This chapter contains information on the tasks and tools that allow you to set up connections to the local network and the Internet. It covers the following major topics:
A network can provide these valuable services:
It lets you efficiently and transparently share peripheral hardware such as printers and drives.
It lets you quickly and easily share data and applications.
It provides many channels of communication, including electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, and teleconferencing.
Fundamentally, a network expands a system's capabilities in a simple, cost-effective way. Because you can access peripherals, directories, and files on other systems as if they were connected directly to your own system, your system essentially has
unlimited disk space
as many input and output devices, such as scanners and printers, as are on the network
the ability to read as many media types as there are drive types on the network, such as CD, tape, or floppy
a large assortment of applications (depending on how the software licensing is arranged)
Note: To share files and directories transparently, use the NFS networking software.
You can set up a network connection in a number of ways:
If there is an existing network available and you can connect your system to it via an Ethernet cable, see “Setting Up an Ethernet Connection”.
If there is an existing Ethernet network available but you cannot connect your system to it via an Ethernet cable, you can do one of the following:
Use your system's serial port, the standard UUCP and PPP software, and an optional modem to connect via a telephone line; see “Add a Modem” in Chapter 3.
Use your system's ISDN port (if it has one), the standard ISDN software, and optional hardware to connect via an ISDN telephone line; see “Setting Up ISDN” for information.
To connect to an existing FDDI, TokenRing, or Sync Serial network, you must purchase optional communications boards, and may need optional software from Silicon Graphics. Then see “Setting Up Other Network Connections”.
If there is no existing Ethernet network available, you can set up a new one; see “Setting Up a New Ethernet Network”.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The Network Interface Manager displays information about the network interfaces configured on the system. It includes the name of the network interface, the hostname of your workstation (including domain information), your workstation's IP address, and whether an interface is your primary network interface.
You can use the Get Info button in the Network Interface Manager window to display information about a network interface. Select the interface in the window and click Get Info. A Network Interface Panel appears and displays information about the selected interface.
For further information on the Network Interface Manager, click on the appropriate link:
“Testing the Network Connection” contains details on how to test the network correction using the Network Interface Manager.
“Network Interface Manager Reference” contains details on the Network Interface Manager graphical interface.
To test a network connection, follow these steps:
Choose “Host QuickFind” from the Find toolchest.
In the field, type the name of a system that you know is running and is connected to the network.
If the icon for the system appears in the drop pocket window, your network connection is working.
If the icon does not appear, try typing the name of another system. If an icon still does not appear, see “Troubleshooting Network Errors” in Chapter 8.
The Task menu contains these choices:
“Set Up and Start Networking” lets you configure a network interface on your system to connect your workstation to an existing network. This command is equivalent to the Configure button. See “Setting Up an Ethernet Connection” or “Setting Up Other Network Connections” for information.
“Turn Off Networking” lets you turn off networking on your workstation.
“Modify Network Settings” lets you make changes to your network setup. See “Modify Networking Settings”.
“Set Up and Start NIS” allows you to set up Network Information Services (NIS) on your system. See “Set Up and Start NIS”.
“Turn Off NIS” lets you turn off NIS on your system. See “Turn Off NIS”.
“Set Up and Start NFS” lets you set up the software necessary to share files and directories transparently across the network. See “Set Up and Start NFS”.
“Turn Off NFS” allows you to turn off NFS on your system. See “Turn Off NIS”.
“System Manager” opens the System Manager window, which gives you access to all of the system administration interactive guides.
“Close” closes the Network Interface Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
The Sort menu contains these choices:
“By Interface” lets you list the interfaces alphabetically.
“By Hostname” lets you list the interfaces alphabetically according to the name of the corresponding interface name.
“By IP address” lets you list the interfaces by their IP addresses.
After using the System Manager guides to set up your networking connection, there are a few other tasks that you may want to accomplish. Click a topic for more information:
Your system comes standard with an Ethernet port and the TCP/IP software that you need to connect your system to an existing Ethernet network. The information below assumes that you have physically connected your system to an existing Ethernet network using an Ethernet cable, and that your network administrator has provided you with
a hostname and IP address for your system
your network's NIS domain name (you need this only if your network runs NIS)
an active Ethernet connection
To set up networking on your system, use the “Set Up and Start Networking” interactive guide, available in the System Manager. Choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest, and then select the Network and Connectivity category in the left-hand column of the System Manager window. In the right-hand column, click “Set Up and Start Networking.” The guide appears and leads you through the steps necessary to set up networking on your system. (To set up an Ethernet connection, you want to choose “ec0” as the network interface; Step 2 in the guide lets you do this.)
| Note: If you have more than one network port installed, you need to perform the steps in the “Set Up and Start Networking” guide for each port. |
To test your network connection, see “Testing the Network Connection”.
