I've seen/heard of various stories about how people update their
nodename databases on their machines, hacking together scripts, and
processing files. So I figured I should write a small mail about the
topic (I should create a web-page with this information as well).
The main/basic point is that people are creating work for themselves
they really don't need.
Exactly how you update your nodename database on your machine depends on
what OS you are running, but there are basically prepared tools and
scripts already existing for pretty much any scenario. And if you happen
to have a system or need not currently covered, I can easily create one
for you as well.
But before going into the solutions, let me explain a bit about the
source of the data here.
DECnet phase IV do not have a centralized nodename system like DNS. Each
node in the DECnet network has its own nodename database, and every
machine can have its own name for another machine, independent of what
that other machine thinks its own nodename is.
However, in order to make it easier for multiple people and machines to
talk, it helps if everyone have a somewhat similar database. And here is
where the nodename database in MIM comes it. The nodename database that
I have on MIM is not the regular DECnet nodename database. Instead I'm
using DATATRIEVE to maintain a nodename database, which contains more
information than just the number and name. It contains the owner,
information about the software and hardware of the node, the location,
and when things were updated. This database is what is queried when
someone goes to http://mim.stupi.net/nodedb . And that page is generated
by just making queries in DATATRIEVE. If someone have a host with
DATATRIEVE on it, it is even possible to remotely access this DATATRIEVE
database over DECnet (you'll only have read-only access).
I have been considering possibly adding a web interface for people to
possibly be able to update their own information remotely, but so far
that's been a low priority thing. Maybe one day...
From this DATATRIEVE database I can then generate the DECnet nodename
database on MIM. This is a simple makefile actually. Whenever I run it,
it will create a bunch of different files (I'll get to that in a
moment), and detect if any changes have happened on the DECnet level of
things. If so, it will send a mail to people who have requested it,
informing them that the nodename database have been updated, and they
should update the nodename database of their own machines.
I hope this makes it apparent that creating various files based on the
nodename database is actually very simple. This is in a sense what
DATATRIEVE is good at. Creating reports is sortof what all these output
files are.
So - what files do I create today? Well, here is a short list:
FIX.CMD - This is a script file suitable for RSX systems using CFE.
However, it's sortof specially tailored for MIM, so it's not a file I
would recommend anyone else to use.
FIX.COM - This is a script for VMS systems using phase IV.
FIX.PHV - This is a script for VMS systems using phase V.
FIX.IMP - This is a script for VMS for anyone using DECdns.
FIX.T20 - This is a script for TOPS-20.
HECNET.PY - This is a definition file for PyDECnet.
FIX.RST - This is a script for RSTS/E.
NODENAMES.DAT - This is basically just the basic information is a simple
output form from DATATRIEVE. It exist mostly for historical reasons, but
I understand that lots of people actually take this file, and then write
code to process, extract and apply information from this file.
In addition, some systems can directly import nodenames from another
machine on DECnet, meaning you do not have to fetch and run any scripts
at all.
So here is the actioins you need to do on each system in a summarized form:
RSX:
In RSX, there is a tool called NNC which copies definitions from another
node. Copy over MIM::HECNET:NNC.BAT which is a batch file you can use
which does all the work of importing the latest definitions from MIM and
updating your local system. All you need to do is just "SUBMIT NNC.BAT"
and you are done.
VMS:
With phase IV, the node copy capability is build into NCP. All you need
to do is: "NCP COPY KNOWN NODES FROM MIM TO BOTH" and you are done.
With phase V, copy over FIX.PHV and run it, or just directly run it from
MIM like this: "@MIM::HECNET:FIX.PHV"
If you run DECdns, grab FIX.IMP, and run it with whatever tool is used
to manage this (sorry that I can't help more, I don't really have any
experience with DECdns).
TOPS-20:
Grab MIM::HECNET:FIX.T20 and run in in the NCP submode of OPR (if I
remember the setup correctly).
RSTS/E:
Grab MIM::HECNET:FIX.RST, and run it with "@FIX.RST".
