[HECnet] Route20 Test

[Johnny Billquist]

Multinet links will never cause any problems. It's the pure bridge loops 
that is the risk. This is at the ethernet layer. It's not a DECnet problem.

This is the same kind of problem you would face if you were to connect 
two cables between two switches, and they did not implement STP. I have 
never bothered implementing STP on the bridge...

   Johnny

On 2020-04-28 00:09, Supratim Sanyal wrote:
> Johnny - yes, of course - that is the risk. Let's do this in a organized 
> way. Johnny - please propose a 15 minute window any day or night - we 
> will run the test while you are around watching it.
> 
> Do you want me to drop the Multinet link when we do this?
> 
> On 4/27/20 3:03 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>> I can certainly set up a link in the bridge, but you got to be very 
>> careful to not create any loops in the bridge, because it does not 
>> detect this, and it will cause a storm within seconds, which will be 
>> very bad.
>>
>>   Johnny
>>
>>
>> On 2020-04-27 18:49, Supratim Sanyal wrote:
>>> Johnny and all,
>>>
>>> Would it be possible to help me test Rob Jarratt's Route20?
>>>
>>> At this point, ROUT20 (31.1022) is configured as an additional 
>>> Level-2 router for Area 31 not doing much beyond waiting to talk to 
>>> other area routers.
>>>
>>> Johnny - do you think you could open up a port on your bridge for 
>>> testing? This side is at 64.137.176.104 (static), port 4711.
>>>
>>> Anyone who owns an area and connects to Johnny's bridge using an area 
>>> router can also perhaps set up a second bridge link to 31.1022 for 
>>> testing.
>>>
>>> Here is my config file, followed by Rob's readme file. Hopefully I am 
>>> not missing something basic here and such a test will be a really bad 
>>> idea.
>>>
>>> ---
>>> $ cat route20.ini
>>> [node]
>>> name=ROUT20
>>> level=2
>>> address=31.1022
>>> priority=5
>>>
>>> [ethernet]
>>> interface=vde-decnet-tap1
>>> cost=4
>>>
>>> [bridge]
>>> address=psilo.update.uu.se:4711
>>> port=4711
>>> cost=7
>>>
>>> ; DNS section is optional, if not present then there is no periodic 
>>> check to make sure
>>> ; that IP addresses have not changed. Note that the periodic checks 
>>> do not cause any delay
>>> ; as they are done asynchronously.
>>> [dns]
>>> address=8.8.8.8
>>> poll=60
>>>
>>> [logging]
>>> ethpcapline=verbose
>>> general=detail
>>> circuit=verbose
>>> line=verbose
>>> adjacency=verbose
>>> update=verbose
>>> decision=detail
>>> forwarding=verbose
>>> messages=detail
>>> dns=verbose
>>> ethinit=verbose
>>> ethcircuit=detail
>>> ethpcapline=verbose
>>> ethsockline=verbose
>>> ddcmpsock=detail
>>> ddcmp=verbose
>>> ddcmpinit=verbose
>>> sock=detail
>>> nsp=verbose
>>> nspmessages=verbose
>>> netman=verbose
>>> ---
>>>
>>> User Mode DECnet Router Readme
>>> ==============================
>>>
>>> This program is a DECnet router that implements version 2.0 of the 
>>> DECnet routing specification
>>> found here: http://linux-decnet.sourceforge.net/docs/route20.txt
>>>
>>> Second Alpha Release 15th Sep 2012 --> Actually no, Rob updated it in 
>>> March 2020
>>> ----------------------------------
>>>
>>> This second release has been successfully tested with another person 
>>> in another area. It
>>> fixes the following bugs and limitations:
>>>
>>> 1. Implements Level 1 Routing messages and interoperates correctly 
>>> with Level 1 routers
>>>     (ie routing nodes that are not area routers).
>>> 2. Packets routed from outside into the local area are no longer 
>>> dropped.
>>> 3. More tolerant of different line end formats on the configuration 
>>> file (ie DOS or non-DOS format).
>>> 4. Fixed some compiler warnings related to format strings.
>>>
>>> I have also realised that for every bridge connection you use you 
>>> need a separate UDP port.
>>> I am not sure if this is a flaw or a feature.
>>>
>>> Features
>>> --------
>>>
>>> 1. Runs on Windows either as a Windows Service, or as a console program.
>>> 2. Runs on Linux as a daemon.
>>> 3. Full routing capability, so it avoids broadcasting all routing 
>>> messages to
>>>     entire network and kills looping packets.
>>> 4. Supports Ethernet (using pcap/winpcap).
>>> 5. Supports Johnny's bridge. You can now have multiple bridge 
>>> connections to
>>>     Johnny and direct to other people without creating loops.
>>> 6. Can be extended to support other kinds of circuit (Cisco and 
>>> Multinet might
>>>     be examples, not tried).
>>> 7. Does dynamic DNS updates without blocking.
>>>
>>> Limitations
>>> -----------
>>>
>>> 1. Only tested on Windows Server 2003 and Raspberry Pi running Debian.
>>> 2. Does not support Phase III nodes.
>>> 3. Although it can be configured as a Level 1 node, it has only been 
>>> tested
>>>     as a Level 2 (area router) node.
>>> 4. Limited testing on Raspberry Pi.
>>> 5. Performance not tested. Does not implement throttling, so traffic 
>>> sent to
>>>     a machine with a slow network interface may experience problems.
>>> 6. Not tested with multiple ethernets.
>>> 7. It does not handle LAT and MOP, if you need these protocols then 
>>> you still
>>>     need to use Johnny's bridge.
>>>
>>> Configuration
>>> -------------
>>>
>>> The program expects a configuration file called route20.ini. A sample
>>> is provided, but here are some notes.
>>>
>>> An [ethernet] section is used to define an Ethernet network interface.
>>> You can have as many [ethernet] sections as you have ethernet network
>>> interfaces.
>>>
>>> A [bridge] section is used to define an interface compatible with 
>>> Johnny's
>>> bridge. You can have as many [bridge] sections as you have direct 
>>> links to
>>> other people's bridge or router (each requires a separate port). Use 
>>> a DNS
>>> name rather than an IP address, the IP address is checked and updated
>>> according the [dns] section. Note also that the router will not 
>>> accept packets
>>> from bridges not configured in the [bridge] section.
>>>
>>> The [dns] section is used to specify the IP address of your DNS 
>>> server. This
>>> must be a numeric IP address. The poll period determines the period (in
>>> seconds) of the checks for changes to the IP address in your [bridge]
>>> sections.
>>>
>>> Windows Installation
>>> --------------------
>>>
>>> Prerequisites: winpcap
>>>
>>> To install it as a service do the following:
>>>
>>> 1. Open a command prompt as an administrator.
>>> 2. Run "route20 install".
>>> 3. Copy the configuration file to %windir%\system32
>>> 4. Make sure the "DECnet 2.0 Router" service is configured to run 
>>> under an
>>>     account that has administrative privileges.
>>> 5. Start the service.
>>>
>>> To run it as a console program:
>>>
>>> 1. Create a configuration file in the directory where the executable is
>>>     located.
>>> 2. Run the executable.
>>>
>>> Linux Installation
>>> ------------------
>>>
>>> Prerequisites: pcap
>>>
>>> The program is designed to run only as a daemon. It logs to the syslog.
>>> Launch the program and it will fork and create a daemon.
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT
>>> 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W
>>> QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet
>>>
>>
> -- 
> Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT
> 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W
> QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet
> 

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol