<!-- Title information -->
-<title>The DXSpider Installation Manual v1.47</title>
+<title>The DXSpider Installation Manual v1.50</title>
<author>Iain Philipps, G0RDI (g0rdi@77hz.com) and
-Ian Maude, G0VGS, (ianmaude@btinternet.com)</author>
-<date>Version 1.47, April 2001 revision 1.0</date>
+Ian Maude, G0VGS, (g0vgs@gb7mbc.net)</author>
+<date>July 2002 revision 0.3</date>
<abstract>
A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
<sect1>Introduction
<P>
-This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.47 on a
+This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.50 on a
<htmlurl url="http://www.redhat.com" name="RedHat"> 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>
I am assuming a general knowledge of Linux and its commands. You should
that you use at least version 5.005_03 as this is the version being used
in the development of Spider.
-<P>In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the
-following modules from <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html" name="http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html"> ...
+<P>
+In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the
+following modules from <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/" name="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.
<P>
<itemize>
-<item> Data-Dumper-2.101.tar.gz
-<item> TimeDate-1.10.tar.gz
-<item> IO-1.20.tar.gz (for perl 5.00403 and lower)
-<item> Net-Telnet-3.02.tar.gz
-<item> Curses-1.05.tar.gz
-<item> Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Data/Data-Dumper-2.10.tar.gz" name="Data-Dumper-2.10.tar.gz">
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Date/TimeDate-1.10.tar.gz" name="TimeDate-1.10.tar.gz">
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/IO/IO-1.20.tar.gz" name="IO-1.20.tar.gz (for perl 5.00403 and lower)">
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Net/Net-Telnet-3.02.tar.gz" name="Net-Telnet-3.02.tar.gz">
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Curses/Curses-1.06.tar.gz" name="Curses-1.06.tar.gz">
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Time/Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz" name="Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz">
+<item> <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Digest/Digest-SHA1-2.01.tar.gz" name="Digest-SHA1-2.01.tar.gz">
</itemize>
<P>
-<em>Do</em> get the latest versions of these packages and install them
-but use the above list as the earliest versions usable.
+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.
+
+<P>
+Log in as 'root', and make sure you're at '/root' before you continue. Here are exactly the commands you must issue next: -
+
+<verb>
+# tar xvfz /usr/local/packages/Data-Dumper-2.10.tar.gz
+# cd Data-Dumper-2.10
+# 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-3.02.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 ..
+</verb>
+
+<P>
+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 <em>IO</em>, above.
+
<sect1>Preparation
<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
-1.47 for this section but of course you would use the latest version.
+1.50 for this section but of course you would use the latest version.
<P>
Login as root and create a user to run the cluster under. <bf><it>UNDER
on your security requirements you may wish to use an existing user,
however this is your own choice.
-<P>
<tscreen><verb>
# adduser -m sysop
</verb></tscreen>
+<P>
+For SuSE distributions, the command would be ..
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+# useradd -m sysop
+</verb></tscreen>
+
<P>
Now set a password for the user ...
<tscreen><verb>
# cd ~sysop
-# tar xvfz spider-1.47.tar.gz
+# tar xvfz spider-1.50.tar.gz
# ln -s ~sysop/spider /spider
# groupadd -g 251 spider (or another number)
</verb></tscreen>
+<P>
If you do not have the command <em>groupadd</em> available to you simply
add a line in /etc/group by hand.
# vi /etc/group (or your favorite editor)
</verb></tscreen>
+<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>
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 ....
+sysop callsign and other user info to suit your own environment.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+$mycall = "GB7DJK";
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+This is the call sign of your cluster. If you use an SSID then include it here
+also.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+$myalias = "G1TLH";
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+This is the sysop user callsign, normally your own.
+
+<P>
+<bf>PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR CALLSIGNS</bf>
+
+<P>
+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 ....
<tt>
$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.
-<P><bf>PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR CALLSIGNS</bf>
-
<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
$ ./create_sysop.pl
</verb></tscreen>
+<sect1>The client program
+
+<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.
+
+
<sect1>Starting up for the first time
<P>
<tscreen><verb>
$ ./cluster.pl
-DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.47
+DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.50
Copyright (c) 1998 Dirk Koopman G1TLH
loading prefixes ...
loading band data ...
G0VGS de GB7MBC 19-Nov-1999 2150Z >
</verb></tscreen>
+<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>
and both the cluster and the client should return to Linux prompts.
