X-Git-Url: http://gb7djk.dxcluster.net/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=sgml%2Fadminmanual.sgml;h=d91dab680b17f3f7de83b9d1201f4e6f61e257b0;hb=d6e7a9bbbb50b7feccab14ec690b3ccf690bc385;hp=9f63b394820534d48e1a34df32e96b6e07da6c21;hpb=564548091fc1c40f493d4bcdc104a4ce3b2ded51;p=spider.git diff --git a/sgml/adminmanual.sgml b/sgml/adminmanual.sgml index 9f63b394..d91dab68 100644 --- a/sgml/adminmanual.sgml +++ b/sgml/adminmanual.sgml @@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ -
-Last modified: 25 July 2000 by Ian Maude, G0VGS
+
-This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.35 on a
-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 crucial ingredient for all of this is In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the following
-
-
-Do get the latest versions of these packages and install them but use the above list as the earliest versions usable.
-
-
-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 1.35 for this section but of course you would use the latest version.
-
-
-Login as root and create a user to run the cluster under.
+In fact DXSpider has had a simple system for some time which is called
+
+The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 is filtering the node
+and user protocol frames on a "per interface" basis. We call this
+
+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
+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
+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.
+
+
+The generic commands are:-
-
-Now set a password for the user ...
+or
-
-Now to unpack the DX Spider distribution, set symbolic links and group permissions. Copy the tarball to /home/sysop and do the following.
+where filter_option is one of the following ...
+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:-
+The example filters shown control
-The next step is to set the permissions on the Spider directory tree and files ....
+
+It is also possible to control the
-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.
+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.
-
-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 ..
+
+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:-
-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 ....
+After you have got tired of that, to put it back the way it was:-
-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";
-
-
-
-There appears to be an extra slash in there. However this has to be there for the file to work so leave it in.
-
-
-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!
-
-
-Save the new file and change directory to ../perl ....
-
-
-Now type the following command which creates the basic user file with you as the sysop.
+Exactly the same rules apply for general route filtering. You would
+use either an accept filter or a reject filter like this ...
-We can now bring spider up for the first time and see if all is well or not! It should look something like this ...
+or
-
-If all is well then login on another term or console as sysop and cd to /spider/perl. Now issue the following command ...
+Here are some examples of route filters ...
-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 ....
-
+In practice you will either be opening the default filter out for a
+partner by defining a specific filter for that callsign:-
+
-and both the cluster and the client should return to Linux prompts.
-
-
-In earlier versions of Spider, all the processes were Perl scripts. This was fine but with a lot of users your computer memory would soon be used up. To combat this a new client was written in "C". This client only works for incoming connects at the moment. Before you can use it though it has to be "made". CD to /spider/src and type make. You should see the output on your screen and hopefully now have a small C program called client. Leave it in this directory.
+
+It is possible to do
-As stated previously, the aim of this document is not to tell you how to configure Linux or the ax25 utilities. However, you do need to add a line in your ax25d.conf to allow connections to DXSpider for your users. For each interface that you wish to allow connections on, use the following format ...
-
-
-Allowing telnet connections is quite simple. Firstly you need to add a line in /etc/services to allow connections to a port number, like this ....
-
-
-This needs to be added above the standard services such as ftp, telnet etc. Once this is done, you need to restart inetd like this ....
+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 ...
- Now login as sysop and cd spider/perl. You can test that spider is accepting telnet logins by issuing the following command ....
+There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
-Assuming all is well, then try a telnet from your linux console ....
+and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
-
-You should now get the login prompt and be able to login as before.
+For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same
+principles to all types of filter.
-
-In order to allow cluster node connections, spider needs to know that the connecting callsign is a cluster node. This is the case whether the connect is incoming or outgoing.
-In spider this is a simple task and can be done in runtime.
+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)
-Start up the cluster as you did before and login as the sysop with client.pl.
-The cluster node I am wanting to make a connection to is GB7BAA but you would obviously use whatever callsign you required.