Your system comes standard with Ethernet hardware and software. You may also purchase these optional networking interface products:
FDDI
TokenRing
Sync Serial
Once one of these optional boards and its supporting software are installed, contact your network administrator for this information:
a hostname and IP address for your system
your network's NIS domain name (you need this only if your network runs NIS)
You can turn on networking software by using the “Set Up and Start Networking” interactive guide, available in the System Manager window. Choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest, and then select the Network and Connectivity category in the left-hand column. In the right-hand column, click “Set Up and Start Networking.” The guide appears and leads you through the steps necessary to set up a network connection using the optional product you've installed.
To try out your new network connection, see “Testing the Network Connection”.
This information describes how to set up a small Ethernet network of Silicon Graphics systems. It does not cover the issues involved in integrating Silicon Graphics systems into other types of existing networks, or the issues involved in connecting your small network to the larger Internet system.
If possible, select one person to set up and take care of the network. It does not require much maintenance, and having someone in charge can eliminate confusion later. This person is referred to as the network administrator in other online information. This person must also be the Administrator for his or her own system, which will be the master system on the network.
The network administrator assigns a unique name (a hostname) and a unique number (an IP address) to each system on the network. The hostname should be 10 or fewer lower-case characters, and cannot contain any spaces or special characters; the IP address is four numbers separated by periods (.), such as 126.1.1.1.
To set up your network, follow these steps:
Physically connect the systems with Ethernet cables and transceiver boxes.
Start up all of the systems.
On the master system (the system that the network administrator uses), set up networking using the “Set Up and Start Networking” guide.
See “Setting Up Network Software on the Master System” for details on turning on the software on the master system.
On each of the other systems, set up networking using the “Set Up and Start Networking” interactive guide.
See “Setting Up Network Software on the Client Systems” for details on turning on the software on other systems.
To try out your new network, see “Testing the Network Connection”.
Before you set up networking on the master system, make sure you know the hostname and IP address of each client system on the network; it's probably a good idea to write this information down.
Follow these steps:
Log in to the master system as root.
Open the “Set Up and Start Networking” guide.
Choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest, select the Network and Connectivity category, and then click “Set Up and Start Networking.”
Follow the instructions in the guide and then click OK on the last page.
Use the Host Manager to create a master list of hostnames and IP addresses on the master system. See “Setting Up a Host List” for information about host lists.
Log out of the master system by choosing “Log Out” from the Desktop toolchest.
Now you need to set up the client systems; see “Setting Up Network Software on the Client Systems”.
Once the master system is set up (see “Setting Up Network Software on the Master System”), you must set up software on the rest of the systems that are connected to the network.
On each client system on the network, follow these steps:
Log in to the client system as root.
Open the “Set Up and Start Networking” guide.
Choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest, select the Network and Connectivity category, and then click “Set Up and Start Networking.”
Open a shell window by choosing “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
Copy the hosts list from the master system to the client system by typing
rcp guest@IPaddress:/etc/hosts /etc/hosts
Then press Enter. Replace IPaddress with the IP address of the master system.
Log out of the system by choosing “Log Out” from the Desktop toolchest.
To try out the new network, see “Testing the Network Connection”.
The “Turn Off Networking” guide allows you to turn off networking on your workstation. To reenable your network at a later time, you can use the “Set Up and Start Networking” guide.
After you've set up basic networking on the system, you may want to make changes to certain networking settings on the system. The “Modify Network Settings” guide lets you make these changes:
Disable the primary networking interface on your workstation if it isn't currently connected to the network. (You may find this useful if you're planning to use ISDN to connect to a remote workstation over a phone line.)
Add a default route to the system's routing table that allows your workstation to establish a connection with a remote workstation.
Enable IP forwarding to supply routing information to your workstation.
Configure the DNS servers and specify the host resolution order.
Specify the host resolution order.
To open the guide, choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest, if it isn't already running. Select the Network and Connectivity category and click “Modify Network Settings.”
You can set up your system to send and receive electronic mail (e-mail) once you have verified that the network connection works (see “Testing the Network Connection”).
The IRIX e-mail system has two parts:
The first part is the application that you use to read, compose, and send mail.
Note: Your system also comes with Netscape Mail. For information about using Netscape Mail, see the online help in Netscape. The second part is sendmail, the mechanism that interprets your mail messages and sends them to the correct location.
The following sections give you a brief introduction to how sendmail works, then show you how to set up mail automatically by using the configuration program /usr/etc/configmail setup.
sendmail routes mail through a network using two pieces of information: your system's domain name and the hostname of your domain's forwarder (the system that forwards mail from your domain to other domains). You can obtain this information from your network administrator.
A domain is a group of systems whose hostnames have the same suffix; this suffix is the domain name. For example, mars.bldg1.abc and saturn.bldg1.abc belong to the bldg1.abc domain, while venus.bldg2.abc belongs to the bldg2.abc domain.
To simplify network administration and increase network efficiency, large networks typically consist of several domains. For example, company abc has one large network that connects systems that are in buildings 1, 2, and 3. Its overall network is abc and it consists of three domains: bldg1.abc, bldg2.abc, and bldg3.abc. All systems that physically reside in building 1 are in the bldg1.abc domain, and so on. Often systems that are part of the same domain are physically close to each other. A typical hostname on this network can be mars.bldg1.abc.
Small networks typically consist of a single domain, or may not even use the concept of domains. For example, company xyz has a simple one-domain network called xyz; all hostnames end in .xyz. Because all hostnames have the same suffix, the suffix has no significance, so company xyz can simply drop the suffix and therefore drop the concept of domains altogether.
If the hostname that you chose with your network administrator has a period (.) in it, your site uses domains. Your domain name is everything that follows the first period. For example, the domain name of host mars.bldg1.abc is bldg1.abc.
When you send mail to a system that is in your domain, sendmail delivers the mail directly to that system. When you send mail to a system that is in a different domain, sendmail delivers the mail to the forwarder host in your domain. The forwarder host knows how to reach hosts in other domains, so it forwards the mail to the correct location.
sendmail uses the information in the /usr/lib/sendmail.cf file to identify the local domain and the forwarder host. “Automatically Configuring sendmail” shows you how to run a program to add domain and forwarder information to sendmail.cf.
To configure sendmail automatically, follow these steps:
Log in as root through a shell window.
Choose “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
Position your cursor within the new window and type
login root
Then press Enter.
If a prompt for a password appears, type the password, then press Enter. If a prompt appears but the root account has no password, just press Enter.
Rename the default /etc/sendmail.cf file, in case you need it in the future, by typing
mv /etc/sendmail.cf /etc/sendmail.cf.orig
Then press Enter.
Stop sendmail from running by typing
/etc/init.d/mail stop
Then press Enter.
Start the configuration program by typing
/usr/etc/configmail setup
Then press Enter and step through the configuration process.
Restart sendmail by typing
/etc/init.d/mail start
Then press Enter.
Log out of the root account by typing
logout
Then press Enter. The shell window disappears.
To test the setup, try sending mail to other users on systems that are in your own domain and other domains.
NFS is software that lets you access files and directories located on remote systems on the network as if they were located on your local system.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
NIS (Network Information Services) provides a centralized database of information about systems on the network. Your system can take advantage of this service to look up the hostname or IP address of a particular system on the network. Turn on NIS only if your network administrator tells you it is necessary and provides you with an NIS domain name.
To turn on NIS, open the System Manger window if it's not already open (choose System Manager from the System toolchest). Select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “Set Up and Start NIS” in the right-hand column. The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
| Note: If you do not have the NIS software installed, the system displays an error message and exits the “Set Up and Start NIS” guide. You need to purchase NIS and use the Software Manager to install it, then you can restart the “Set Up and Start NIS” guide. |
To turn off NIS, select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “Turn Off NIS” in the right-hand column; follow the steps in the guide that appears. Once you turn off NIS, your system won't be able to use NIS to find information about other systems on the network.
