The DXSpider Installation Manual v1.49
Iain Philipps, G0RDI (g0rdi@77hz.com) and Ian Maude, G0VGS,
(g0vgs@gb7mbc.net)
- December 2001 revision 1.1
+ February 2002 revision 1.2
A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
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1. Linux Installation
1.1 Introduction
2. Linux quick installation guide
- 3. Configuration
+ 3. Setting up the AX25 Utilities
+
+ 3.1 Getting Started
+ 3.2 The kernel
+ 3.3 Installing the RPM's
+ 3.4 Configuration
+ 3.5 axports
+ 3.6 nrports
+ 3.7 nrbroadcast
+ 3.8 ax25d.conf
+ 3.9 node.conf
+ 3.10 Getting it all running
- 3.1 Allowing ax25 connects from users
- 3.2 Allowing telnet connects from users
- 3.3 Setting up telnet connects (from 1.47 onwards)
- 3.4 Setting up for AGW Engine (1.47 onwards)
- 3.5 Setting up node connects
- 3.6 Connection scripts
- 3.7 Starting the connection
- 3.8 Telnet echo
- 3.9 Autostarting the cluster
+ 4. Configuration
- 4. Microsoft Windows Installation
+ 4.1 Allowing ax25 connects from users
+ 4.2 Allowing telnet connects from users
+ 4.3 Setting up telnet connects (from 1.47 onwards)
+ 4.4 Setting up for AGW Engine (1.47 onwards)
+ 4.5 Setting up node connects
+ 4.6 Connection scripts
+ 4.7 Starting the connection
+ 4.8 Telnet echo
+ 4.9 Autostarting the cluster
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 The requirements
- 4.3 The system
- 4.4 Perl
- 4.5 Additional packages
- 4.6 Getting Spider
+ 5. Microsoft Windows Installation
- 5. Installing the software
+ 5.1 Introduction
+ 5.2 The requirements
+ 5.3 The system
+ 5.4 Perl
+ 5.5 Additional packages
+ 5.6 Getting Spider
- 5.1 Incoming telnets
- 5.2 The AGW packet engine
- 5.3 Setting up the initial user files
- 5.4 Connecting to other clusters
+ 6. Installing the software
- 6. General Information
+ 6.1 Incoming telnets
+ 6.2 The AGW packet engine
+ 6.3 Setting up the initial user files
+ 6.4 Connecting to other clusters
- 6.1 The crontab file
+ 7. General Information
+
+ 7.1 The crontab file
______________________________________________________________________
-
-
# tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Data-Dumper-2.10.tar.gz
o Enter the correct line in /etc/inittab (root)
- 3. Configuration
+ 3. Setting up the AX25 Utilities
+
+ The aim of this section is not to fully cover the installation and
+ configuration of all the possible ax25 modules. I will attempt to
+ cover a simple installation and configure 2 serial ports as if they
+ had TNC's on them. I will also show what additional configuration the
+ DXSpider program requires.
+
+
+ Please bear in mind that I am basing this section on a RedHat 7.1
+ distribution, if you are using SuSe or any other distibution then your
+ mileage may vary. I will be happy to make any changes and additions
+ if you email me any errors or distribution specific requirements.
+
+
+ You would probably benefit from reading the AX25-HOWTO which is much
+ more comprehensive and an interesting configuration program is also
+ available called ax25-config which may help you to configure things.
+
+
+ The following files are extracts from the working files at GB7MBC and
+ are in daily use. However, there are many ways that you can configure
+ the ax25 utils, this is just the one I use, it does not mean it is
+ necessarily the best or for that matter, the right way!
+
+
+ 3.1. Getting Started
+
+ There are 2 things you need to do initially. You need to get the 3
+ files required for the ax25 installation and you need to make some
+ changes to the kernel configuration.
+
+
+ The first thing is to get the versions of the ax25 utils that match
+ your kernel. You may also wish to get a node package of some kind.
+ There are 2 main node packages in use of which I shall keep to the
+ original by Tomi Manninen, OH2BNS as this is included in the ax25 rpms
+ as standard. The other is AWZNode by IZ5AWZ.
+
+
+ For 2.4 kernels you need these files...
