--- /dev/null
+ The DXSpider Installation Manual v1.50
+ Iain Philipps, G0RDI (g0rdi@77hz.com), Ian Maude, G0VGS,
+ (g0vgs@gb7mbc.net) and Charlie Carroll, K1XX,
+ (k1xx@ptcnh.net)
+ February 2003 revision 0.5
+
+ A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
+ ______________________________________________________________________
+
+ Table of Contents
+
+
+ 1. Linux Installation
+ 1.1 Introduction
+ 1.2 Preparation
+ 1.3 Installing the software
+ 1.4 Setting callsigns etc
+ 1.5 The client program
+ 1.6 Starting up for the first time
+
+ 2. Linux quick installation guide
+ 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
+
+ 4. Configuration
+ 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
+
+ 5. Microsoft Windows Installation
+ 5.1 Introduction
+ 5.2 The requirements
+ 5.3 The system
+ 5.4 Perl
+ 5.5 Additional packages
+ 5.6 Getting Spider
+
+ 6. Installing the software
+ 6.1 Incoming telnets
+ 6.2 The AGW packet engine
+ 6.3 Setting up the initial user files
+ 6.4 Connecting to other clusters
+
+ 7. General Information
+ 7.1 The crontab file
+
+
+ ______________________________________________________________________
+
+
+
+ 1. Linux Installation
+
+ 1.1. Introduction
+
+ This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.50 on a RedHat
+ Linux Distribution. Wherever possible I will try to include
+ differences for other distributions.
+
+
+ I am assuming a general knowledge of Linux and its commands. You
+ should know how to use tar and how to edit files using your favourite
+ editor.
+
+
+ The crucial ingredient for all of this is Perl. Earlier versions of
+ Spider required perl 5.004, however it is now STRONGLY recommended
+ that you use at least version 5.005_03 as this is the version being
+ used in the development of Spider.
+
+
+ In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the
+ following modules from http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/ , please
+ note however that with later versions of perl, some of these modules
+ may be included with the distribution. Get the modules anyway and try
+ to install as below. If they complain, they are probably already a
+ part of your perl distribution.
+
+
+
+ o Data-Dumper-2.101.tar.gz
+
+ o TimeDate-1.10.tar.gz
+
+ o IO-1.20.tar.gz (for perl 5.00403 and lower)
+
+ o Net-Telnet-3.03.tar.gz
+
+ o Curses-1.06.tar.gz
+
+ o Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz
+
+ o Digest-SHA1-2.01.tar.gz
+
+
+ Copy the CPAN modules listed above to a convenient place on your
+ computer. One good place would be /usr/local/packages, and the
+ instructions which follow will assume that that's where you have put
+ them.
+
+
+ Log in as 'root', and make sure you're at '/root' before you continue.
+ Here are exactly the commands you must issue next: -
+
+
+
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Data-Dumper-2.101.tar.gz
+ # cd Data-Dumper-2.101
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install
+ # cd ..
+ #
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/TimeDate-1.10.tar.gz
+ # cd TimeDate-1.10
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install
+ # cd ..
+ #
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/IO-1.20.tar.gz
+ # cd IO-1.20
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install UNINST=1
+ # cd ..
+ #
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Net-Telnet-3.03.tar.gz
+ # cd Net-Telnet-3.02
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install
+ # cd ..
+ #
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Curses-1.06.tar.gz
+ # cd Curses-1.06
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install
+ # cd ..
+ #
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz
+ # cd Time-HiRes-01.20
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install
+ # cd ..
+ #
+ # tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Digest-SHA1-2.01.tar.gz
+ # cd Digest-SHA1-2.01
+ # perl Makefile.PL
+ # make test
+ # make install
+ # cd ..
+
+
+
+ Do not fall into the trap of thinking they're all the same, just
+ because they nearly are! Pay particular attention to the instructions
+ of IO, above.
+
+
+
+ 1.2. Preparation
+
+ I will assume that you have already downloaded the latest tarball of
+ the DXSpider software and are ready to install it. I am assuming
+ version 1.50 for this section but of course you would use the latest
+ version.
+
+
+ Login as root and create a user to run the cluster under. UNDER NO
+ CIRCUMSTANCES USE ROOT AS THIS USER!. I am going to use the name
+ sysop. You can call it anything you wish. Depending on your security
+ requirements you may wish to use an existing user, however this is
+ your own choice.
+
+
+
+ # adduser -m sysop
+
+
+
+ For SuSE distributions, the command would be ..
+
+
+
+ # useradd -m sysop
+
+
+
+ Now set a password for the user ...
+
+
+
+ # passwd sysop
+ # New UNIX password:
+ # Retype new UNIX password:
+ passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully
+
+
+
+ 1.3. Installing the software
+
+ Now to unpack the DX Spider distribution, set symbolic links and group
+ permissions. Copy the tarball to /home/sysop and do the following.
+
+
+
+ # cd ~sysop
+ # tar xvfz spider-1.50.tar.gz
+ # ln -s ~sysop/spider /spider
+ # groupadd -g 251 spider (or another number)
+
+
+
+ If you do not have the command groupadd available to you simply add a
+ line in /etc/group by hand.
