<title>The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.48</title>
<author>Ian Maude, G0VGS, (ianmaude@btinternet.com)</author>
-<date>Version 1.48 August 2001 revision 1.1</date>
+<date>Version 1.49 November 2001 revision 1.0</date>
<abstract>
A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
<P>
In fact DXSpider has had a simple system for some time which is called
-<it>isolation</it>. This is similar to what, in other systems such as
+<it>isolation</it>. This is similar to what in other systems such as
<bf>clx</bf>, is called <it>passive mode</it>. A more detailed explanation
of <it>isolation</it> is given further below. This system is still available
and, for simple networks, is probably all that you need.
<P>
-The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 is filtering the node
+The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 allows filtering the node
and user protocol frames on a "per interface" basis. We call this
<it>route filtering</it>. This is used <bf>instead of</bf>
<it>isolation</it>.
<p>
What this really means is that you can control more or less completely
-which PC protocol frames, to do with user and node management, pass to
-each of your partner nodes. You can also limit what comes into your
-node from your partners. You can even control the settings that your
-partner node has for the routing information that it sends to you
+which user and node management PC protocol frames pass to each of your
+partner nodes. You can also limit what comes into your node from your
+partners. It is even possible to control the settings that your partner
+node has for the routing information that it sends to you
(using the <it>rcmd</it> command).
<sect1>Route Filters
explained further on.
<p>
-The first thing that you must do is determine whether you need to do route filtering <bf>at all</bf>. If you are a "normal" node with two or three partners
-and you arranged in an "official" non-looping tree type network, then <bf>you do
-not need to do route filtering</bf> and you will feel a lot better for not
-getting involved. If you are successfully using <it>isolation</it> then you
-also probably don't need to use route filtering.
+The first thing that you must do is determine whether you need to use
+route filtering <bf>at all</bf>. If you are a "normal" node with two or
+three partners and you arranged in an "official" non-looping tree type
+network, then <bf>you do not need to do route filtering</bf> and you will
+feel a lot better for not getting involved. If you are successfully using
+<it>isolation</it> then you also probably don't need to use route filtering.
<p>
-You will only require this functionality if you are
-"well-connected". What that means is that you are connected to several
-different parts of (say) the EU cluster and, at the same time, also
-connected to two or three places in the US which, in turn are
-connected back to the EU. This is called a "loop" and if you are
-seriously looped then you need filtering.
+To put it simply, you should not mix Isolation and Route Filtering. It
+will work, of sorts, but you will not get the expected results. If you
+are using Isolation sucessfully at the moment, do not get involved in
+Route Filtering unless you have a good supply of aspirin! Once you have
+started down the road of Route Filtering, do not use Isolation either.
+Use one or the other, not both.
+
+<p>
+You will only require this functionality if you are "well-connected". What
+that means is that you are connected to several different parts of (say)
+the EU cluster and, at the same time, also connected to two or three places
+in the US which, in turn are connected back to the EU. This is called a
+"loop" and if you are seriously looped then you need filtering.
<P>
I should at this stage give a little bit of background on filters. All
</verb></tscreen>
Please be careful if you alter this setting, it will affect
-<bf><it>ALL</it></bf> your links!
+<bf><it>ALL</it></bf> your links! Remember, this is a <it>default</it>
+filter for node connections, not a <it>per link</it> default.
<p>
For the default routing filter then you have two real choices: either
is accepted.
<p>
-As I imagine it will take a little while to get one's head around all of this you
-can study the effect of any rules that you try by watching the debug output
-after having done:-
+As I imagine it will take a little while to get one's head around all of
+this you can study the effect of any rules that you try by watching the
+debug output after having done:-
<tscreen><verb>
set/debug filter
Here are some examples of route filters ...
<tscreen><verb>
-rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
-rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
+rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
+rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
</verb></tscreen>
acc/route gb7baa input all
</verb></tscreen>
-or restricting it quite a lot, in fact making it very nearly like an <it>isolated</it> node, like this:-
+or restricting it quite a lot, in fact making it very nearly like an
+<it>isolated</it> node, like this:-
<tscreen><verb>
acc/route pi4ehv-8 call gb7djk
PC16s for my local users).
<p>
-It is possible to do <bf>much</bf> more complex rules, there are up to 10
-accept/reject pairs per callsign per filter. For more information see the
-next section.
+It is possible to write <bf>much</bf> more complex rules, there are up
+to 10 accept/reject pairs per callsign per filter. For more information
+see the next section.
<sect1>General filter rules
any information back to the isolated node. There are times when you
would like to forward only spots across a link (maybe during a contest
for example). To do this, isolate the node in the normal way and use
-an <em>acc/spot >call< all</em filter in the
-to override the isolate.
+an <em>acc/spot >call< all</em> filter to override the isolate.