+
+
+
+ o libax25-0.0.7-7.i386.rpm
+
+ o ax25-tools-0.0.6-13.i386.rpm
+
+ o ax25-apps-0.0.4-9.i386.rpm
+
+
+ 3.2. The kernel
+
+ First you need to add Amateur Radio Support to your kernel. This is a
+ main menu item and should be easily found. Within this header you
+ will find lots of options. For our purposes you need to enable
+ Amateur Radio AX.25 Level 2 Protocol, NET/ROM and the Serial Port KISS
+ Driver. For the purposes of this document I will work under the
+ assumption that you include them in the kernel fully, ie not as
+ modules. If you need to look at compiling your kernel for ax25 more
+ fully, I would refer to the excellent AX25-HOWTO
+
+
+ I should say at this stage that NET/ROM is not mandatory. If you do
+ not use it simply ignore any instruction concerning it.
+
+
+ Now recompile your kernel in the normal way and reboot your system.
+
+
+ 3.3. Installing the RPM's
+
+ Now install the RPM's you downloaded, libax25 first, then ax25-tools,
+ then ax25-apps.
+
+
+
+ rpm -ivh libax25-0.0.7-7.i386.rpm
+ rpm -ivh ax25-tool-0.0.6-13.i386.rpm
+ rpm -ivh ax25-apps-0.0.4-9.i386.rpm
+
+
+
+
+
+ 3.4. Configuration
+
+ You will find the configuration files in /etc/ax25. These consist of
+ several files ...
+
+
+ o axports
+
+ o nrports
+
+ o nrbroadcast
+
+ o ax25d.conf
+
+ o node.conf
+
+
+ These are the main files. You will find other files but they do not
+ have any use unless you are wanting to use that particular protocol,
+ Rose or axip for example.
+
+
+ NOTE:- before we start it is important to realise that every interface
+ requires a different SSID. You should be able to follow this in the
+ following examples.
+
+
+ 3.5. axports
+
+ This file sets up the ax25 ports you want to use. An example is below
+ for a standard TNC2 ...
+
+
+
+ #portname callsign baudrate paclen window description
+ 2m gb7mbc-2 19200 256 2 2m port on 144.900MHz
+ 4m gb7mbc-4 19200 256 2 4m port on 70.325MHz
+
+
+
+ Note that the portnames have to be unique.
+
+
+ The file headings are as follows ...
+
+
+ portname - The name you will refer to the port by
+ callsign - The ax25 callsign you want to assign to the port
+ baudrate - The speed you communicate between TNC and computer
+ paclen - The maximum packet length for ax25 connections
+ window - The ax25 window parameter. This is like 'maxframe'
+ description - A textual description of the port
+
+
+
+
+ 3.6. nrports
+
+ This file sets up the netrom ports you want to use. An example is
+ below and includes a port for both cluster and node. You will see why
+ we need 2 ports later ...
+
+
+
+ #portname callsign alias paclen description
+ netrom gb7mbc-8 BARE 236 Node Netrom Port
+ netrom2 gb7mbc-9 MBCDX 236 Cluster Netrom Port
+
+
+
+
+
+ Note that the portnames have to be unique.
+
+
+ The file headings are as follows ...
+
+
+ portname - The name you will refer to the port by
+ callsign - This is the callsign that NET/ROM traffic from this
+ port will use
+ alias - The NET/ROM alias this port will be assigned
+ paclen - The maximum size of NET/ROM frames transmitted
+ description - A textual description of the port
+
+
+
+
+ 3.7. nrbroadcast
+
+ This file sets up the netrom broadcast qualities. An example is below
+ ...
+
+
+
+ #axport min_obs def_qual worst_qual verbose
+ 4m 5 10 100 1
+
+
+
+
+
+ The file headings are as follows ...
+
+
+
+ axport - The port name in axports that you wish to broadcast
+ NET/ROM on.
+ min_obs - The minimum obsolescence value for the port
+ def_qual - The default quality for the port
+ worst_qual - The worst quality for the port. Any routes under
+ this quality will be ignored
+ verbose - This flag determines whether you will only broadcast
+ your own node (0) or all known nodes (1)
+
+
+
+
+ 3.8. ax25d.conf
+
+ This file controls any incoming ax25 and NET/ROM connections and
+ steers them to the relevant program. There are lots of configuration
+ options you can set here, however they are well covered in the
+ AX25-HOWTO. For our purposes I will show a typical set of parameters.
