This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.46 on a -RedHat Linux Distribution. -Wherever possible I will try to include differences for other distributions. -I do not intend to try and cover the installation of Linux or the setup -of the AX25 utilities. If you need help on this then read Iains original -installation guide that comes with the Spider distribution. +
From DXSpider version 1.48, major changes were introduced to the way +node connections are treated. This is part of an ongoing process to +remove problems with loops and to enable talk and other functions to +propagate across the whole of the worldwide cluster network. In fact, +in a Spider network, it would be useful, perhaps even necessary to +have loops. This would give real resilience to the network, meaning +that if a link dropped, the information flow would simply come in and +go out via a different route. Of course, we do not have a complete +network of Spider nodes, there are other programs out there. Some of +these do not have any protection from loops. Certainly AK1A does not +handle loops well at all. It is therefore necessary to have some form +of protection for these nodes. +
+
In fact DXSpider has had a simple system for some time which is called +isolation. This is similar to what, in other systems such as +clx, is called passive mode. A more detailed explanation +of isolation is given further below. This system is still available +and, for simple networks, is probably all that you need. +
+
The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 is filtering the node +and user protocol frames on a "per interface" basis. We call this +route filtering. This is used instead of +isolation. +
+
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 +(using the rcmd command). +
+
Initially when route filters were being tested we generated a +"default" filter. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that this +might suit the UK cluster network but didn't really fit anybody else. +However using a default filter is an appropriate thing to do. How, is +explained further on. +
+
The first thing that you must do is determine whether you need to do route filtering at all. If you are a "normal" node with two or three partners +and you arranged in an "official" non-looping tree type network, then you do +not need to do route filtering and you will feel a lot better for not +getting involved. If you are successfully using isolation then you +also probably don't need to use route filtering. +
+
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. +
+
I should at this stage give a little bit of background on filters. All +the filters in Spider work in basically the same way. You can either +accept or reject various options in order to create the filter rules +you wish to achieve. Some filters are user settable, others can only +be altered by the sysop. Route filtering can only be done by the sysop. +
+
+Anyway, without further discouragement, let me start the process +of explanation. +
+
All normal systems should have a default routing filter and it should +usually be set to send only the normal, unlooped, view of your +"national" network. Here in the UK that means nodes from the UK and +Eire, in EU it is more complex as the networks there grew up in a more +intertwined way.
-
I am assuming a general knowledge of Linux and its commands. You should -know how to use tar and how to edit files using your favourite editor. +
+The generic commands are:-
-
The crucial ingredient for all of this is -Perl. Earlier versions of -Spider required perl 5.004, however it is now STRONGLY recommended -that you use at least version 5.005_03 as this is the version being used -in the development of Spider. +
+
+reject/route node_default <filter_option>
+
+or
+
+accept/route node_default <filter_option>
+
+where filter_option is one of the following ...
-
In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the -following -CPAN modules: - +
+
+call <prefixes>
+call_dxcc <numbers>
+call_itu <numbers>
+call_zone <numbers>
+channel <prefixes>
+channel_dxcc <numbers>
+channel_itu <numbers>
+channel_zone <numbers>
+
+Please be careful if you alter this setting, it will affect +ALL your links! +
+
For the default routing filter then you have two real choices: either +a "national" view or the "safe" option of only your own +callsign. Examples of each (for my node: GB7DJK) are:- +
+
+
+acc/route node_default call_dxcc 61,38
+acc/route node_default call gb7djk
+
+GB7DJK uses the first of these. The DXCC countries can be obtained from the +show/prefix command. +
+
The example filters shown control output TO all your +partner nodes unless they have a specific filter applied to them (see +next section). +
+
It is also possible to control the incoming routing +information that you are prepared to accept FROM your partner +nodes. The reason this is necessary is to make sure that stuff like +mail, pings and similar commands a) go down the correct links and b) +don't loop around excessively. Again using GB7DJK as an example a typical +default input filter would be something like:
+
+
+rej/route node_default input call_dxcc 61,38 and not channel_dxcc 61,38
+
+What this does is accept node and user information for our national +network from nodes that are in our national network, but rejects such +information from anyone else. Although it doesn't explicitly say so, +by implication, any other node information (not from the UK and Eire) +is accepted.
-
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:-
+
+
+set/debug filter
+
+After you have got tired of that, to put it back the way it was:-
-
Do get the latest versions of these packages and install them -but use the above list as the earliest versions usable. +
+
+unset/debug filter
+
+-
I will assume that you have already downloaded the latest tarball of -the DXSpider software and are ready to install it. I am assuming version -1.46 for this section but of course you would use the latest version. +
Exactly the same rules apply for general route filtering. You would +use either an accept filter or a reject filter like this ...
