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NetXpress
Internet Access BBS Door
Administrator's Manual
Copyright (c) 1995 Merlin Systems Inc. All rights reserved. This software
product and this manual are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Merlin
Systems Inc. No part of the contents of this manual may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the
publisher.
Merlin Systems Inc. does not assume any liability arising out of the
application or use of any products described herein. Merlin Systems Inc.
further reserves the right to make changes in any products described herein
without notice. This document is subject to change without notice.
NetXpress Internet Access BBS Door, NetXpress Server and NetXpress Mail &
News Gateway are copyrighted by Merlin Systems Inc.
All other mentioned products are copyrighted by their respective authors.
Revision Date: 05/12/95 rev. 1
Merlin Systems Inc.
P.O. Box 3043, Station C
Ottawa, Ontario
K1Y 4J3 Canada
Phone (613) 749-0888
Fax/BBS (613) 741-7583
info@merlinsys.com
http://www.merlinsys.com
CONTENTS
Preface ................................................................ 1
Welcome to the World of the Internet 1
Conventions 1
Technical Support 2
Installation ........................................................... 3
Configuration .......................................................... 5
Syntax 5
Using Text Windows and your Mouse 5
General Configuration 6
TCP/IP 8
World-Wide-Web 11
Gopher, IRC & WhoIs 12
Telnet 13
Dial-up Door Configuration 13
Security Levels 14
Internet Access BBS Door .............................................. 15
Syntax 15
Functions 16
Internal URLs 18
Form Variables 20
Dial-up IP Door ....................................................... 23
Syntax 23
Operation 24
User Configuration 24
Packet Drivers ........................................................ 25
Packet Driver Software 25
Questions & Answers ................................................... 31
Glossary .............................................................. 33
Appendix .............................................................. 41
HTML 41
Error Messages 41
Display Files Format 42
Acknowledgments 43
Preface
Welcome to the World of the Internet
===========================================================================
The future is upon us. That mythical information superhighway is now in
clear reach.
Many estimates are floating around about the InternetÆs population and its
increase in size. It is considered safe to say that it currently has around
50 million people and that it is doubling every couple of years. In fact
lately, the population acceleration has frightened and overwhelmed many
Internet old timers. All figures denote that the Internet has obtained
æcritical massÆ to be present for a very long time to come.
No longer the realm of universities and big business, the Internet has begun
to bring cyberspace to the masses.
The Internet with its thousands of protocols, can be managed from well
conceived software that takes care of all of the unruly elements of Internet
connectivity. There will always be a learning curve due to terminology, but
we hope that our software will provide one of the easiest in-roads on to the
Internet.
Conventions
===========================================================================
In this book, the following conventions are used:
o Optional variables are placed within square brackets;
for example, [ <variable> ]
o Mandatory variables are placed within angled brackets;
for example, <variable>
o Whenever you may use more than one variation, a | character is used to
denote the different possible values; for example, put | send | output
o Input typed in by you is printed in italic; for example, cd \netxbbs
Technical Support
===========================================================================
There are a number of places to receive technical support.
Phone: 1-613-749-0888
Fax: 1-613-741-7583
BBS: 1-613-741-7583
E-mail: support@merlinsys.com
Web: http://www.merlinsys.com
FidoNet: Support 1:163/509
Chapter One
Installation
Installation
===========================================================================
If you received a diskette, insert the diskette in one of your disk drives.
Then enter INSTALL and press the <Enter> key.
Example: If you placed the disk in drive A:, you would type:
a:
INSTALL
┌─ Install ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ NetXpress Door Directory: C:\NETXBBS │
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │
│ │ F10 - Ok │ │ Esc - Cancel │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 1-1 Install
The NetXpress Door Directory is where you would like to install the software.
Press the F10 key to continue.
If you received a compressed file containing the software programs, simply
uncompress the file(s) into an empty directory.
Example:
md \netxbbs
cd \netxbbs
pkunzip NETXBBS
After the INSTALL program finishes, you must go into the NXCFG program and
alter the default settings, especially your network addresses.
Chapter Two
Configuration
Syntax
===========================================================================
The syntax for the Setup program is as follows:
NXCFG [configfile]
Where [configfile] is the location and name of the configuration file.
If you omit the [configfile] parameter, NXCFG will try to open the
configuration file NXBBS.CFG in the current directory.
Using Text Windows and your Mouse
===========================================================================
The NXCFG program uses a text window approach to displaying information for
you. The top window is always the current one and only those fields within it
are active.
NXCFG also allows you to use a mouse or a pointing device to perform
functions. All mouse-assessable functions can also be accessed through a
keyboard command. To access a certain field or command by using the mouse,
simply move the mouse cursor to the area occupied by the field or command and
click on the left mouse button. Clicking on the right mouse button will
usually get on-line help.
