<!-- Title information -->
-<title>The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.47</title>
+<title>The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.48</title>
<author>Ian Maude, G0VGS, (ianmaude@btinternet.com)</author>
-<date></date>
+<date>Version 1.48 August 2001 revision 1.1</date>
<abstract>
A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
<!-- Begin the document -->
-<sect>Hop control
+<sect>Routing and Filtering
-<P>
-Starting with version 1.13 there is simple hop control available on a per
-node basis. Also it is possible to isolate a network completely so that you
-get all the benefits of being on that network, but can't pass on information
-from it to any other networks you may be connected to (or vice versa).
+<sect1>Introduction
-<sect1>Basic hop control
+<P>
+From DXSpider version 1.48, major changes were introduced to the way
+node connections are treated. This is part of an ongoing process to
+remove problems with loops and to enable talk and other functions to
+propagate across the whole of the worldwide cluster network. In fact,
+in a Spider network, it would be useful, perhaps even necessary to
+have loops. This would give real resilience to the network, meaning
+that if a link dropped, the information flow would simply come in and
+go out via a different route. Of course, we do not have a complete
+network of Spider nodes, there are other programs out there. Some of
+these do not have any protection from loops. Certainly AK1A does not
+handle loops well at all. It is therefore necessary to have some form
+of protection for these nodes.
<P>
-In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the file
-that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default hops on the
-various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to alter the hops for.
-You may be happy with the default settings of course, but this powerful tool
-can help to protect and improve the network. The file will look something
-like this ...
+In fact DXSpider has had a simple system for some time which is called
+<it>isolation</it>. This is similar to what, in other systems such as
+<bf>clx</bf>, is called <it>passive mode</it>. A more detailed explanation
+of <it>isolation</it> is given further below. This system is still available
+and, for simple networks, is probably all that you need.
-<tscreen><verb>
-#
-# hop table construction
-#
+<P>
+The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 is filtering the node
+and user protocol frames on a "per interface" basis. We call this
+<it>route filtering</it>. This is used <bf>instead of</bf>
+<it>isolation</it>.
-package DXProt;
+<p>
+What this really means is that you can control more or less completely
+which PC protocol frames, to do with user and node management, pass to
+each of your partner nodes. You can also limit what comes into your
+node from your partners. You can even control the settings that your
+partner node has for the routing information that it sends to you
+(using the <it>rcmd</it> command).
-# default hopcount to use
-$def_hopcount = 5;
+<sect1>Route Filters
-# some variable hop counts based on message type
-%hopcount =
-(
- 11 => 10,
- 16 => 10,
- 17 => 10,
- 19 => 10,
- 21 => 10,
-);
+<p>
+Initially when route filters were being tested we generated a
+"default" filter. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that this
+might suit the UK cluster network but didn't really fit anybody else.
+However using a default filter is an appropriate thing to do. How, is
+explained further on.
+<p>
+The first thing that you must do is determine whether you need to do route filtering <bf>at all</bf>. If you are a "normal" node with two or three partners
+and you arranged in an "official" non-looping tree type network, then <bf>you do
+not need to do route filtering</bf> and you will feel a lot better for not
+getting involved. If you are successfully using <it>isolation</it> then you
+also probably don't need to use route filtering.
-# the per node hop control thingy
+<p>
+You will only require this functionality if you are
+"well-connected". What that means is that you are connected to several
+different parts of (say) the EU cluster and, at the same time, also
+connected to two or three places in the US which, in turn are
+connected back to the EU. This is called a "loop" and if you are
+seriously looped then you need filtering.
+<P>
+I should at this stage give a little bit of background on filters. All
+the filters in Spider work in basically the same way. You can either
+accept or reject various options in order to create the filter rules
+you wish to achieve. Some filters are user settable, others can only
+be altered by the sysop. Route filtering can only be done by the sysop.
-%nodehops =
+<P>
+Anyway, without further discouragement, let me start the process
+of explanation.
- GB7ADX => { 11 => 8,
- 12 => 8,
- 16 => 8,
- 17 => 8,
- 19 => 8,
- 21 => 8,
- },
-
- GB7UDX => { 11 => 8,
- 12 => 8,
- 16 => 8,
- 17 => 8,
- 19 => 8,
- 21 => 8,
- },
- GB7BAA => {
- 11 => 5,
- 12 => 8,
- 16 => 8,
- 17 => 8,
- 19 => 8,
- 21 => 8,
- },
-};
-</verb></tscreen>
+<sect1>The node_default filter
<P>
-Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and contains a
-series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot. The figures here
-are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of how the file works.