-
Login as root and create a user to run the cluster under. UNDER -NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE ROOT AS THIS USER!. I am going to use -the name sysop. You can call it anything you wish. Depending -on your security requirements you may wish to use an existing user, -however this is your own choice. +
+
+reject/route <node_call> <filter_option>
+
+or
+
+accept/route <node_call> <filter_option>
+
++
Here are some examples of route filters ...
-# adduser -m sysop
+rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (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)
In practice you will either be opening the default filter out for a +partner by defining a specific filter for that callsign:-
-
Now set a password for the user ... +
+
+acc/route gb7baa all
+acc/route gb7baa input all
+
+or restricting it quite a lot, in fact making it very nearly like an isolated node, like this:-
-# passwd sysop
-# New UNIX password:
-# Retype new UNIX password:
-passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully
+acc/route pi4ehv-8 call gb7djk
+rej/route pi4ehv-8 input call_dxcc 61,38
This last example takes everything except UK and Eire from PI4EHV-8 +but only sends him my local configuration (just a PC19 for GB7DJK and +PC16s for my local users).
-
It is possible to do much more complex rules, there are up to 10 +accept/reject pairs per callsign per filter. For more information see the +next section. +
+
+
Now to unpack the DX Spider distribution, set symbolic links and group -permissions. Copy the tarball to /home/sysop and do the following. +
Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From +v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just +about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of +DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do +anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update. +
+
There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These +are accept, reject and clear. First we will look +generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the +DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism. +
+
In general terms you can create a "reject" or an "accept" filter which can have +up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
-# cd ~sysop
-# tar xvfz spider-1.46.tar.gz
-# ln -s ~sysop/spider /spider
-# groupadd -g 251 spider (or another number)
+
+accept/spots .....
+reject/spots .....
If you do not have the command groupadd available to you simply -add a line in /etc/group by hand. +
where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are filters +for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each different +accept or reject command reference for more details. +
There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
-# vi /etc/group (or your favorite editor)
+clear/spots 1
+clear/spots all
You also need to add some others to the group, including your own callsign -(this will be used as an alias) and root. The finished line in /etc/group -should look something like this -
spider:x:251:sysop,g0vgs,root
+
There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
-
The next step is to set the permissions on the Spider directory tree and files .... +
and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
-# chown -R sysop.spider spider
-# find . -type d -exec chmod 2775 {} \;
-# find . -type f -exec chmod 775 {} \;
+
+show/filter
-
This last step allows various users of the group spider to have -write access to all the directories. This is not really needed just yet -but will be useful when web interfaces start to appear. +
For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same +principles to all types of filter. +
+
There are two main types of filter, accept or reject. You +can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference +and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject +filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10 +lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the +action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept +means take it) +
+
If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter +will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter, +then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped. +For example if you have a single line accept filter ... +
+
+
+accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+
+then you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones +14, 15 and 16.
-
Finally, you need to fix the permissions on the ax25_call and netrom_call -programs. Check where they are with the locate command and alter -the permissions with the chmod command like this .. +
If you set a reject filter like this ...
-# chown root ax25_call netrom_call
-# chmod 4775 ax25_call netrom_call
+reject/spots on hf/cw
Then you will get everything EXCEPT HF CW spots. You could make this +single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA +and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in +CW, then you could say ...
-
Now login to your machine as the user you created earlier. In my case that -user is called sysop. Once logged in, issue the following commands .... +
+
+reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
+
+But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
-$ cd /spider
-$ mkdir local
-$ mkdir local_cmd
-$ cp perl/DXVars.pm.issue local/DXVars.pm
-$ cd local
-$ vi DXVars.pm (or your favourite editor)
+accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other +until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you +wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but +don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing!
-
Using the distributed DXVars.pm as a a template, set your cluster callsign, -sysop callsign and other user info to suit your own environment. Note that -this a perl file which will be parsed and executed as part of the cluster. If -you get it wrong then perl will complain when you start the cluster process. -It is important only to alter the text of any section. Some of the lines look -a little odd. Take this line for example .... -
$myemail = "ianmaude\@btinternet.com";
+
You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own +understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
-
There appears to be an extra slash in there. However this has to be there -for the file to work so leave it in. +
+
+reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
+reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+
+What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF +which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
-
PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR CALLSIGNS +
This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if +you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available. +This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it +more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example.
-
DON'T alter the DXVars.pm (or any other file) in /spider/perl, they are -overwritten with every release. Any files or commands you place in /spider/local -or /spider/local_cmd will automagically be used in preference to the ones in -/spider/perl EVEN while the cluster is running! +
You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look +at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We +are saying reject spots that are VHF or above APART from those in +zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did +not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it +logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ...