-At the prompt type ...
+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 ...
-The case does not matter as long as you have a version of DXSpider later than 1.33. Earlier versions required the callsign to be in upper case.
+then you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones
+14, 15 and 16.
-That is now set, it is as simple as that. To prove it, login on yet another console as sysop and issue the command ...
+If you set a reject filter like this ...
-You should get an initialisation string from DXSpider like this ...
+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 ...
-Because DXSpider operates under Linux, connections can be made using just about any protocol; AX25, NETRom, tcp/ip, ROSE etc are all possible examples. Connect scripts live in the /spider/connect directory and are simple ascii files. Writing a script for connections is therefore relatively simple.
-
-
-The connect scripts consist of lines which start with the following keywords or symbols:-
-
-
-
+You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own
+understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
-Both these examples assume that everything is set up properly at the other end. You will find other examples in the /spider/examples directory.
+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.
-
+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.
-You start the connection, from within a sysop enabled cluster login, by typing in the word connect followed by a script name like this ....
+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 ...
-With later versions of Spider there is a set/login command for users. This tells them when a user or node logs in or out. If you do not add a line to your scripts after the final line (or before the client line which should always be last if needed) then the login/logout information will be sent to users
-In a script, this might look like ...
+To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
-Ok, you should now have DXSpider running nicely and allowing connects by cluster nodes or users. However, it has to be shutdown and restarted manually and if connection scripts fail they have to be started again manually too, not much use if you are not at the console!
-So, in this section we will automate both. Firstly starting the cluster.
+You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the
+various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
-
-This is not only a way to start the cluster automatically, it also works as a watchdog, checking the sanity of DXSpider and respawning it should it crash for any reason.
-Before doing the following, shutdown the cluster as you did earlier.
+
-Login as root and bring up the /etc/inittab file in your favourite editor. Add the following lines to the file near the end ...
+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 ...
-This will automatically start DXSpider on tty7 (ALT-F7) on bootup and restart it should it crash for any reason.
+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.
-
-As root type the command telinit q. DXSpider should start up immediately. You will see the output on tty7 and if you login as sysop you should find everything running nicely.
+
-So far so good, now to automate script connections...
-
-
-Login as sysop and create a file in /spider/local_cmd called crontab. Edit it with your favourite editor and add a line like this (I have included a comment)
+The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
+can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
-The callsign involved will be the callsign of the cluster node you are going to connect to. This will now check every 10 minutes to see if gb7xxx is connected, if it is then nothing will be done. If it is not, then a connect attempt will be started.
-
-
-There are probably lots of other things you could use this crontab file for. If you want to know more about it, look at the
-Starting with version 1.13 there is simple hop control available on a per
-node basis. Also it is possible to isolate a network completely so that you
-get all the benefits of being on that network, but can't pass on information
-from it to any other networks you may be connected to (or vice versa).
+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 ...
+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 ...
-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.
+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 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.
The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from another
-nodes connected to your node. Your node will appear on and otherwise behave
+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
@@ -578,7 +534,13 @@ isolated links regardless of whether they are generated locally. This will chang
when the bulletin routing facility is added.
-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 put in a filter in the /spider/filter/spots directory to override the isolate. This filter can be very simple and consists of just one line ....
+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 put in a filter in the /spider/filter/spots
+directory to override the isolate. This filter can be very simple and consists
+of just one line ....
-There is a lot more on filtering in the next section.
-
-
-Filters can be set for spots, announcements and WWV. You will find the directories for these under /spider/filter. You will find some examples in the directories with the suffix .issue. There are two types of filter, one for incoming information and one for outgoing information. Outgoing filters are in the form CALLSIGN.pl and incoming filters are in the form in_CALLSIGN.pl. Filters can be set for both nodes and users.
-
-
-All filters work in basically the same way. There are several elements delimited by commas.
-There can be many lines in the filter and they are read from the top by the program.
-When writing a filter you need to think carefully about just what you want to achieve. You
-are either going to write a filter to accept or to reject.