+
+
+
+ # vi /etc/group (or your favorite editor)
+
+
+
+ You also need to add some others to the group, including your own
+ callsign (this will be used as an alias) and root. The finished line
+ in /etc/group should look something like this
+
+ spider:x:251:sysop,g0vgs,root
+
+
+ The next step is to set the permissions on the Spider directory tree
+ and files ....
+
+
+
+ # chown -R sysop.spider spider
+ # find . -type d -exec chmod 2775 {} \;
+ # find . -type f -exec chmod 775 {} \;
+
+
+
+ This last step allows various users of the group spider to have write
+ access to all the directories. This is not really needed just yet but
+ will be useful when web interfaces start to appear.
+
+
+ Finally, you need to fix the permissions on the ax25_call and
+ netrom_call programs. Check where they are with the locate command
+ and alter the permissions with the chmod command like this ..
+
+
+
+ # chown root ax25_call netrom_call
+ # chmod 4775 ax25_call netrom_call
+
+
+
+ 1.4. Setting callsigns etc
+
+ Now login to your machine as the user you created earlier. In my case
+ that user is called sysop. Once logged in, issue the following
+ commands ....
+
+
+
+ $ cd /spider
+ $ mkdir local
+ $ mkdir local_cmd
+ $ cp perl/DXVars.pm.issue local/DXVars.pm
+ $ cd local
+ $ vi DXVars.pm (or your favourite editor)
+
+
+
+ Using the distributed DXVars.pm as a a template, set your cluster
+ callsign, sysop callsign and other user info to suit your own
+ environment.
+
+
+
+ $mycall = "GB7DJK";
+
+
+
+ This is the call sign of your cluster. If you use an SSID then
+ include it here also.
+
+
+
+ $myalias = "G1TLH";
+
+
+
+ This is the sysop user callsign, normally your own.
+
+
+ PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR CALLSIGNS
+
+
+ Note that this a perl file which will be parsed and executed as part
+ of the cluster. If you get it wrong then perl will complain when you
+ start the cluster process. It is important only to alter the text of
+ any section. Some of the lines look a little odd. Take this line for
+ example ....
+
+ $myemail = "ianmaude\@btinternet.com";
+
+
+ There appears to be an extra slash in there. However this has to be
+ there for the file to work so leave it in.
+
+
+ DON'T alter any file in /spider/perl, they are overwritten with every
+ release. Any files or commands you place in /spider/local or
+ /spider/local_cmd will automagically be used in preference to the ones
+ in /spider/perl EVEN while the cluster is running!
+
+
+ Save the new file and change directory to ../perl ....
+
+
+
+ $ cd ../perl
+
+
+
+ Now type the following command which creates the basic user file with
+ you as the sysop.
+
+
+
+ $ ./create_sysop.pl
+
+
+
+ 1.5. The client program
+
+ In earlier versions of Spider, all the processes were Perl scripts.
+ This was fine but with a lot of users your computer memory would soon
+ be used up. To combat this a new client was written in "C". This
+ client only works for incoming connects at the moment. Before you can
+ use it though it has to be "made". CD to /spider/src and type make.
+ You should see the output on your screen and hopefully now have a
+ small C program called client. Leave it in this directory.
+ 1.6. Starting up for the first time
+
+ We can now bring spider up for the first time and see if all is well
+ or not! It should look something like this ...
+
+
+
+ $ ./cluster.pl
+ DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.50
+ Copyright (c) 1998 Dirk Koopman G1TLH
+ loading prefixes ...
+ loading band data ...
+ loading user file system ...
+ starting listener ...
+ reading existing message headers
+ reading cron jobs
+ orft we jolly well go ...
+
+
+
+ If all is well then login on another term or console as sysop and cd
+ to /spider/src. Now issue the following command ...
+
+
+
+ $ ./client
+
+
+
+ This should log you into the cluster as the sysop under the alias
+ callsign we set earlier. In this case the callsign is G0VGS. The
+ cluster callsign is set in the DXVars.pm file in /spider/local. In
+ this case we will assume that this was set as GB7MBC. You should
+ therefore see this when you login ....
+
+
+
+ G0VGS de GB7MBC 19-Nov-1999 2150Z >
+
+
+
+ If you do, congratulations! If not, look over the instructions again,
+ you have probably missed something out. You can shut spider down
+ again with the command ....
+
+
+
+ shutdown
+
+
+
+ and both the cluster and the client should return to Linux prompts.
+
+
+
+ 2. Linux quick installation guide
+
+ This section is designed for experienced Spider sysops who want to
+ install Spider from scratch. It is simply a check list of things that
+ need to be done without any explanations. The name in brackets at the
+ end of each line is the user that should be doing that process.
+
+
+ o Login as root
+
+ o Get the additional CPAN modules and install them (root)
+
+ o Create the "sysop" user and set a password (root)
+
+ o Put the Spider tarball in sysop and untar it (root)
+
+ o ln -s sysop/spider /spider (root)
+
+ o groupadd -g 251 spider (root)
+
+ o Add any more users you need to the group entry in /etc/group (root)
+
+ o Set the permissions on the spider tree (root)
+
+ o Fix permissions on ax25_call and netrom_call (root)
+
+ o Login as the sysop user
+
+ o cd to /spider (sysop)
+
+ o mkdir local (sysop)
+
+ o mkdir local_cmd (sysop)
+
+ o cp perl/DXVars.pm.issue local/DXVars.pm (sysop)
+
+ o cd to /spider/local and edit DXVars to set your details (sysop)
+
+ o cd ../perl (sysop)
+
+ o ./create_sysop.pl (sysop)
+
+ o ./cluster.pl (sysop)
+
+
+ Spider should now be running and you should be able to login using the
+ client program.