+ An example is below ...
+
+
+
+ [gb7mbc-0 via 2m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+ [gb7mbc-1 via 2m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * 0 root /usr/sbin/node node
+
+ [gb7mbc-0 via 4m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+ [gb7mbc-1 via 4m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * 0 root /usr/sbin/node node
+
+ <netrom2>
+ parameters 1 10 * * * 3 *
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+ <netrom>
+ parameters 1 10 * * * 3 *
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * 0 root /usr/sbin/node node
+
+
+
+
+
+ There are a few things to take note of here. Firstly, all ax25
+ sections are wrapped in [ ] and all NET/ROM sections are wrapped in <
+ >. Secondly you should be able to see that anyone who forgets to set
+ their callsign in a TNC and tries to connect with the standard NOCALL
+ set into their TNC will not connect, the 'L' means 'lockout'. Lastly
+ and importantly, notice the order of the sections. They are all done
+ in interface order.
- 3.1. Allowing ax25 connects from users
- As stated previously, the aim of this document is not to tell you how
- to configure Linux or the ax25 utilities. However, you do need to add
- a line in your ax25d.conf to allow connections to DXSpider for your
- users. For each interface that you wish to allow connections on, use
- the following format ...
+
+ You should be able to see that the normal line for access to the
+ cluster is like this ..
- or, if you wish your users to be able to use SSID's on their callsigns
- ..
+ however, if you wish your users to be able to use SSID's on their
+ callsigns ..
- 3.2. Allowing telnet connects from users
+ 3.9. node.conf
+
+ For those of you that wish to run the node, you need to set up the
+ node.conf file. There are a couple of additional files, node.perms is
+ very similar to the way ftp permissions are set up in NOS systems and
+ node.motd is the message anyone logging into the node will get. The
+ node.conf file sets all the parameters of the node as you would
+ expect. An example is below ...
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ # /etc/ax25/node.conf - LinuxNode configuration file
+ #
+ # see node.conf(5)
+
+ # Idle timeout (seconds).
+ #
+ IdleTimeout 1800
+
+ # Timeout when gatewaying (seconds).
+ #
+ ConnTimeout 40000
+
+ # Visible hostname. Will be shown at telnet login.
+ #
+ HostName gb7mbc.ampr.org
+
+ # ReConnect flag.
+ #
+ ReConnect off
+
+ # "Local" network.
+ #
+ #LocalNet 44.139.8.48/32
+
+ # Command aliases. See node.conf(5) for the meaning of the uppercase
+ # letters in the name of the alias.
+ #
+ ##Alias CAllbook 'telnet %{2:44.17.0.53} 1235 %1 s'
+ #Alias CONVers 'telnet %{2:oh2ti} 3600 "/n %u %{1:139}\n/w *"'
+ #Alias CLuster 'c hkiclh'
+ Alias CONV "telnet lurpac 3600"
+ Alias BBS "c 70cm gb7crv"
+ Alias DXC "telnet localhost 9000"
+ Alias MUD "telnet homer 4000"
+ ##Alias TEMP "finger temp@mary.g6phf"
+ ##Alias TNOS "c ip1 gb7mbc-5"
+ ##Alias TUtor "telnet gb7mbc 3599"
+
+ # Hidden ports.
+ #
+ #HiddenPorts 2
+
+ # External commands. See node.conf(5) for the meaning of the uppercase
+ # letters in the name of the extcmd.
+ #
+ # Flags: 1 Run command through pipe
+ # 2 Reconnected flag
+ #
+ #ExtCmd TPM 3 nobody /usr/bin/finger finger tpm
+ #ExtCmd ECho 1 nobody /bin/echo echo \%U \%u \%S \%s \%P \%p \%R \%r \%T \%t \%\% \%0 \%{1:foobar} \%{2} \%3 \%4 \%5
+
+ # Node ID.
+ #
+ NodeId "\nBARE:GB7MBC-1"
+ #NodeId \033[01;31m***\033[0m
+
+ # Netrom port name. This port is used for outgoing netrom connects.
