samba - Apr 1998 - Netscape profile scripts?

A while back there was a thread in which many people were discussing how
to make Netscape work with roaming profiles.  There was some talk about
how this would require a script to modify the registry, etc.  I just
talked to one of the NS programmers who said that the problem would be
fixed and even enhanced in a version 4.5.  He didn't say whether the 4.5
code was going to be an internal or public release, though.

In any case, their personal response to me was enough to convince me to
stick with Netscape rather than convert to IE, so I'm wondering if
anyone has some of the previously-mentioned scripts that they wouldn't
mind sharing with me while we wait for this new release?  The Windows
Registry is a new area for me, and I'm fearful of trying to write the
script myself.

Thanks in advance,

Dana

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Dana Canfield wrote:
> A while back there was a thread in which many people were discussing how
> to make Netscape work with roaming profiles.  There was some talk about
> how this would require a script to modify the registry, etc.  I just
> talked to one of the NS programmers who said that the problem would be
> fixed and even enhanced in a version 4.5.  He didn't say whether the
4.5
> code was going to be an internal or public release, though.
> 
> In any case, their personal response to me was enough to convince me to
> stick with Netscape rather than convert to IE, so I'm wondering if
> anyone has some of the previously-mentioned scripts that they wouldn't
> mind sharing with me while we wait for this new release?  The Windows
> Registry is a new area for me, and I'm fearful of trying to write the
> script myself.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Dana
this is how we use a roaming netscape profile with a common directory for
unix and nt.  i'm currently using this with netscape-4.04 to provide each
user with a common, roaming netscape user directory in solaris and nt.

install netscape under nt and run it once as administrator to generate
a default user profile.  i named the default user profile 'default' and
this creates a \Netscape\Users\default directory.  i install netscape on
a samba shared drive S so we have S:\Netscape\Users\default.

edit the \Netscape\Users\default\prefs.js file as necessary,  or run
netscape, edit preferences and save to generate the preferences you want
for everybody.

in your nt logon batch or command script, add something like the following
to create a .netscape directory in the user's home directory and copy the
preferences file if it doesn't exist.  you may also want to add something
that allows you to apply updates to this prefs.js file each time a user
logs in.

rem copy netscape preferences file is it doesn't exist.
if not exist H:\.netscape md H:\.netscape
if not exist H:\.netscape\prefs.js xcopy /f /v
S:\Netscape\Users\default\prefs.js H:\.netscape\

save this registry data to a file called netscape.txt:

\Registry\Machine\SOFTWARE\Netscape\Netscape Navigator\Users
    = 
    CurrentUser = Default
    Default
        DirRoot = h:\.netscape
        UserName = 
        EmailAddr = 

and apply it to your registry with:

regini netscape.txt

--
Todd Pfaff                         \  Email: pfaff@mcmaster.ca
Computing and Information Services  \ Voice: (905) 525-9140 x22920
ABB 132                              \  FAX: (905) 528-3773
McMaster University                   \
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada  L8S 4M1     \

Dana Canfield wrote:
> A while back there was a thread in which many people were discussing how
> to make Netscape work with roaming profiles.  There was some talk about
> how this would require a script to modify the registry, etc.
I know you already got a very good response to this (about modifying the
registry to point profiles to a server somewhere).  You may also want to
look at http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/admin/nt/notes/netscape.html for my notes on
the same topic. I go a step further and create a template account,
subscribed user to some default groups, and then copied the entire user
directory to the server.  When user's log in, the login script looks for a
directory named netscape, and if it doesn't exist, copies the template data
over, modifies prefs.js with the user's personal information, then starts
netscape.

A crude perl script for doing some of this is on the above page...