General Configuration
===========================================================================
┌ General Configuration ────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ System Directory d:\dev\netsrv\bbs │
│ System Help HTML file:///help.htm │
│ │
│ Date Type MMDDYYYY │
│ Date Delimiter / │
│ │
│ Address Delimiter . │
│ │
│ Use a menu Yes │
│ │
│ SMTP Host mail.uunet.ca │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ F1 - Help │ │ Esc - Cancel │ │ F10 - Ok │ │
│ └───────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 2-1 General Configuration
System Directory:
The directory that includes the executable program and the configuration
file.
System Help HTML:
This is an URL of general help available at the menu.
Date Type:
The format of the displayed date. This is only used in the FTP client and
in IRC for the log file.
You have four options:
YYYYMMDD (1995-10-23)
MMDDYYYY (10-23-1995)
YYYYDDMM (1995-23-10)
DDMMYYYY (23-10-1995)
Date Delimiter:
The character that is displayed in-between the date fields.
Address Delimiter:
The character that replaces the space within user's name when their names
get converted into an Internet address. This is only used in the FTP
client and in IRC for the log file.
Use A Menu:
If enabled, a menu will be displayed to the user and they will be allowed
to enter commands by typing them in.
If disabled, the homepage HTML will be displayed to the user. From this
HTML file, you may then add links to all of the functions available.
The user may change this option themselfs, but when they first go into
the door, they will be given this value.
SMTP Host
The address of a default SMTP mail host. If blank, then the mail unction
will be disabled.
TCP/IP
===========================================================================
This window allows you to configure your TCP/IP connection parameters. These
values are used with the Packet Driver software to connect the NetXpress BBS
Door to the Internet.
Most, if not all, of these values will come from your service provider
This section does not provide any way to configure your Packet Driver. You
must have it loaded and configured before running the NetXpress BBS Client
software. The Packet Driver software may handle either Ethernet or SLIP
classes. Please see the Appendix section on Packet Drivers for more
information.
For dial-up access, you will need to either have your modem connect and login
in to your service provider before you load in your SLIP/PPP packet driver.
┌ TCP/IP Configuration ─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ┌ BOOTP ────────────────────────────────────┐ ┌ Gateways ───────┐ │
│ │ Enable [ ] │ │ 123.123.123.120 │ │
│ │ Server 123.123.123.123 │ │ │ │
│ │ Timeout 5 │ │ │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │
│ ┌ Addresses ────────────────────────────────┐ ├ Name Servers ───┤ │
│ │ IP 321.321.321.321 │ │ 123.123.123.121 │ │
│ │ Net Mask 255.255.254.0 │ │ │ │
│ │ Host Name fred │ │ │ │
│ │ Domain Name foobar.com │ │ │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ┌ Transmission Parameters ──────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Max. Segment Size 1400 Name Lookup Timeout 5 │ │
│ │ TCP Connect Timeout 10 Inactivity Timeout 0 │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ F1 - Help │ │ SLIP │ │ Ethernet │ │ Esc - Cancel │ │ F10 - Ok │ │
│ └───────────┘ └──────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 2-2 TCP/IP Configuration
BOOTP Enable:
If enabled, NetXpress will use the BOOTP protocol and connect up to the
specified server to query the information in the two other windows. This
means that your IP address is a temporary address, and that you may not
give it out since it will always change.
If disabled, then you must fill out the rest of the information in the next
two windows, but you do not need to fill out any of the information in the
BOOTP window.
BOOTP Server:
The IP address of a BOOTP server to contact upon startup to query your
address information. You must not place a domain address in this field.
BOOTP Timeout:
The timeout in seconds for a connection to the BOOTP server to fail.
IP Address:
Your IP address.
Net Mask:
If you have more than one IP address for your network, then you must set
the network mask for your local network.
If not (which is usually the case), then just leave this entry blank or
enter the default value of 255.255.254.0.
This value may never be 255.255.255.255.
Host Name:
Some applications will wish to know your PC's name, a short textual name.
This will be the machine's name and not your domain name. This name may
contain only numeric digits and letters, and should be less than 9
characters.
Domain Name:
Your system's domain address. oth the domain and hostnames will be
concatinated into one domain address for this machine.
Example:
node1.merlinsys.com
Where:
node1 is the hostname
merlinsys.com is the domain name
Gateway Address:
The address of a local gateway. This value is always supplied by your
network service provider and is usually the IP address of the machine that
NetXpress will connect up to.
Name Servers:
The IP addresses of name servers (in order of importance). These name
server will resolve domain addresses into IP addresses.
Maximum Segment Size:
This is the maximum segment size that NetXpress BBS Door can receive over
the packet driver. The default value is 1400 for Ethernet.
The maximum value should not exceed 4096.