PyDECnet:
Fetch hecnet.py by doing "wget mim.stupi.net/hecnet.py". Place that
where you have configured PyDECnet to get the nodenames from, and you
are good (not sure if you need to restart PyDECnet).
Now. If you have some other system with some specific format you need,
just let me know, and I'll create such a file as well. It's trivial for
me to do this from DATATRIEVE. If you spot something wrong/bad in some
file created today, let me know, and we'll fix it. If you see any errors
or omissions in the information in this mail, let me know, and I'll get
it corrected. I will create a web page with this information as well.
If you want to get a mail whenever the nodename database is updated,
just let me know and I'll add you to the list.
And HECnet is slowly growing. Occasionally a completely new person/site
gets connected. Occasionally people add more nodes. The online presence
seems pretty constant. At the moment 19 areas are online. In area 1,
currently there are 19 machines online. Looking at Paul's HECnet map
(http://akdesign.dyndns.org:8080/map), there are machines online in
quite different locations, covering a large part of the world. I find
this cool, and even though there isn't a lot being done, it's still fun.
Well. Have a nice weekend everyone, and I hope some people find this
information useful.
Johnny
--
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt(a)softjar.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
I finally got my issues with Comcast straightened out and I now have static IP addresses. They are
IPv4: 50.185.8.122
IPv6: 2603:300b:6c4:21a0:c77b:4f58:27e4:6de2
These are also always available in DNS as decnet.theberrymans.com <http://decnet.theberrymans.com/>
Hopefully, this will be the last change for a while.
Mark Berryman
Area 27
Hi,
During my postgraduate days, I ran ANU NEWS on our VAX/VMS systems and we peered large parts of the hierarchy. I think even back then we were exclusively NNTP over TCP/IP. I have a vague memory that I wrote a multi-threaded NNTP server for ANU but it was using the CMUTEK TCP/IP product so it was all done with QIO and ASTs - none of this weird select stuff of Unix sockets.
With Google groups being hit by 1000s of spam messages a day - astrology, voodoo, death spells, etc. - I'm tempted to get ANU NEWS installed and running again, probably SIMH-hosted VAX OpenVMS and, as above, peer some of the groups. Disc space and bandwidth aren't an issue and I'd like to see NNTP running over DECnet.... And I'm more familiar with ANU NEWS's SMG interface than I ever was with the likes of tin and rm.
Actually, wanting to do this has less to do with Google's mess and more about nostalgia. If/when it's all up and running, I'll consider getting it running on some real Alpha or IA64 hardware, probably based mostly on which has the lower power consumption.
Just wondering if anybody else is doing/done something similar.
Keith
Version 5.3(235)-5 incorporates all fixes since the major release of
5.3, Edit 230 in January of this year. These are as follows and can be
identified in the code with the edit number as the prefix of a comment.
<about:blank?compose#_Toc137380940>
[231] Fix RECEIVE with no file name
[232] 36 bit byte file sizes
[233] Transaction Log and Debug log fixes and enhancements
Transaction logging
Garbled Text
Write-Protection Failures
Enhancements
Debug Log Decode Fix
[234] Error messages may not be seen if displayed in remote server
[235] Properly signal and handle file errors in server mode
Additional Batch Tests
K2036P: Kermit-20 36 Bit Mode via pseudo-terminal
K2036C: Kermit-20 36 Bit Mode via pseudo-terminal with parity
Updated Help
All source, documentation, executables, control files and test data are
available for Anonymous NFT on HECnet from VENTI2::PS:<OINKY.K20MIT> and
associated subdirectories. Documentation includes more detail on the
above list. All regression tests have passed except for Tops-10 because
of some local networking issues.
Be aware that VENTI2:: is running a FAL alpha candidate, so let me know
if you get unexpected behavior.
Hi,
Is anyone testing this mailing list's recipients?
