One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get -information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner -that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day" -or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd -and edit it to say whatever you want. It is purely a text file and will be -sent automatically to anyone logging in to the cluster.
- -This message of the day file lives in the same directory as the standard -motd file but is only sent to non-registered users. Once registered they -will receive the same message as any other user.
- -If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but -the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them -of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called -"offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish. -This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when -DXSpider is not actually running.
- -You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file -name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users. -To set this up, make a directory under /spider called packclus. -Under this directory you can create files called news or newuser -for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can -be listed by the user with the command ....
--
-
-show/files
-
-They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
--
-
-type news
-
-If the file they want to read is called news. You could also set -an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type news
- -You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or -nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins -such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user. -To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called -bulletin. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These -can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the show/files -command with an extension for the bulletin directory you have just created, -like this ....
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-
-show/files bulletin
-
-An example would look like this ....
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-sh/files
-bulletin DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
-
-You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a -file called news and a directory called bulletin. You can -also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file news, -you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to whether the -file has been updated since you last read it. To read the file called -news you would simply issue the command ....
--
-
-type news
-
-To look what is in the bulletin directory you issue the command ....
--
-
-show/files bulletin
-opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
-Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
-
-You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....
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-
-type bulletin/opdx391
-Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
-The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
-DX Bulletin No. 391
-BID: $OPDX.391
-January 11, 1999
-Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
-Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
-Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
-Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
-Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
-& The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
-Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
-
-The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
- -You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. This is the file that -controls what a user gets when issuing a command. It is also possible to -create your own aliases for databases and files you create locally.
- -You should not alter the original file in /spider/cmd/ but create a new file -with the same name in /spider/local_cmd. This means that any new Aliases files -that is downloaded will not overwrite your self created Aliases and also that -you do not override any new Aliases with your copy in /spider/local_cmd/. You -must remember that any files you store in /spider/local/ or /spider/local_cmd -override the originals if the same lines are used in both files.
- -The best way of dealing with all this then is to only put your own locally -created Aliases in the copy in /spider/local_cmd. The example below is -currently in use at GB7MBC.
--
-
-
-#
-# Local Aliases File
-#
-
-package CmdAlias;
-
-%alias = (
- 'n' => [
- '^news$', 'type news', 'type',
- ],
- 's' => [
- '^sh\w*/buck$', 'show/qrz', 'show',
- '^sh\w*/hftest$', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/qsl$', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/vhf$', 'dbshow vhf', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/vhftest$', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
- ],
-)
-
-Each alphabetical section should be preceded by the initial letter and the section -should be wrapped in square brackets as you can see. The syntax is straightforward. -The first section on each line is the new command that will be allowed once the -alias is included. The second section is the command it is replacing and the last -section is the actual command that is being used.
- -The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that in the first section, the new -alias command has a '^' at the start and a '$' at the end. Basically these force -a perfect match on the alias. The '^' says match the beginning exactly and the -'$' says match the end exactly. This prevents unwanted and unintentional matches -with similar commands.
- -I have 3 different types of alias in this file. At the top is an alias for 'news'. -This is a file I have created in the /spider/packclus/ directory where I can inform -users of new developments or points of interest. In it's initial form a user would -have to use the command type news. The alias allows them to simply type -news to get the info. Second is an alias for the show/qrz -command so that those users used to the original show/buck command in -AK1A will not get an error, and the rest of the lines are for locally created -databases so that a user can type show/hftest instead of having to use -the command dbshow hftest which is not as intuitive.
- -This file is just an example and you should edit it to your own requirements. -Once created, simply issue the command load/alias at the cluster -prompt as the sysop user and the aliases should be available.
- - -In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop. -This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots, -announces etc. To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.
- -To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the -file with your favourite editor.
- -Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order for -this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly. In -general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail. -Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a -file. You do this with the export command from the cluster prompt -as the sysop. For example ...
--
-
-export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
-
-would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the -/spider/perl directory.
- -Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in -the perl directory called convkeps.pl. All we need to do now is -convert the file like so ...
--
-
-./convkeps.pl keps.in
-
-Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
--
-
-load/keps
-
-That is it! the kepler data has been updated.
- -The command sh/qrz will only work once you have followed a few -simple steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com. -Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the file -/spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match your user -ID and password. You also at this point need to set $allow=1 to complete -the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the proprieter of -qrz.com for allowing this access.
- -There appear to be very few logging programs out there that support telnet -especially the popular ones like LogEQF, Turbolog etc. This can make it -difficult to connect to your own cluster! -The way to do it is to make the logging program think it has a TNC attached -to a com port on the logging PC and 'push' a linux login out to it. -This is achieved very simply by the use of agetty.
- -All that is required is to add a line in /etc/inittab to have the client -ready for a connection on the com port of your choice. Remember that in -Linux, the com ports start at ttyS0 for com1, ttyS1 for com2 etc.
--
-
-c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L 9600 ttyS1
-
-Add this after the standard runlevel lines in /etc/inittab. The above -line works on ttyS1 (com2). Now as root, issue the command telinit q -and it should be ready for connection. All that is required is a 3 wire -serial lead (tx, rx and signal ground). Tell you logging program to use -8n1 at 9600 baud and you should see a Linux login prompt. Login as normal -and then telnet from there to the cluster.
- -