Domain or not to Domain?

[kdeans]

I have a Novell network with one Win 2000 server. I have a group of
users that need to map to the Win 2000 server. They each have a user
name and password on the Win 2000 that is synchronized to their
Novell info. When they are prompted to change their passwords on
other servers (AS400), they are in the habit of changing all passwords
(email, windows, novell, etc.) in order to keep things synchronized. How
can they change the password on the Win 2000 server from their
workstations? They use a mix of Win 95 and Win 98. Novell client
version 3.1. You can only change the local Windows password from the Control Panel/Passwords icon. It doesn't give you the option of changing any remote Windows passwords. Is it because they are not logging on to an NT domain? Do I need to install Active Directory and make that server the Domain Controller? Will that allow these users to change their password on this server? Are there any other consequences?

 

[psimpson]

It's because Microsoft specifically designed password changing in a mixed NT / Novell environment not to work seamlessly. Remember, Microsoft hates Novell and wants to rid the planet of all NetWare installations. And Novell hasn't exactly always liked Microsoft. One good way of eliminating NetWare and NDS is to make the products work so poorly togther that users will abandon NDS.

In your situation, I think your best bet would be to install Netware Directory Services for WinNT on your WinNT box so it uses Netware NDS authentication instead of WinNT authentication. That is, unless you specifically NEED WinNT authentication in lieu of NetWare for some reason.

Good Luck.