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rplvap.doc
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1996-07-10
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NOVELL RPL VAP
Unlike NOVELL Boot ROMs, the IBM Token Ring RPL ROM is not NetWare specific.
In order to be able to boot from various systems, it uses a "Staged Boot"
idea. That means it sends out a generic "Find Frame" packet, and expects
whichever kind of system it is on to be able to interpret and respond. Then
it asks for a file to be downloaded. This file (typically called TOKEN.RPL,
or PCN2.RPL, or ETHER.RPL, etc.) will be the NetWare specific file that
contains code to boot from a NOVELL network.
In the past, the only way to get NetWare to respond to the RPL packets was
to make the driver capable of recognizing those packets, and responding
accordingly. This was mostly because the Find Frame is sent to a multicast
address, and NetWare 286 didn't support multicast addressing. With the
advent of AppleTalk Phase II drivers, a VAP can receive and respond to
multicast addresses, making this the preferred way of doing things.
The RPL VAP must be loaded after the ROUTE VAP, if source routing is to be
supported. That is why we have ROUTE.VP0 and RPL.VP1.
In order to work with multiple LAN drivers, or multiple .RPL files, the RPL
VAP must be configured. This is done by running RPCONFIG. RPCONFIG prints
out a help screen and prompts for inputs.
When the RPL VAP comes up, it will load specified .RPL files, and connect
them with specified LAN drivers. Then, when the VAP receives a Find Frame,
and subsequent Send File requests from a given LAN driver, it will respond
with the proper .RPL file.
Since the VAP attaches without logging in, it only has read rights in the
SYS:LOGIN subdirectory. Therefore, THE .RPL FILES ARE EXPECTED TO BE LOCATED
IN SYS:LOGIN. This is not the same as in the previous system, where they
were expected to be in SYS:SYSTEM.
If the RPL VAP hasn't been configured by RPCONFIG, it will default when it
comes up. It will go out to SYS:LOGIN, find the first .RPL file it can, and
connect it with the first LAN driver available. This is generally not
reliable for more than one .RPL file, or more than one LAN driver. If in
doubt, run RPCONFIG.
The server that responds to the Find Frame, and downloads the .RPL file, is
not guaranteed to be the server that the workstation will attach to during
the RPL sequence. This means that the BOOTCONF.SYS files, and DOS Boot Disk
Image Files (NET$DOS.SYS, etc.) will still need to be in SYS:LOGIN of every
server that could respond to the Get Nearest Server request. Not just the
server with the RPL VAP loaded.