TCP Connect Timeout:
This allows you to specify a specific amount of seconds that the NetXpress
BBS Door will attempt to connect to a remote computer, wait for data from a
remote computer, and wait to accomplish other miscellaneous networking
tasks.
The default is 30 seconds, but may be set longer if you have an especially
slow connection.
Name Lookup Timeout:
The time needed to resolve a domain name into an IP address. Some name
servers are very slow (very busy) and thus this value needs to be increased.
Inactivity Timeout:
The number of seconds of inactivity with a session before it timesout.
This value usually will be set to 0 or left blank.
World-Wide-Web
===========================================================================
┌ WWW Configuration ────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Home Page file:///homepage.htm │
│ Local Base Dir c:\nxbbs │
│ Mail HTML mail.htm │
│ New User HTML newuser.htm │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ F1 - Help │ │ Esc - Cancel │ │ F10 - Ok │ │
│ └───────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 2-3 WWW Configuration
Home Page
The default HTML file used as the home page. This file is displayed
whenever the user does not specify an URL in the menu or whenever the
menu is disabled.
Local Base Directory:
The directory that all WWW local file access will be relative from.
Mail HTML:
The HTML file used to gather information for a message. If empty, the
message function will be disabled.
New User HTML:
The HTML file displayed to first-time users of the NetXpress BBS Client.
Gopher , IRC & WhoIs
===========================================================================
All three functions need the two pieces of information, the default server
and the default port.
Default Server:
The address of the default server. This server is used whenever the user
does not specify a server to contact.
Defaults:
Gopher: boombox.micro.umn.edu
IRC: irc.bu.edu
WhoIs: rs.internic.net
You should never have to change the WhoIs default Server, but you should
change the IRC server to one that is closer to you. For more information
on IRC servers, look in the I.R.C. FAQ.
Default Port:
The port of the default server. This server is used whenever the user does
not specify a port. You should never have to change these values.
Defaults:
Gopher: 70
IRC: 6667
WhoIs: 43
Telnet
===========================================================================
┌ Telnet Configuration ─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Terminal Emulation vt100 │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ F1 - Help │ │ Esc - Cancel │ │ F10 - Ok │ │
│ └───────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 2-4 Telnet Configuration
Terminal Emulation
The default terminal emultaion used in Telnet. This should always be
vt100, since ANSI is not usually recognized by Telnet servers.
Dial-up Door Configuration
===========================================================================
┌ Dial-up IP Configuration ─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Internal BOOTP Server Disabled │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ F1 - Help │ │ Esc - Cancel │ │ F10 - Ok │ │
│ └───────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 2-5 Dial-up IP Configuration
Internal BOOTP Server
When enabled, NXDIP will process all BOOTP requests and reply with its own
IP address.
You might wish to disable this feature if you have a BOOTP server on your
network and wish to use it instead.
Security Levels
===========================================================================
The security levels settings control whether a user has access to certain
functions. If the users has a greater or equal security level than required,
then they are allowed to perform that function.
If they do not have sufficient security access, then they will be displayed
the HTML in the 'No Security HTML' field. If this field is empty, then a
'Not enough security' message is displayed.
Chapter Three
Internet Access BBS Door
Syntax
===========================================================================
nxbbs [/G <configfile>] [/I <ip.ad.dre.ss>] [/B <drop-file>]
[/Q <comport irq>] [/A <comport address>] [/C <comport>]
[/U <baud>] [/H] [/?] [menu commands]
/G <configuration_file>
Path and a filename to the configuration file to be used. If not specified,
then NXBBS.CFG in the current directory will be used.
/I <ip.add.re.ss>
The IP address to use instead of the one in the configuration file. The IP
address may also be defined in an environmental variable named IP. The
command line switch takes precedence over the environmental variable.
/B <drop-file>
Supported drop-files are:
DOOR.SYS, DORINFO?.DEF, PCBOARD.SYS, USERS.SYS, CHAIN.TXT,
SFDOORS.DAT, XTRN.DAT and CALLINFO.BBS
The <drop-file> can also be 'LOCAL' followed, optionally, by a colan and a
user name. Example: /B "LOCAL:Joe Smith"
You may state more than one drop-file by placing multiple /B commands
Menu Commands
Anything you can type in at the main menu can be included here. Commands
can be partial or they can contain all needed information.
Functions
===========================================================================
The following is a list and descriptions of all the function in the NetXpress
BBS Client:
World-Wide-Web
The World-Wide-Web protocols allows for the exchange of information in a
extremely flexible and unstructured manner. The WWW server is just a file
request server, the WWW client has most of the intelligence and makes
decisions about how to obtain certain information.
The important difference between the older Gopher protocol and the Web
protocols are that the Web display formats are unstructured and can look like
anything, while Gopher has a rigid menu structure. Also Web browsers possess
knowledge of many more methods of accessing data than gopher clients do. The
number of access methods available to Web browsers is bound to increase in
the future.
File Transfer Protocol
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows users to peruse the file system of
another system on the Internet. One important fact concerning FTP, is that
it tries to look like a file system and thus contains no file descriptions,
although there are methods of displaying descriptive text to the user.
Telnet
Telnet allows people on the Internet to remotely login to another computers
on the Internet. It is like using a terminal program with a modem over phone
lines. Except that all communication is handled through the TCP/IP protocol
over the Internet.
Gopher
The Internet Gopher protocol offers users the ability to browse through the
Internet in a structured menued environment looking at user-friendly menu
descriptions instead of service names, hosts and ports. The beauty of Gopher
is that a menu entry may point anywhere on the Internet, and thus hoping from
one Gopher to another is virtually seamless to the user. It also allows
users to retrieve documents without the need to do it themselves
interactively.
Internet Relay Chat
IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". It was originally written by Jarkko
Oikarinen (jto@tolsun.oulu.fi) in 1988. Since starting in Finland, it has
been used in over 60 countries around the world. IRC is a multi-user chat
system, where people convene on channels (a virtual place, usually with a
topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately.
WhoIs
WhoIs is used to look up names of users and corporations in a main database.
The default action is to do a very broad search, looking for matches to your
target in many fields: handle, name, nicknames, hostname, net address, etc.,
and finding all record types. WhoIs then shows the results in one of two
ways: as a full, detailed display for a single match (with possible
subdisplay), or as one- or two-line summaries for multiple matches.
Finger
Finger is a common Unix facility to examine the user login information on a
system. Information retrieved can either be a text file or information about
that user on that system.
Ping
Ping checks is valuable to check to see if a system is running and how long
messages take to reach it and come back to your system.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and is defined in RFC821 and
has been updated in other various RFCs. It is the standard way of
transferring private mail between hosts directly connected to the Internet.
The SMTP function will actually send the message right away on to the
Internet via the SMTP Host defined below. The message will not be stored
anywhere on the local system or on your BBS. The SMTP function cannot access
incoming messages, you will need to use an Internet gateway for your BBS.
Remote Login
Remote Login is very similar to Telnet, except that it automatically logs in
the user.
ph
ph is also known as qi and CSO. It is a phonebook protocol that allows
searches to be made on various fields. Gopher uses CSO internally, thus we
have made it available as a separate function. CSO will probably be used the
least out of all of the functions.
Remote Execution (Rexec)
Rexec is used to execute programs on another computer. The software must
reside on that computer and your login ID must have rights to it.
Raw Telnet
This is just Telnet without any Telnet control codes. This is a straight
TCP/IP connection.
Bookmarks
A list of the userÆs permanent bookmarks of favorite places.
Session History
A list of the userÆs session history.
Internal URLs
===========================================================================
You can include special internal URLs (Universal Resouce Locatiors) in your
HTML documents that allow you to retrieve input from the user and then
perform a certain function with that input. The following is a list of
available URL codes and their associated FORM names:
internal:///telnet
ADDRESS PORT USER PASSWORD TERMINAL
Terminal defaults to ANSI. The User and Password values are only displayed
to the user and are not actually used in the Telnet routines.
internal:///rawtcp
ADDRESS PORT USER PASSWORD
The User and Password values are only displayed to the user and are not
actually used in the Raw Telnet routines.
internal:///rlogin
ADDRESS PORT USER PASSWORD TERMINAL
Terminal defaults to ANSI.
internal:///rexec
ADDRESS PORT USER PASSWORD COMMAND
internal:///finger
ADDRESS PORT USER
Port defaults to 79.
internal:///whois
ADDRESS PORT USER
Port defaults to 43. Address defaults to rs.internic.net
internal:///ping
ADDRESS NUMBER
Number defaults to 1.
internal:///cso
ADDRESS PORT
Port defaults to 105.
internal:///ftp
ADDRESS USER PASSWORD PORT PATH
User defaults to anonymous and Password defaults to the userÆs email address.
Port defaults to 21.
internal:///gopher
ADDRESS PORT PATH TYPE
Address and Port default to the values from the configuration file. Type
defaults to '1' (menu). Path defaults to ôö (nothing).
internal:///http
URL
internal:///irc
USER PASSWORD ADDRESS PORT
Address and Port default to the defaults from the configuration file.
Password is rarely used.
internal:///mail
USER SUBJECT TEXT
internal:///config
IRCNAME NOMENU
This URL actually causes the information sent back to be saved. Every time
the user goes into IRC, their IRC userid is saved. UserÆs can also decide
for themselves whether to use the menu or the Home Page.
internal:///help
Brings up the Help HTML.
internal:///bookmarks
Brings up the userÆ bookmarks.
internal:///history
Brings up the userÆs current session visited documents/places.
