Vol 4, No 5 - 2/25/02

** High Priority **

BrainShare 2002- Getting Closer
BrainShare 2002 is just around the corner! So get ready, set, go to learn first-hand about Novell's latest products and strategies. Get hands-on technical experience. See the latest third-party offerings. Network. Play in the technology lab. Take a certification test. And have fun! As every year, BrainShare 2002 will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Salt Palace Convention Center; the dates are March 17 through March 22, 2002. Online registration started December 1, 2001 at www.novellbrainshare.com. See Salt Lake AFTER the Olympics....

Also, Vertical Track available For BrainShare
For the first time ever at BrainShare, a vertical track is available which includes sessions specific to customers who are in Government, Healthcare, Education, Finance and Small Business. Right now there are 20 classes available, but rumor has it that a few more might be added. More info can be found at http://www.novellbrainshare.com/portal/controller/catalog, select the "track" tab and then choose "Industry Vertical Solutions" from the drop-down list.

Northlands Customer Party @ BrainShare - Novell Northland BrainShare Bash
(Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, western Wisconsin)
Come enjoy snacks and a cool beverage and meet the Novell Northland Team as well as other attendees from around the Upper Mid-West. We will also give you a special Novell Northland gift.
When : Thursday, March 21 from 8:00 - 11:00pm
Where : Squatters Pub (ask for the Novell Northland Party)
        http://hcisecure.com/squatters/
Questions : Please contact your Technology Account Manager or Ellen Bridenstine at 952-893-2601 or ebridenstine@novell.com
Squatters is located at:
147 West Broadway
Salt Lake City, UT
Tel: (801) 363-2739

Iowa/Nebraska Upcoming Events

Novell Portal Services
Novell Portal Services enables organizations to create personal Web portals that give their partners, customers and employees all the relevant information, resources, tools and applications they need to conduct business and execute their daily work responsibilities. Novell Portal Services presents within the user's web browser a customized collection of services and resources, appropriate to the user's specific needs, interests, roles and responsibilities. This is a Free event.

March 5, Des Moines, IA Help Desk PM
http://register.novell.com/login/index.cfm?action=prelogin&fuse=event&id=3129&event_id=3129&lcode=enu

March 6, Omaha, NE Compaq Office AM
http://register.novell.com/login/index.cfm?action=prelogin&fuse=event&id=3130&event_id=3130&lcode=enu

Novell SecureAccess
What is Novell's SecureAccess??
The seminar presenters will discuss Novell's solutions to:

• Simplifying management of access rights to all types of users
• Eliminating password headaches
• Verifying your users' identity through graded authentication

Minneapolis Strictly eBusiness Expo
May 8 and 9 in Minneapolis. Check out http://www.strictlyebusiness.net/strictlyebusiness/mpls/main_mpls.po Guess who has one of the main Keynotes??? See it at http://www.strictlyebusiness.net/strictlyebusiness/mpls/events_keynotes.po

The CIO Corner

Novell eDirectory Shares Grow - GREAT article in Network World Fusion
"Novell eDirectory Share Grows"
By Deni Connor
Network World Fusion, 02/14/02
"Novell, Tuesday announced that sales of its eDirectory technology have reached over 300 million licenses as a result of it allowing independent software vendors to include the metadirectory software at no charge within their products." Read more at http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/0214edirectory.html

Gartner 2002 Predictions
We came across an interesting article we thought you could use in doing your 2002 business planning. Here's a summary of Gartner's top 10 predictions. It's really interesting to read them and see where Novell products and solutions fit into what Gartner predicts what will happen in 2002. Read the full article at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=103726

• The IT industry will remain challenged, facing accelerated job losses and significant vendor consolidation.
• Safeguarding people, knowledge, systems and nations will take priority.
• Consumers will go online, finally, with the number using online account management doubling by 2005.
• Short-term focus on expenses will squeeze IS organizations in 2002 as business demand for IT increases.
• Outsourcing and trusted suppliers will take more control as capital spending reduces in favor of operating budgets.
• Through 2004, businesses will continue to view the discipline of CRM as a critical component of corporate strategy.
• During 2002, despite budget restraints, operational IT infrastructure will still need to anticipate and fulfill critical IT initiatives.
• More than 50 percent of mobile applications deployed at the start of 2002 will be obsolete by the end of 2002.
• By 2004, Web services will dominate deployment of new application solutions for Fortune 2000 companies.
• During 2002, leading-edge businesses will exploit application integration to generate business innovation.