-
Save the new file and change directory to ../perl .... +
+
+(on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
+
+The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are +here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'. +
As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than +simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want +to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or +one line. For example ...
-$ cd ../perl
+reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
would redefine our earlier example, or
-
Now type the following command which creates the basic user file with you as -the sysop. +
+
+clear/spots 1
+
+To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
-$ create_sysop.pl
+clear/spots all
-
You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the +various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter. +
+
We can now bring spider up for the first time and see if all is well or not! -It should look something like this ... +
Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects. This can +be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be followed, even +if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set specifically. Default +rules can be set for nodes and users. They can be set for spots, announces, +WWV and WCY. They can also be used for hops. An example might look like +this ...
-$ cluster.pl
-DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.46
-Copyright (c) 1998 Dirk Koopman G1TLH
-loading prefixes ...
-loading band data ...
-loading user file system ...
-starting listener ...
-reading existing message headers
-reading cron jobs
-orft we jolly well go ...
+accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
+set/hops node_default spot 50
This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV and WCY. +This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific filter is written to +override it for a particular node. You can also set a user_default should +you require. It is important to note that default filters should be +considered to be "connected". By this I mean that should you override the +default filter for spots, you need to add a rule for the hops for spots also. +
+
Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment.
-
If all is well then login on another term or console as sysop and -cd to /spider/perl. Now issue the following command ... +
The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU +can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
-$ client.pl
+rej/spot on hf/cw
+acc/spot on 0/30000
+acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
-
This should log you into the cluster as the sysop under the alias callsign we -set earlier. In this case the callsign is G0VGS. The cluster callsign is set -in the DXVars.pm file in /spider/local. In this case we will assume that this -was set as GB7MBC. You should therefore see this when you login .... +
Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This will +automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have said reject all +HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all others at HF. Also +accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by operators in the zones +14, 15 and 16. Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and +an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot. +
+
It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the default +for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'. In the example +what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non hf/cw spot is passed +to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line +lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU. +
+
In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the file +that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default hops on the +various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to alter the hops for. +You may be happy with the default settings of course, but this powerful tool +can help to protect and improve the network. The file will look something +like this ...
-G0VGS de GB7MBC 19-Nov-1999 2150Z >
+#
+# hop table construction
+#
+
+package DXProt;
+
+# default hopcount to use
+$def_hopcount = 5;
+
+# some variable hop counts based on message type
+%hopcount =
+(
+ 11 => 10,
+ 16 => 10,
+ 17 => 10,
+ 19 => 10,
+ 21 => 10,
+);
+
+
+# the per node hop control thingy
+
+
+%nodehops =
+
+ GB7ADX => { 11 => 8,
+ 12 => 8,
+ 16 => 8,
+ 17 => 8,
+ 19 => 8,
+ 21 => 8,
+ },
+
+ GB7UDX => { 11 => 8,
+ 12 => 8,
+ 16 => 8,
+ 17 => 8,
+ 19 => 8,
+ 21 => 8,
+ },
+ GB7BAA => {
+ 11 => 5,
+ 12 => 8,
+ 16 => 8,
+ 17 => 8,
+ 19 => 8,
+ 21 => 8,
+ },
+};
If you do, congratulations! If not, look over the instructions again, you -have probably missed something out. You can shut spider down again with the -command .... +
+
Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and contains a +series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot. The figures here +are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of how the file works. +
+
You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is running. +If you alter the file during runtime, the command load/hops will +bring your changes into effect. +
+
You can set a callsign specific hop count for any of the standard filter +options so:-
-shutdown
+set/hops gb7djk spot 4
+set/hops node_default route 10
+set/hops gb7baa wcy 5
all work on their specific area of the protocol. +
+
The set/hops command overrides any hops that you have set otherwise.
-
and both the cluster and the client should return to Linux prompts. +
You can set what hops have been set using the show/hops command. +
+
It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node using the +set/isolate <node_call> command. +
+
The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from another +node connected to your node. Your node will appear on and otherwise behave +normally on every network to which you are connected, but data from an isolated +network will not cross onto any other network or vice versa. However all the +spot, announce and WWV traffic and personal messages will still be handled +locally (because you are a real node on all connected networks), that is locally +connected users will appear on all networks and will be able to access and +receive information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will +be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a gateway for +another network, he can still still send a talk/announce etc message via your +node and it will be routed across. +
+
If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive +all information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass +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 acc/spot >call< allilter in the +to override the isolate.