
=======================================================================
Netscape Server 1.13  (Windows NT)
=======================================================================

This is the release notes file for the full installation of Netscape
Commerce Server 1.13 and Netscape Communications Server 1.13.

Netscape Server 1.13 is subject to the terms detailed in the license
agreement accompanying it.

         ***************************************************
         IMPORTANT!  Before going any further, please read
         and accept the terms in the License Agreement.
         ***************************************************

CONTENTS
--------
-Installation Instructions
-Windows NT Service Pack: console windows
-Troubleshooting: tech notes, rotating log files, reinstalling the server
-New Features Added in 1.12
-Enhancements Addressed in 1.13


=======================================================================
Installation Instructions
=======================================================================

* Before Installation

   You should make sure you are using the latest version of Windows NT
   with the latest Service Pack (a collection of enhancements) installed.
   As of February 1996, the latest versions are NT 3.51 and Service Pack 3.
   You can download NT Service Packs from Microsoft's web site, 
   "http://www.microsoft.com/".

   If your Windows NT computer does not have a hostname that's
   registered with a DNS (domain name services) server on your network,
   then you will not be able to use hostnames with it, but this will not
   cause any problems.  Just keep in mind that whenever the NT web
   server installation asks you for hostnames (such as in during the
   installation when you tell it what the name of the computer is that
   it's running on, or when you are setting up access restrictions), use
   a numeric IP address instead.

* Installation

   To install the server from the installation CD-ROM, choose "Run" from
   the Program Manager's "File" menu and type (assuming your CD-ROM is
   drive E):

     E:\I386\SETUP.EXE    for Intel-based processors
     E:\ALPHA\SETUP.EXE   for Alpha-based processors

   then click OK to start the installation.

   Installation begins by copying files from the CD-ROM to your
   computer.  After all the files are copied, the installation starts up
   a temporary installation server on your computer (on a random port
   number) and connects to it with Netscape Navigator to let you
   configure the server.  See the documentation for complete instructions.

NOTE:

   The Setup program's title bar and dialogs for the installation of
   version 1.13 of the Netscape web servers incorrectly identify the
   version number as "1.1"; do not be concerned by this.  After the
   installation finishes, please see the "Netscape Server Manager" page
   for the current version.


========================================================================
Windows NT Service Pack: console windows
========================================================================

If you change the user account that your server runs as (by default it
uses the LocalSystem account) and you see console windows appear when
you restart the server, you need a patch kit from Microsoft.

There is a known anomaly in Windows NT where if the account that the Service
uses is changed from LocalSystem, the service becomes interactive with
the desktop.

You can download the (most recent) service pack from
"http://www.microsoft.com/support":

  1. Click on "Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack 3"
  2. Download the service pack for Windows NT 3.51 - eg: "sp3_351i.exe"
  3. Follow the instructions that came with the service pack.


=======================================================================
Troubleshooting
=======================================================================

* Technical Support Information

   If you have any questions or problems with the installation,
   configuration, or use of the Netscape web server, please see the
   server support pages available on:

   http://home.netscape.com/assist/support/server/

   Specifically, you can find a lot of NT-specific information available
   in the Technical Notes:

   http://home.netscape.com/assist/support/server/tn/


* Rotating Log files

   The "rotate log files" function from the administration server (and
   "ROTATE.EXE" from a DOS prompt) has a limitation whereby it does not rotate
   the errors log file.  You can work around this problem by using a
   batch file to rotate the errors log file instead; here is an example
   of the commands which should be in the batch file:

   NET STOP "NETSCAPE HTTPD-80"
   RENAME D:\NETSCAPE\NS-HOME\HTTPD-80\LOGS\ERRORS ERRORS.OLD
   NET START "NETSCAPE HTTPD-80"

   If you store log files in a directory other than the default logs
   directory [ServerRoot]\LOGS and you want to automatically rotate log
   files at specific times or intervals, you must use the ROTATE.EXE
   utility in the \LOGS directory. You can't use the Administration
   forms to do this (the forms interface to the Rotate utility works for
   files in the \LOGS directory only).

   You can write batch files or other programs to run the ROTATE.EXE
   program. The syntax for running ROTATE.EXE is:

   ROTATE "ServiceName" directory logfilename

   - ServiceName is the case-sensitive name of the Service the server
     runs as. This is usually "Netscape Httpd-80".  Since the service
     name contains a space, you will have to put it in double-quotes.

   - directory is the full path to the log file.

   - logfilename is the name of the log file.