Technical Tips

Ideas Needed...
We're looking for some brainstorming ideas. When we ship Nakoma (the next update to NetWare 6), we'll be including 3 different databases, and also Apache and Tomcat will be the web server and servlet engine used. We have an opportunity to make a difference when we ship. We're looking for ideas for sample web applications that leverage Apache/Tomcat and these databases that we could include in the product. Ideally, we want to deliver a web application for customers that would be compelled to use straight out of the box. So - send me any suggestions you have. Be sure to pass this by your current web applications people. Since many of them might not understand or appreciate 'Novell', just ask what web apps would make a difference in their lives if they were available out of the box....

Need to Connect Via DOS/IP, with No IPX??
I have done this for NICs that have .LAN drivers. The instructions and files you need are at http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/2957107.htm. It even includes a cool boot menu for the most popular NICs. If you need to use 16-bit .COM drivers, there are instructions at http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/2910293.htm, although I haven't tried them.

NetWare 6 and Apache - Selling NetWare as a great Web Services Solution!
Wayne Rush and SDTimes have produced a very enlightening article "Pinochle on Your Snout" that recommends using NetWare 6 as a secure, scalable, solution for web services. Wayne Rush asks, "Wouldn't it be nice to find a Web server platform that's fast, scalable and, best of all, unaffected by all those worms?"

Wayne Rush comments, "I have to admit, I was surprised. While I've worked with NetWare for years, I didn't expect it to be such a solid Web platform. It turns out to be better than I expected". Check out the entire story! http://www.sdtimes.com/cols/webwatch_047.htm

Cisco/NDS Expired User Vulnerability
Seen this article/message? Understand where the vulnerability is? The news is about a module in Cisco Secure Access Control Server (CSA) that uses NDS that is vulnerable, not NDS itself. The news just means that this module fails to enforce access policies for the account for the resources controlled by the CSA device. It does not mean that the user can get access to resources in the *NDS tree*. When an account is disabled, the name and password is still valid (i.e. authentication will go thru), but a session cannot be established. The user cannot affect the account profile or conduct transactions. I wonder how many readers will conclude that it is NDS that is vulnerable :-(.

Novell Developer Kit February 2002 Release Available
The Novell Developer Kit (NDK) is the place to get open, tested APIs, documentation, sample code, and tools for development with Novell Solutions. A must have for any developer. http://www1.novell.com/resourcecenter/ext_clickthrough.jsp?contentId=6255&logType=3

ELD?? Heard About Electronic License Distribution? Know What It Is?
The ELD (Electronic License Distribution) site explaining how the licenses are managed (http://www.novell.com/partners/partnerplace/eld_training.html). Your next license might come this way. Understand what it is....

Using BlackIce Defender for Your Firewall?
Internet Security Systems Security Alert for BlackICE Defender
February 4, 2002

Synopsis:
ISS is aware and is immediately addressing a serious vulnerability in BlackICE Defender running on Windows 2000 and Windows XP that can cause the machine to reboot or crash.

Description:
The current version of BlackICE Defender (2.9.caq and 2.9.cap) running on a Windows 2000 machine can be remotely crashed using a ping flood attack. This has been tested and confirmed by ISS using the Divine Intervention 2 & 3 utility.

Affected Versions:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server Microsoft Windows XP

Recommendations:
ISS is working on a patch to release to fix this issue immediately, and ISS urges all administrators to apply this workaround until the patch is released.

Set the BlackICE Defender firewall to block ICMP. You must edit the firewall.ini file and add the following:
   Under the [MANUAL ICMP ACCEPT] section:       REJECT, 8:0, ICMP, 2001-10-15 20:28:53, PERPETUAL, 4000, BIGUI Save the firewall.ini file. This will block pings and the box will not be vulnerable to the attack.