+All normal systems should have a default routing filter and it should
+usually be set to send only the normal, unlooped, view of your
+"national" network. Here in the UK that means nodes from the UK and
+Eire, in EU it is more complex as the networks there grew up in a more
+intertwined way.
-<P>
-You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is running.
-If you alter the file during runtime, the command <em>load/hops</em> will
-bring your changes into effect.
+<p>
+The generic commands are:-
-<sect1>Isolating networks
+<tscreen><verb>
+reject/route node_default <filter_option>
-<P>
-It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node using the
- <em>set/isolate <node_call></em> command.
-
-<P>
-The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from another
-nodes connected to your node. Your node will appear on and otherwise behave
-normally on every network to which you are connected, but data from an isolated
-network will not cross onto any other network or vice versa. However all the
-spot, announce and WWV traffic and personal messages will still be handled
-locally (because you are a real node on all connected networks), that is locally
-connected users will appear on all networks and will be able to access and
-receive information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will
-be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a gateway for
-another network, he can still still send a talk/announce etc message via your
-node and it will be routed across.
+or
-<P>
-The only limitation currently is that non-private messages cannot be passed down
-isolated links regardless of whether they are generated locally. This will change
-when the bulletin routing facility is added.
+accept/route node_default <filter_option>
+</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive all
-information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass any information
-back to the isolated node. There are times when you would like to forward only
-spots across a link (maybe during a contest for example). To do this, isolate
-the node in the normal way and put in a filter in the /spider/filter/spots
-directory to override the isolate. This filter can be very simple and consists
-of just one line ....
+where filter_option is one of the following ...
<tscreen><verb>
-$in = [
- [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 3] # The last figure (3) is the hop count
-];
+call <prefixes>
+call_dxcc <numbers>
+call_itu <numbers>
+call_zone <numbers>
+channel <prefixes>
+channel_dxcc <numbers>
+channel_itu <numbers>
+channel_zone <numbers>
</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-There is a lot more on filtering in the next section.
-
-<sect>Filtering (Old Style upto v1.44)
-
-<P>
-Filters can be set for spots, announcements and WWV. You will find the
-directories for these under /spider/filter. You will find some examples in
-the directories with the suffix <em>.issue</em>. There are two types of
-filter, one for incoming information and one for outgoing information.
-Outgoing filters are in the form <em>CALLSIGN.pl</em> and incoming filters
-are in the form <em>in_CALLSIGN.pl</em>. Filters can be set for both nodes
-and users.
-
-<P>
-All filters work in basically the same way. There are several elements
-delimited by commas. There can be many lines in the filter and they are
-read from the top by the program. When writing a filter you need to think
-carefully about just what you want to achieve. You are either going to write
-a filter to <em>accept</em> or to <em>reject</em>. Think of a filter as
-having 2 main elements. For a reject filter, you would have a line or multiple
-lines rejecting the things you do not wish to receive and then a default line
-accepting everything else that is not included in the filter. Likewise, for an
-accept filter, you would have a line or multiple lines accepting the things you
-wish to receive and a default line rejecting everthing else.
+Please be careful if you alter this setting, it will affect
+<bf><it>ALL</it></bf> your links!
-<P>
-In the example below, a user requires a filter that would only return SSB spots
-posted in Europe on the HF bands. This is achieved by first rejecting the CW
-section of each HF band and rejecting all of VHF, UHF etc based on frequency.
-Secondly, a filter rule is set based on CQ zones to only accept spots posted in
-Europe. Lastly, a default filter rule is set to reject anything outside the filter.
+<p>
+For the default routing filter then you have two real choices: either
+a "national" view or the "safe" option of only your own
+callsign. Examples of each (for my node: GB7DJK) are:-
<tscreen><verb>
-$in = [
- [ 0, 0, 'r', # reject all CW spots
- [
- 1800.0, 1850.0,
- 3500.0, 3600.0,
- 7000.0, 7040.0,
- 14000.0, 14100.0,
- 18068.0, 18110.0,
- 21000.0, 21150.0,
- 24890.0, 24930.0,
- 28000.0, 28180.0,
- 30000.0, 49000000000.0,
- ] ,1 ],
- [ 1, 11, 'n', [ 14, 15, 16, 20, 33, ], 15 ], #accept EU
- [ 0, 0, 'd', 0, 1 ], # 1 = want, 'd' = everything else
-];
+acc/route node_default call_dxcc 61,38
+acc/route node_default call gb7djk
</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-The actual elements of each filter are described more fully in the following
-sections.