-Think of a filter as having 2 main elements. For a reject filter, you would have a line
-or multiple lines rejecting the things you do not wish to receive and then a default
-line accepting everything else that is not included in the filter. Likewise, for an
-accept filter, you would have a line or multiple lines accepting the things you wish
-to receive and a default line rejecting everthing else.
-
-
-In the example below, a user requires a filter that would only return SSB spots
-posted in Europe on the HF bands. This is achieved by first rejecting the CW section
-of each HF band and rejecting all of VHF, UHF etc based on frequency.
-Secondly, a filter rule is set based on CQ zones to only accept spots posted in
-Europe. Lastly, a default filter rule is set to reject anything outside the filter.
-
-
-The actual elements of each filter are described more fully in the following sections.
-
-
-The elements of the Spot filter are ....
-
-
-There are 3 elements here to look at. Firstly, the action element. This is very simple and only 2 possible states exist, accept (1) or drop (0).
-
-
-The second element is the field_no. There are 13 possiblities to choose from here ....
-
-
-The third element tells us what to expect in the fourth element. There are 4 possibilities ....
-
-
-The fifth element is simply the hops to set in this filter. This would only be used if the filter was for a node of course and overrides the hop count in hop_table.pl.
-
-
-So, let's look at an example spot filter. It does not matter in the example who the filter is to be used for.
-So, what do we need in the filter? We need to filter the spots the user/node requires and also set a default rule for anything else outside the filter. Below is a simple filter that stops spots arriving from outside Europe.
-
-
-So the filter is wrapped in between a pair of square brackets. This tells Spider to look in between these limits. Then each line is contained within its own square brackets and ends with a comma.
-Lets look carefully at the first line. The first element is 0 (drop). Therefore anything we put on this line will not be accepted. The next element is 4. This means we are filtering by the spotter. The third element is the letter "a" which tells the program to expect an alphanumeric expression in the fourth element. The fourth element is a list of letters separated by the pipe symbol.
-
-
-What this line does is tell the program to drop any spots posted by anyone in the USA, Canada or Japan.
-
-
-The second line is the default rule for anything else. The "d" tells us this and the line simply reads... accept anything else.
-
-
-You can add as many lines as you need to complete the filter but if there are several lines of the same type it is neater to enclose them all as one line. An example of this is where specific bands are set. We could write this like this ....
-
-
-But the line below achieves the same thing and is more efficient ....
-
-
-
-
-It should be noted that the filter will start to be used only once a user/node has logged out and back in again.
-
-I am not going to spend any more time on these filters now as they will become more "comprehensive" in the near future.
+
-In the /spider/msg directory you will find a file called badmsg.pl.issue. Rename this to badmsg.pl and edit the file. The original looks something like this ....
+In the /spider/msg directory you will find a file called badmsg.pl.issue. Rename
+this to badmsg.pl and edit the file. The original looks something like this ....
-I think this is fairly self explanatory. It is simply a list of subject headers that we do not want to pass on to either the users of the cluster or the other cluster nodes that we are linked to. This is usually because of rules and regulations pertaining to items for sale etc in a particular country.
+I think this is fairly self explanatory. It is simply a list of subject
+headers that we do not want to pass on to either the users of the cluster or
+the other cluster nodes that we are linked to. This is usually because of
+rules and regulations pertaining to items for sale etc in a particular country.
-
+
-In the same way as mail, there are some types of spot we do not wish to pass on to users or linked cluster nodes. In the /spider/data directory you will find a file called baddx.pl.issue. Rename this to baddx.pl and edit the file. The original looks like this ....
+In the same way as mail, there are some types of spot we do not wish to pass on
+to users or linked cluster nodes. In the /spider/data directory you will find
+a file called baddx.pl.issue. Rename this to baddx.pl and edit the file. The
+original looks like this ....
-Again, this is simply a list of names we do not want to see in the spotted field of a DX callout.
