The Atari Compendium/The Atari Compendium (Toad Computers) (1994).iso/files/umich/network/ka9q/n890421.zoo/read.me

Text File | 1992-06-20 | 16KB | 341 lines

[ see readme.st ]



KA9Q TCP is an implementation of TCP/IP for the PC.  This is a Unix
port based on a version from mid-1989.  Unfortunately the more recent
versions of KA9Q are harder to port to Linux.

I don't have a manual for this exact version.  There's builtin help.
The commands primarily set parameters (the ip and tcp commands), or
start services.  In general the same command is used to set and
examine parameters.  When you type the command with no value, it shows
the current value.

To use KA9Q, put startup.net and possibly domain.txt in your home
directory, and run "net".  You will probably need to tailor
startup.net for your configuration.  See the section at the end of
this document on configuration.  Note that you can give an argument to
the "net" command.  It will be used as the startup file in place of
startup.net.  By default, startup.net and other files are in your home
directory (the value of the environment variable HOME).  You can put
them somewhere else by using the environment variable NETHOME.

If you are using SLIP, note that you must first dial the modem and
establish a SLIP connection.  The exact details on doing this are
different at each site.  Unfortunately you're probably going to need
help from system or network support staff in order to use SLIP.
Because SLIP effectively connects you to someone's local network,
using it normally requires logging in with a password.  I recommend
using kermit's script facility to dial and set up SLIP.  It did not
seem work adding a similar facility to KA9Q.

If your site does not current support SLIP, they will probably have to
do a bit of systems work.  For Unix systems, typically this will
involve adding a SLIP device driver, and then enabling routing.  (An
appropriate driver is available for the Sun, although I don't know
where.  I believe it can be installed without Sun source.)  Many
terminal servers will support SLIP directly, so enabling it will
merely involve changing a configuration file.

Aside from configuration commands (which typically go into
startup.net), the most common commands are probably telnet and ftp.
Both take a host name.  Once you are connected, the "escape character"
(initially ^]) lets you do some special things.  You type it followed
by another character. Except for the escape character, the characters
are folded, so that c, C, and ^C are equivalent.  Here's a list of the
special characters:

  escape character (i.e. two in a row) - send a real escape character
  x or ^x - return to command mode
  b or ^b - send break
  c or ^c - send interrupt process
  o or ^c - abort output
  t or ^t - are you there?
  h or ^h - send telnet erase character
  u or ^u - send telnet erase line
  ?       - print this help message

Once you return to command mode, the "session" command can be used to
switch between connections.  With no arguments, it shows the current
sessions.  With a number, it will reconnect you to that session.
There's a disconnect command to kill a session (also some stronger
ways of doing it).

Telnet normally operates in full duplex, with the other system
echoing.  However if that system refuses echoing, or if you use the
command "echo refuse", KA9Q will echo locally.  In this case you have
the normal line editing functions.  Several control characters have
special functions.  Note that in local echo mode, you do not need to
hit the escape character first.

  escape character - return to command mode
  ^v - quote the next character
  ^b - send break
  ^c - send interrupt process
  ^o - abort output
  ^t - are you there?

Telnet will pass your TERM environment variable as the terminal type
if the other end asks for it.  It will implement flow control locally
if the other end understand the remote flow control option.  If the
other end does a "telnet sync" correctly, it will suppress output when
appropriate.  E.g. when talking to a Unix system, if you type ^C or ^O
in the middle of a large output, output should stop immediately.
However there may be a pause before getting the next prompt, as some
previously buffered data is probably still going to be transmitted.

The "ip stat" and "tcp stat" commands are useful to get statistics.
"Ip stat" shows both the IP and SLIP level.  If header compression is
being used, it will show how many packets were compressed and how many
were oot.

FTP is sort of odd.  It looks like you are in an interactive
conversation with the FTP server at the other end, with no local
command prompt.  Most commands are passed directly to the remote
server, but in fact there is a local command parser, which will
intervene for a few commands:

   cd, dir, list, get, ls, mkdir, nlst, rmdir, put, type

get and put should be used to transfer files.

It's possible to run a server which others can connect to, though I
haven't tried it except for ftp.  The command is "start ftp", etc.
For ftp, a login is required.  The file ftpusers, in your home
directory, contains a list of users and passwords.

Here's a list of commands:

   ! - call a recursive shell
   arp - set arp parameters
   ax25 - configure ham interface
   attach - define an interface - must be used for each interface
   bootp - request our IP address from a server
   connect - for AX25, define call sign for interface
   cd
   close
   disconnect
   dir - do a directory on the local system
   domain - configure domain name system
   eaglestat
   echo - refuse or accept - request to disable telnet remote echo
   eol - Unix or standard end of line options [standard is recommended,
    even for use on Unix systems]
   escape - change escape character
   etherstat
   exit
   finger
   forward - divert packets from one interface to another
   ftp - open an ftp connection
   hapnstat
   help - print command list
   hostname - set/examine host name
   kick
   log
   ip - set/examine IP level parameters
   memstat
   mbox, mode - AX25 commands
   mulport
   netrom
   nrstat
   param - set/examine interafce parameters
   ping - send ping to a host
   pwd
   rdate [offset] [host] - set date/time from UDP time daemon.  see below
   record
   remote
   reset - kill connection
   route - set up routes
   session - see above: move to a different session
   shell - call a subshell
   smtp - mail handling
   start - start server
   stop - stop server
   tcp - set/examine tcp parameters
   telnet - open telnet connection
   trace - enable low-level debugging (no arguments - show current status)
    trace to <file> - put trace output on file (use "con" for console)
    trace <device> [<bits>] - trace packets on device
        device is typically "sl0" or "loopback"
        bits are in hex:
            1 - output, 10 - input (else no tracing)
            100 - dump data in ascii, 200 - hex (else headers only)
    trace cmdmode|allmode - show trace just when at command level?
    trace telnet [on | off] - show telnet options and urgent data
   udp - set/examine udp parameters
   upload
   wait - control mail select

The rdate command uses the old-style time protocol (often known as
"rdate"), on UDP port 37, to get the date and time, and then sets the
system clock.  Note that the protocol always gives time in GMT.  If
your system clock is running on GMT (which is the normal way Unix
should run), this is fine.  Otherwise, you'll need to specify the
offset in minutes.  For time zones west of GMT, this should be a
negative number. For the Eastern U.S., when not in daylight time, the
offset is -300, because EST is 5 hours (300 minutes) west of GMT.
If no host is specified, a UDP broadcast is used.

This configuration of KA9Q has been tested only with SLIP.  Code is
also included for the KISS device (for ham radio) and Linux generic
Ethernet support using /dev/eth.  /dev/eth should either work or come
close to working: it's based on diffs made from a recent version of
KA9Q.  I don't know of anyone who has tested KISS.  Past experience
suggests that users will prefer Kermit to SLIP unless you use SLIP
with header compression.

Note that this program dep