+GB7DJK uses the first of these. The DXCC countries can be obtained from the
+<it>show/prefix</it> command.
-<sect1>Spots
+<p>
+The example filters shown control <it>output</it> <bf>TO</bf> all your
+partner nodes unless they have a specific filter applied to them (see
+next section).
-<P>
-The elements of the Spot filter are ....
+<p>
+It is also possible to control the <it>incoming</it> routing
+information that you are prepared to accept <bf>FROM</bf> your partner
+nodes. The reason this is necessary is to make sure that stuff like
+mail, pings and similar commands a) go down the correct links and b)
+don't loop around excessively. Again using GB7DJK as an example a typical
+default input filter would be something like:
<tscreen><verb>
-[action, field_no, sort, possible_values, hops]
+rej/route node_default input call_dxcc 61,38 and not channel_dxcc 61,38
</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-There are 3 elements here to look at. Firstly, the action element. This is
-very simple and only 2 possible states exist, accept (1) or drop (0).
+What this does is accept node and user information for our national
+network from nodes that are in our national network, but rejects such
+information from anyone else. Although it doesn't explicitly say so,
+by implication, any other node information (not from the UK and Eire)
+is accepted.
-<P>
-The second element is the field_no. There are 13 possiblities to choose from
-here ....
+<p>
+As I imagine it will take a little while to get one's head around all of this you
+can study the effect of any rules that you try by watching the debug output
+after having done:-
<tscreen><verb>
- 0 = frequency
- 1 = call
- 2 = date in unix format
- 3 = comment
- 4 = spotter
- 5 = spotted dxcc country
- 6 = spotter's dxcc country
- 7 = origin
- 8 = spotted itu
- 9 = spotted cq
- 10 = spotter's itu
- 11 = spotter's cq
- 12 = callsign of the channel on which the spot has appeared
+set/debug filter
</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-The third element tells us what to expect in the fourth element. There are
-4 possibilities ....
+After you have got tired of that, to put it back the way it was:-
<tscreen><verb>
- n - numeric list of numbers e.g. [ 1,2,3 ]
- r - ranges of pairs of numbers e.g. between 2 and 4 or 10 to 17 - [ 2,4, 10,17 ]
- a - an alphanumeric regex
- d - the default rule
+unset/debug filter
</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-The fifth element is simply the hops to set in this filter. This would only
-be used if the filter was for a node of course and overrides the hop count in
-hop_table.pl.
+<sect1>General route filtering
<P>
-So, let's look at an example spot filter. It does not matter in the example
-who the filter is to be used for. So, what do we need in the filter? We need
-to filter the spots the user/node requires and also set a default rule for
-anything else outside the filter. Below is a simple filter that stops spots
-arriving from outside Europe.
+Exactly the same rules apply for general route filtering. You would
+use either an accept filter or a reject filter like this ...
-<tscreen><verb>$in = [
- [ 0, 4, 'a', '^(K|N|A|W|VE|VA|J)'], # 0 = drop, 'a' = alphanumeric
- [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 1 ], # 1 = want, 'd' = everything else
- ];
-</verb></tscreen>
-
-<P>
-So the filter is wrapped in between a pair of square brackets. This tells
-Spider to look in between these limits. Then each line is contained within
-its own square brackets and ends with a comma. Lets look carefully at the first
-line. The first element is 0 (drop). Therefore anything we put on this line
-will not be accepted. The next element is 4. This means we are filtering by
-the spotter. The third element is the letter "a" which tells the program to
-expect an alphanumeric expression in the fourth element. The fourth element
-is a list of letters separated by the pipe symbol.
-
-<P>
-What this line does is tell the program to drop any spots posted by anyone in
-the USA, Canada or Japan.
-
-<P>
-The second line is the default rule for anything else. The "d" tells us this
-and the line simply reads... accept anything else.
+<tscreen><verb>
+reject/route <node_call> <filter_option>
-<P>
-You can add as many lines as you need to complete the filter but if there are
-several lines of the same type it is neater to enclose them all as one line.
-An example of this is where specific bands are set. We could write this like
-this ....