+
+
+ o Login as root
+
+ o Enter the correct line in ax25d.conf (root)
+
+ o Enter the correct line in /etc/services (root)
+
+ o Enter the correct line in /etc/inetd.conf (root)
+
+ o killall -HUP inetd (root)
+
+
+ Spider should now be able to accept logins via telnet, netrom and
+ ax25.
+
+
+ o Login as sysop
+
+ o Start the cluster (sysop)
+
+ o set/node and type for links (sysop)
+
+ o Write any connect scripts (sysop)
+
+ o Edit /spider/crontab as required (sysop)
+
+ o Edit any other files as necessary (sysop)
+
+ o Set filters, hops and forwarding files (sysop)
+
+ o Login as root
+
+ o Enter the correct line in /etc/inittab (root)
+
+
+ 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.
+
+
+ NB: The AX25 stuff in 2.4 kernels appears to have been broken until
+ 2.4.18. I strongly suggest you get at least this kernel.
+
+
+ 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.
+
+
+ You should be able to see that the normal line for access to the
+ cluster is like this ..
+
+
+
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+
+
+ however, if you wish your users to be able to use SSID's on their
+ callsigns ..
+
+
+
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %s ax25
+
+
+
+ For most purposes this is not desirable. The only time you probably
+ will need this is when you need to allow other cluster nodes that are
+ using SSID's in. In this case it would probably be better to use the
+ first example and then add a specific line for that node like this:
+
+
+
+ GB7DJK-2 * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client gb7djk-2 ax25
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+
+
+ 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 = no
+ }
+
+
+
+ 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
+ (see next section) but, if you prefer, the method of doing it
+ described here will continue to work just fine.
+
+
+ Allowing telnet connections is quite simple. Firstly you need to add
+ a line in /etc/services to allow connections to a port number, like
+ this ....
+
+
+
+ spdlogin 8000/tcp # spider anonymous login port
+
+
+
+ Then add a line in /etc/inetd.conf like this ....
+
+ spdlogin stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /spider/src/client login telnet
+
+
+
+ Once this is done, you need to restart inetd like this ....
+
+
+
+ killall -HUP inetd
+
+
+
+ Now login as sysop and cd spider/src. You can test that spider is
+ accepting telnet logins by issuing the following command ....
+
+
+
+ ./client login telnet
+
+
+
+ You should get a login prompt and on issuing a callsign, you will be
+ given access to the cluster. Note, you will not get a password login.
+ There seems no good reason for a password prompt to be given so it is
+ not asked for.
+
+
+ Assuming all is well, then try a telnet from your linux console ....
+
+
+
+ telnet localhost 8000
+
+
+
+ You should now get the login prompt and be able to login as before.
+
+
+ 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
+ interface program). If you are using Windows then this is the only
+ method available of allowing incoming telnet connections.
+
+
+ To do this you need first to remove any line that you may previously
+ have set up in /etc/inetd.conf. Remember to:-
+
+
+
+ killall -HUP inetd
+
+
+
+ to make the change happen...
+
+
+ Having done that, you need to copy the file /spider/perl/Listeners.pm
+ to /spider/local and then edit it. You will need to uncomment the line
+ containing "0.0.0.0" and select the correct port to listen on. So that
+ it looks like this:-
+
+
+
+ @listen = (
+ ["0.0.0.0", 8000],
+ );
+
+
+
+ As standard, the listener will listen on all interfaces
+ simultaneously. If you require more control than this, you can
+ specify each interface individually:-
+
+
+
+ @listen = (
+ ["gb7baa.dxcluster.net", 8000],
+ ["44.131.16.2", 6300],
+ );
+
+
+
+ This will only be successful if the IP addresses on each interface are
+ static. If you are using some kind of dynamic IP addressing then the
+ 'default' method is the only one that will work.
+
+
+ Restart the cluster.pl program to enable the listener.
+
+
+ One important difference with the internal listener is that no echoing
+ is done by the cluster program. Users will need to set 'local-echo' on
+ in their telnet clients if it isn't set automatically (as per the
+ standards). Needless to say this will probably only apply to Windows
+ users.
+
+
+ 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.
+
+
+ In order to enable access to an AGW Engine you need to copy
+ /spider/perl/AGWConnect.pm to /spider/local and edit it. Specifically
+ you must:-
+
+
+ o set $enable to 1.
+
+ o set $login and $passwd to the values set up in your AGW
+ installation. If you haven't set any there, then you should not
+ touch these values.
+
+
+ o You can connect to a remote AGW engine (ie on some other machine)
+ by changing $addr and $port appropriately.
+
+ o Restart the cluster.pl program
+
+
+
+ 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
+ the connect is incoming or outgoing. In spider this is a simple task
+ and can be done in runtime.
+
+
+ Later versions of Spider can distinguish different software and treat
+ them differently. For example, the WCY beacon cannot be handles by
+ AK1A type nodes as AK1A does not know what to do with PC73. There are
+ 4 different types of node at present and although they may not have
+ any major differences at the moment, it allows for compatibility. The
+ 4 types are ...