Form Variables
===========================================================================
Variables are only used in the "VALUE" parameter of a INPUT FORM object.
Example:
<INPUT NAME="test" VALUE="#destination#">
#destination#
Represents the message destination
#gopher_server#
Default gopher server
#gopher_port#
Default gopher port
#whois_server#
Default whois server
#whois_port#
Default whois port
#irc_server#
Default IRC server
#irc_port#
Default IRC port
#homepage#
Default Web home page
#mail_html#
Message HTML
#help_html#
General Help HTML
#user_irc_name#
User's IRC name
#user_address#
User's Internet address
#host_address#
This host's domain name
#new_user_html#
New user's HTML
Chapter Four
Dial-up IP Door
Syntax
===========================================================================
nxdip <configuration_file> [/B <drop-file>] [/I <ip_address>] [/C <comport>]
[/Q <comport irq>] [/A <comport address>]
<configuration_file>
Path and a filename to the configuration file to be used. If not specified,
then NXBBS.CFG in the current directory will be used.
/I <ip.add.re.ss>
The IP address to use instead of the one in the configuration file. The IP
address may also be defined in an environmental variable named IP. The
command line switch takes precedence over the environmental variable.
Example:
SET IP=142.55.23.123
/B <drop-file>
Supported drop-files are:
DOOR.SYS, DORINFO?.DEF, PCBOARD.SYS, USERS.SYS, CHAIN.TXT,
SFDOORS.DAT, XTRN.DAT and CALLINFO.BBS
You may state more than one drop-file by placing multiple /B commands
Operation
===========================================================================
This program is called as a door from the BBS and handles all SLIP and
Compressed SLIP encoding and decoding of the communications link. It bridges
the gap between the IP packets coming over the modemÆs lines to the packet
driver.
The user must have configured their IP address correctly on their end and it
must be an address that is æownedÆ by you. They can optionally use BOOTP to
request their IP address since the SLIP door has an internal BOOTP server
that will respond to their BOOTP request.
Compressed SLIP (CSLIP) is automatically switched on if any incoming packets
are compressed.
The software terminates when:
o the sysop pressed <Esc> on the local console
o the userÆs daily time expired
o the carrier is lost
A packet driver must be load prior to the execution of NXDIP.
User Configuration
===========================================================================
The user must have configured their IP address correctly on their end. Their
IP address must be one that is 'owned' by you. If they set their IP address
to 0.0.0.0, then the internal BOOTP server in NXDIP will take care of their
IP Address request and return this node's IP Address.
The user's netmask may be anything at all since they are using SLIP.
Usually, they can just set it to '255.255.255.0.
Chapter Five
Packet Drivers
Packet Driver Software
===========================================================================
Packet Drivers are TSR programs that provide a link between software
applications and some type of Internet access hardware. Most of these
programs are available free from quite a lot of different sources. These are
called the Clarkson packet drivers, and there are different versions of them
to suit almost any kind of network card or asynchronous connection.
Our BBS and our Web site contain the entire set of freely downloadable packet
drivers.
Whenever you have more than one machine that is trying to be connected to the
Internet, then you require a Router on the network. Our NetXpress Server
v2.0 contains a Router plus a multitude of other server functions.
When connecting a local network up to the Internet, you will definately
require a router since more than one machine will access the Internet. You
will also need to configure all of the machines to load a packet driver. But
you also will need to load another packet driver for your Router machine.
Thus if you connected via PPP over a dial-up connection and you used a Novell
network, you would set up each workstation on your netowkr with the Novell
ODI packet driver, and then also set up your Router machine to handle a PPP
connection.
To terminate any packet driver, you may use the TERMIN.COM program.
Use the following guide to connect your network up to the Internet.
Novell/IPX Networks
To connect any machine on your Novell network up to the Internet follow the
following instructions. You will require a Router somewhere on your local
network.
You must change your Novell IPX setup to allow for Novell's ODI
specification.
The correct sequence to load up drivers is as follows:
o Load LSL.COM
o Load your network card's driver
o Load the IPX ODI driver
o Load the ODI Packet Driver
Example:
LSL
NE2000
IPXODI
ODIPKT 2 0x60
The second parameter of ODIPKT if called the 'Frame Type'. It represents the
position of any of the ETHERNET frame types in the NET.CFG file.
IPX compatible Networks
On a Novell network or a IPX-compatible network you may use IPXPKT to tunnel
IP datagrams within IPX packets. IPXPKT is loaded after your IPX driver is
loaded.
o Load IPX
o Load IPXPKT
o Load NET
Again, you require a Router on the local network to bridge your local network
to the Internet.
LANtastic Networks
will need to change over to a NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specifiation)
driver to use the LANtastic packet driver.