+or
-<tscreen><verb>
-[ 0,0,'r',[1800.0, 2000.0], 1],
-[ 0,0,'r',[10100.0, 10150.0], 1],
-[ 0,0,'r',[14000.0, 14350.0], 1],
-[ 0,0,'r',[18000.0, 18200.0], 1],
+accept/route <node_call> <filter_option>
</verb></tscreen>
<P>
-But the line below achieves the same thing and is more efficient ....
+Here are some examples of route filters ...
<tscreen><verb>
- [ 0, 0, 'r',
- [
- 1800.0, 2000.0, # top band
- 10100.0, 10150.0, # WARC
- 14000.0, 14350.0, # 20m
- 18000.0, 18200.0, # WARC
- [ ,1 ],
+rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
+rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
+acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
+acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
</verb></tscreen>
-
-<sect1>Announcements
-
-<P>
+In practice you will either be opening the default filter out for a
+partner by defining a specific filter for that callsign:-
+
<tscreen><verb>
-
-# This is an example announce or filter allowing only West EU announces
-#
-# The element list is:-
-# 0 - callsign of announcer
-# 1 - destination * = all, <callsign> = routed to the node
-# 2 - text
-# 3 - * - sysop, <some text> - special list eg 6MUK, ' ', normal announce
-# 4 - origin
-# 5 - 0 - announce, 1 - wx
-# 6 - channel callsign (the interface from which this spot came)
-
-$in = [
- [ 1, 0, 'a', '^(P[ABCDE]|DK0WCY|G|M|2|EI|F|ON)' ],
- [ 0, 0, 'd', 0 ]
-];
+acc/route gb7baa all
+acc/route gb7baa input all
</verb></tscreen>
-In this example, only the prefixes listed will be allowed. It is possible to
-be quite specific. The Dutch prefix "P" is followed by several secondary
-identifiers which are allowed. So, in the example, "PA" or "PE" would be ok
-but not "PG". It is even possible to allow information from a single callsign.
-In the example this is DK0WCY, to allow the posting of his Aurora Beacon.
-
-<sect1>WWV
+or restricting it quite a lot, in fact making it very nearly like an <it>isolated</it> node, like this:-
-<P>
<tscreen><verb>
-
-# This is an example WWV filter
-#
-# The element list is:-
-# 0 - nominal unix date of spot (ie the day + hour:13)
-# 1 - the hour
-# 2 - SFI
-# 3 - K
-# 4 - I
-# 5 - text
-# 6 - spotter
-# 7 - origin
-# 8 - incoming interface callsign
-
-# this one doesn't filter, it just sets the hop count to 6 and is
-# used mainly just to override any isolation from WWV coming from
-# the internet.
-
-$in = [
- [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 6 ]
-];
-
+acc/route pi4ehv-8 call gb7djk
+rej/route pi4ehv-8 input call_dxcc 61,38
</verb></tscreen>
-<P>
-It should be noted that the filter will start to be used only once a user/node
-has logged out and back in again.
-<P>
-I am not going to spend any more time on these filters now as they will become
-more "comprehensive" in the near future.
+This last example takes everything except UK and Eire from PI4EHV-8
+but only sends him my local configuration (just a PC19 for GB7DJK and
+PC16s for my local users).
+
+<p>
+It is possible to do <bf>much</bf> more complex rules, there are up to 10
+accept/reject pairs per callsign per filter. For more information see the
+next section.
-<sect>Filtering (New Style v1.45 and later)
<sect1>General filter rules
DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
<P>
-In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which can have
+In general terms you can create a "reject" or an "accept" filter which can have
up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
<tscreen><verb>
to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line
lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
+<sect1>Basic hop control
+
+<P>
+In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the file
+that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default hops on the
+various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to alter the hops for.
+You may be happy with the default settings of course, but this powerful tool
+can help to protect and improve the network. The file will look something
+like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+#
+# hop table construction
+#
+
+package DXProt;
+
+# default hopcount to use
+$def_hopcount = 5;
+
+# some variable hop counts based on message type
+%hopcount =
+(
+ 11 => 10,
+ 16 => 10,
+ 17 => 10,
+ 19 => 10,
+ 21 => 10,
+);
+
+
+# the per node hop control thingy
+
+
+%nodehops =
+
+ GB7ADX => { 11 => 8,
+ 12 => 8,
+ 16 => 8,
+ 17 => 8,
+ 19 => 8,
+ 21 => 8,
+ },
+
+ GB7UDX => { 11 => 8,
+ 12 => 8,
+ 16 => 8,
+ 17 => 8,
+ 19 => 8,
+ 21 => 8,
+ },
+ GB7BAA => {
+ 11 => 5,
+ 12 => 8,
+ 16 => 8,
+ 17 => 8,
+ 19 => 8,
+ 21 => 8,
+ },
+};
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and contains a
+series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot. The figures here
+are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of how the file works.