+
+
+
+ set/node (AK1A type)
+ set/spider
+ set/dxnet
+ set/clx
+
+
+
+ For now, we will assume that the cluster we are going to connect to is
+ an AK1A type node.
+
+
+ Start up the cluster as you did before and login as the sysop with
+ client. The cluster node I am wanting to make a connection to is
+ GB7BAA but you would obviously use whatever callsign you required. At
+ the prompt type ...
+
+
+
+ set/node gb7baa
+
+
+
+ The case does not matter as long as you have a version of DXSpider
+ later than 1.33. Earlier versions required the callsign to be in
+ upper case.
+
+
+ That is now set, it is as simple as that. To prove it, login on yet
+ another console as sysop, cd to spider/src and issue the command ...
+
+
+
+ ./client gb7baa (using the callsign you set as a node)
+
+
+
+ You should get an initialisation string from DXSpider like this ...
+
+
+
+ ./client gb7baa
+ PC38^GB7MBC^~
+
+
+
+ If the callsign you just set up as a cluster node is for an incoming
+ connect, this is all that needs to be done. If the connection is to
+ be outgoing then a connection script needs to be written.
+
+
+ Sometimes you make a mistake... Honest, it does happen. If you want
+ to make a node back to being a normal user, regardless of what type it
+ is, do:
+
+
+
+ unset/node gb7baa
+
+
+
+ 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
+ possible examples. Connect scripts live in the /spider/connect
+ directory and are simple ascii files. Writing a script for
+ connections is therefore relatively simple.
+
+
+ The connect scripts consist of lines which start with the following
+ keywords or symbols:-
+
+
+
+ # All lines starting with a # are ignored, as are completely blank
+ lines.
+
+
+ timeout
+ timeout followed by a number is the number of seconds to wait
+ for a command to complete. If there is no timeout specified in
+ the script then the default is 60 seconds.
+
+
+ abort
+ abort is a regular expression containing one or more strings to
+ look for to abort a connection. This is a perl regular
+ expression and is executed ignoring case.
+
+
+ connect
+ connect followed by ax25, agw (for Windows users) or telnet and
+ some type dependent information. In the case of a telnet
+ connection, there can be up to two parameters. The first is the
+ ip address or hostname of the computer you wish to connect to
+ and the second is the port number you want to use (this can be
+ left out if it is a normal telnet session). In the case of an
+ ax25 session then this would normally be a call to ax25_call or
+ netrom_call as in the example above. It is your responsibility
+ to get your node and other ax25 parameters to work before going
+ down this route!
+
+
+ ' line in a chat type script. The words/phrases normally come in
+ pairs, either can be empty. Each line reads input from the
+ connection until it sees the string (or perl regular expression)
+ contained in the left hand string. If the left hand string is
+ empty then it doesn't read or wait for anything. The comparison
+ is done ignoring case. When the left hand string has found what
+ it is looking for (if it is) then the right hand string is sent
+ to the connection. This process is repeated for every line of
+ chat script.
+
+
+ client
+ client starts the connection, put the arguments you would want
+ here if you were starting the client program manually. You only
+ need this if the script has a different name to the callsign you
+ are trying to connect to (i.e. you have a script called other
+ which actually connects to GB7DJK-1 [instead of a script called
+ gb7djk-1]).
+
+
+ There are many possible ways to configure the script but here are
+ three examples, one for a NETRom/AX25 connect, one for AGW engines and
+ one for tcp/ip.
+
+
+
+ timeout 60
+ abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
+ # don't forget to chmod 4775 netrom_call!
+ connect ax25 /usr/sbin/netrom_call bbs gb7djk g1tlh
+ # you can leave this out if you call the script 'gb7dxm'
+ client gb7dxm ax25
+
+
+
+ timeout 60
+ abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
+ # this does exactly the same as the previous example
+ # the '1' is the AGW port number to connect thru for g1tlh
+ connect agw 1 g1tlh
+ # you can leave this out if you call the script 'gb7dxm'
+ client gb7dxm ax25
+
+
+
+ timeout 15
+ connect telnet dirkl.tobit.co.uk
+ # tell GB7DJK-1 that it is connected to GB7DJK
+ # you can leave this out if you call this script 'gb7djk'
+ client gb7djk telnet
+
+
+ Both these examples assume that everything is set up properly at the
+ other end. You will find other examples in the /spider/examples
+ directory.
+
+
+ 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 ....
+
+
+
+ G0VGS de GB7MBC 13-Dec-1998 2041Z >connect gb7djk-1
+ connection to GB7DJK-1 started
+ G0VGS de GB7MBC 13-Dec-1998 2043Z >
+
+
+
+ This will start a connection using the script called gb7djk-1. You
+ can follow the connection by watching the term or console from where
+ you started cluster.pl. From version 1.47 onwards, you will need to
+ set/debug connect first. You should see something like this ...
