 several times until the command line prompt appears on the screen.
How to Use the Template Profile
Other users in the group can use the template profile by entering the following command in their user profiles:
USE template
You can create a template profile called Sample Profile in each group in your system. For example, if you have a group called Finance@WCTUS, you can create a template profile called Sample Profile@Finance@WCTUS.
Sample Profiles differ from template profiles in only one way. The VINES Mail service never creates a mailbox for a user named Sample Profile. Therefore, you can include a SETMAIL profile command in a Sample Profile. Avoid using SETMAIL in a template profile. If you do so, your template profile collects mail messages and uses disk space on your server unnecessarily.
Similar to a template profile, other users in the group can use the Sample Profile with a USE profile command, as follows:
USE Sample Profile
The example profile in Figure 7-1 shows many of the profile commands presented in this chapter. Typically, a user's profile is not this large. Instead, it generally contains a USE command that refers to a template profile or a Sample Profile specially designed for the group, and to which other commands needed to customize the profile for that user are added.
Profile Commands for Workstations
This section describes platform-specific requirements for user profiles.
The /DOS and /OS2 command switches to the POSTLOGIN user profile command let you run either a DOS or OS/2 program after your user profile is processed. In addition, you can specify the OS/2 command interpreter, CMD.EXE, in place of the DOS command interpreter, COMMAND.COM, allowing POSTLOGIN to run an OS/2 batch file.
In addition, the following POSTLOGIN switch is available:
MAC - Lets you run a Macintosh program after your user profile is processed
Note: If you specify either CMD.EXE or COMMAND.COM in a POSTLOGIN command line, you must use the /C switch. See the Command Reference for more information.
You can create a user profile with multiple POSTLOGIN commands using these switches. This way, the same user profile can be used on both DOS and OS/2 workstations. Only the last relevant POSTLOGIN command in a user profile takes effect. When a user logs in to VINES at an OS/2 workstation, VINES looks for the last POSTLOGIN command that is relevant to OS/2.
Commands that are not relevant in the current operating system are ignored. POSTLOGIN commands with no switches are considered relevant in both DOS and OS/2. If a command line with no switch is the last line of the POSTLOGIN, the operating system always attempts to execute it.
Sample POSTLOGIN Commands
DOS
The following POSTLOGIN command runs a batch file when logging in to a DOS workstation:
postlogin /dos command.com /c f:\dos\spreadsh.bat
The /DOS switch specifies the DOS operating system. COMMAND.COM specifies the DOS command processor and the /C switch runs the SPREADSH.BAT file.
OS/2
The following POSTLOGIN command can be used to run a batch file when logging in to an OS/2 workstation:
postlogin /os2 cmd.exe /c f:\os2\spreadsh.cmd
The /OS2 switch specifies the OS/2 operating system. CMD.EXE specifies the OS/2 command interpreter and the /C switch runs the SPREADSH.CMD file.
With these commands, a user can log in and immediately start using the appropriate DOS or OS/2 version of a spreadsheet application, regardless of which operating system is loaded when the user logs in.
Profile Requirements for Macintosh Workstations
A user who logs in on Macintosh workstation can use a subset of all user profile commands. See the Command Reference for more information. The following example shows the user profile for a user on a Macintosh workstation:
!Setstda USCH001 /ALT
Setmail MS@USCH001@servers
The mail service in the SETMAIL command must be located on a native VINES 5.0 or later server.
User Profile Requirements for Windows Workstations
If you install a network version of Microsoft Windows 3.1, your path must contain the local drive, which contains the workstation software, and the network drive, which contains the rest of the Windows software. It is important that the local drive appears first in the path. For example:
path...;c:\windows; m:\windows;...
where C is the local drive and M is the network drive.