+Again, this is simply a list of names we do not want to see in the spotted
+field of a DX callout.
-
-One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day" or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd 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.
-
-
-If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called "offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish. This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when DXSpider is not actually running.
+
-You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users. To set this up, make a directory under /spider called packclus. Under this directory you can create files called news or newuser for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can be listed by the user with the command ....
+You can reload the file from the cluster prompt as sysop with load/badwords.
-
+DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports both
+personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands to ensure
+that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send mail almost
+immediately, assuming that the target is on line. However, only one
+mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a mail message is already
+being sent or recieved, then the new message will be queued until it has
+finished.
-
-You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user. To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called bulletins. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the show/files command with an extension for the bulletins directory you have just created, like this ....
+Personal mail is sent using the sp command. This is actually the
+default method of sending mail and so a simple s for send will do.
+A full list of the send commands and options is in the command set
+section, so I will not duplicate them here.
-
-An example would look like this ....
+Bulletin mail is sent by using the sb command. This is one of the
+most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a bulletin
+mail with s or sp instead of sb and of course
+the message never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop
+by using the msg command.
- Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file.
+
+
+DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed
+in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there
+is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however,
+to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is
+pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK
+ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg.
+At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it
+to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements.
+The format is below ...
+To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
+
+
+
+The msg command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the
+sysop. It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other
+changes to manage the cluster mail.
+
+Here is a full list of the various options ...
+
+
+You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the command
+stat/msg. This will give you additional information on the
+message number including which nodes have received it, which node it
+was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of
+the command ...
+
+
+This is described in the section on Other filters so I will not
+duplicate it here.
+
+
+Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
+mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
+sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called distro. You
+put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
+SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
+
+
+Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the sysop
+of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS and pushes
+any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from Spider to the BBS,
+the interface is one-way.
+
+
+Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary mail.
+Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by using the
+Forward.pl file very carefully.
+
+
+Spider allows the creation of local or remote databases. It supports
+chained databases, allowing several different databases to be scanned
+with one simple command. Importing of databases is limited at present
+to the standard AK1A databases such as OBLAST and the DB0SDX QSL
+database but will expand with time.
+
+
+Creating a database could not be more simple. All the commands are
+sent from the cluster prompt as the sysop user.
+
+To create a database you use the command dbcreate. It can
+be used in 3 different ways like so ..
+
+
+The only databases that Spider can currently import are the standard
+AK1A databases such as OBLAST or the DB0SDX qsl and address database.
+This will be added to with time.
+
+To import such a database, first put the file somewhere useful like /tmp
+and then issue the following command ...
+
+
+Once a database is created, you will want to check that it has been
+added. To do this use the dbavail command. This will
+output the available databases. For example ...
+
+
+To look for information in a defined database, simply use the dbshow
+command, for example ...
+
+
+To delete an existing database you use the dbremove command.
+For example ...
+
+
+One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
+information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner
+that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day"
+or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd
+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.
+
+
+If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but
+the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them
+of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called
+"offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish.
+This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when
+DXSpider is not actually running.
+
+
+You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file
+name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users.
+To set this up, make a directory under /spider called packclus.
+Under this directory you can create files called news or newuser
+for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can
+be listed by the user with the command ....
+
+
+You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or
+nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins
+such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user.
+To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called
+bulletin. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These
+can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the show/files
+command with an extension for the bulletin directory you have just created,
+like this ....
+
+
+An example would look like this ....
+
+
-You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to /spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file. You will see something like this ...
+You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to
+/spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file. You will see something like this ...
-DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed
-in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there
-is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however,
-to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is
-pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK
-ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg.
-At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it
-to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements.
-The format is below ...
+In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop.
+This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots,
+announces etc. To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.
-
+To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the
+file with your favourite editor.
-package DXMsg;
+
+Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order for
+this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly. In
+general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail.
+Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a
+file. You do this with the export command from the cluster prompt
+as the sysop. For example ...