+
+
+
+ <- D G1TLH connect gb7djk-1
+ -> D G1TLH connection to GB7DJK-1 started
+ -> D G1TLH G1TLH de GB7DJK 13-Dec-1998 2046Z >
+ timeout set to 15
+ CONNECT sort: telnet command: dirkl.tobit.co.uk
+ CHAT "login" -> "gb7djk"
+ received "
+ Red Hat Linux release 5.1 (Manhattan)
+ Kernel 2.0.35 on an i586
+ "
+ received "login: "
+ sent "gb7djk"
+ CHAT "word" -> "gb7djk"
+ received "gb7djk"
+ received "Password: "
+ sent "gb7djk"
+ Connected to GB7DJK-1, starting normal protocol
+ <- O GB7DJK-1 telnet
+ -> B GB7DJK-1 0
+ GB7DJK-1 channel func state 0 -> init
+ <- D GB7DJK-1
+ <- D GB7DJK-1 Last login: Sun Dec 13 17:59:56 from dirk1
+ <- D GB7DJK-1 PC38^GB7DJK-1^~
+ <- D GB7DJK-1 PC18^ 1 nodes, 0 local / 1 total users Max users 0 Uptime
+ 0 00:00^5447^~
+ etc
+
+
+
+ With later versions of Spider there is a set/login command for users.
+ This tells them when a user or node logs in or out. If you do not add
+ a line to your scripts after the final line (or before the client line
+ which should always be last if needed) then the login/logout
+ information will be sent to users before the login actually completes.
+ This means if a node is unreachable, it will continue sending logins
+ and logouts to users even though it is not actually connecting. To
+ avoid this use the following line ...
+ In a script, this might look like ...
+
+
+
+ timeout 35
+ abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
+ connect telnet mary 3000
+
+
+
+ 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
+ at worst severe loops. At best it creates unnecessary bandwidth and
+ large logfiles! There are things that can be done to limit this
+ problem but will not always work dependent on the route taken to
+ connect.
+
+
+ Telnet echo itself should only be a problem if the connection is being
+ made to the telnet port (23). This port uses special rules that
+ include echo negotiation. If the connection is to a different port,
+ such as 7300, this negotiation does not happen and therefore no echo
+ should be present.
+
+
+ Sometimes it is not possible to make a direct connection to another
+ node and this can cause problems. There is a way of trying to
+ suppress the telnet echo but this will not always work, unfortunately
+ it is difficult to be more specific. Here is an example of what I
+ mean ...
+
+
+
+ timeout 35
+ abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
+ connect telnet mary.lancs.ac.uk
+
+
+
+ So, the first connection is made by Spider. This is fine as Spider
+ uses the Net_Telnet script from within perl. This actually uses TCP
+ rather than TELNET so no negotiation will be done on the first
+ connection. Once connected to mary.lancs.ac.uk, the command is sent
+ to suppress echo. Now a telnet is made to a cluster node that is
+ accepting connections on port 23. The problem with this link is that
+ the negotiation is made by the remote machine, therefore you have no
+ control over it. The chances are that this link will create echo and
+ there will be no way you can stop it.
+
+
+
+ 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
+ restarted manually. It would be much easier to have it start
+ automatically.
+
+
+
+ This is not only a way to start the cluster automatically, it also
+ works as a watchdog, checking the sanity of DXSpider and respawning it
+ should it crash for any reason. Before doing the following, shutdown
+ the cluster as you did earlier.
+
+
+ Login as root and bring up the /etc/inittab file in your favourite
+ editor. Add the following lines to the file near the end ...
+
+
+
+ ##Start DXSpider on bootup and respawn it should it crash
+ DX:3:respawn:/bin/su -c "/usr/bin/perl -w /spider/perl/cluster.pl" sysop >/dev/tty7
+
+
+
+ This line works fine for RedHat distributions. It is also fine for
+ SuSE up to 7.0. From SuSE 7.1 you need to add runlevels 2 and 5 like
+ this ...
+
+
+
+ DX:235:respawn:/bin/su -c "/usr/bin/perl -w /spider/perl/cluster.pl" sysop >/dev/tty7
+
+
+
+ The line required for Slackware distributions is slightly different.
+ My thanks to Aurelio, PA3EZL for this information.
+
+
+
+ DX:23:respawn:/bin/su - sysop -c "/usr/bin/perl -w /spider/perl/cluster.pl" >/dev/tty7
+
+
+
+ This will automatically start DXSpider on tty7 (ALT-F7) on bootup and
+ restart it should it crash for any reason.
+
+
+ NB: It should be noted that /dev/tty7 is only an example. Some SuSE
+ systems will only accept upto tty6. It really does not matter which
+ tty you run it on.
+
+
+ As root type the command telinit q. DXSpider should start up
+ immediately. You will see the output on tty7 and if you login as
+ sysop you should find everything running nicely.
+
+
+ 5. Microsoft Windows Installation
+
+ 5.1. Introduction
+
+ IMPORTANT:
+
+ What you'll be left with once you've followed these instructions is
+ (hopefully) a working DX Spider v1.50 system that is capable of
+ accepting or originating "internet" connections, plus inbound and
+ outbound AX.25 and TCP/IP radio connections.
+
+ On the other hand, you may have an enquiring mind, or better yet, may
+ be looking for a useful way of connecting your current (perhaps) AK1A
+ cluster "to the internet" via some networking mechanism (BPQEther,
+ etc) or other. I won't be producing instructions for the latter case,
+ because I don't have an AK1A to play with. But someone might ...
