ClientServer setup

[Fozzie]

Guys I have quite a few boxen I want to put to work, in the easiest way I can so how can I set FAD up to have a repository of WUs from which multiple boxen grab a WU from to work on?

Is this posible or do I have to install multiple copies?

The more anonymous the better

[redukt]

If you setup the main boxes FaD installation as a network share, you can just run "fadsetup" from the shared folder on each machine. Then chose client installtion after you hit save. Make sure your internet connection option is set to "whenever I'm connected", and FaD will DL jobs as needed.

[QIbHom]

Nifty trick. I've got a few questions, though (considering moving to FAD after DF ends).

1) Can the share be hidden?
2) Is there a way to get rid of all the garbage the Windows client leaves in the taskbar, on the screen, etc?
3) Is there a way that doesn't involve buying software to set the client up as a service?

I've got some boxes that can't have anything showing, because they are used for training, and that would confuse people.

[redukt]

AFAIK, to hide the share just put a dollar sign after the share name. then you can browse to it by hand. For exable, a shared folder Foo$ on PC Bar you would browse to //Bar/Foo$.

You can set the graphics and queue to hidden using fadsetup, and FaD is put in the tray automatically on booting (not a service, but it loads from the startup folder).

Cheers!

[Fozzie]

instsrv.exe and srvany.exe are "free" as they come with one of the reskits.

They are pretty easy to use, they must be I have them working.

I don't think you can hide shares, but not 100% sure.

In FADSetup under Options you can untick Show System Tray Icon

Looks tricky to get it working how I want it.

[redukt]

instsrv? srvany? Huh?

[Paratima]

Originally posted by redukt
instsrv? srvany? Huh?

Find 'em in the Windows Resource Kits !

No charge!

[QIbHom]

Hmm. Thanks. I'll give it a shot at work Sat. If I can get it all automated and silent, then I can use a lot more computers (part time). After DF ends, that is. If not, I'll try a few more dc projects, and see if anything works. I'm picky.

[Fozzie]

Set up by running FADSetup from the server share and it works well. I read you can add the think.exe as a scheduled task to start at system startup.

Might try a couple of P4 boxen next week to see how it goes.

[PCZ]

ALL

FAD works well as a network client.

If you have some clients without internet access but are on a Lan then you can use them.
Ideally you need a Laptop for this.

1: Install FAD on the Laptop
2: Connect the Laptop to the internet and download lots of work
3: Set the FAD client on the Laptop to work offline.
4: Share the FAD directory {Sticking with the kiss principal call this fad}

Note: If you want a hidden share put a $ on the end of the file name.
fad$ for example.

5: Create an account on the laptop that matches an existing account on the clients
This is important the account names and passwords must be the same.

Note: If you used a $ in the Sharename you will have to make sure that it is an Admin account you create in step 5.
Only admins can access hidden shares.

6: Connect the Laptop to the LAN
Check that you can ping the clients.

Starting the clients up
----------------------------
Method 1
On the clients open a cmd window and type:
\\name of laptop\fad\think.exe
If this doesn't work check step 5

Note: It takes a minute or two for the FAD server to show the client in the monitor window so be patient.
Check task manager for CPU activity on the client.
Also if you shut the window the client will stop so this method is far from ideal.


Method 2
Write a .cmd file, just open notepad and type:
\\name of laptop\fad\think.exe
save it as fad.cmd

Note: By default notepad will add a .txt extension, you dont want this.
Select save as, look for the save as type box, change it to all files.

Setup the task scheduler to run fad.cmd at startup.
Make sure you use an account which is valid on the laptop, the one you created in step 5.


Method 3
Grab these files

These files srvany.exe and instsrv.exe need to be copied to the clients.
Copy them to the windows directory, winnt on 2k.

One way of getting them there is put them in the FAD directory on the Laptop and copy them over when the Laptop is connected to the LAN.
They are small files so you could use a floppy or usb key.

When you have srvany and instsrv copied to the clients open a cmd window and type the following:
instsrv FAD c:\windows\srvany.exe
OR
instsrv FAD c:\winnt\srvany.exe {If your windows dir is winnt]

If you copied the service files somewhere other than the windows directory then you have to type the full path to srvany.exe
Also you have to type srvany.exe not srvany, that doesn't work

You should now have a service called FAD.
Next you need to do a bit of registry editing.

1: Go to the run box and type regedit
2: Navigate to: HKLM_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services
Scroll down the list and find FAD
3: Right click on FAD and select new key
Enter Parameters as the name.
4: Right click on Parameters and select new String Value, call this Application
5: Double click on the Application string and enter: \\name of laptop\fad\think.exe
6: Exit regedit

Now go to the run box and type: services.msc
Scroll through the list and find FAD
Double click it and select the logon tab
Change the radio button from: Local System account to: This account
Enter the name of the account you created in step 5.
You will have to enter the password twice.
Start the service.

