Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d20/fnpgat26.arc/FNPGATE.DOC

Text File | 1991-01-14 | 13KB | 333 lines

                       FNPGate v 2.50

                  Netmail/Echomail Gateway

              By: Jason Steck 1:104/424@FidoNet



LICENSE:

FNPGATE is written as a part of the FreeNet Project and is,
as such, released as freeware.  No charge may be assessed
for the distribution or use of FNPGate.  The author retains
copyright to the name and the source code of the FNPGate
software and all previous versions.

FNPGate may be freely distributed and used so long as it is
used in a lawful and friendly manner.  Lawful and friendly
use includes compliance with applicable network policies and
technical standards.





PURPOSE OF FNPGATE:

FNPGate is written to enable and ease internetwork
communication.  There exists in the networking world a
plethora of networks, all using essentially the same
FidoNet-originating technology, but all nonetheless separate
networks which would normally be inaccessible to each other.
FNPGate provides a mechanism to interface various separate
networks in an intelligent and technically stable fashion.
FNPGate will provide a "gateway" between such networks for
both netmail and echomail.  For the purposes of gateway
operations, separate networks are referred to by the term
"domain".






SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

FNPGate requires MS-DOS v 3.0 or above.  For netmail
operations, FNPGate requires a FTS-0001-compatible "stored
message" format in the netmail area (support for optional
zone and point fields is NOT required).  For echomail
operations, FNPGate requires use of the ZZYZX line of
echomail/netmail utilities from the Mojave Group (see
below).  Examples include ZmailH for Hudson-style message
bases (QuickBBS, Remote Access, and SuperBBS) and ZmailF
for FTS-0001-type message bases (Opus, Maximus).



FNPGATE CONFIGURATION

FNPGate requires the presence of a control file in the
directory it is being executed from.  The control file name
must be "fnpgate.cfg".

There are five types of lines in the FNPGate control file:

1)  ADDRESS line:  The address line consists of the word
ADDRESS followed by the domain-dimensional address of
that node.  The address is followed by the directory where the
QuickBBS-style nodelist index for that domain is kept. That, in
turn, may be followed by a comma-delineated list of the zones which
are valid within that domain if zone exist within that domain at all.
If multiple zones exist within that domain, the zone list may be followed
by the optional keyword ZG which will cause messages gated to zones other
than the zone in which the gateway resides to be routed through the
appropriate zonegate.

For example, the following line:

ADDRESS 1:104/424@FidoNet c:\qbbs\nodelist   1,2,3,4,5    ZG

Means that the system has a FidoNet address of 1:104/424 and
that zones 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are currently valid within the
domain called "FidoNet".   The QuickBBS nodelist index (only the index
may be required) is in directory c:\qbbs\nodelist and messages to
nodes outside of zone 1 are to be routed through the zonegate.

A separate address line must be included for each domain the
gateway is going to serve.  The gateway system will require
an address of its own within each domain that is served.

2)  NETMAILDIR line:  This line must point to a directory
containing the FTS-0001 "stored message" compatible netmail
area.  An example of such a line would be:

NETMAILDIR c:\qbbs\netmail


3)  ORIGIN line:  If echomail operations are to be
performed, this line must contain the text of the origin
line which will be appended to gatewayed messages.  For
example:

ORIGIN FidoNet/MetroNet FNPGateway -- Tally-Ho!

4)  AKA line:  An AKA line consists of the word AKA followed
by a single domain-dimensioned address per line.  This line is
used to specify non-primary aka addresses within domains.  The
primary address within a domain must be listed on an ADDRESS line if
any gating is to be accomplished to or from that domain.

5)  FORWARD line:  A FORWARD line consists of the word FORWARD
followed by a domain name which is known but is not served directly at this
gateway.  That domain name is followed in turn by a domain-dimensioned
address to which mail to that aforementioned domain is to be routed.
FORWARD lines must be placed AFTER all ADDRESS lines in a fnpgate.cfg file.

For example, the following line:

FORWARD AlterNet 1:107/508@FidoNet

Will cause all mail intended for the AlterNet domain to be sent (with
DOMAIN line intact) to 1:107/508 in the FidoNet domain for further
routing.

The address specified for forwarding to must reside in a domain which is
known to FNPGate from a previous ADDRESS line.  In the above example, the
line will not be accepted by FNPGate unless a ADDRESS line has been declared
for the FidoNet domain.


NETMAIL GATEWAY WITH FNPGATE

Netmail intended to go through the gateway will come
addressed to the intended person at the address of the
gateway system.  In order to gateway that message, FNPGate
requires that the message contain an additional addressing
line in the text field of the message.  FNPGate supports two
types of addressing.

1)  DOMAIN addressing (FSC-0038).
2)  @DOMAIN addressing (Essentially the same as FSC-0038.  @ replaces ^a)

DOMAIN addressing is described in the FidoNet Technical
Standards Proposal FSC-0038.  DOMAIN lines are hidden by the
^a (Ascii #01) kludge line and are automatically inserted by a few
software packages such as MsgEd.

@DOMAIN lines may be inserted manually and are intended for
use by those systems who cannot support automatically-
inserted ^aDOMAIN lines.

The format of the @DOMAIN line is as follows:

@DOMAIN <dest DOMAIN) <dest address> <source domain> <source address>

For example, a message from 1:104/424 in FidoNet to
200:5000/100 in MetroNet would require the following @DOMAIN
line:

@DOMAIN MetroNet 200:5000/100 FidoNet 1:104/424


The @DOMAIN line must be the FIRST non-hidden text line in the
message and must be followed by either a hard or soft
carriage return (ASCII #13 is a hard CR, #141 is a soft CR).