To turn on NFS, open the System Manager window if it's not already open (choose System Manager from the System toolchest). Select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “Set Up and Start NFS” in the right-hand column. The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
| Note: If you do not have the NFS software installed, the system displays an error message and exits the “Set Up and Start NFS” guide. Use the Software Manager to install it; then you can restart the “Set Up and Start NFS” guide. |
Once you've turned on NFS, you can use the “Find Remote Resources” window to locate items available for sharing on the network. You can open this window using one of these methods:
In your toolchest, choose “Desktop > Shared Resources > On a Remote Workstation.”
Choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest, select the Network and Connectivity category, and then click “Find Remote Resources” in the right-hand column.
To turn off NFS, select the Network and Connectivity category and click “Turn Off NFS” in the right-hand column; follow the steps in the guide that appears. Once you turn off NFS, you cannot share files with other users on the network.
You can use the remote resources tools and tasks to determine what remote resources are made available on this workstation. Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
From your local desktop, you can access resources (directories, removable media, and printers) that are available on other systems on the network. For example, if you want to view the job queue for a printer on a remote system, you can use this application.
From the Desktop toolchest, choose Shared Resources > On a Remote Workstation.
The Find Remote Resources panel appears.
Enter the name of the workstation whose resources you want to access in the text field.
The system searches the network for that workstation, and then displays the available resources for it. The resources you can access are:
Directories Double-click a directory icon to launch the Icon View for that directory.
Media Double-click the media icon to launch the Removable Media panel for that media.
Printers Drag the printer icon to your desktop and double-click it to launch the Printer Status panel for that printer.
You can drag any icon that appears in the panel to your desktop for easy access.
For further information, see “The Icon View Window: An Overview,” in the Desktop User's Guide , “Managing Removable Media Devices” in Chapter 3, or “Printer Manager” in Chapter 3.
The Filesystem Manager provides information about all available filesystems (local and remote), the directory on your system where you can access a filesystem (its mount point), and the amount of space (in megabytes) available.
To open the Filesystem Manager, select the Files and Data category or the Network and Connectivity category in the System Manager window and then click “Filesystem Manager.”
You can use the Get Info button to display detailed information about a selected filesystem. Select the name of the filesystem in the Filesystem Manager window and click the Get Info button. A Filesystem Panel appears and displays the type of filesystem, its capacity (in megabytes), its free space (in megabytes), how full it is (percentage), whether or not it is mounted, the space monitoring status, and a couple of related guides that you may want to use.
For details on the Filesystem Manager graphical interface, see “Filesystem Manager Reference”.
The Task menu contains these choices:
“Mount Local” opens the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide, which lets you make a filesystem located on a local hard disk available to your system. This command is equivalent to the Mount Local button.
“Mount Remote” opens the “Mount a Network Filesystem” guide, which lets you access a filesystem located on a remote workstation over the network. This command is equivalent to the Mount Remote button. See “Mount a Network Filesystem” for more information.
“Mount Mac and PC” opens the “Mount a Macintosh or PC Filesystem” guide, which lets you access a remote filesystem located on a Macintosh computer or PC on the network. This command is equivalent to the Mount PC button. See “Mount an AppleShare or NetWare Filesystem” for more information.
“Unmount” opens the “Unmount a Filesystem” guide, which lets you notify the system that you no longer want to access a local or remote filesystem. This command is equivalent to the Unmount button. See “Unmount a Filesystem” for more information.
“Remount” opens the “Remount a Filesystem” guide, which lets you remount a filesystem that has been temporarily unmounted.
“Set Space Monitoring” opens the “Set Filesystem Space Monitoring” guide, which lets you change how the system alerts you when it is running out of filesystem space. See “Set Filesystem Space Monitoring ” in Chapter 6 for more information.
“Create a Striped Logical Volume” opens the “Create a Striped Logical Volume” guide.
“Create an Extendable Logical Volume” opens the “Create an Extendable Logical Volume” guide.
“Extend Logical Volume” opens the “Extend a Logical Volume” guide.
“Remove Logical Volume” opens the “Remove a Logical Volume” guide.
“System Manager” opens the System Manager window, which gives you access to all of the system administration interactive guides.
“Close” closes the Filesystem Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
The Sort menu contains these choices:
“By Name” lets you display the filesystems alphabetically according to their names.