+
+
-To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
+Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in
+the perl directory called convkeps.pl. All we need to do now is
+convert the file like so ...
-
-Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
-mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
-sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called distro. You
-put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
-SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
+Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
-In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop. This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots, announces etc.
-To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.pl.
+The command sh/qrz will only work once you have followed a few
+simple steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com.
+Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the file
+/spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match your user
+ID and password. You also at this point need to set $allow=1 to complete
+the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the proprieter of
+
-To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the file with your favourite editor.
+CVS stands for "Concurrent Versions System" and the CVS for DXSpider is held
+at
+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!!!
-Most maintenance tasks are automatic but there are some commands that are useful for a sysop. These are listed below in alphabetical order. The number in brackets following the command name is the permissions level needed to use the command.
+DID I MENTION..... ONLY DO THIS IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE
+CONSEQUENCES!!!
-
+I am of course assuming that you have a machine with both DXSpider and
+Internet access running.
-
-
-Send an announcement to Sysops only
+Assuming you are connected to the Internet, you need to login to the
+CVS repository and then update your Spider source. There are several
+steps which are listed below ...
-
+First login as the user sysop. Next you need to connect to the CVS
+repository. You do this with the command below ...
+
+
-
-
-Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to the
-DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process which will
-use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the 'chat' exchange
-necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the cluster <callsign>.
+The next step will create a brand new 'spider' directory in your current
+directory.
+
-
-
-When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another node
-is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new partner
-node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl file, all
-outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them. This may well
-be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by using these
-commmands:-
+Now if you are doing a new installation, that's it. Carry on as if you have
+just downloaded and untarred the lastest tarball.
- catch GB7DJK all
- catch GB7DJK 300 301 302 303
-
-and to undo what you have just done:-
-
- uncatch GB7DJK all
- uncatch GB7DJK 300 301 302 303
+
+If you want to upgrade your current installation then do this ...
-which will arrange for them to be forward candidates again.
+
-
-
-DBCREATE allows you to define a database in the system. It doesn't actually
-create anything, just defines it.
+At this point the files have been upgraded. You can (usually) restart the cluster
+in your own time. However, if you attempt to use any new commands or features
+expect it to be fatal! At least your cluster will have been restarted then so it
+will be too late to worry about it!
-The databases that are created are simple DB_File hash databases, they are
-therefore already 'indexed'.
+
+Now the magic part! From now on when you want to update, simply connect to the
+Internet and then, as the user sysop ...
-You can define a local database with the first form of the command eg:
+
+You will find any changes documented in the /spider/Changes file.
- DBCREATE sdx_qsl chain sql_ad
+
+Below is a complete list of commands available from the cluster prompt.
+Most maintenance tasks are automatic but there are some commands that are useful
+for a sysop. These are listed below in alphabetical order. The number in
+brackets following the command name is the permissions level needed to use
+the command.
-Databases can exist offsite. To define a database that lives on another
-node do:
+
+
+
+Create an 'accept this announce' line for a filter.
- DBCREATE qsl chain gb7dxc
+An accept filter line means that if the announce matches this filter it is
+passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
+to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
-To see what databases have been defined do:
+You can use any of the following things in this line:-
- DBAVAIL (or it will have been aliased to SHOW/COMMAND)
+
-
-If you want to import or update data in bulk to a database you can use
-this command. It will either create or update entries into an existing
-database. For example:-
+This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
+default for nodes and users eg:-
- DBIMPORT oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
-
-will import the standard OBLAST database that comes with AK1A into the
-oblast database held locally.
+
-
-DBREMOVE will completely remove a database entry and also delete any data
-file that is associated with it.
+Create an 'accept this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
-There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
+
+An accept filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches this filter
+it is passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING for more info. Please read this
+to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
-For example:
+
+You can use any of the following things in this line:-
- DBREMOVE oblast
+
+some examples:-
-I repeat:
+
+You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
-You have been warned.
+
-
-Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the cluster
-in debug mode i.e.
+Create an 'accept this spot' line for a filter.
+
+
+An accept filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
+passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
+to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
+
+You can use any of the following things in this line:-
+For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
+SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
+thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
+this is more efficient than saying simply: freq HF (but don't get
+too hung up about that)
-
-Works just like the user command except that sysops can see ALL messages.
+
-
-Disconnect any <call> connected locally
+This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
+default for nodes and users eg:-
-
-
-Export a message to a file. This command can only be executed on a local
-console with a fully privileged user. The file produced will be in a form
-ready to be imported back into the cluster by placing it in the import
-directory (/spider/msg/import).
+It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
+filter on the following fields:-
-This command cannot overwrite an existing file. This is to provide some
-measure of security. Any files written will owned by the same user as the
-main cluster, otherwise you can put the new files anywhere the cluster can
-access. For example:-
+
+There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place and
+you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want them).
-
-
-This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
-be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH, Location
-and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is available.
+This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
+default for nodes and users eg:-
-
-
-This command attempts to re-initialise a link to a (usually) AK1A node
-that has got confused, usually by a protocol loop of some kind. It may
-work - but you usually will be better off simply disconnecting it (or
-better, if it is a real AK1A node, doing an RCMD <node> DISC/F <your
-node>).
+It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
+filter on the following fields:-
-Best of luck - you will need it.
+
-
-You can get rid of any message to or originating from your callsign using
-this command. You can remove more than one message at a time.
+This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
+default for nodes and users eg:-
-As a sysop you can kill any message on the system.
+
+
+
+Send an announcement to LOCAL users only, where <text> is the text
+of the announcement you wish to broadcast. If you do not wish to receive
+announces, use the set/noannounce command. Any announces made by
+a sysop will override set/noannounce.
+
+
-
-Delete a message (usually a 'bulletin') from the whole cluster system.
+This command will send your announcement across the whole cluster
+network.
-This uses the subject field, so any messages that have exactly the same subject
-will be deleted. Beware!
-
-
-Reload the /spider/cmd/Aliases file after you have editted it. You will need to
-do this if you change this file whilst the cluster is running in order for the
-changes to take effect.
+Send an announcement to Sysops only
-
-
-Reload the /spider/data/bands.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
-the cluster is running.
+Search the help database for <string> (it isn't case sensitive),
+and print the names of all the commands that may be relevant.
-
-
-Normally, if you change a command file in the cmd or local_cmd tree it will
-automatially be picked up by the cluster program. Sometimes it can get confused
-if you are doing a lot of moving commands about or delete a command in the
-local_cmd tree and want to use the normal one again. Execute this command to
-reset everything back to the state it was just after a cluster restart.
+This will disconnect you from the cluster
-
-
-If you change the /spider/perl/Messages file (usually whilst fiddling/writing ne
-commands) you can have them take effect during a cluster session by executing this
-command. You need to do this if get something like :-
+When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another node
+is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new partner
+node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl file, all
+outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them. This may well
+be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by using these
+commmands:-
+
+
+
+
+This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a spot filter or to
+remove the whole filter.
+
+If you have a filter:-
+
+
+
+
+Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to the
+DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process which will
+use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the 'chat' exchange
+necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the cluster <callsign>.
+
+
+
+
+The title says it all really, this command lists all the databases defined
+in the system. It is also aliased to SHOW/COMMAND.
+
+
+
+
+DBCREATE allows you to define a database in the system. It doesn't actually
+create anything, just defines it.
+
+The databases that are created are simple DB_File hash databases, they are
+therefore already 'indexed'.
+
+You can define a local database with the first form of the command eg:
+
+ DBCREATE oblast
+
+You can also chain databases with the addition of the 'chain' keyword.
+This will search each database one after the other. A typical example
+is:
+
+ DBCREATE sdx_qsl chain sql_ad
+
+No checking is done to see if the any of the chained databases exist, in
+fact it is usually better to do the above statement first then do each of
+the chained databases.
