slattach(1Mtcp)

slattach -- attach serial lines as network interfaces

Synopsis

slattach [ +a | -a ] [ +c | -c ] [ -d ] [ +e | -e ] [ +f | -f ] [ +i | -i ] [ -m mtu ] [ +v | -v ] device source_address destination_address netmask [baud_rate]

Description

The slattach command attaches serial lines as network interfaces using the Serial Line IP (SLIP) protocol. For outgoing connections over dedicated serial lines and for all incoming connections, the slattach command assigns the tty line specified by device to a network interface. Do not use the -d flag for these connections. If device does not begin with /dev/, /dev/ will be prepended. The optional baud_rate parameter sets the speed of the connection. If not specified, the default value of 9600 will be used.

For outgoing connections over a modem, the -d option must be used to specify that the device parameter is to be interpreted as an entry in the UUCP Devices(4bnu) file that should be used to dial the remote system.

source_address specifies the IP address of the local side of the connection.

destination_address specifies the IP address of the remote side of the connection.

netmask sets the netmask for the connection interface. Both ends of the link must specify the same netmask for the SLIP interface.

To detach a SLIP network interface, mark the interface down using ifconfig(1Mtcp), kill the slattach process, and use route(1Mtcp) to remove the route from the routing table.

Options

The following optional arguments can be used to adjust the behavior of the network interface:

+a | -a

Turns proxy ARP on or off. When on, SLIP adds a proxy ARP table entry for the remote end of the SLIP link using the MAC address of the local network interface. This is only necessary if the remote end of the link has an IP address that is in the same subnet as the local network.

+c | -c

Turns TCP/IP header compression on or off (the default setting is off).

-d

Specifies that the device parameter should be read as a UUCP sitename rather than a tty line name. Use this option only for outgoing SLIP connections over modems.

+e | -e

Turns the automatic detection and the use of TCP/IP header compression on or off (the default setting is off). If the flag +c is given, then this flag (either +e or -e) has no effect. When the flag +e is given, the SLIP module will not send any compressed TCP/IP headers until it has received and successfully uncompressed a compressed TCP/IP packet.

NOTE: If both ends of the connection use the flag +e and if neither end uses +c, then the TCP/IP header compression mode will never be turned on because neither end will take the initiative to send a compressed packet.

+f | -f

Enables or disables hardware flow control.

+i | -i

Turns the suppression of ICMP packets on or off (the default setting is off).

-m mtu

Sets the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network interface to mtu bytes. (The default MTU is 296 bytes.)

NOTE: It is suggested that the mtu value for the TCP/IP packet header be 40 plus some power of 2 (for example, 296 = 40 + 2**8).

+v | -v

Specifies whether to print various messages about the interface as it is being brought up (the default setting is to not print messages).

References

Devices(4bnu), ifconfig(1Mtcp), netstat(1Mtcp), route(1Mtcp), slip(7tcp), Systems(4bnu), uucp(1bnu)

RFC 1055, RFC 1144

Examples

slattach /dev/term/00 128.211.8.4 128.211.8.186 255.255.255.0
slattach +c /dev/term/01 percival zapranoth 255.255.0.0 19200
slattach -d uu_zapranoth percival zapranoth 255.255.255.0