<sect>Other filters
any further by regarding it as "bad" in some way.
<p>
-A DX Spot has a number of fields which can checked to see whether they
+A DX Spot has a number of fields which can be checked to see whether they
contain "bad" values, they are: the DX callsign itself, the Spotter and
the Originating Node.
at logon.
<p>
-The filename are the callsign of the connection that you want the script to
+The filename is the callsign of the connection that you want the script to
operate on, eg: <em>/spider/scripts/g1tlh</em>. The filenames are always in
lower case on those architectures where this makes a difference.
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.
+<sect1>MOTD_NOR
+
+<P>
+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.
+
<sect1>Downtime message
<P>
the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the proprieter of
<htmlurl url="http://www.qrz.com" name="qrz.com"> for allowing this access.
+<sect1>Scripts
+
+<P>
+The directory /spider/scripts is used for several things. Firstly it
+contains a file called startup that can be used to call in any changes
+to the cluster from the default settings on startup. Examples of this
+include how many spots it is possible to get with the sh/dx command,
+whether you want registration/passwords to be permanently on etc. An
+example file is shown below and is included in the distribution as
+startup.issue.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+#
+# startup script example
+#
+# set maximum no of spots allowed to 100
+# set/var $Spot::maxspots = 1
+#
+# Set registration on
+# set/var $main::reqreg = 1
+#
+# Set passwords on
+# set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
+#
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Secondly, it is used to store the login scripts for users. Currently
+this can only be done by the sysop but it is envisaged that eventually
+users will be able to set their own. An example is included in the
+distibution but here is a further example.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+#
+# G0FYD
+#
+blank +
+sh/wwv 3
+blank +
+sh/dx
+blank +
+t g0jhc You abt?
+blank +
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The lines in between commands can simply insert a blank line or a character
+such as a + sign to make the output easier to read.
+
+<sect>Security
+
+<P>
+From version 1.49 DXSpider has some additional security features. These
+are not by any means meant to be exhaustive, however they do afford some
+security against piracy. These two new features can be used independently
+of each other or in concert to tighten the security.
+
+<sect1>Registration
+
+<P>
+The basic principle of registration is simple. If a user is not registered
+by the sysop, then they have read-only access to the cluster. The only
+thing they can actually send is a talk or a message to the sysop. In
+order for them to be able to spot, send announces or talks etc the sysop
+must register them with the <em>set/register</em> command, like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+set/register g0vgs
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The user g0vgs can now fully use the cluster. In order to enable
+registration, you can issue the command ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+set/var $main::reqreg = 1
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Any users that are not registered will now see the motd_nor file rather
+than the motd file as discussed in the Information, files and useful
+programs section.
+
+<P>
+Entering this line at the prompt will only last for the time the cluster
+is running of course and would not be present on a restart. To make the
+change permanent, add the above line to /spider/scripts/startup. To
+read more on the startup file, see the section on Information, files
+and useful programs.
+
+<P>
+To unregister a user use <em>unset/register</em> and to show the list
+of registered users, use the command <em>show/register</em>.
+
+<sect1>Passwords
+
+<P>
+At the moment, passwords only affect users who login to a DXSpider
+cluster node via telnet. If a user requires a password, they can
+either set it themselves or have the sysop enter it for them by using
+the <em>set/password</em> command. Any users who already have passwords,
+such as remote sysops, will be asked for their passwords automatically
+by the cluster. Using passwords in this way means that the user has a
+choice on whether to have a password or not. To force the use of
+passwords at login, issue the command ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+at the cluster prompt. This can also be added to the /spider/scripts/startup
+file as above to make the change permanent.
+
+<P>
+Of course, if you do this you will have to assign a password for each of
+your users. If you were asking them to register, it is anticipated that
+you would ask them to send you a message both to ask to be registered and
+to give you the password they wish to use.
+
+<P>
+Should a user forget their password, it can be reset by the sysop by
+first removing the existing password and then setting a new one like so ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+unset/password g0vgs
+set/password g0vgs new_password
+</verb></tscreen>
+
<sect>CVS
<P>
sources by using a few simple commands.
<P>
-THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!!! ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A TEST
-INSTALLATION OR ARE WILLING TO HAVE YOUR CLUSTER CRASH ON YOU!!!
-THIS MUST BE CONSIDERED AT LEAST BETA TESTING AND MAYBE EVEN ALPHA!!
-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
-
-<P>
-DID I MENTION..... ONLY DO THIS IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE
-CONSEQUENCES!!!
+Please be aware that if you update your system using CVS, it is possible that
+you could be running code that is very beta and not fully tested. There is
+a possibility that it could be unstable.
<P>
I am of course assuming that you have a machine with both DXSpider and
projects / spider.git / blobdiff