-<sect1>The Client program
-
-<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.
-
<sect>Linux quick installation guide
<item>./cluster.pl (sysop)
</itemize>
+<P>
Spider should now be running and you should be able to login using the
client program.
<item>killall -HUP inetd (root)
</itemize>
+<P>
Spider should now be able to accept logins via telnet, netrom and ax25.
<itemize>
<item>Enter the correct line in /etc/inittab (root)
</itemize>
-<sect>Configuration
+<sect>Setting up the AX25 Utilities
-<sect1>Allowing ax25 connects from users
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+You would probably benefit from reading the <htmlurl url="http://www.fokus.gmd.de/linux/HOWTO/html_single/AX25-HOWTO.html#AEN151" name="AX25-HOWTO"> which is much more
+comprehensive and an interesting configuration program is also available
+called <htmlurl url="http://1409.org/projects/index.html" name="ax25-config"> which
+may help you to configure things.
+
+<P>
+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!
+
+<sect1>Getting Started
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+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 <htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/ham/packet/linux/awznode/" name="AWZNode"> by IZ5AWZ.
<P>
-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 ...
+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.
+
+<P>
+For 2.4 kernels you need these files...
+
+<P>
+<itemize>
+<item> <htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/7.1/en/powertools/i386/RedHat/RPMS/libax25-0.0.7-7.i386.rpm" name="libax25-0.0.7-7.i386.rpm">
+<item> <htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/7.1/en/powertools/i386/RedHat/RPMS/ax25-tools-0.0.6-13.i386.rpm" name="ax25-tools-0.0.6-13.i386.rpm">
+<item> <htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/7.1/en/powertools/i386/RedHat/RPMS/ax25-apps-0.0.4-9.i386.rpm" name="ax25-apps-0.0.4-9.i386.rpm">
+</itemize>
+
+<sect1>The kernel
+
+<P>
+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
+<htmlurl url="http://www.fokus.gmd.de/linux/HOWTO/html_single/AX25-HOWTO.html#AEN151" name="AX25-HOWTO">
+
+<P>
+I should say at this stage that NET/ROM is not mandatory. If you do not use it
+simply ignore any instruction concerning it.
+
+<P>
+Now recompile your kernel in the normal way and reboot your system.
+
+<sect1>Installing the RPM's
+
+<P>
+Now install the RPM's you downloaded, libax25 first, then ax25-tools,
+then ax25-apps.
<tscreen><verb>
+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
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>Configuration
+
+<P>
+You will find the configuration files in /etc/ax25. These consist of
+several files ...
+
+<itemize>
+<item>axports
+<item>nrports
+<item>nrbroadcast
+<item>ax25d.conf
+<item>node.conf
+</itemize>
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<sect1>axports
+
+<P>
+This file sets up the ax25 ports you want to use. An example is below
+for a standard TNC2 ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+#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
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+Note that the portnames have to be unique.
+
+<P>
+The file headings are as follows ...
+
+<verb>
+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
+</verb>
+
+<sect1>nrports
+
+<P>
+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 ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+#portname callsign alias paclen description
+ netrom gb7mbc-8 BARE 236 Node Netrom Port
+ netrom2 gb7mbc-9 MBCDX 236 Cluster Netrom Port
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+Note that the portnames have to be unique.
+
+<P>
+The file headings are as follows ...
+
+<verb>
+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
+</verb>
+
+<sect1>nrbroadcast
+
+<P>
+This file sets up the netrom broadcast qualities. An example is below ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+#axport min_obs def_qual worst_qual verbose
+ 4m 5 10 100 1
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+The file headings are as follows ...
+
+<verb>
+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)
+</verb>
+
+<sect1>ax25d.conf
+
+<P>
+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 ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+[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
</verb></tscreen>
-or, if you wish your users to be able to use SSID's on their callsigns ..
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+You should be able to see that the normal line for access to the
+cluster is like this ..
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+however, if you wish your users to be able to use SSID's on their callsigns ..
<tscreen><verb>
default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %s ax25
</verb></tscreen>
-For most purposes this is not desirable. The only time you probably will
+<P>
+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
+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:
<tscreen><verb>
GB7DJK-2 * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client gb7djk-2 ax25
default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>node.conf
+
+<P>
+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 ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+# /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> "
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+This should be fairly obvious I hope.
+
+<sect1>Getting it all running
+
+<P>
+Ok, now we have all the relevant files configured, the next step is to get
+it all running.
