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.
+ +