Additional Information:
A formal response from ISS with a patch will be supplied shortly. Please contact ISS X-Force for more information.

Cool URLs

Network World Forum For BorderManager
Network World has created a forum for discussion of NBM 3.7. Check it out - Leave your comments and encourage your peers, partners and customers to do the same! http://www.nwfusion.com/cgi-bin/WebX.cgi?230@@.ee72c9e

Novell AppNotes for February 2002 Now Available!
This month's AppNotes includes feature articles on ZENworks for Desktops Preboot Services, blocking virus requests in Novell BorderManager's HTTP Accelerator and building eDirectory applications using Delphi. How-To articles cover using the security features of Novell Portal Services and auditing DirXML events using stylesheets, Java and JDBC. http://www1.novell.com/resourcecenter/ext_clickthrough.jsp?contentId=6206&logType=3

Apache 1.3.23 Available
http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/netware/
Also if you are interested in Apache 2.0
http://www.gknw.de/development/apache/httpd-2.0/netware/

Java Coding Development Conventions
If you are interested in some guidelines for coding, here's a doc from Sun. http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/

Novell Portal Services Solution and iChain Article in Novell Connections Magazine
Great reading on various Novell Portal Solutions and a detailed article on i-Login.net and the components that make up that solution. http://www.nwconnection.com/2002_02/toc.html

BorderManager Secures Schools!!
Read "Novell Helps Hartford Public Schools Do More With Less" - http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2002/02/pr02012.html This is a fantastic success story that demonstrates how Novell BorderManager, DirXML, and Novell Professional Services can come together to solve an eProvisioning business problem!

Major Weaknesses in CHAP
At http://stealth.7350.org/chap.pdf there's a paper about weakness in CHAP proto as used within PPP and PPTP. It allows for authentication in PPTP networks w/o knowing valid logins/passwords. This authentication scheme is widely used at universities (WLAN).

New Location for Guinevere
http://www.openhandhome.com/guinevere/

The Other Guys Corner

MS Bugs with W2K and E2K
MS server bugs open the door to hackers
By Matthew Broersma ZDNet (UK) February 11, 2002, 9:30 AM PT
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-834113.html
Holes in Exchange 2000 and Windows 2000 could allow hackers to view the system registry or gain control of servers. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to struggle with its reputation for lax security.

MSN Messenger Exploits
If you have an MSN messenger account - beware... http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24004.html

Bill Needs the NSA...??
http://nsa2.www.conxion.com/

Microsoft Security Patch Still Vulnerable to What it Was Supposed to Fix
http://dailynews.netscape.com/mynsnews/story.tmpl?table=n&cat=50380&id=200202140804000266833

"NEWSLETTER" WORM TARGETS OUTLOOK | News: Computerworld
A new virus is masquerading as an antivirus program attached to an e-mail that appears to come from a German AV Web site. Yarner has a potentially destructive payload as it erases all data on one out of every 10 systems it infects. http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/newsItem/0,289139,sid1_gci803689,00.html FOR MORE INFORMATION: Best Web Links on security: http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/bestWebLinks/0,289521,sid1_tax559,00.html

Education

Help Desk, Des Moines, IA

781: Workstation Management with ZENworks 3.2, April 15-19, $1596
3000: Upgrading to NetWare 6, April 1-5, $1596.00
CNA (NetWare 6) Night School - commences Tuesday, February 26th!
Course 561: NetWare 6 Administration coming in April! Call to be placed on the advance waiting list - we expect demand to be high!