“By Mount Point” lets you display the filesystems alphabetically according to their mount points (the directory located on your system where you access the contents of the filesystem).
The Help menu contains a list of help topics. To view a topic, choose it from that menu.
You can use the “Mount a Network Filesystem” guide to access a remote directory. The guide works only if your system and the other systems you want to access have the NFS software installed and turned on; to check, see “Controlling NFS and NIS”. If you are unfamiliar with NFS, see “About NFS”. If you want to access a NetWare or AppleShare filesystem, see “Mount an AppleShare or NetWare Filesystem”.
If the System Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “System Manager” from the System toolchest. Select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “Mount a Network Filesystem.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
You can use the “Mount a Macintosh or PC Filesystem” guide to access filesystems located on a Macintosh computer or PC on the network. Before you open the guide, check to make sure the following conditions have been met. (You may need to consult your network administrator.)
Your system has the necessary AppleShare (appletalk) or NetWare (netwr_client) software installed.
The system you want to access has the necessary AppleShare and NetWare software installed and is connected to the network.
Your system is connected to a network running either the AppleTalk protocol (for AppleShare) or the ipx protocol (for NetWare).
You have a user login account and password on the system running AppleShare or NetWare that you want to access.
If the System Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “System Manager” from the System toolchest. Select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “Mount a Macintosh or PC Filesystem.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
You can use the “Unmount a Filesystem” guide to unmount a remote directory or filesystem, making it unavailable to all users on the system.
| Note: You cannot use the “Unmount a Filesystem” guide to unmount automounted filesystems. The system automatically unmounts them after they haven't been used for a period of time. |
If the System Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “System Manager” from the System toolchest. Select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “Unmount a Filesystem.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
To mount the filesystem or directory again, see “Remount a Filesystem” or “Mount a Network Filesystem”.
You can use the “Remount a Filesystem” guide to remount a remote directory or filesystem that you temporarily unmounted with the “Unmount a Filesystem” guide.
This guide is available through the Task menu on the Filesystem Manager. From the System Manager, choose Network and Connectivity, and then click the Filesystem Manager. In the Filesystem Manager window, choose Remount from the Task menu.
For more information, see “Filesystem Manager”.
Depending on whether your system and the system whose space you want to access have the optional NFS software installed and turned on (to check, see “Controlling NFS and NIS”), you can use another system's disk space in two ways:
With or without NFS, the Administrator on another workstation on the network can add a login account for you. This lets you access that other workstation and store files in your personal work area on that workstation.
After the login account is created on the other workstation, you can access it by choosing “Access Files” from the Desktop toolchest, and then choosing “By Remote Login” from the rollover menu. Enter the name of the remote workstation, your login name (assigned by the Administrator of the remote workstation), the type of view you want to open (desktop or toolchest), and the directory that you want to access.
With NFS, a user on another system can mark an entire disk directory (filesystem) or a particular directory as public (see “Making Your Disk Space Available to Other Users” in Chapter 4); you can then access that directory from your system's desktop as if it resided on your own system's disk.
You can use “Find Remote Resources” to access the remote directory. For information, see “Accessing a Remote Filesystem Using Automount or Autofs”. You can also use the “Mount a Network Filesystem” guide. For information, see “Mount a Network Filesystem”.
For more information about NFS, see “About NFS”.
If you have NFS installed and turned on (to check, see “Controlling NFS and NIS”), you can access remote directories using either of these two methods:
NFS includes automount and autofs, which let a user drag a public directory onto the desktop for access. It minimizes the traffic on your network, as NFS contacts the other system only when you are actively working in the directory. See “Accessing a Remote Filesystem Using Automount or Autofs”.
With a manual mount, you can select a specific location within your own filesystem from which you want to access the remote directory. See “Mount a Network Filesystem”.
When you no longer need the mount, you can remove the mount point; see “Unmount a Filesystem”.
See also “Accessing an IRIS InSight Document Server” for information on creating a permanent mount point that lets you access online documents that are available on a server system.
For more information, click a topic:
You can use automount (or autofs) only if you have the optional NFS software installed and turned on; to check, see “Controlling NFS and NIS”. If you are unfamiliar with NFS, see “About NFS”.
To place a public directory from another system onto your desktop, follow these steps:
Choose “Shared Resources” from the Desktop toolchest and then choose “On a Remote Workstation” from the rollover menu. The Find Remote Resources window appears. (Or, you can select the Network and Connectivity category in the System Manager and then click “Find Remote Resources.”)
