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!
- -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...
- --
- - -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.
- -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
-
-You will find the configuration files in /etc/ax25. These consist of -several files ...
--
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.
- -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 -- - -
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 -- - -
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) -- - -
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
-
-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.
- -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.
- -