Advanced Network Technologies, Omaha, NE

575: NDS Design & Implementation, March 27-29
580: NetWare 5.1 Service & Support, April 22-26
781: Workstation Management with ZENworks 3, May 6-10
3000: Upgrading to NetWare 6, May 20-24 & August 12-16
3001: NetWare 6 Administration, June 24-28

New Certified Novell Salesperson Courseware Available
The latest edition of Selling Net Services Solutions version 6.0 has just been released. It includes updated materials on Novell's strategy, NetWare 6, new versions of the ZENWORKS family, Security and Provisioning solutions including industry partner examples, increasing your revenues with Novell licensing options, along with coverage of other great Novell solutions. Completing this courseware prepares you to take the Certified Novell Salesperson exam and obtain your CNS certification. http://www.novell.com/partners/channel/academy/spresent.html

DirXML Training This Spring
Novell will be delivering DirXML version 1.1 Advanced Technical Training this Spring. In this intense, four-day, hands-on course, you will learn solutions, configurations, and customization of various shipping drivers; tips and tricks; troubleshooting drivers; debugging; eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT); applications; and much, much more. Class dates and locations will be:

February 19th     Detroit, Michigan
March 25th       Provo, Utah
April 16th       Tampa, Florida

For a complete course description and registration information, contact Jason Chapman at (801) 861-1784.

Novell Net Solutions Free WebCasts!!!
There will be one web cast for each of the following joint solutions:

3. Active Information Portal (AIP) Solution, February 27, 1:00 PM EST, One Hour
Register today at www.novellnetsolutions.com or call 800-608-1800. For information on the Novell Active Information Portal Solution visit www.novell.com/solutions/aip. Register by Monday, February 25 to automatically enter the drawing for a Sony Digital Recorder.

4. Secure Partner Portal (SPP) Solution, March 6, 1:00 PM EST, One Hour

The Novell Secure Partner Portal solution allows organizations to extend and secure business-critical information to their partners through a trusted Network environment. The solution taps into the power of Novell and BEA technologies, and the services and consultancy expertise of Cambridge Technology Partners to give organizations the power, the flexibility and the security to fully leverage their partnerships - creating a true competitive advantage for their organization. Register today at www.novellnetsolutions.com or call 800-608-1800.

5. Business Process Management (BPM) Solution, Date and Time TBD

Agenda for all 4 web casts, all times in EST:
1:00 - 1:05 PM: Introduction & Welcome
1:05 - 1:35 PM: Benefits of each Solution presented
1:35 - 1:50 PM: Analyst Speaker
1:50 - 2:00 PM: Q&A and Prize Drawing

Partner Information

Annual Channel Party @ BrainShare
BrainShare attendees, be sure to attend the annual channel party, Monday, March 18, at the Red Rock Brewery. Invitations will be emailed soon with the details. Come enjoy free food and drinks and your chance to mingle with Novell Executives. Don't miss it!

Users Groups- A Great Place To Network- The Person-to-Person Kind

Be sure to visit and support your local NetWare/Network/Novell users group-

Nebraska NetWare Users Group (NNUI)
http://www.gioffre.com/nuiomaha/index.htm
meets second Tuesday of each month (except Jul, Aug)

Lincoln Area NetWare Users Group (LANUG)
members.aol.com/thomstarr/lanug
meets third Tuesday of the month, Noon-1pm, Energy Square/SE Community College

Central Iowa Network Professionals (CINP)
Meetings are held at 3:00pm on the third Thursday of the month.
Check website at www.cinp.net.

Mississippi Valley NetWare Users Group (MVNUG) (Dubuque, Iowa)
Meetings will usually be held on the Second Thursday of the month...
Contact Skip Hefel and board members at MVNUG@DigitalMe.com

Sales Stuff----

dirXML drivers now available separately from software engine
Now customers will be able to purchase them separately from the DirXML software engine. Novell Product Announcements were sent out this week including drivers for Active Directory, Delimited Text, eDirectory, Exchange, GroupWise, LDAP, Notes and NT Domain. For information on the NPA numbers, please see the Novell Product Announcement web site. Access to NPA Archives are also contained within the Novell PartnerNet Portal. To access the portal, go to http://www.novell.com/channel, click on PartnerNet Portal and Login. If you have not previously created an a Novell eLogin id, you will need to register. After logging in, click on PartnerNet. On this page, you'll find a link to NPA's under the heading for Sales Professionals. Search for NPA numbers 2417 through 2432...