In field at the top of the window, enter the name of the workstation whose resources you want to access. Lists of that workstation's public directories, media, and printers appear.
Drag the directory that you want to use from the Directory column onto your desktop. You can now use the directory just as you use other directories on your system.
Note: If you cannot drag the directory or peripheral onto your desktop, see “Troubleshooting Shared Resources Problems” in Chapter 8. When you no longer need the directory, select it, and choose “Remove” from the Selected toolchest. This removes the directory from your desktop.
Many sites set up a server system that contains online books (and online help) so you can seamlessly access the books as if they resided on your own system. If your site has such a document server, and your system has NFS installed (to check, see “Controlling NFS and NIS”), you can free up some of your own disk space by removing books from your system and setting up your system to access the books from the server.
| Note: When accessing the IRIS InSight library over the network, the online books and help do not work as quickly as they would if they were installed on your own system. |
If you plan to use online help as well as online books, see “About Online Help” before accessing the server. Otherwise, see “Setting Up Access to the Document Server”.
Many of the standard desktop applications provide online help. The content of the help comes directly from the online book for a particular application. For example, when you choose a topic from the Help menu in a Directory View window, the help system reads information from the Desktop User's Guide and displays it in a help window.
The help system finds the correct help for each application using a set of files in the /usr/share/help directory. Because of this dependency, if you plan to use online help, all books that the help system accesses must be installed in the same directory: on your system, on the server system, or on a CD (see “Using a CD as a Read-Only IRIS InSight Document Library” in Chapter 3). For fastest access to the online help, keep all help books installed on your system on a mounted disk (see also “Storing Applications or Support Files on a Second Disk” in Chapter 6).
To find the complete list of books that contain help and are currently installed on your system, follow these steps:
Choose “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
Position your cursor in the shell window and enter
versions | grep books | grep Help
You see the full list of books that contain help.
To close the shell window, enter
logout
You can type this same command on the server system to find the books that contain help.
To set up your system to access the document server, the Administrator of your system should follow these steps:
Contact the Administrator of the document server system or your network administrator for this information:
A list of the books that are available on the server.
The name of the server system.
The full pathname of the directory on the server system (the exported filesystem or directory) that contains the books.
The standard location for this directory is /usr/share/Insight/library/SGI_bookshelves.
The full pathname of the directory on the server that contains the help files.
You need this only if you plan to access books that contain online help (see “About Online Help”). Often this directory is /usr/share/help.
The full pathname of the directory on your system (the local mount point) from which you will access the directory that contains the books, and, if you're using online help, the directory from which you will access the directory on the server that contains the help files.
If the directory on the server that contains the books is /usr/share/Insight/library/SGI_bookshelves, your local mount point will be /usr/share/Insight/library/server_bookshelf. If the directory that contains the help files is /usr/share/help, your local mount point will be /usr/share/help.
Compare the list of books you have installed on your system to the list of books available from the server to make sure the server has the same or newer versions.
If you plan to use online help, find which books on your system and on the server system contain help; see “About Online Help”. All the books that contain help must be installed in the same directory: either on your system or on the server.
On the server system, choose “Online Books” from the Help menu.
In the IRIS InSight viewer window, open each book (by double-clicking it) that you want to access, and check its version number and publication date by choosing “Product Info” from the Help menu.
On your own system, check the version of your books in the same way.
Remove any books that are currently installed on your system that you would rather access from the server.
Start the Software Manager by choosing Software Manager from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager now.
Click the Manage Installed Software button. After several seconds or minutes, the list of installed software appears in the Software Inventory pane.
Choose “Find and Mark” from the Selected menu.
In the Find and Mark window, click in the Find field and enter
books
Click the Search button; once all matches are found, use the Search and Previous buttons to move through the matches, and use the Mark button to mark for removal the books you plan to access from the server.
Click the Help button in the Find and Mark window for more information.
When all appropriate books are marked for removal, click the Close button in the Find and Mark window, then click the Start button in the Software Manager window.
For more information, see “Removing a Product” in Chapter 2.
When all the books have been removed, choose “Quit” from the File menu in the Software Manager window.