+ #
+ NrPort netrom
+
+ # Logging level
+ #
+ LogLevel 3
+
+ # The escape character (CTRL-T)
+ #
+ EscapeChar ^T
+
+ # Resolve ip numbers to addresses?
+ #
+ ResolveAddrs off
+
+ # Node prompt.
+ #
+ #NodePrompt "\n"
+ #NodePrompt "%s@%h \%i> "
+ NodePrompt "\nBARE:GB7MBC-1 \%i > "
+ #NodePrompt "\a\033[36m%U\033[0m de \033[01;32m#LNODE\033[0m:\033[01;33mOH2BNS-10\033[0m> "
+
+
+
+
+
+ This should be fairly obvious I hope.
+
+
+ 3.10. Getting it all running
+
+ Ok, now we have all the relevant files configured, the next step is to
+ get it all running.
+
+
+ The first thing to do is attach the TNC's. Your TNC's should be in
+ KISS mode and connected to the serial ports involved.
+
+
+ You now use the 'kissattach' command to connect the TNC's to the
+ system like this ...
+
+
+
+ kissattach /dev/ttyS0 2m 44.131.96.199
+ kissattach /dev/ttyS1 4m 44.131.96.199
+
+
+
+
+
+ Assuming that 44.131.96.199 is your IP address. The devices ttyS0 and
+ ttyS1 are com1 and com2 respectively. Now we can set some parameters
+ ...
+
+
+
+ kissparms -p 2m -t 150 -l 150 -s 50 -r 50
+ kissparms -p 4m -t 150 -l 150 -s 50 -r 50
+
+
+
+
+
+ The command 'man kissparms' will give you the explanation of the
+ switches.
+
+
+ Now we need to attach the NET/ROM ports in the same way ...
+
+
+
+ nrattach netrom
+ nrattach netrom2
+
+ All of the above can be put in a file and called from
+ /etc/rc.d/rc.local. Put all the above commands in a file called
+ rc.ax25 and put a line in rc.local to call it.
+
+
+ Now you can start the daemons that set everything in motion ...
+
+
+
+ ax25d
+ netromd -i
+
+
+
+
+
+ All should now be running. All that remains is to get the node
+ working for telnet connections. If nothing else, this will allow you
+ to connect to the node yourself to check on connection status etc.
+ There are 2 files that need to be edited.
+
+
+ First edit /etc/services and add
+
+
+
+ node 3000/tcp #OH2BNS's Node Software
+
+
+
+
+
+ Assuming you want it to run on port 3000
+
+
+ Now cd /etc/xinetd.d and edit a new file called node. It should look
+ like this ...
+
+
+
+ # default: on
+ # unencrypted username/password pairs for authentication.
+ service node
+ {
+ socket_type = stream
+ wait = no
+ user = root
+ server = /usr/sbin/node
+ log_on_failure += USERID
+ disable = yes
+ }
+
+
+
+
+
+ You now need to restart the xinetd daemon. First find out what the
+ PID is like so ..
+
+
+
+ ps auxw |grep xinetd
+
+
+
+
+ You will get a reply something like this ...
+
+
+
+ root 592 0.0 0.1 2256 620 ? S Feb07 0:00 xinetd -stayalive -reuse -pidfile /var/run/xinetd.pid
+
+
+
+
+
+ The PID or Process ID is 592 in this case so now we can issue the
+ command ...
+
+
+
+ kill -HUP 592
+
+
+
+
+
+ All should now be operational and you should be able to log into the
+ node by using a telnet session to the relevant port, like so ...
+
+
+
+ telnet localhost 3000
+
+
+
+
+
+ If that works, you are just about there. you should (assuming you
+ have radios connected to the TNC's) be able to connect out to other
+ stations and receive incoming ax25 and netrom connections.
+
+
+ 4. Configuration
+
+ 4.1. Allowing ax25 connects from users
+
+ This is dealt with in the previous section
+
+
+ 4.2. Allowing telnet connects from users
From version 1.47 there is a new (more efficient) way of doing this
spdlogin 8000/tcp # spider anonymous login port
- Then add a line in /etc/inetd.conf like this ....
+
+ Then add a line in /etc/inetd.conf like this ....
+
spdlogin stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /spider/src/client login telnet
You should now get the login prompt and be able to login as before.
