xrjjm%dirbe.span@JPL-VLSI.ARPA (04/20/87)
Comment: Begin User Supplied Mail Headers. *Site: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. *Position: 76 Deg. 52' 28.5" West, 38 Deg. 59' 59.8" North. *From: John J. McMahon, Systems Programmer, STX - ST Systems Corporation. *Project: COBE Science Data Room (CSDR), Code 401.1 *Reply-To: (Arpa-Internet) XRJJM%CSDR.SPAN@JPL-VLSI.ARPA *Reply-To: (Bitnet) ZMJJM@SCFVM *Reply-To: (Span/Physnet/Hepnet) 6173::XRJJM = CSDR::XRJJM (Node 6.29) *Reply-To: (TEXnet) UTADNX::UTSPAN::CSDR::XRJJM Well, here are a few responses to John's Question... > I have been trying to find a way to get more information about the > configuration of a DECnet than SHOW NETWORK. Have you looked at the Network Control Program Manual ? You can run NCP and issue a SHOW KNOWN NODES command, which will list all the nodes that have been entered into the database. > It seems that if DECnet is a > multi-area net, then SHOW NETWORK will only list the nodes in the area that > the local node is a part of. Is there a place to get more info? The amount of information in SHOW NETWORK is directly proportional to the "Importance" of the node. If you are an End-Node, SHOW NETWORK displays nothing. Phase IV routers show the local area. Area routers will show the local area and a list of available areas. NCP (Network Control Program) will allow you to query other nodes for information. e.g. If you are on node VAX1, and you want to do a SHOW KNOWN NODES on VAX2, get into NCP and issue the command TELL VAX2 SHOW KNOWN NODES. Neat, eh ? > While speaking of SHOW NETWORK, the SHOW NETWORK on our system lists nodes > with empty node names. What does this mean? When a node comes on line, it identifys itself with a number. So if Node 6.29 comes on line, it doesn't transmit it's name (Let's say it's name is TZONE) only a number. Your computer has to have an entry in the NCP database for each node on your network so the names are there. e.g. a) Node TZONE (Circuit 6.29) comes on line and says "Hello" to everyone. b) Your computer logs this info. c) You issue a SHOW NETWORK - SHOW NETWORK lists all the nodes available, it gets to 6.29, looks up the name in your database and either prints TZONE (If defined) or blank. For info on this, do a HELP DEFINE (or SET) in NCP. ----- I have 2 additional questions to add. ----- 1) I recently switched several of the machines that I "run" from Phase IV Routers to Non-Routers. This was at the request of our network management. As a result, we have lost some of the niceties of being a router on those nodes. SHOW NETWORK doesn't function, and that is the only tool our general users could use. Anyone have an idea how to have a SHOW NETWORK like function on a non-router ??? 2) The Bitnet user's convention/party is coming up in a little over a month... anyone out there planning on attending ? Regards, ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v John J. McMahon (Fast-Eddie) Disclaimer: Views expressed in this letter are my own, and are not meant to represent the views of my employers.
LEICHTER-JERRY@YALE.ARPA (04/21/87)
... 1) I recently switched several of the machines that I "run" from Phase IV Routers to Non-Routers. This was at the request of our network manage- ment. As a result, we have lost some of the niceties of being a router on those nodes. SHOW NETWORK doesn't function, and that is the only tool our general users could use. Anyone have an idea how to have a SHOW NETWORK like function on a non-router ??? ... Non-routers simply do not have this information - they have to ask a router for help in obtaining any dynamic network information, as is needed for SHOW NET. There are two things you can do: Let users do NCP SHOW KNOWN NODES. NCP isn't a protect program and there is no problem in letting anyone run it - they can't change anything or read any secret information that way. The big drawback here is that it will only give "static" information - you can't find out if a node is up this way. Write a remote "SHOW NET" server. This is really quite easy to do, but many people are unaware of how to do it. Here's a file that will do the trick: $! $! Remote SHOW NET server. $! $ on error then goto cleanup $ open/write LINK SYS$NET !LINK is the network link $ assign/user LINK SYS$OUTPUT !Send all output there $ assign/user LINK SYS$ERROR !I mean ALL $ show net !Any output-only command here $cleanup: $ close/error:noerror LINK !Avoid hangs at remote system $noerror: Place this file in the default DECnet account as, say REMSHONET.COM. To use it, type a command of the following form: $ type NODE::"TASK=REMSHONET" where NODE is the router. Of course, you can set this up in a symbol - be sure to preserve the quotes! For example: $ NETS*TAT == "NODE::""TASK=REMSHONET""" If some of your users have proxies on NODE, they will need to specify null access to get to the DECNET account (by placing "" just after NODE.) So perhaps a better definition is: $ NETS*TAT == "NODE""""::""TASK=REMSHONET""" Some systems are run with the TASK object disabled. It's still possible to define specific remote services, like REMSHONET, using NCP. Check the documentation for details - I don't remember them off-hand, and this note is getting too long anyway. -- Jerry -------