NDIS allows the use of multiple network protocols on a single network card.
Thus allowing you to run LANtastic's NetBIOS and TCP/IP together.
Connection Sequence:
o Load PROTMAN.DOS in CONFIG.SYS
o Load AEXNDIS.DOS in CONFIG.SYS (or any other NDIS hardware driver)
o Load DIS_PKT.DOS in CONFIG.SYS
o Load AI-NDIS
o Load AILANBIO
Sample CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICE=C:\NDIS\PROTMAN.DOS /I:C:\NDIS
DEVICE=C:\NDIS\AEXNDIS.DOS
DEVICE=C:\NDIS\DIS_PKT.DOS
Sample AUTOEXEC.BAT:
C:\NDIS\AI-NDIS BIND_TO=AEXNDIS_NIF
C:\LANTASTI\AILANBIO
A sample PROTOCOL.INI file in C:\NDIS
[PROTMAN]
DRIVERNAME = PROTMAN$
DYNAMIC = YES
[AEXNDIS_NIF]
DRIVERNAME = AEXNDS$
IOBASE = 0x300
INTERRUPT = 10
[PKTDRV]
DRIVERNAME = PKTDRV$
BINDINGS = AEXNDIS_NIF
INTVEC = 0x60
NOTE: We have experienced problems running LANtastic 5.0 and NDIS
NetBIOS compatible Networks
This packet driver may be used on all NetBIOS-compatible networks. This
packet driver 'tunnels' IP datagrams within the NetBIOS packet, thus making
it slower than the NDIS/ODI solutions.
All that is required is to load the NB packet driver:
nb {IntVec} {IP Address}
Where {IntVec} represents the Interrupt Vector and {IP Address} is the IP
Address of this node. This actually may be any unique address since it is
only used as a 'hardware address' for this machine.
Example: nb 0x60 204.191.36.201
NB needs to be loaded after the NetBIOS drivers are loaded. With LANtastic
this means after AILANBIO is loaded.
SLIP Dial-up Access
Hardware Required:
o Modem
o Phone Line (Regular Analog)
Login Sequence:
o Login to your service provider and place yourself in SLIP mode
o Load the SLIP/CSLIP Packet Driver (SLIPPER/CSLIPPER)
Example:
NXDIAL 1 9600 slip.cmd
SLIPPER baud=9600
or
NXDIAL 1 9600 slip.cmd
CSLIPPER baud=9600
Example of SLIP.CMD
send ATDT555-1212\r\n
expect CONNECT
expect ogin:
send userid\r\n
expect word:
send password\r\n
expect >
send slip\r\n
PPP Dial-up Access
Hardware Required:
o Modem
o Phone Line (Regular Analog)
Login Sequence:
o Login to your service provider and place yourself in PPP mode
o Load the PPP Packet Driver (ETHERPPP)
Example:
NXDIAL 1 9600 ppp.cmd
PPP /s 9600 /d none
Example of PPP.CMD
send ATDT555-1212\r\n
expect CONNECT
expect ogin:
send userid\r\n
expect word:
send password\r\n
expect >
send ppp\r\n
Chapter Six
Questions & Answers
Q: How do I get the fastest performance?
A: Do not run under a multitasker like Desqview or Windows.
Try to use IP addresses instead of domain addresses.
Do not run on a machine that acts as a LAN server.
Disable buffering on your network drivers.
Q: What is a port?
A: A port is like a channel. Each application has its own port that it
listens for incoming connections on. Port values under 1024 are
well-known ports for (well-known) applications. Think of them as channels.
For example, the Web works on port 80, so Web servers listen only for
requests on port 80.
Q: How do I provide Archie?
A: You can use a Web Archie gateway to provide access to Archie databases.
One such gateway is at æhttp://www-ns.rutgers.edu/htbin/archieÆ.
Q: What are some good books to read about the Internet?
A: The Whole Internet: User's Guide & Catalog
O'Reily & Associates, Inc.,
Ed Krol
Connecting To The Internet
O'Reily & Associates, Inc.,
Susan Estrada
The Matrix:Computer Networks & Conferencing Systems Worldwide
Digital Press,
John S. Quarterman
!%@:: A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing & Networks
O'Reily & Associates, Inc.,
Donnalyn Frey & Rick Adams
Unix Communications
The Waite Group,
Bart Anderson, Barry Costales, and Harry Henderson
Zen and the Art of the Internet
Brendan Kehoe,
zen-internet.src or zen.txt
Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet
Ed Krol,
RFC1118
Glossary
10Base2
An implementation of the Ethernet IEEE standard on thin coaxial cable at 10
megabits per second. The maximum segment length is under just under 200
meters.