FNPGate must be run immediately after the mail tossing
utility.  FNPGate will check each message in the netmail
area for the presence of a ^aDOMAIN or @DOMAIN line.  If a valid
DOMAIN line is found, FNPGate will check the nodelist index
indicated for that domain in the ADDRESS line to ensure that the
address specified in the DOMAIN line is a valid one in that domain.
If the gateway operator does not have QuickBBS-type nodelist
indexes available or if the gateway operator wishes to forgo the
address check, FNPGate may be executed with the /A command line
parameter.  That parameter will cause FNPGate to assume that any
address found with a valid domain is valid itself.  All required
validity checks having been made, FNPGate will gateway the
message to the ultimate destination, always ensuring that
the message's FROM address reflects the gateway's aka within
that domain.  In the example above, destined for
200:5000/100@MetroNet the gateway (200:5000/400) would
appear as if it were the source of the message.

If a domain is found which is not served at the gateway, the FORWARD
lines are searched for a place to forward the message for further
processing.  If no forward point is found, FNPGate will attempt to
return the message to its point of origin.

However, in order to facilitate response through the
gateway, FNPGate will insert an instructions block at the
top of the message to guide the recipient in responding
through the gateway.  Also, FNPGate will insert valid INTL
and DOMAIN lines into the message to facilitate existing
software packages in making automatic responses without
continual need for manual @DOMAIN lines.

After running FNPGate, messages may be extracted from the
netmail area and/or re-routed with other packages.  Ommm has
been demonstrated to work on gated messages on Binkley
systems.  Ommm-compatible packages like Qmail should also
work as should direct-access routers like that included with
the FrontDoor mailer package.


ECHOMAIL GATEWAY WITH FNPGATE

As mentioned before, FNPGate requires use of the ZZYZX line
of echomail utilities to gateway echomail properly.  Only versions
later than version 1.10 will operate properly.

In order to gateway echomail, modify the areas.bbs file to
put a * before the entry of the uplink node for a
conference.  For example, to gateway the SYSOP conference to
MetroNet, put a * before the FidoNet uplink like this:

100 SYSOP  *1:104/1 200:5000/100

The * will cause all messages OUTBOUND to the FidoNet uplink
(1:104/1) in the SYSOP conference to be tossed to the netmail
area for further processing.  A * will have to be entered to
the uplink node entry in areas.bbs for EACH conference that is
gated.

At runtime, FNPGate will sense the presence of echomail
messages in the netmail directory.  When tossing them there,
ZZYZX utilities will also insert information whereby
FNPGate can determine where the message is headed.  The
message will be parsed to find the address on the origin
line.

If the message is destined for the same zone that is listed
on the origin line, then FNPGate will leave the message
alone.  However, if the message has an origin line in a
different zone than the destination of the message, FNPGate
will "gate" the message.  If FNPGate cannot find a valid origin
line, the message will not be modified in any way.  It is therefore
critical that gateways insure that downlinks are properly constructing
origin lines.  If no zone number is found in the origin line, FNPGate
will gate the message just to be safe.

When gating a message, FNPGate will invalidate the original
origin line by overwriting the * at the beginning of an
origin line with a #.  Then FNPGate will insert a short, 2-line
instructions block to facilitate people in making netmail
responses through the gateway to gaited echomail messages.
Finally, FNPGate will write out its own origin line
utilizing the address of the gateway that is valid for the
destination domain of the message.

Confused?  See the following example:

The areas.bbs line:

100 SYSOP *1:104/1 1:104/440 200:5000/100

Messages outbound to 1:104/1 in the SYSOP conference will be
tossed into the netmail area.  If those messages were from
1:104/440, FNPGate will allow them to go through unmodified
as they are already from a FidoNet zone 1 node.  However, if
the messages have the zone 200 (MetroNet) address on the origin
line, FNPGate will gateway that message by invalidating the zone
200 origin line, inserting an instruction block explaining how to
send netmail to that zone 200 node through the gateway, and finally
inserting its own origin line valid within FidoNet.  In this case, the
gateway address in Fidonet is 1:104/424 and that would be the address
put on the new origin line.


Finally, after FNPGate finishes, the messages must be
scanned out utilizing Ommm or a Zmail run with the EP
parameter and without the NS parameter.  Refer to Zmail
documentation for information on those parameters.


SETTING UP A VALID GATEWAY

It is NOT proper to just decide to gateway mail and then do
it.  As well as having great potential to expand
communication across network boundaries, gateways have the
dangerous capability to make a BIG mess of things if they
are unauthorized or improperly run.

Nearly every network has some authority in charge of its
echomail and/or gateway systems.  Before setting up an
FNPGate gateway or adding a new network to an existing
gateway, permission MUST be obtained from the authorities
within that network.  Failure to do so is not only a
violation of many network policies, it is also a violation
of the license to use this software.

Individuals who run unauthorized gateways in violation of
the license may well face myriad complaints and possible
punitive actions.


BUG REPORTS, SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS

Those with bug reports, suggestions for FNPGate, or
questions regarding setup or operation of FNPGate are
encouraged to contact Jason Steck at any of the following
addresses:

1:104/424@FidoNet
200:5000/400@MetroNet
99:910/952@EggNet
11:11/200@OPCN
77:1910/5@LCRNet
8:7703/10@Network
24:24/5100@SIGNet
31:31/500@EmergNet



ZZYZX ECHOMAIL/NETMAIL PRODUCTS

Those interested in the ZZYZX line of echomail/netmail
utilities are encouraged to contact Steve Boyd at the
following addresses:

1:104/421@FidoNet
200:5000/499@MetroNet

Cost of ZZYZX Zmail products is $25 (US).