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+You now use the 'kissattach' command to connect the TNC's to the system like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+kissattach /dev/ttyS0 2m 44.131.96.199
+kissattach /dev/ttyS1 4m 44.131.96.199
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+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 ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+kissparms -p 2m -t 150 -l 150 -s 50 -r 50
+kissparms -p 4m -t 150 -l 150 -s 50 -r 50
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+The command 'man kissparms' will give you the explanation of the switches.
+
+<P>
+Now we need to attach the NET/ROM ports in the same way ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+nrattach netrom
+nrattach netrom2
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+Now you can start the daemons that set everything in motion ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ax25d
+netromd -i
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<P>
+First edit /etc/services and add
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+node 3000/tcp #OH2BNS's Node Software
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+Assuming you want it to run on port 3000
+
+<P>
+Now cd /etc/xinetd.d and edit a new file called node. It should look like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+# 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
+}
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+You now need to restart the xinetd daemon. First find out what the PID is
+like so ..
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+ps auxw |grep xinetd
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+You will get a reply something like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+root 592 0.0 0.1 2256 620 ? S Feb07 0:00 xinetd -stayalive -reuse -pidfile /var/run/xinetd.pid
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+The PID or Process ID is 592 in this case so now we can issue the command ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+kill -HUP 592
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+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 ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+telnet localhost 3000
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+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.
+
+<sect>Configuration
+
+<sect1>Allowing ax25 connects from users
+
+<P>
+This is dealt with in the previous section
<sect1>Allowing telnet connects from users
spdlogin 8000/tcp # spider anonymous login port
</verb></tscreen>
+<P>
Then add a line in /etc/inetd.conf like this ....
<tscreen><verb>
killall -HUP inetd
</verb></tscreen>
-
-<P>Now login as <em>sysop</em> and cd spider/src. You can test that spider
+<P>
+Now login as <em>sysop</em> and cd spider/src. You can test that spider
is accepting telnet logins by issuing the following command ....
<tscreen><verb>
./client login telnet
</verb></tscreen>
+<P>
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.
connects to GB7DJK-1 [instead of a script called gb7djk-1]).
</descrip>
-
+<P>
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.
G0VGS de GB7MBC 13-Dec-1998 2043Z >
</verb></tscreen>
+<P>
This will start a connection using the script called <em>gb7djk-1</em>. You can
follow the connection by watching the term or console from where you started
<em>cluster.pl</em>. From version 1.47 onwards, you will need to <tt>set/debug connect</tt> first.
'connect' ''
</verb></tscreen>
+<P>
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
<P>
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 ...
+7.0. From SuSE 7.1 you need to add runlevels 2 and 5 like this ...
<tscreen><verb>
DX:235:respawn:/bin/su -c "/usr/bin/perl -w /spider/perl/cluster.pl" sysop >/dev/tty7
</verb></tscreen>
-
+<P>
The line required for Slackware distributions is slightly different. My thanks to
Aurelio, PA3EZL for this information.
This will automatically start DXSpider on tty7 (ALT-F7) on bootup and restart
it should it crash for any reason.
+<P>
+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.
+
<P>
As root type the command <em>telinit q</em>. DXSpider should start up
immediately. You will see the output on tty7 and if you login as <em>sysop</em>
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; either get a CVS update from sourceforge (if you don't know
-what this is, then it isn't for you) or get my package from:-
+what this is, then it isn't for you) or get the latest "official"
+release from:-
-<htmlurl url="http://www.dcc.rsgb.org/WinSpider.zip" name="http://www.dcc.rsgb.org/WinSpider.zip">
+<htmlurl url="http://www.dxcluster.org/download/index.html" name="http://www.dxcluster.org/download/index.html">
-or if you want the lastest CVS version (which is produced every night)
+or if you want the lastest snapshot of CVS version (which is produced
+every night):-
<htmlurl url="http://www.dxcluster.org/download/CVSlatest.tgz" name="http://www.dxcluster.org/download/CVSlatest.tgz">
-If you went down the CVS route, then everything will be nicely
-set out on your local disk. If you got the ZIP file, unpack it to
+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.
+
+<p>The only difference between "CVSlatest.tgz" and the latest
+"official" release version is that it is more up to date. Don't confuse
+this TGZ file with "Downloading from Sourceforge with CVS" - they are two
+quite different things.
