Supervising the Network

4-50
Managing the NetWare Directory Services Tree
Importing User Information into the NDS Database
Importing User Information into the NDS Database
The UIMPORT utility allows you to import data from an existing database
into the NDS database. This utility is particularly valuable if you have
hundreds or thousands of user records that you want to record in NDS
without having to re-create each user manually.
Any application capable of converting records to a comma-separated ASCII
file will work with UIMPORT.
You can use UIMPORT to automate the maintenance of your NDS database
when you want to
• Create User objects in the NDS database using records from another database.
• Update User properties in the NDS database when records are changed in your
original database program.
• Delete User objects when their accounts on the network are no longer needed.
Understanding the Import Process
The process for importing records from your database into the NDS database
is as follows:
1 Generate a data file—a delimited ASCII text file—from your existing database
records.
Most applications let you save data as a comma-separated ASCII text file with
quotation marks as delimiters.
2 Create an import control file to interpret the data file.
You can create the import control file using any text editor under DOS. This file
defines how records in the data file are imported into NDS and which fields
(properties) the data will be placed in.
3 Create User objects using UIMPORT to transfer data from your database to the
NDS database.
Figure 4-2 gives you a general overview of the import process.