Free evaluation software now available for Secure Access
Get the Secure Access eval now! Try out all the hot features such as iChain and BorderManager now available in Secure Access. Simply fill out request form located at http://www.novell.com/solutions/access_security/ or http://www.novell.com/products/secureaccess/

Novell Portal Services 1.5 helps organizations realize the benefits of eBusiness faster, build and extend business relationships and simplify business processes
Solutions built on Novell Portal Services deliver the same personalized user experience from anywhere, working seamlessly across all types of networks as one Net
PROVO, Utah - Feb. 21, 2002 - Novell, Inc., a leading provider of Net business solutions, today announced the availability of Novell(R) Portal Services 1.5, the Net services software that brings together information and tools that are personalized for each user, allowing them to effectively communicate, share information and applications, make better decisions, and take action. Working across all types of networks as one Net, Novell Portal Services helps organizations realize the benefits of eBusiness faster, build strong partner relationships and simplify their business processes.

Novell Portal Services 1.5 makes it easy for users to customize portal interfaces to their preferred look and feel, find information, and set up online communities for sharing information and communicating with other community members across organizational boundaries. New management features help portal administrators further distribute portal administration responsibilities and provide more easily customizable portal content. With this release, Novell has also made possible the integration of multiple portals with key Novell Net services.

"Novell's is the only portal solution that leverages users' business context already stored in existing corporate systems to automatically personalize and secure the portal experience, delivering the right information to the right people," said Tom Karren, director of consulting at WingateWeb. "We think of user business context as virtually anything that identifies the user in corporate systems, like roles, locations, reporting structures, workgroups or any customizable field like cost codes. Novell Portal Services uses that context to make sure the user - and only that user - has access to every information source, team and tool needed to make him or her productive."

Unlike many portal offerings, key personalization and security infrastructure is tightly integrated with Novell Portal Services, though it is flexible enough to integrate with other portal solutions. Novell provides the deepest set of Net and professional services to provide a seamless user experience.

Allen Tietjen, director of Novell's Portal Solutions Group, said, "Using Novell Portal Services, a customer's portal solution can be customized to the organization's specific business needs, whether it's a personalized information dashboard to consistently help employees make better decisions or a partner portal to build and maintain a strong relationship to increase revenue and drive down the cost of doing business. A Novell portal solution is the best way to experience the benefits of one Net."

Novell Portal Services 1.5 also:

• Allows users to create online community Web sites without requiring IT intervention or Web development expertise. Communities help create groups that cross organizational boundaries and include file sharing, news posting, community calendars, links, discussion threads and chat.
• Provides a leading search engine, AltaVista* Search, which relates searching to a user's business context for more secure and productive search results.
• Integrates with other portal solutions, such as Yahoo!* Portal Builder, to deliver the benefits of Net services to end users. Novell Portal Services can also insert individual portal components into standard Web pages, making it easier for users to get to the resources they need.
• Makes it easy to distribute and secure portal administration responsibilities as well as leverages the power of Novell eDirectory(TM) to customize a portal's content, look and feel based on users' common traits, such as department, security level or location.
• Runs on the most popular eBusiness platforms, including Solaris*, Windows NT*/2000, Linux* and Novell NetWare(R).

PC Magazine article "Novell Small Business Suite - Complete NOS in a Single Box"
Novell Small Business Suite - dubbed by this author "a companion suite of tools designed for one-stop shopping for most of your NOS needs" - will appeal to those with a penchant for NetWare and those who like having one company for all product support, says this article. Even better, it says, the suite offers a lot of product for the money http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,2997,s=1470&a=22740,00.asp

Novell Secure Access*
Novell is pleased to announce the availability of Novell Secure Access to all customers worldwide. Novell Secure Access is a suite of access and security products that simplify, secure, accelerate, and extend identity management to applications, platforms, databases, and Network resources.

Today's traditional, best-of-breed, access and security solutions often have their own identity stores and security policies. Having to maintain multiple identity stores and security policies introduces significant security vulnerabilities, increases administration and support costs, and reduces the quality of the end user experience. Additionally, such solutions don't provide a mechanism for enforcing a consistent access control and security policy for the many users an organization encounters.