- 3.3. Setting up telnet connects (from 1.47 onwards)
+ 4.3. Setting up telnet connects (from 1.47 onwards)
From version 1.47 you can choose to allow the perl cluster.pl program
to allow connections directly (i.e. not via the /spider/src/client
killall -HUP inetd
+
+
+
+
to make the change happen...
users.
- 3.4. Setting up for AGW Engine (1.47 onwards)
+ 4.4. Setting up for AGW Engine (1.47 onwards)
AGW Engine is a Windows based ax25 stack. You can connect to an AGW
engine from Linux as well as Windows based machines.
- 3.5. Setting up node connects
+ 4.5. Setting up node connects
In order to allow cluster node connections, spider needs to know that
the connecting callsign is a cluster node. This is the case whether
- 3.6. Connection scripts
+ 4.6. Connection scripts
Because DXSpider operates under Linux, connections can be made using
just about any protocol; AX25, NETRom, tcp/ip, ROSE etc are all
directory.
- 3.7. Starting the connection
+ 4.7. Starting the connection
You start the connection, from within a sysop enabled cluster login,
by typing in the word connect followed by a script name like this ....
- 3.8. Telnet echo
+ 4.8. Telnet echo
Cluster links in particular suffer greatly from the presence of telnet
echo. This is caused by the telnet negotiation itself and can create
- 3.9. Autostarting the cluster
+ 4.9. Autostarting the cluster
Ok, you should now have DXSpider running nicely and allowing connects
by cluster nodes or users. However, it has to be shutdown and
sysop you should find everything running nicely.
- 4. Microsoft Windows Installation
+ 5. Microsoft Windows Installation
- 4.1. Introduction
+ 5.1. Introduction
IMPORTANT:
connections.
- 4.2. The requirements
+ 5.2. The requirements
The very first things you're going to need are (in order of
importance):-
o Plenty of good, strong tea
- 4.3. The system
+ 5.3. The system
The platform I used to generate these instructions was a "vanilla"
Microsoft Windows Me 4.90.3000 system, with a 700MHz AMD Athlon
zero intention of trying to make them say otherwise.
- 4.4. Perl
+ 5.4. Perl
Install your chosen Perl environment. Unless you have a very good
reason for not doing so, I strongly suggest that you use ActivePerl
passed. Assuming it did work, you may now move on.
- 4.5. Additional packages
+ 5.5. Additional packages
Some extensions ("packages") need to be added to the base Perl
distribution, and we'll do this next. If you're using the Perl I
because it suits me.
- 4.6. Getting Spider
+ 5.6. Getting Spider
Get the current version of the DX Spider distribution. This needs to
be v1.47 or later. You've got two ways (currently) of getting this;
ZIP files) if you are not using CVS.
- 5. Installing the software
+ 6. Installing the software
Ensure that your CVS session or your WINunZIPped file have left you
with a directory "C:\spider\local" and C:\spider\local_cmd"; if not,
- 5.1. Incoming telnets
+ 6.1. Incoming telnets
If you want to enable inbound "TELNET" connections (or you are running
Windows NT, 2000 or XP), you've got a little more work to do. From a
"127.0.0.1" ("0.0.0.0" means all IP addresses).
- 5.2. The AGW packet engine
+ 6.2. The AGW packet engine
On the assumption that you'll be using the SV2AGW Packet Engine to
interface your radios to the cluster, you should now create your own
o $passwd - password that matches $login
- 5.3. Setting up the initial user files
+ 6.3. Setting up the initial user files
Next you need to create the initial user files, etc. A tool is
supplied which will do this for you. To run the tool:-
7300). I recommend packages like DXTelnet.
- 5.4. Connecting to other clusters
+ 6.4. Connecting to other clusters
If you want to connect this to another cluster, then you'll want to
negotiate a link with someone. For experimental purposes, I'm happy to
me by Email if you want me to set up a connection for you.
- 6. General Information
+ 7. General Information
The following relates to all versions of DXSpider and is not platform
related.
- 6.1. The crontab file
+ 7.1. The crontab file
Login as sysop and create a file in /spider/local_cmd called crontab.
Edit it with your favourite editor and add a line like this (I have
projects / spider.git / blobdiff