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1991-10-30
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Resident Extension Module #1 (NRUN and NBOUNCE)
Beta Documentation
Programs and documentation (C) Copyright 1990 by SoftMagic Inc.
All rights reserved.
The Resident Extension Modules (RXM), of which this is the first,
are going to be a series of small TSR programs that add
specialized capabilities to LANtastic. To get the capabilities
that you need, you load only the RXMs you want -- this keeps
LANtastic small as it's intended to be, while still giving you the
features that you want.
RXM #1 consists of an installable module and three functions,
NRUN, which allows you to run DOS commands on remote workstations,
NBOUNCE, which allows you to log remote stations off of a server,
and NREBOOT, which allows you to reboot any remote station.
To use the RXM functions, you must first load the resident module
by typing
RXM
at the DOS prompt, or by including it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or
STARTNET.BAT. This first RXM only occupies 880 bytes of RAM!
Once you've loaded RXM, you can use NRUN, NBOUNCE and NREBOOT from any
station on the LAN. (of course, they will only affect stations on
which you have run RXM. That's another benefit of the RXM
philosophy -- you can set up different configurations as needed on
different stations)
How They Work
NRUN's syntax is
NRUN <machineID> <command>
NBOUNCE's syntax is
NBOUNCE <machineID> <server>
NREBOOT's syntax is
NREBOOT <machineID>
In all cases, <machineID> is a standard REDIR node name, exactly
as used by the NET SEND command. The most important implication
of this is that using '*' for the <machineID> means that the
command or logout message gets sent to everyone. You can run a
command on *all* the stations on your network or log everyone out
of a given server with a single command.
Limitations and Potential Hazards
Let me stress that this is an EARLY BETA version of RXM #1 and is
distributed only for the purpose of testing. While the code works
as advertised, there are a few potential design and security
"gotchas." Use these utilities with great care.
For one thing, since the RXM uses LANtastic's unsolicited message
facility to transmit its remote control messages, this version
works best if you use the commands
NET MESSAGE/DISABLE POP
NET MESSAGE/DISABLE BEEP
to disable the internal message handler's default behavior. In
particular, strange things may result if you leave LANtastic's pop
up message handler enabled. Possibly I'll cure this in the
production version by using NetBIOS instead of the NOS to transfer
messages, but for now the NOS makes things small and easy.
Also note that for now, you can't NBOUNCE (or NREBOOT) yourself
off the machine you're using. In other words, if you're at server
JON, and you issue an
NBOUNCE * JON
you will log everybody off but yourself. You will have to issue a
normal NET LOGOUT JON for that.
Security (and data integrity) is another potential concern. The
current version of RXM has virtually no built in limitations --
you can log off or reboot anyone on the network from any station.
Further, RXM doesn't care if you're the owner of the company or a
visiting third grader, it will still work. Consequently, it might
be a good idea to hide NRUN, NBOUNCE and NREBOOT away in a
subdirectory off the beaten path. (a small pun --- *very* small)
You should also be careful not to NBOUNCE or NREBOOT somebody
who's in the middle of an application. The network tries to close
files in an orderly way, but even an organized logout in the
middle of an application has the same basic effect as rebooting
the station out from under the network.
Summary
So, on that happy note, I'll leave you to testing. Have fun and let
me know if you find any problems or have any suggestions for improvement.
I can be reached through the Artisoft BBS or on BIX (jmarbry).
Thanks,
Jon Marbry
SoftMagic, Inc.
August, 1990