10Base5
The original Ethernet medium, an implementation of the Ethernet IEEE standard
on twinaxial cable at 20 megabits per second. The maximum segment length is
500 meters.
10BaseT
An implementation of the Ethernet IEEE standard on 24 gauge unshielded,
twisted-pair wiring at 10 megabits per second.
Archie
A system for locating files that are publicly available by anonymous FTP.
ARPAnet
An experimental network established in the 1970's where the theories and
software on which the Internet is based were tested.
Article
What a message is called if it is part of a newsgroup.
Asynchronous Communication
A method for transmitting data that sends one character at a time.
Asynchronous also refers to commands, as in a windowing environment, that may
be sent without waiting for a response from the previous command.
Attenuation
The loss of signal strength that occurs as a signal is transmitted through a
cable.
AUP
Acceptable Use Policy; A term used to refer to restrictions placed on the use
of a network.
Backbone
A major high-speed point to which other networks are connected.
Bandwidth
The capacity of a network to carry information. In a network, the higher the
bandwidth, the greater the information-carrying capacity of the network, and
the faster data can be transmitted from one device to another.
Bridge
An electronic device that connects two networks so that devices on one
network can communicate with devices on the other network. Bridges connect
only networks that operate under the same communications protocols.
CCITT
Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephony; An
international standards-making body consisting of national telecommunications
authorities.
Daemon
A program running in the background on a Unix system. A daemon performs a
single task the entire time that it is running.
Dedicated Line
A permanently connected private telephone line between two locations. Leased
lines are typically used to connect a moderate-sized local network to an
Internet service provider.
Dialup Line
A method of connecting to a computer by calling it up the telephone.
DNS
Domain Name System; A distributed database system for translating computer
names into numeric Internet addresses, and vice-versa. (e.g. foobar.com into
194.56.78.2)
Ethernet
A data link protocol jointly developed by Intel, Xerox, and DEC and
subsequently adopted by the IEEE as a standard.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Question; Many USENET newsgroups maintain FAQs so that
participants won't spend lots of time answering the same set of questions.
Flame
A virulent and often largely personal attack against the author of a USENET
posting. Flames are unfortunately common
Flamers
People who frequently write flames. See above.
Freenet
An organization to provide free Internet access to people in a certain area.
FTP
File-Transfer-Protocol; An application that allows you to transfer files from
one computer to another. This requires direct access to the Internet.
Gopher
A menu-driven system for exploring Internet resources.
IAB
Internet Architecture Board; The ruling council that makes decisions about
standards and other important issues that concern the Internet.
IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force; A volunteer group that investigates and
solves technical problems, and makes recommendations to the IAB.
IEEE
Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers; A standards-setting group
in the United States that is part of ISO.
Internet
A worldwide 'network of networks' which are connected to each other.
IRC
Internet Relay Chat; An Internet-based application that allows users to
interact in real-time.
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network; A new kind of dialup connection offering
higher speed access over voice lines.
ISO
International Standards Organization; An international standards-making body
responsible for the OSI network standards.
LISTSERV
This is a special automated agent that adds and deletes subscribers to
mailing lists.
Mailing List
A discussion of individuals on a specific topic. Mailing lists are
implemented by using a special mail address. Subscribers to the mailing
list, send their comments in to that address. Their message will then get
distributed out to all other subscribers.
Moderator
A person who receives all mail for a mailing list or moderated newsgroup and
approves it for general viewing. This sometimes is automated for mailing
lists.
Moderated
When a newsgroup is moderated, all messages are sent to the moderators
address. The moderator will be authorize the distribution of those message
to the rest of that newsgroups subscribers. Newsgroup
Newsgroup
A conference or topic area that is part of USENET.
NIC
Network Information Center; A organization that's responsible for supplying
information about any network. The InterNIC plays this role for the
Internet.
NNTP
Network News Transfer Protocol; A method of exchanging USENET news among
host on the Internet.
NSFNET
National Science Foundation Network; One of the larger networks that makes
up the Internet.
OSI
Open Systems Interconnect; A series of protocols for networking.
POP
Point of Presence; The closest location for a network.
PPP
Point to Point Protocol; This protocol is a new standard and should replace
SLIP. It is used for the same thing as SLIP, mainly to hook up a computer to
the Internet with just a high-speed modem.
Repeater
A hardware device that repeats the signal on a network. As signals pass over
a line, they lose some of their power and pick up static. A repeater
amplifies and conditions the signals on a network.
RFC
Request For Comments; RFCs are electronic documents that help define the
Internet. They contain protocol standards, format standards, frequently
asked questions, etc. RFC filenames all start with RFC and then have their
number (eg. RFC1137).
RFC822
The RFC that contains the standard for mail interchange within the Internet.
RFC976 builds on RFC822 and describes UUCP routing among many other things.
RFC1036
The RFC that contains the standard for mail interchange with USENET.
