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+ <TITLE>The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.48: Routing and Filtering</TITLE>
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-<H2><A NAME="s1">1. Installation (Original version by Iain Philipps, G0RDI)</A></H2>
+<H2><A NAME="s1">1. Routing and Filtering</A></H2>
<H2><A NAME="ss1.1">1.1 Introduction</A>
</H2>
-<P>This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.46 on a
-<A HREF="http://www.redhat.com">RedHat</A> Linux Distribution.
-Wherever possible I will try to include differences for other distributions.
-I do not intend to try and cover the installation of Linux or the setup
-of the AX25 utilities. If you need help on this then read Iains original
-installation guide that comes with the Spider distribution.
-<P>
-<P>I am assuming a general knowledge of Linux and its commands. You should
-know how to use <EM>tar</EM> and how to edit files using your favourite editor.
-<P>
-<P>The crucial ingredient for all of this is
-<A HREF="http://www.perl.org">Perl</A>. Earlier versions of
-Spider required perl 5.004, however it is now <I>STRONGLY</I> recommended
-that you use at least version 5.005_03 as this is the version being used
-in the development of Spider.
-<P>
-<P>In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the
-following modules from
-<A HREF="http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html">http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html</A> ...
-<P>
-<P>
-<UL>
-<LI> Data-Dumper-2.101.tar.gz</LI>
-<LI> TimeDate-1.10.tar.gz</LI>
-<LI> IO-1.20.tar.gz (for perl 5.00403 and lower)</LI>
-<LI> Net-Telnet-3.02.tar.gz</LI>
-<LI> Curses-1.05.tar.gz</LI>
-<LI> Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz
-</LI>
-</UL>
-<P>
-<P>
-<P><EM>Do</EM> get the latest versions of these packages and install them
-but use the above list as the earliest versions usable.
-<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss1.2">1.2 Preparation</A>
+<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>
+<P>This is achieved by using filtering on a route basis. There is a
+default setting to help to protect the network, especially useful for new
+and inexperienced SysOps. The idea is simple. When Spider is started
+for the first time and a connection is made to or from another node,
+the default is to only send the nodes you already have that are in your
+own zone. For example, in the UK the default setting would be to send
+only UK nodes to any connection. This can be filtered further (down to
+a single node if needed) or expanded as required.
+<P>
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.2">1.2 Route Filters</A>
</H2>
-<P>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
-1.46 for this section but of course you would use the latest version.
-<P>
-<P>Login as root and create a user to run the cluster under. <B><I>UNDER
-NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE ROOT AS THIS USER!</I></B>. I am going to use
-the name <EM>sysop</EM>. 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.
-<P>
+<P>As mentioned in the introduction, a default setting exists. If this is
+all you want to use then that is fine, you have nothing else to do.
+However, if you want to make any alterations then you need to know
+a bit about filters.
+<P>
+<P>It is possible to reset the default setting for node connections should
+you wish to do so, however this can be dangerous to the network unless
+you have some experience in how all this works.... be careful! It is
+also possible to change settings for one connection only. You can,
+therefore, have many different filters set dependent on the amount of
+node links you have.
+<P>
+<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.
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.3">1.3 The default_node filter</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>As discussed previously, a default setting exists that only sends nodes
+from your own zone. This can be overridden by using the default_node
+filter option like this ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-# adduser -m sysop
+reject/route default_node <filter_option>
+
+or
+
+accept/route default_node <filter_option>
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
-<P>Now set a password for the user ...
+<P>where filter_option is one of the following ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-# passwd sysop
-# New UNIX password:
-# Retype new UNIX password:
-passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully
+call <prefixes>
+call_dxcc <numbers>
+call_itu <numbers>
+call_zone <numbers>
+origin <prefixes>
+origin_dxcc <numbers>
+origin_itu <numbers>
+origin_zone <numbers>
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss1.3">1.3 Installing the software</A>
+<P>Please be careful if you alter this setting, it will affect
+<B><I>ALL</I></B> your links!
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.4">1.4 General route filtering</A>
</H2>
-<P>Now to unpack the DX Spider distribution, set symbolic links and group
-permissions. Copy the tarball to /home/sysop and do the following.
+<P>Exactly the same rules apply for general route filtering. You would
+use either an accept filter or a reject filter like this ...
+<P>
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+reject/route <node_call> <filter_option>
+
+or
+
+accept/route <node_call> <filter_option>
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>
+<P>where filter_option is one of the following ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-# cd ~sysop
-# tar xvfz spider-1.46.tar.gz
-# ln -s ~sysop/spider /spider
-# groupadd -g 251 spider (or another number)
+call <prefixes>
+call_dxcc <numbers>
+call_itu <numbers>
+call_zone <numbers>
+origin <prefixes>
+origin_dxcc <numbers>
+origin_itu <numbers>
+origin_zone <numbers>
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>If you do not have the command <EM>groupadd</EM> available to you simply
-add a line in /etc/group by hand.
+<P>
+<P>Here are some examples of route filters ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-# vi /etc/group (or your favorite editor)
+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)
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>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
-<P><CODE>spider:x:251:sysop,g0vgs,root</CODE>
<P>
-<P>The next step is to set the permissions on the Spider directory tree and files ....
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.5">1.5 General filter rules</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From
+v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just
+about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of
+DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do
+anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update.
+<P>
+<P>There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These
+are <EM>accept</EM>, <EM>reject</EM> and <EM>clear</EM>. First we will look
+generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the
+DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
+<P>
+<P>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 ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-# chown -R sysop.spider spider
-# find . -type d -exec chmod 2775 {} \;
-# find . -type f -exec chmod 775 {} \;
+
+accept/spots .....