The reason I ask is:
06-02 00:07:58 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 65.108.62.138:39112 cassini.dfupdate.se. 65.108.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:07:59 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 65.108.62.138:39112 cassini.dfupdate.se. 65.108.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:33:06 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 136.243.112.216:42384 static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de. 136.243.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:33:06 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 136.243.112.216:42384 static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de. 136.243.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:34:26 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 65.108.62.138:40994 cassini.dfupdate.se. 65.108.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:35:02 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 136.243.112.216:36476 static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de. 136.243.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:35:12 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 136.243.112.216:36908 static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de. 136.243.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:40:02 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 136.243.112.216:36476 static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de. 136.243.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:40:12 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 136.243.112.216:36908 static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de. 136.243.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:45:56 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 65.108.62.138:41946 cassini.dfupdate.se. 65.108.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
06-02 00:57:11 NOREC SMTP OKBL DE 65.108.62.138:43082 cassini.dfupdate.se. 65.108.0.0/16 24940 HETZNER-AS, DE
Activity from cassini.dfupdate.se is valid and expected.
The other attempt(s) from static.216.112.243.136.clients.your-server.de was an attempted non-local relay to jessindewinter(a)gmail.com<mailto:jessindewinter@gmail.com>
It wasn't exactly a problem and the attempt was denied with some tar-pitting along the way.
Times in GMT+01:00 (BST) by the way.
Keith
I’m trying to get mail working from my latest Linux DECnet release to OopenVMS with the intention of eventually upgrading to the mail11v3 protocol. I’m running an up to date version of VAX OpenVMS V7.3 with all patches I’ve found on a recent download of OpenSimh on a really slow ARM system. The system has a default DECnet account as well as a MAIL$SERVER account. Whenever I try to send e-mail, the connection is rejected with a “No such user” error:
Auditable event: Network login failure
Event time: 29-NOV-2023 10:14:32.96
PID: 00000098
Process name: MAIL_8198
Username: DECNET
Remote node id: 42186 (41.202)
Remote username: Linux0000
Status: %LOGIN-F-NOSUCHUSER, no such user
I also get the same rejection error if I try to connect to FAL with no access control information. However, if I connect to FAL using the explicit nonpriviledged userid/password returned by NCP, everything works as expected.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
John.
Version 5.3(248)-5 incorporates additional features, enhancements and
fixes since the minor release of 5.3(235)-5, in June of this year
(11-Jun-2023).These are as follows and can be identified in the code
with the edit number as the prefix of a comment.
[236] Implement /FORKLESS connections for DECnet NRT’s
[237] Implement the RETURN keyword to stop processing a TAKE file
[238] Enhanced NRT disconnect messages
[239] Use .HPTOD (High Precision Time of Day) if the monitor has it
HPTIM% .HPTOD
[240] When logging to a disk file, display the number of bytes written
[241] Handle potential case of incorrect data being sent for CWD
[242] ECHO /TRANSACTION /DEBUG /SESSION Switches
[243] Fix off by one error which appended NUL characters in packets
[244] Fix server FINISH does not close all logs
[245] Rewrite MOVSTU to use EXTEND instead of loop
[246] Additional C escape sequences: \O and \U
[247] Rewrite IAC handling to use EXTEND instead of loop
[248] Fix incorrect string lengths being returned by C constant
expansion
Kermit-20-Testing-Battery-5.3(248)-5 Updates and new Batch Tests
K20DPD: Updated Kermit-20 Packet Decoding Example
K20NRV: Updated Kermit-20 Server functions via Tops-20 DECnet NRT to
local host
K20NRT: Updated Kermit-20 Server functions via Tops-20 DECnet NRT to
remote host
K20DPD: Updated Kermit-20 Packet Decoding Example
K20P8R: New Regression test against Kermit-20 4.2(174) [2-May-85] 8
bit files with parity
K20RDC: New Communications comparison Kermit-20 4.2(174) [2-May-85]
and 5.3(248)-5
K1036N: Kermit-10 36 bit Regression Tests via DECnet NRT
Updated Help
It is available for anonymous NFT from VENTI2:: in the K20MIT
sub-directory. The full announcement may be find in text format in:
VENTI2::TOMMYT:<OINKY.K20MIT.DOCUMENTATION>KERMIT-20_V5_3(248)-5-ANNOUNCEMENT.TXT.
Note that the left and right parenthesis will need to be quoted with a
Control-V. Alternatively, you can just grab the whole documentation
directory and have your local NFT do the naming.