Router
A device that connects two networks together and maintains addressing
information for each network.
Service Provider
An organization or company that provides connections to the Internet.
SLIP
Serial Line Internet Protocol; This protocol is used when using IP over an
asynchronous line. Usually this is used with modems.
SMTP
The electronic mail transfer protocol defined in RFC821.
TELNET
An application that allows you to log onto another computer. In the Internet
this requires having direct access to the Internet
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol; The networking protocol
that most of the Internet is based on.
Transport Agent
A transport agent is merely a program that transports files/messages from one
location to another. An example of UUCP's transport agent is UUCICO.
UNIX
An operating system used by many of the systems on the Internet.
USENET
USENET is a network of systems that exchange news articles. There are over
18000 systems worldwide that participate. USENET comprises of thousands of
newsgroups or conferences.
UUCICO
A program that transfers files/messages from one system to another.
UUCP
Unix-to-Unix CoPy; This is a collection of programs that allow computers to
communicate with each other. UUCP uses standard modems, serial cables, and
the telephone system. It is used to transfer USENET articles from one system
to another. It can also be used to transfer private e-mail.
WAIS
Wide-Area Information Server; A very powerful system for looking up
information in databases across the Internet.
WWW
World-Wide Web; A hypertext-based system for finding and accessing Internet
resources.
Appendix
HTML
===========================================================================
HyperText Markup Language is the standard document on the Web. It is out of
this manual's scope to detail itÆs syntax. You may use any of the available
HTML editors to create local web pages. Please note, that your user's will
only see a text representation of the document, so inline images and image
mappings will not be relevant.
Error Messages
===========================================================================
Could not allocate socket!
Not enough memory was available to allocate the Internet socket (4k).
No packet driver found!
No packet driver software was found in the interrupt range of 0x60-0x80.
NETSRV2.KEY not found!
Your serialized KEY file could not be found in the system directory.
NETSRV2.KEY is corrupt!
Your serialized KEY file is damaged and should be replaced by contacting the
source of purchase.
Display Files Format
===========================================================================
Both the WELCOME and the MENU display files use the same PCBoard colour macro
format. This allows one file to be used by users with ANSI and users without
ANSI. The colour macros are formated as:
@Xbf
Where b is the background colour and f is the foreground colour. Both f and
b are hex digits that represent the colour requried.
Hex Digit Foreground Colour Background Colour
============== ==================== ====================
0 Black Black
1 Blue Blue
2 Green Green
3 Cyan Cyan
4 Red Red
5 Magenta Magenta
6 Brown Brown
7 Light Gray Light Gray
8 Dark Gray Blinking Black
9 Light Blue Blinking Blue
A Light Green Blinking Green
B Light Cyan Blinking Cyan
C Light Red Blinking Red
D Light Magenta Blinking Magenta
E Yellow Blinking Brown
F White Blinking Light Gray
You may also use two distinct display files; one for users with ANSI and one
for users without ANSI. A display file with a file extension of .ANS will be
used by users with ANSI. A display file with a file extenstion of .ASC will
be used by users without ANSI.
Acknowledgments
===========================================================================
Special thanks to all of our beta testers for their time. We would also like
to offer our gratitude to the following people:
Ed Bercovitz, Michael Boettger, Brad Dameron, Peter Ellis, Erick Engelke, Ian
Gerada Anna Kalasznikow and Tony Rocha.
INDEX
A
Anonymous FTP 32
Archie 30, 32
ARPAnet 32
Articles 32, 37
B
BOOTP 8, 24
C
CCITT 33
Command Line Parameters
NXBBS 15
NXDIP 23
Setup 5
CSLIP 24
D
Dedicated Line See Leased Line
Dialup Line 33
DNS See Domain Address
Domain Name System 34
E
Ethernet 34
F
FAQ 34
Flames 34
FORMs 21
Freenet 34
FTP 34
Anonymous 32
G
Gopher 34
I
IAB 34
Installation 3
International Standards Organization 35
Internet 1, 35
Internet Architecture Board 34
Internet Relay Chat 35
IRC 35
ISDN 35
ISO 35
L
Leased line 33
LISTSERV 35
M
Mailing List 35
Moderator 35
Newsgroup 35
N
Newsgroups 32, 34, 35
NIC 36
NNTP 36
NSFNET 36
O
OSI 36
P
Packet Driver 25
POP 36
Port definition 30
PPP 36
R
RFC 36
RFC1036 36
RFC822 36
Router 37
S
Service Provider 37
SLIP 24, 36, 37
SMTP 37
T
TCP/IP 37
Technical Support 2
TELNET 37
Transport Agent 37
U
UNIX 37
USENET 35, 36, 37
UUCICO 37
UUCP 38
W
WAIS 38
WWW 38