+
+ Whatever, this document is intended to get you started with DX Spider
+ in a Microsoft Windows (TM) environment. It's not intended to teach
+ you anything other than how to perform a minimum configuration of a DX
+ Spider installation and have it able to connect across "the internet"
+ to other DX Clusters, while accepting inbound TELNET and radio
+ connections.
+
+
+ 5.2. The requirements
+
+ The very first things you're going to need are (in order of
+ importance):-
+
+
+ o A cup of good, strong tea
+
+ o A supported Windows platform with an internet connection so you can
+ download the necessary software bits and bobs directly to it. There
+ are other ways, but this is preferable.
+
+ o Another cup of good, strong tea
+
+ o If all goes according to plan, about an hour to spare
+
+ o Plenty of good, strong tea
+
+
+ 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
+ processor and 96 Mb memory. I've also personally verified that it runs
+ on my laptop (Pentium 266MHz, 32 Mb memory, Windows 98 SE v4.10.2222
+ A) and a computer that I assembled from a random pile of junk (AMD
+ K6-2 333MHz, 64 Mb memory, Windows 98 v4.10.1998). As a result, I have
+ reason to believe that what I'm about to describe will perform equally
+ on any 32-bit MS Windows environment with 32 Mb of memory.
+
+ Because of the changes that have recently been made to the core
+ "cluster.pl" module and the introduction of a very lightweight
+ "winclient.pl", I have a sneaking suspicion that this will now run on
+ any platform that has reasonably complete support for Perl. Is there
+ someone out there with both an enquiring mind and (say) a Macintosh,
+ for instance?
+
+ Please bear in mind, though, that my instructions relate solely to how
+ to get this going under a Microsoft Windows environment, and I have
+ zero intention of trying to make them say otherwise.
+
+
+ 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
+ v5.6. For my testing & development, I used build 623. (A recent
+ installation used the newer ActivePerl v5.6.1, build 633 without any
+ noticable difficulty.) You can get this from:
+ http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/Download.html
+
+
+ The link takes you to an initial page of System Requirements and
+ Software Prerequisites. If you do not have it already installed, you
+ can download and install the Windows Installer 2.0 for a Win98
+ installation. Be forewarned, you will have to reboot your PC at the
+ completion of the installer's installation.
+
+ If you already have the installer on your PC, simply click on the Next
+ arrow at the bottom of the page. Two clicks will finally get you to
+ the actual download page. The MSI version of Build 633 is now 8.6MB
+ in size, so make that a big cup of tea or coffee if you're on a slow
+ dial-up connection.
+
+ During installation, please ensure that you do choose the options to
+ "Add Perl to the PATH environment variable" and "Create Perl file
+ extension association"; it will make your life so much easier. Once
+ the installation is finished, be sure to reboot your PC. You probably
+ won't be told anywhere else that this needs to be done now, but it
+ does. Really.
+
+ Once you've rebooted, open a "DOS box" (Start > Run > command might do
+ it, if you can't find it elsewhere) and from wherever it lands, type
+ PERL -v <ENTER> (it's better if that's a lower-case be rewarded with
+ some interesting information about your Perl installation. If you're
+ not, you must go back to the beginning and discover what went wrong
+ and fix it. It's pointless to proceed unless this simple check is
+ passed. Assuming it did work, you may now move on.
+
+
+ 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
+ recommended, and don't know any better for yourself, then just blindly
+ following these instructions will work just fine. If that didn't
+ describe you, then you're on your own.
+
+ Visit the following URL:
+
+ http://www.activestate.com/PPMPackages/zips/6xx-builds-only/
+
+ and download the following files:-
+
+
+
+ Data-Dumper.zip
+ Net-Telnet.zip
+ TimeDate.zip
+ Time-HiRes.zip
+ DB_File.zip
+
+
+
+ If this is a new installation, now would also be a good time to
+ install a copy of WinZip on your PC. Make yourself a convenient
+ directory to unpack all of these zip files into (I put mine in
+ "D:\ppm>" but "C:\ppm" works just as well.) and do the following (the
+ bits you type in are blue ). You can upzip all of the files into the
+ same directory. When prompted, simply overwrite the Readme file from
+ each zip package. Note that where these files land will be directly
+ related to where you chose to install your ActivePerl (mine, as you
+ can probably guess from what follows, went into "D:\Perl"):-
+
+
+
+ D:\ppm>ppm install Data-Dumper.ppd
+ Installing package 'Data-Dumper.ppd'
+ Installing D:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Data\Dumper\Dumper.bs
+ Installing D:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Data\Dumper\Dumper.dll
+ Installing D:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Data\Dumper\Dumper.exp
+ Installing D:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Data\Dumper\Dumper.lib
+ Installing D:\Perl\html\site\lib\auto\Data\Dumper\Dumper.html
+ Installing D:\Perl\site\lib\Data\Dumper\Dumper.pm
+ Writing D:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Data\Dumper\Dumper.packlist
+ D:\ppm>
+
+
+
+ I'm not going to bother you with exhaustive details of the rest of
+ them, but suffice it to say you need to:
+
+
+
+ ppm install DB_File.ppd
+ ppm install Net-Telnet.ppd
+ ppm install TimeDate.ppd
+ ppm install Time-HiRes.ppd
+
+
+
+ If all that seemed to work OK, time to move along. Before anyone who
+ is familiar with PPM tells me that we didn't need to download and keep
+ those files locally, I knew that. I also knew that PPM is sometimes
+ awkward to configure via firewalls, and that sometimes the
+ repositories don't always work the way we'd hope. I do it that way
+ because it suits me.