   For example:
     ROTATE "Netscape Httpd-80" C:\LOGS mylogs


* Slow performance

   For help solving slow performance issues with your Netscape web
   server on Windows NT, please see this tech note:

   http://home.netscape.com/assist/support/server/tn/windows-nt/20208.html


* Reinstalling the server

   If you want to reinstall Netscape Commerce Server to a different
   directory on your computer, you will need to remove the "Netscape
   GetPassword" service first.  You can find detailed information about
   how to do this on:

   http://home.netscape.com/assist/support/server/tn/windows-nt/20204.html


* Server stops responding

   When connecting to the Netscape server using TCP/IP, the client can
   become locked out if Windows crashes or is restarted without exiting
   the server properly. This occurs because of a limitation in NT RPC
   software that results in the server not realizing the client is no
   longer running, so it does not release locks held to prevent the same
   user from connecting multiple times.

   The symptom of the problem is that client would not be able to
   connect to the server even the server is up and running. This lock is
   released eventually by itself but it can take up to five hours,
   during which time the user can not access the server.

   The Solution:

   There are two Windows NT registry settings that allow the server to
   detect that the client has vanished. Setting them allows the server
   to clean up after crashed clients, allowing them to reconnect.  Use
   the Registry Editor in the C:\WINNT35\SYSTEM32\REGEDT32.EXE to update
   the registry as described below.

   KEEPALIVE
   The first registry parameter is called KeepAlive. It tells Windows NT
   to send keep-alive packets on all TCP/IP connections established with
   this system.  These are what allows the Netscape Server to be notified
   when a client is gone. Set KeepAlive as a REG_DWORD to the value 1
   under the following key. The <adapter> is different on each system,
   and corresponds to the network adaptor that TCP/IP is configured on:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\System\CurrentControlSet\...
   Services\<adapter>\Parameters\Tcpip\KeepAlive

   KEEPALIVETIME
   The second registry parameter is called KeepAliveTime. This tells
   Windows NT how often to send keep-alive packets on TCP/IP
   connections.  The default is two hours. If you want the server to
   detect absent clients more quickly than this, set this parameter. It
   is the number of milliseconds to wait after the session is idle
   before sending a keep-alive. (Be careful when setting this, because
   the data entry defaults to hex digits.) If this is set too low, it
   can add unwanted network traffic to your LAN. Netscape suggests
   setting it to 5 minutes, which is 300,000 milliseconds. (That's
   0x49E30 in hex.)  This parameter is REG_DWORD type.

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\System\CurrentControlSet\...
   Services\Tcpip\Parameters\KeepAliveTime

   USING REGEDT32
   To set the parameters, navigate down the tree from the
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES
   key at the top. Once you reach the point where you want to add either
   KeepAlive or KeepAliveTime, select the "Add Value..." entry from the
   "Edit" menu bar. It shows you to specify the name and type of the new
   parameter. Once you have entered the name and type you will be
   prompted for the value.
   "DO NOT USE THE "ADD KEY..." MENU CHOICE! That is for adding new
   levels in the tree, not new parameter values.


=======================================================================
New Features Added in 1.12
=======================================================================

1. Added Support for Windows CGI 1.1

The Netscape Commerce and Communications Servers 1.12 (and higher) for
Windows NT support the Windows CGI 1.1 interface. This interface allows
CGI programs to be written in Microsoft Visual Basic and Borland Delphi,
and have the data passed through files between the Netscape Server and
the Visual Basic or Delphi program.

The Netscape implementation differs from the standard Windows CGI 1.1
specifications in the following areas:

   - Netscape's Windows CGI only runs on Windows NT 3.51
   - Netscape has not implemented a debug mode.
   - The Netscape implementation uses the CreateProcess call to launch
     the CGI.  This is a 32-bit Windows API function that is equivalent
     to WinExec().

For a complete description of Windows CGI 1.1 please refer to the
following web pages.  When referencing this material please remember the
differences mentioned above.

   - http://rpadilla.gsu.edu/httpddoc/info/wincgi.htm
   - http://www.city.net/win-httpd/httpddoc/wincgi.htm
   - http://elmer.biosci.ohio-state.edu/httpddoc/info/wincgi.htm


2. Multiple Domain Support

The Netscape Commerce and Communications Servers 1.12 for Windows NT
support multiple domains.  Each server installed on your machine can
have up to 16 domains and each domain can be mapped to a unique document
root.  Multiple domain support can be configured through the server
administration forms.  Please refer to the online documentation found in
the server administration forms.


=======================================================================
Enhancements Addressed in 1.13
=======================================================================

1. Added checks for Non-Compliant HTML Browsers.
Additional data validation checks have been added to the NT 1.13 server,
that handle invalid data from the non-compliant HTML browsers.

2. Addressed Issues with Invalid CGI Commands.
The NT 1.13 server handles more error conditions, that normally
occur with the trailing "/".

3. Optimized User Authentication for Active Sites.
Reduced the number of timeouts seen during user authentication
on busy sites.

4. Enhanced error handling for interrupted cgi with POST.
If the CGI is in progress, and is interrupted, the CGI thread
would not use server resources.