Now you will have to connect that Laptop to the Internet regularly to upload completed work and download new work.

If you are lucky you can connect without disconnecting the Laptop from the Lan, a phone line maybe available.

More Likely though you will have to stop the clients disconnect the Laptop from the Lan and take it home to upload and download new work.


Hope this helps

PCZ

[Plum Ugly]

Originally posted by Fozzie
Set up by running FADSetup from the server share and it works well. I read you can add the think.exe as a scheduled task to start at system startup.

Might try a couple of P4 boxen next week to see how it goes.

Fozzie; when it is setup this way it will run as a service.If you set it up in admistrator mode the users can't shut it off. And you can set it to not show in the task bar. The server will show sending and recieving jobs with a pop up window on the server but not on the clients. If you setup fad as a stand and have the icon in the task bar hidden Fad will show a pop up window when connecting to fad for uploads or down loads.

[MerePeer]

I have an old service I was just browsing, and I see it is set to run the "loader.exe" application, not "think.exe". I'm guessing running think.exe works too -- just wondering if there is any diff.

Originally posted by PCZ
ALL

...

5: Double click on the Application string and enter: \\name of laptop\fad\think.exe

Looking at the FAQ page http://www.find-a-drug.co.uk/frame.html it says (my bolded):

...
The Find-a-Drug control panel places think.lgo into an appropriate startup folder and the filetype lgo is registered to start the loader application.

My filetype for LGO (Windows Explorer/Tools/Folder Options/File Types/LGO/Advanced/Open/Edit has
c:\program files\find-a-drug\loader.exe %1
as the "Application used to peform action:". Perhaps this is obsolete because it is version 1.23c? I should upgrade and find out.

[dannychuckle]

Originally posted by MerePeer
I have an old service I was just browsing, and I see it is set to run the "loader.exe" application, not "think.exe". I'm guessing running think.exe works too -- just wondering if there is any diff.

This is for Win machines - I'm not too hot on Linux but I think the theory is the same:

On a server/standalone machine:
Running think.exe
Think will run and it'll start server.exe when it needs it (for allocating/sending/receiving jobs etc).

Running loader.exe
loader will start think.exe, fadsetup.exe and server.exe. If Think is exited for any reason fadsetup will restart it after the snooze period.

On a client:
Running think.exe
On a networked client, think will be loaded and will run fine until there is a network problem or network delay, and then think.exe might well be exited (as there'll be no local copy on the client pc).

If you run loader.exe it will start fadsetup.exe and think.exe. These will be coppied to the temp folder on the client machine, so network interuptions will not end think.exe - they will just mean it waits until it can communicate with the server before continuing. If think.exe is stopped, fadsetup will restart it.

I did a guide ages ago - its here if its any use.

If anyone uses it, they might wanna change the batch file on there - I've been using something like the following one on my clients for the last few months:

--------------------
@ECHO OFF

:retry
IF EXIST \\***SERVER NAME***\FaD\loader.exe GOTO :Start
ECHO No Server found.....

ECHO ...Waiting...
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 120 -w 1000 >null
GOTO :retry

:Start
ECHO Server found - Loading....
\\***SERVER NAME***\FaD\loader.exe

REM Don't forget to change the path if it's not 'FaD'!
--------------------

HTH

[bwkaz]

Originally posted by PCZ
Note: If you used a $ in the Sharename you will have to make sure that it is an Admin account you create in step 5.
Only admins can access hidden shares.

I do not believe this is true.

I know that only machine admins (and if your machine is on a domain, then the domain admins group is a member of your machine admins group) can access the \\machinename\c$, \\machinename\admin$, and \\machinename\ipc$ shares (and any other driveletter shares -- admin$ is your Windows directory, and ipc$ is used for inter-process communication). But that's because of the permissions on the shares, not the fact that they're hidden.

(Although maybe with xp's "insecure file sharing", oops I mean "simple file sharing", turned on, hidden is equivalent to admins-only. I never use that at work, so I don't know for sure.)

If you create a share (at least on 2K), the permissions on the share are set to Everyone - Full Control. The connecting user is then checked against the filesystem permissions (which on some versions of 2K is Everyone - Full Control on the C drive too... duh), and only if they pass both checks are they allowed to read from or write to the share. So if the FaD directory on the server has admin-only permissions, then no matter how you share it, only admin accounts will be able to actually read and write it. But anyone can map to it, if they know the share name.