+
+
+ 5.6. Getting Spider
+
+ Get the current version of the DX Spider distribution. This needs to
+ be v1.50 or later. You've got two ways (currently) of getting this;
+ either get a CVS update from sourceforge (if you don't know what this
+ is, then it isn't for you) or get the latest "official" release from:
+
+ http://www.dxcluster.org/download/index.html
+
+ or if you want the lastest snapshot of CVS version (which is produced
+ every night):-
+
+ http://www.dxcluster.org/download/CVSlatest.tgz
+
+ This is generally the best one to go for as it is completely up to
+ date. However, there is always the very slight chance that it might
+ unstable. Generally, there will be a note on the website if this is
+ the case.
+
+
+ The only difference between "CVSlatest.tgz" and the latest "official"
+ release version is that it is more up to date. Do not confuse the
+ "CVSlatest.tgz" file with "Downloading from Sourceforge with CVS" -
+ they are two quite different things. "Downloading from Sourceforge
+ with CVS" is explained in a section within the Admin manual.
+
+
+ If you go down the CVS route (ie installing WinCVS as explained in the
+ Admin manual and downloaded from sourceforge), then everything will be
+ nicely installed on your local disk. If you got the CVSlatest.tgz
+ file, unzip (winzip) it to "C:\". This is an important point since
+ paths are included within the .tgz file. Make sure you unzip to the
+ root directory of whichever drive you use... "C:\" or "D:\" or ..,
+ not "C:\spider." If you double click on CVSlatest.tgz, WinZip should
+ open with a dialogue box that says the Archive contains a single file
+ (CVSlatest.tar) and asks whether WinZip should decompress it to a
+ temporary fold and then open it. Say "Yes" and then you will get the
+ typical Classical WinZip listing of files ready for extraction.
+ Remember, extract them to your desired root directory ("C:\" or "D:\"
+ or ...). The following examples assume that you put it on drive
+ "C:\", for convenience.
+
+
+ 6. Installing the software
+
+ At this point you will need to create 2 additional directories under
+ "C:\Spider." Make directories "C:\spider\local" and
+ "C:\spider\local_cmd". If "C:\spider" is missing, go back and figure
+ out why, because it shouldn't be.
+
+ Now create your own local copy of the DXVars.pm file by:-
+
+
+
+ copy c:\spider\perl\DXVars.pm.issue
+ c:\spider\local\DXVars.pm
+
+
+
+ Now you'll need to edit this file using a text editor like Notepad. If
+ nothing else, you can simply
+
+
+
+ cd \spider\local
+
+
+
+ and then
+
+
+
+ notepad DXVars.pm
+
+
+
+ to bring up an editor window containing the file. As an absolute
+ minimum you must adjust the following items in DXVars.pm:-
+
+
+ o $mycall - Should hold the callsign of your DX Cluster
+
+ o $myname - The SysOp's first name
+
+ o $myalias - the SysOp's callsign. Cannot be the same as $mycall!
+
+ o $myqth - The station's geographical location (QTH).
+
+ o $mylatitude - The station latitude in degrees and decimal fractions
+
+ o $mylongitude - The station longitude in degrees and decimal
+ fractions
+
+
+ o $mylocator - The Maidenhead (or QRA) locator of the station
+
+ You really also ought to update the $myqth and $myemail variables. And
+ unless you are absolutely certain you know what you're doing, you
+ should change nothing else in this file. Note that if you use an "@"
+ or a "$" character in one of the above strings (typically in $myemail)
+ you must write them as "\@" or "\$".
+
+
+ 6.1. Incoming telnets
+
+ If you want to enable inbound "TELNET" connections (or you are running
+ Windows 98, NT, 2000 or XP), you've got a little more work to do. From
+ a handy "DOS box" that's not doing anything else, do the following:-
+
+
+
+ copy \spider\perl\Listeners.pm \spider\local
+ cd \spider\local
+ notepad listeners.pm
+
+
+
+ The following line need attention:-
+
+
+
+ # ["0.0.0.0", 7300],
+
+
+
+ On my machine, I've simply uncommented the "0.0.0.0" entry by removing
+ the '#' from the front of the line.
+
+ You MUST carry out this step if you are running on a Windows 98, NT,
+ 2000 or XP based system
+
+ If you don't have a static hostname for your machine, and you intend
+ to allow folk to connect to your machine across the internet, then I'd
+ suggest you pay a visit to www.dyndns.org and create one for yourself.
+ While it's free, it will take a modest amount of effort on your part
+ to read, understand and implement what needs to be done to set this
+ up.
+
+
+ If your machine is connected to the internet and you don't want to
+ allow your machine to be visible to the outside world you should
+ change the "0.0.0.0" to "127.0.0.1" [which is "localhost"]. This will
+ then only allow connections from inside your machine. As was said
+ earlier: if you aren't running Win9x (or you want to use DXTelnet or
+ somesuch), then you need to have the machine listening at least to
+ "127.0.0.1" ("0.0.0.0" means all IP addresses).
