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. -
-
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. -
-
DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports both +personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands to ensure +that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send mail almost +immediately, assuming that the target is on line. However, only one +mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a mail message is already +being sent or recieved, then the new message will be queued until it has +finished. +
The cluster mail is automatically deleted after 30 days unless the sysop +sets the "keep" flag using the msg command. +
+
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 -bulletins. 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 bulletins directory you have just created, -like this .... -
-
-
-show/files bulletins
-
--
An example would look like this .... -
-
-
-sh/files
-bulletins 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 bulletins. 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 bulletins directory you issue the command .... -
-
-
-show/files bulletins
-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 .... +
Personal mail is sent using the sp command. This is actually the +default method of sending mail and so a simple s for send will do. +A full list of the send commands and options is in the command set +section, so I will not duplicate them here.
-
-
-type bulletins/opdx391
-Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
-The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
-DX Bulletin No. 391
-BID: $OPDX.391
-January 11, 1999
-Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
-Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
-Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
-Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
-Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
-& The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
-Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
-
-The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to! -
-
You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to -/spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file. You will see something like this ... +
Bulletin mail is sent by using the sb command. This is one of the +most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a bulletin +mail with s or sp instead of sb and of course +the message never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop +by using the msg command.
-
-
-
-#!/usr/bin/perl
-
-# provide some standard aliases for commands for terminally
-# helpless ak1a user (helpless in the sense that they never
-# read nor understand help files)
-
-# This file is automagically reloaded if its modification time is
-# later than the one stored in CmdAlias.pm
-
-# PLEASE make this file consistant with reality! (the patterns MUST
-# match the filenames!)
-
-# Don't alter this file, copy it into the local_cmd tree and modify it.
-# This file will be replaced everytime I issue a new release.
-
-# You only need to put aliases in here for commands that don't work as
-# you desire naturally, e.g sh/dx on its own just works as you expect
-# so you need not add it as an alias.
-
-
-
-package CmdAlias;
-
-%alias = (
- '?' => [
- '^\?', 'apropos', 'apropos',
- ],
- 'a' => [
- '^ann.*/full', 'announce full', 'announce',
- '^ann.*/sysop', 'announce sysop', 'announce',
- '^ann.*/(.*)$', 'announce $1', 'announce',
- ],
- 'b' => [
- ],
- 'c' => [
- ],
- 'd' => [
- '^del', 'kill', 'kill',
- '^del\w*/fu', 'kill full', 'kill',
- '^di\w*/a\w*', 'directory all', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/b\w*', 'directory bulletins', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/n\w*', 'directory new', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/o\w*', 'directory own', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/s\w*', 'directory subject', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/t\w*', 'directory to', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/f\w*', 'directory from', 'directory',
- '^di\w*/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
- ],
- 'e' => [
- ],
- 'f' => [
- ],
- 'g' => [
- ],
- 'h' => [
- ],
- 'i' => [
- ],
- 'j' => [
- ],
- 'k' => [
- ],
- 'l' => [
- '^l$', 'directory', 'directory',
- '^ll$', 'directory', 'directory',
- '^ll/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
- ],
- 'm' => [
- ],
- 'n' => [
- '^news', 'type news', 'type',
- ],
- 'o' => [
- ],
- 'p' => [
- ],
- 'q' => [
- '^q', 'bye', 'bye',
- ],
- 'r' => [
- '^r$', 'read', 'read',
- '^rcmd/(\S+)', 'rcmd $1', 'rcmd',
- ],
- 's' => [
- '^s/p$', 'send', 'send',
- '^sb$', 'send noprivate', 'send',
- '^set/home$', 'set/homenode', 'set/homenode',
- '^set/nobe', 'unset/beep', 'unset/beep',
- '^set/nohe', 'unset/here', 'unset/here',
- '^set/noan', 'unset/announce', 'unset/announce',
- '^set/nodx', 'unset/dx', 'unset/dx',
- '^set/nota', 'unset/talk', 'unset/talk',
- '^set/noww', 'unset/wwv', 'unset/wwv',
- '^set/nowx', 'unset/wx', 'unset/wx',
- '^sh$', 'show', 'show',
- '^sh\w*/buck', 'dbshow buck', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/bu', 'show/files bulletins', 'show/files',
- '^sh\w*/c/n', 'show/configuration nodes', 'show/configuration',
- '^sh\w*/c$', 'show/configuration', 'show/configuration',
- '^sh\w*/com', 'dbavail', 'dbavail',
- '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/dx $1-$2', 'show/dx',
- '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)', 'show/dx $1', 'show/dx',
- '^sh\w*/dx/d(\d+)', 'show/dx from $1', 'show/dx',
- '^sh\w*/email', 'dbshow email', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/hftest', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/vhftest', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/qsl', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
- '^sh\w*/tnc', 'who', 'who',
- '^sh\w*/up', 'show/cluster', 'show/cluster',
- '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1-$2', 'show/wwv',
- '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1', 'show/wwv',
- '^sp$', 'send', 'send',
-
- ],
- 't' => [
- '^ta$', 'talk', 'talk',
- '^t$', 'talk', 'talk',
- ],
- 'u' => [
- ],
- 'v' => [
- ],
- 'w' => [
- '^wx/full', 'wx full', 'wx',
- '^wx/sysop', 'wx sysop', 'wx',
- ],
- 'x' => [
- ],
- 'y' => [
- ],
- 'z' => [
- ],
-)
-
-You can create aliases for commands at will. Beware though, these may not -always turn out as you think. Care is needed and you need to test the -results once you have set an alias. +
Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file.
-
DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed @@ -353,7 +113,70 @@ only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
-
+
The msg command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the +sysop. It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other +changes to manage the cluster mail. +
Here is a full list of the various options ... +
+
+
+ MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
+ MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
+ MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
+ MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
+ MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
+ MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
+ MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
+ MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
+ MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
+ MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waiting time for this message
+ MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
+ MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
+ MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
+ MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
+
+These commands are simply typed from within the cluster as the sysop user. +
+
You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the command +stat/msg. This will give you additional information on the +message number including which nodes have received it, which node it +was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of +the command ... +
+
+
+G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
+stat/msg 6869
+ From: GB7DJK
+ Msg Time: 26-Jan-2001 1302Z
+ Msgno: 6869
+ Origin: GB7DJK
+ Size: 8012
+ Subject: AMSAT 2line KEPS 01025.AMSAT
+ To: UK
+Got it Nodes: GB7BAA, GB7ADX
+ Private: 0
+Read Confirm: 0
+ Times read: 0
+G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
+
++
This is described in the section on Other filters so I will not +duplicate it here. +
+
Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of @@ -371,15 +194,17 @@ qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this list.
-
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.pl. +
Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the sysop +of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS and pushes +any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from Spider to the BBS, +the interface is one-way.
-
To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the -file with your favourite editor. +
Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary mail. +Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by using the +Forward.pl file very carefully.