+
+<P>
+You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is running.
+If you alter the file during runtime, the command <em>load/hops</em> will
+bring your changes into effect.
+
+<sect1>Isolating networks
+
+<P>
+It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node using the
+ <em>set/isolate <node_call></em> command.
+
+<P>
+The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from another
+node connected to your node. Your node will appear on and otherwise behave
+normally on every network to which you are connected, but data from an isolated
+network will not cross onto any other network or vice versa. However all the
+spot, announce and WWV traffic and personal messages will still be handled
+locally (because you are a real node on all connected networks), that is locally
+connected users will appear on all networks and will be able to access and
+receive information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will
+be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a gateway for
+another network, he can still still send a talk/announce etc message via your
+node and it will be routed across.
+
+<P>
+The only limitation currently is that non-private messages cannot be passed down
+isolated links regardless of whether they are generated locally. This will change
+when the bulletin routing facility is added.
+
+<P>
+If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive all
+information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass any information
+back to the isolated node. There are times when you would like to forward only
+spots across a link (maybe during a contest for example). To do this, isolate
+the node in the normal way and put in a filter in the /spider/filter/spots
+directory to override the isolate. This filter can be very simple and consists
+of just one line ....
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+$in = [
+ [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 3] # The last figure (3) is the hop count
+];
+</verb></tscreen>
<sect>Other filters
accept/ann user_default by G,M,2
</verb></tscreen>
+<sect1>accept/route (8)
+
+<P>
+<tt>
+<bf>accept/route <call> [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an 'accept' filter line for routing
+</tt>
+
+<P>
+Create an 'accept this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
+
+<P>
+An accept filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches this filter
+it is passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING for more info. Please read this
+to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
+
+<P>
+You can use any of the following things in this line:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ call <prefixes> the callsign of the thingy
+ call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
+ call_itu <numbers>
+ call_zone <numbers>
+ origin <prefixes> really the interface it came in on
+ origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
+ origin_itu <numbers>
+ origin_zone <numbers>
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+some examples:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
+ acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ acc/route all
+</verb></tscreen>
+
<sect1>accept/spots (0)
<P>
<P>
Send an announcement to LOCAL users only, where <text> is the text
-of the announcement you wish to broadcast
+of the announcement you wish to broadcast. If you do not wish to receive
+announces, use the <em>set/noannounce</em> command. Any announces made by
+a sysop will override set/noannounce.
<sect1>announce full (0)
reject/ann user_default by G,M,2
</verb></tscreen>
+<sect1>reject/route (8)
+
+<P>
+<tt>
+<bf>reject/route <call> [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an 'reject' filter line for routing
+</tt>
+
+<P>
+Create an 'reject this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
+
+<P>
+An reject filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches this filter
+it is NOT passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING for more info. Please
+read this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
+You can use any of the following things in this line:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ call <prefixes> the callsign of the thingy
+ call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
+ call_itu <numbers>
+ call_zone <numbers>
+ origin <prefixes> really the interface it came in on
+ origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
+ origin_itu <numbers>
+ origin_zone <numbers>
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+some examples:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
<sect1>reject/spots (0)
<P>
<P>
Add a beep to DX and other terminal messages.
+<sect1>set/bbs (5)
+
+<P>
+<tt>
+<bf>set/bbs <call> [<call>..]</bf>Make <call> a BBS
+</tt>
+
<sect1>set/clx (5)
<P>
This command shows the internal status of a message and includes information
such as to whom it has been forwarded, its size, origin etc etc.
+<P>
+If no message number is given then the status of the message system is
+displayed.
+
+<sect1>stat/route_node (5)
+
+<P>
+<tt>
+<bf>stat/route_node <callsign></bf> Show the data in a Route::Node object
+</tt>
+
+<sect1>stat/route_user (5)
+
+<P>
+<tt>
+<bf>stat/route_user <callsign></bf> Show the data in a Route::User object
+</tt>
+
<sect1>stat/user (5)
<P>
projects / spider.git / blobdiff