+
+Databases can exist offsite. To define a database that lives on another
+node do:
+
+ DBCREATE buckmaster remote gb7dxc
+
+Remote databases cannot be chained; however, the last database in a
+a chain can be a remote database eg:
+
+ DBCREATE qsl chain gb7dxc
+
+To see what databases have been defined do:
+
+ DBAVAIL (or it will have been aliased to SHOW/COMMAND)
+
+It would be normal for you to add an entry into your local Aliases file
+to allow people to use the 'SHOW/<dbname>' style syntax. So you would
+need to add a line like:-
+
+
+
+
+If you want to import or update data in bulk to a database you can use
+this command. It will either create or update entries into an existing
+database. For example:-
+
+ DBIMPORT oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
+
+will import the standard OBLAST database that comes with AK1A into the
+oblast database held locally.
+
+
+
+
+DBREMOVE will completely remove a database entry and also delete any data
+file that is associated with it.
+
+There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
+
+For example:
+
+ DBREMOVE oblast
+
+will remove the oblast database from the system and it will also remove
+the associated datafile.
+
+I repeat:
+
+There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
+
+You have been warned.
+
+
+
+
+This is the generic user interface to the database to the database system.
+It is expected that the sysop will add an entry to the local Aliases file
+so that users can use the more familiar AK1A style of enquiry such as:
+
+
+
+
+Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the cluster
+in debug mode i.e.
+
+
+
+
+List the messages in the messages directory.
+
+If there is a 'p' one space after the message number then it is a
+personal message. If there is a '-' between the message number and the
+'p' then this indicates that the message has been read.
+
+You can use shell escape characters such as '*' and '?' in the <call>
+fields.
+
+You can combine some of the various directory commands together eg:-
+
+
+Works just like the user command except that sysops can see ALL messages.
+
+
+
+
+Disconnect any <call> connected locally
+
+
+
+
+This is how you send a DX Spot to other users. You can, in fact, now
+enter the <freq> and the <call> either way round.
+
+
+
+
+Export a message to a file. This command can only be executed on a local
+console with a fully privileged user. The file produced will be in a form
+ready to be imported back into the cluster by placing it in the import
+directory (/spider/msg/import).
+
+This command cannot overwrite an existing file. This is to provide some
+measure of security. Any files written will owned by the same user as the
+main cluster, otherwise you can put the new files anywhere the cluster can
+access. For example:-
+
+ EXPORT 2345 /tmp/a
+
+
+
+
+Export the users database to a file in ascii format. If no filename
+is given then it will export the file to /spider/data/user_asc.
+
+If the file already exists it will be renamed to <filename>.o. In fact
+up to 5 generations of the file can be kept each one with an extra 'o' on the
+suffix.
+
+BE WARNED: this will write to any file you have write access to. No check is
+made on the filename (if any) that you specify.
+
+
+
+
+This command sends all the latitude and longitude information that your
+cluster is holding against callsigns. One advantage of recieving this
+information is that more locator information is held by you. This
+means that more locators are given on the DX line assuming you have
+set/dxgrid enabled. This could be a LOT of information though, so
+it is not recommended on slow links.
+
+
+
+
+This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
+be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH, Location
+and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is available.
+
+
+
+
+All commands can be abbreviated, so SHOW/DX can be abbreviated
+to SH/DX, ANNOUNCE can be shortened to AN and so on.
+
+Look at the APROPOS <string> command which will search the help database
+for the <string> you specify and give you a list of likely commands
+to look at with HELP.
+
+
+
+
+This command attempts to re-initialise a link to a (usually) AK1A node
+that has got confused, usually by a protocol loop of some kind. It may
+work - but you usually will be better off simply disconnecting it (or
+better, if it is a real AK1A node, doing an RCMD <node> DISC/F <your
+node>).
+
+Best of luck - you will need it.
+
+
+
+
+Delete a message from the local system. You will only be able to
+delete messages that you have originated or been sent (unless you are
+the sysop).
+
+
+
+