+
+
+ 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, it would be a good idea to
+ download the Packet Engine software! You can get this software from:
+
+ http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/agwpe.zip
+
+ Depending upon your TNCs, you may also need to get:
+
+ http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/drivers.zip
+
+ A couple of the tools:
+
+ http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/agwterm.zip
+
+ http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/agwmonitor.zip
+
+ will also help with troubleshooting of the RF links themselves.
+
+ Install and configure AGWPE. You should now create your own local
+ copy of AGWConnect.pm by:-
+
+
+
+ copy c:\spider\perl\AGWConnect.pm
+ c:\spider\local\AGWConnect.pm
+
+
+
+ and then
+
+
+
+ notepad AGWConnect.pm
+
+
+
+ to bring up an editor window containing the file. You must consider
+ adjusting the following items in AGWConnect.pm:-
+
+
+ o $enable - set to '1' to enable AGWPE interface
+
+ o $login - the login ID you chose when you set up the SV2AGW
+ security :-)
+
+ o $passwd - password that matches $login
+
+ The login ID and passwd only need to be set if you are accessing AGW
+ separately via its web interface. This interface is normally not
+ needed for use with DXSpider.
+
+
+ 6.3. Setting up the initial user files
+
+ Next you need to create the initial user files, etc. A tool is
+ supplied which will do this for you. To run the tool:-
+
+
+
+ cd \spider\perl
+ perl create_sysop.pl
+
+
+
+ If all goes according to plan, you will see no output from this
+ program, and after a brief wait, your DOS prompt will be returned.
+
+ Depending on how brave you are, you might now care to try the
+ following:-
+
+
+ perl cluster.pl
+
+
+
+ If you did everything you were told, your DOS window will now hold a
+ display which looks something like:-
+
+
+
+ DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.50
+ Copyright (c) 1998-2002 Dirk Koopman G1TLH
+ loading prefixes ...
+ loading band data ...
+ loading user file system ...
+ starting listeners ...
+ Internal port: localhost 27754
+ load badwords: Ok
+ reading in duplicate spot and WWV info ...
+ reading existing message headers ...
+ load badmsg: Ok
+ load forward: Ok
+ load swop: Ok
+ @msg = 0 before delete
+ @msg = 0 after delete
+ reading cron jobs ...v cron: reading /spider/cmd/crontab
+ cron: adding 1 0 * * 0
+ DXUser::export("$main::data/user_asc")
+ reading database descriptors ...
+ doing local initialisation ...
+ orft we jolly well go ...
+ queue msg (0)
+
+
+
+ Now, if that's what you've got, you are very nearly home and dry (in
+ as far as these particular experiments are concerned, anyhow)
+
+ If you are running Windows 9x you can access your new cluster (from
+ the local machine) by finding yourself another "DOS box" and doing the
+ following:-
+
+
+
+ cd \spider\perl
+ perl winclient.pl
+
+
+
+ If you are running Windows NT, 2000 or XP then winclient.pl does not
+ work. We don't know why other than this seems to be some kind of
+ incomaptibility in perl. You can achieve the same thing by telnetting
+ to the port you defined in Listeners.pm (7300 as default), thus:-
+
+
+
+ Menu->Start->Run
+ telnet localhost 7300
+
+
+
+ On getting the login: prompt, enter your sysop callsign (the one you
+ put in DXVars.pm as $myalias).
+ I would recommend strongly that you obtain a better telnet client than
+ that which comes with windows (I use PuTTY).
+
+
+ Anyway, if you are rewarded with a display which looks something
+ like:-
+
+
+
+ Hello Iain, this is GB7SJP in Amersham, Bucks running DXSpider V1.50
+ Cluster: 1 nodes, 1 local / 1 total users Max users 2 Uptime 0 00:00
+ M0ADI de GB7SJP 4-Mar-2001 1511Z >
+
+
+
+ You've arrived. Try some commands, and see how they feel. (In case you
+ were wondering, "Iain", "M0ADI" and "GB7SJP" all came from the version
+ of DXVars.pm that was on the machine when I started the winclient.pl)
+
+
+ The interface is very basic. It is a simple command line. There are
+ better looking interfaces. Most of the "standard" logging and DX
+ Cluster access programs that are capable of connecting via a TCP or
+ telnet connection will work as a "Sysop Console" client. You connect
+ to "localhost" on the port that you defined in Listeners.pm (usually
+ 7300). I recommend packages like DXTelnet.
+
+
+ 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
+ allow folk to connect to GB7DXA (spud.ath.cx), on the understanding
+ that the system may or may not be there and may or may not be
+ connected to anything particularly useful at any given moment. Contact
+ me by Email if you want me to set up a connection for you.
+
+
+ 7. General Information
+
+ The following relates to all versions of DXSpider and is not platform
+ related.
+
+
+ 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
+ included a comment)
+
+
+
+ # check every 10 minutes to see if gb7xxx is connected and if not
+ # start a connect job going
+
+ 0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * * start_connect('gb7xxx') unless connected('gb7xxx')
+
+
+
+ The callsign involved will be the callsign of the cluster node you are
+ going to connect to. This will now check every 10 minutes to see if
+ gb7xxx is connected, if it is then nothing will be done. If it is
+ not, then a connect attempt will be started.
+ There are probably lots of other things you could use this crontab
+ file for. If you want to know more about it, look at the DXSpider
+ website at the cron page where it is explained more fully.
+
+
+
projects / spider.git / blobdiff