Novell Secure Access enables organizations to remove many of these vulnerabilities, reduce administrative and support costs, and improve the end user experience by unifying the identity management.

Products Included:
Novell Secure Access consists of NDS-Authentication Services 3.0, Novell Modular Authentication Service Enterprise Edition 2.0, Novell SecureLogin 3.0, Novell iChain 2.0, and BorderManager Enterprise Edition 3.6.

Media:
Customers will need to obtain the individual product media kits, but will purchase a suite license. Upgrade protection will be sold on the suite and not the individual products. Customers must purchase one user license for every user in the tree that will be utilizing any of the suite's services.

Novell Secure Access will be available with promotion pricing of $159 per user MSRP through July 2002, with a regular price of $212 per user MSRP.

Secure Access customers are entitled to the exact number of non-additive eDirectory licenses as Secure Access licenses they purchase.

Upgrades:
Customers of these products have the following upgrade options:

• NDS-Authentication Services 3.0, Novell Modular Authentication Service Enterprise Edition 2.0, Novell SecureLogin 2.5, Novell Single Sign-on w/v-GO 2.1, and BorderManager Enterprise Edition 3.6 customers can upgrade to Secure Access for $119 per user MSRP.
• Novell SecureLogin 3.0 customers can upgrade to Secure Access for $90 per user MSRP.
• iChain 2.0 does not qualify for a Secure Access upgrade

New Phone Number for Iowa/Nebraska Account Manager
Steve's numbers now are:
(new) Novell Office #515.537.5300
(same) Cellular Ph #515.250.6194
(same)TollFree Fax #866.618.4712

Administration Information:

Trouble Incident Escalation
I am NOT a Tech Support person... But, if you have an open support incident and it has been open for an unusually long period of time, one of my functions is to help escalate the issue inside Novell Tech Support. I will decide what the 'unusually long period of time' is... If you have a support contract, your issue should be resolved within days (resolved; depending on the level of the support contract, someone should contact you within minutes/hours to start working on it.) Without a support contract, you might face hours/days of waiting before tech support can address your call. So, if you feel you need assistance, send me an e-mail describing the incident, the incident number, and who to contact. If you don't have an open incident, don't get me involved until you do.

How to Get Tech Support

• Call 800-858-4000
  • Use a credit card to pay for an incident
  • Use an incident as part of a Premium Services contract
• Call your favorite local reseller- Many have tech support available from Novell
• OnLine- If you have a support contract, open an incident (as well as update the incident or check its status) at http://support.novell.com/servlet/incident

Want to see how some of our solutions work?
Check them out at the on-line demo city... http://democity.novell.com/staticindex.html

Due a Software Upgrade?
Here is how the process works.... You should receive an e-mail from Novell Sales Operations stating you are entitled, as an upgrade protection customer, the next upgrade for product XYZ... You should then go to the upgrade request site at www.novell.com/licensing/upgfulfill and fill in the appropriate lines and information. Your upgrade should then be shipped second day.... BUT turnaround time is dependent on when the product is actually available for FCS (First Customer Ship), which could be days or weeks after the actual product announcement. If you are then having problems, please let your IA/NE Novell team know so we can get involved.

Previous Editions of this E-Blast
Have you missed previous editions of this newsletter? Want to read them? Thanks to the CINP (Central Iowa Network Professionals), they have posted them all at http://www.cinp.net, Links, then 4th item down under Novell, or directly to http://www.cinp.net/nov_blast.html...

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Disclaimer:
Information contained herein is provided as-is. Opinions are those of the author and may or may not be the same as those of Novell, and are definitely NOT attributable to Novell unless otherwise noted.

John Bezy
Technology Account Manager
Iowa/Nebraska
ph: (402) 291-1808
eFax: (561) 760-6149
fax: (402) 291-4529
Novell-the leading provider of
     Net Services Software
     www.novell.com
jbezy@novell.com