+
+<p>
+If you went down the CVS route (ie installed wincvs and downloaded from
+sourceforge), then everything will be nicely
+set out on your local disk. If you got the TGZ file, unpack it to
somewhere convenient. The following examples assume that you put
it on drive "C:\", for convenience.
-<bf>NOTE:</bf> This distribution method will go away as soon as the first
-v1.47 tarball is released. You can use WinZip to unpack that, and
-my life will be made easier by not needing to keep this .ZIP file
-updated.
+<p>You will need <htmlurl url="http://www.winzip.com" name="winzip"> to
+manipulate the TGZ files (they are bit like ZIP files) if you are not using CVS.
<sect>Installing the software
<P>
-Ensure that your CVS session or your unZIPped file have left you
-with a directory "C:\spider\local"; if not, go to "C:\spider\"
-and create one. If "C:\spider" is missing, go back and figure out
-why, because it shouldn't be.
+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, go to
+"C:\spider\" and create them. 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:-
<item> $mycall - Should hold the callsign of your DX Cluster
<item> $myname - The SysOp's first name
<item> $myalias - the SysOp's callsign. Cannot be the same as $mycall!
+<item> $myqth - The station's geographical location (QTH).
+<item> $mylatitude - The station latitude in degrees and decimal fractions
+<item> $mylongitude - The station longitude in degrees and decimal fractions
+<item> $mylocator - The Maidenhead (or QRA) locator of the station
</itemize>
-You really also ought to update the $mylatitude, $mylongitude,
-$myqth and $myemail variables. And unless you are absolutely
-certain you know what you're doing, you should change nothing
-else in this file.
+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 "\$".
+
+
+<sect1>Incoming telnets
+
+<P>
+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
+handy "DOS box" that's not doing anything else, do the following:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+copy \spider\perl\Listeners.pm \spider\local
+cd \spider\local
+notepad listeners.pm
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The following lines need attention:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+["0.0.0.0", 7300],
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+On my machine, I've simply uncommented the "0.0.0.0" entry by
+removing the '#' from the front of the line.
+
+<bf>You MUST carry out this step if you are
+running on a Windows NT, 2000 or XP based system</bf>
+
+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
+an amount of effort on your part to read, understand and
+implement what needs to be done to set this up.
+
+<p>If your machine is connected to the internet <bf>and</bf> 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 <bf>all</bf> IP
+addresses).
<sect1>The AGW packet engine
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)
-To access your new cluster (from the local machine) find yourself another
-"DOS box" and do the following:-
+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:-
<tscreen><verb>
cd \spider\perl
perl winclient.pl
</verb></tscreen>
-If you are rewarded with a display which looks something like:-
+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:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+Menu->Start->Run
+telnet localhost 7300
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+On getting the <bf>login:</bf> prompt, enter your sysop callsign (the one you
+put in DXVars.pm as $myalias).
+
+<p>I would recommend <bf>strongly</bf> that you obtain a better telnet
+client than that which comes with windows (I use <htmlurl
+url="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html"
+name="PuTTY">).
+
+<p>Anyway, if you are rewarded with a display which looks something like:-
<tscreen><verb>
Hello Iain, this is GB7SJP in Amersham, Bucks running DXSpider V1.47
from the version of DXVars.pm that was on the machine when I
started the winclient.pl)
-<sect1>Incoming telnets
-
-<P>
-If you want to enable inbound "TELNET" connections, you've got a
-little more work to do. From a handy "DOS box" that's not doing
-anything else, do the following:-
-
-<tscreen><verb>
-copy \spider\perl\listeners.pm \spider\local
-cd \spider\local
-notepad listeners.pm
-</verb></tscreen>
-
-The following lines need attention:-
-
-<tscreen><verb>
-["0.0.0.0", 7300],
-</verb></tscreen>
-
-On my machine, I've simply uncommented the "0.0.0.0" entry by
-removing the '#' from the front of the line.
-
-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
-an amount of effort on your part to read, understand and
-implement what needs to be done to set this up.
+<p>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 <htmlurl
+url="http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/telnet.htm" name="DXTelnet">.
<sect1>Connecting to other clusters
<P>
-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.
+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 <htmlurl url="mailto:g0rdi@blacksheep.org" name="Email"> if you
+want me to set up a connection for you.
<sect>General Information
# 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') if unless connected('gb7xxx')
+0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * * start_connect('gb7xxx') unless connected('gb7xxx')
</verb></tscreen>
<P>