+reject/spots .....
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are filters
+for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each different
+accept or reject command reference for more details.
+<P>There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
<P>
-<P>This last step allows various users of the group <EM>spider</EM> 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.
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+clear/spots 1
+clear/spots all
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
<P>
-<P>Finally, you need to fix the permissions on the ax25_call and netrom_call
-programs. Check where they are with the <EM>locate</EM> command and alter
-the permissions with the <EM>chmod</EM> command like this ..
+<P>and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-# chown root ax25_call netrom_call
-# chmod 4775 ax25_call netrom_call
+
+show/filter
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss1.4">1.4 Setting callsigns etc</A>
+<P>For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same
+principles to all types of filter.
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.6">1.6 Types of filter</A>
</H2>
-<P>Now login to your machine as the user you created earlier. In my case that
-user is called <EM>sysop</EM>. Once logged in, issue the following commands ....
+<P>There are two main types of filter, <EM>accept</EM> or <EM>reject</EM>. You
+can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
+and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject
+filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10
+lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the
+action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
+means take it)
+<P>
+<P>If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter
+will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter,
+then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped.
+For example if you have a single line <EM>accept</EM> filter ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-$ cd /spider
-$ mkdir local
-$ mkdir local_cmd
-$ cp perl/DXVars.pm.issue local/DXVars.pm
-$ cd local
-$ vi DXVars.pm (or your favourite editor)
+accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>then you will <EM>ONLY</EM> get VHF spots <EM>from</EM> or <EM>to</EM> CQ zones
+14, 15 and 16.
<P>
-<P>Using the distributed DXVars.pm as a a template, set your cluster callsign,
-sysop callsign and other user info to suit your own environment. 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 ....
-<P><CODE>$myemail = "ianmaude\@btinternet.com";</CODE>
+<P>If you set a reject filter like this ...
<P>
-<P>There appears to be an extra slash in there. However this has to be there
-for the file to work so leave it in.
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+reject/spots on hf/cw
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>Then you will get everything <EM>EXCEPT</EM> HF CW spots. You could make this
+single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA
+and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in
+CW, then you could say ...
<P>
-<P><B>PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR CALLSIGNS</B>
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
<P>
-<P>DON'T alter any file in /spider/perl, they are overwritten with every
-release. Any files or commands you place in /spider/local or /spider/local_cmd
-will automagically be used in preference to the ones in /spider/perl EVEN
-while the cluster is running!
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other
+until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you
+wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
+don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing!
<P>
-<P>Save the new file and change directory to ../perl ....
+<P>You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own
+understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-$ cd ../perl
+reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
+reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF
+which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
+<P>
+<P>This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if
+you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available.
+This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it
+more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example.
<P>
-<P>Now type the following command which creates the basic user file with you as
-the sysop.
+<P>You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look
+at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We
+are saying reject spots that are VHF or above <EM>APART</EM> from those in
+zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did
+not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it
+logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-$ ./create_sysop.pl
+(on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are
+here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'.
+<P>As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than
+simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want
+to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or
+one line. For example ...
<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss1.5">1.5 Starting up for the first time</A>
-</H2>
-
-<P>We can now bring spider up for the first time and see if all is well or not!
-It should look something like this ...
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>would redefine our earlier example, or
+<P>
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+clear/spots 1
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-$ ./cluster.pl
-DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.46
-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 ...
+clear/spots all
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
-<P>If all is well then login on another term or console as <EM>sysop</EM> and
-cd to /spider/src. Now issue the following command ...
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.7">1.7 Filter options</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the
+various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.8">1.8 Default filters</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects. This can
+be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be followed, even
+if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set specifically. Default
+rules can be set for nodes and users. They can be set for spots, announces,
+WWV and WCY. They can also be used for hops. An example might look like
+this ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-$ ./client
+accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
+set/hops node_default spot 50
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+<P>This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV and WCY.
+This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific filter is written to
+override it for a particular node. You can also set a user_default should
+you require. It is important to note that default filters should be
+considered to be "connected". By this I mean that should you override the
+default filter for spots, you need to add a rule for the hops for spots also.
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.9">1.9 Advanced filtering</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment.
<P>
-<P>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 ....
+<P>The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
+can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-G0VGS de GB7MBC 19-Nov-1999 2150Z >
+rej/spot on hf/cw
+acc/spot on 0/30000
+acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>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 ....
+<P>Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This will
+automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have said <EM>reject all
+HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all others at HF. Also
+accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by operators in the zones
+14, 15 and 16</EM>. Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and
+an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot.
+<P>
+<P>It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the default
+for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'. In the example
+what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non hf/cw spot is passed
+to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line
+lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
+<P>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.10">1.10 Basic hop control</A>
+</H2>
+
+<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 ...
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-shutdown
+#
+# 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,
+ },
+};
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
-<P>and both the cluster and the client should return to Linux prompts.
+<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>
+<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>
-<H2><A NAME="ss1.6">1.6 The Client program</A>
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.11">1.11 Isolating networks</A>
</H2>
-<P>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
-<EM>incoming</EM> connects at the moment. Before you can use it though it
-has to be "made". CD to /spider/src and type <EM>make</EM>. You
-should see the output on your screen and hopefully now have a small C program
-called <EM>client</EM>. Leave it in this directory.
+<P>It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node using the
+<EM>set/isolate <node_call></EM> command.
+<P>
+<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>
+<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>
+<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 ....
<P>
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+$in = [
+ [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 3] # The last figure (3) is the hop count
+];
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
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