Open the “Mount a Network File System” guide by clicking it in the Network and Connectivity category in the System Manager.
In Step 3 of the guide, select “Permanent.”
In Step 4 of the guide, enter the name of the server system in the Remote Workstation field.
In the Remote Filesystem field, enter the name of the directory that contains the books.
In Step 5, enter the directory on your system that you want to use as your local mount point for the books.
In Step 6, give yourself “Read Only” permissions.
In Step 7, apply your settings and quit the guide by clicking the OK button.
Choose “Online Books” from the Help toolchest, and follow the instructions in the IRIS InSight Help menu to open and use the books.
If you have trouble viewing the books, try these techniques:
Make sure the remote directories are mounted correctly by opening the Filesystem Manager (accessible from the Network and Connectivity category in the System Manager) and checking for the remote directories that contain the books and help. If they are not there, try mounting them again.
Physically go to the server system and try to run IRIS InSight from there. If it does not run, there is a problem with the server. If it does run, ask the Administrator of the server system or your network administrator to check the setup on your system.
For alternate ways to access IRIS InSight books, see “Using a CD as a Read-Only IRIS InSight Document Library” in Chapter 3 and “Storing Applications or Support Files on a Second Disk” in Chapter 6.
Each system on a network has a unique hostname and IP address. On an established network, the network administrator creates a master list of all hostnames and IP addresses, and stores it in the /etc/hosts file on the master system.
If you are setting up a new, small network (that is, if you need to build a master list), see “Setting Up a New Ethernet Network”. If you have a host list already but need to add another host or change your machine name, you can use the “Modify Networking” guide; see “Modify Networking Settings”. All hosts that you add using this guide are added to the end of the /etc/hosts file.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The Host Manager provides information about all available hosts—including the names, IP addresses, and aliases (if any)—that you can access through the network.
To open the Host Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category in the System Manager window and then click “Host Manager.”
You can use the Get Info button to display detailed information about a selected host. Just select the name of the filesystem in the Host Manager window and click the Get Info button. A Find Remote Resources Panel appears and displays information about the shared resources available on selected host, including directories, media, and printers.
For details on the Host Manager graphical interface, see “Host Manager Reference”.
The Host Manager Task Menu contains these choices:
“Add Host” opens the “Add a Host Entry” guide, which lets you add a host to the list of those hosts available over the network. This command is equivalent to the Add button. See “Add a Host Entry” for more information.
“Delete Host” opens the “Delete a Host Entry guide, which lets you delete a host from the list of those hosts available over the network. This command is equivalent to the Delete button. See “Delete a Host Entry” for more information.
“Modify Host” opens the “Modify a Host Entry” guide, which lets you modify the attributes of a host available over the network. This command is equivalent to the Modify button. See “Modify a Host Entry” for more information.
“System Manager” launches the System Manager. See “Overview of the System Manager” in Chapter 1 for more information.
“Close” closes the Host Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
In many networked environments, the /etc/hosts file contains the list of hosts (systems) to which you have access over the network. The /etc/hosts file contains the host IP (internet protocol) address (for example, 126.62.20.12), the host's full name (for example, mysystem.sgi.com), and often the host's short name (mysystem). The “Add a Host Entry” guide allows you to add entries to the /etc/hosts file.
To open the guide, choose System Manager from the System toolchest. Then select the Network and Connectivity category and click “Add a Host Entry.”
In some environments, your host file may not contain a complete list of names of the hosts to which you have access, but rather contain a pointer to a network server system. In these cases, the network server contains the full host list, and your system refers to that system when it is looking for a host.
For further information, see “Setting Up a Host List”, “Host Manager”, and the “Add a Host Entry” guide.
The “Modify a Host Entry” guide allows you to modify an existing host entry. The host entries are contained in the /etc/hosts file.
To open the guide, choose System Manager from the System toolchest. Then select the Network and Connectivity category and click “Modify a Host Entry.”
For further information, see “Setting Up a Host List”, “Host Manager”, and “Add a Host Entry”.
The “Delete a Host Entry” guide allows you to delete an existing host entry. The host entries are contained in the /etc/hosts file.
To open the guide, choose System Manager from the System toolchest. Then select the Network and Connectivity category and click “Delete a Host Entry.”
For further information, see “Setting Up a Host List”, “Host Manager”, and “Add a Host Entry”.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lets you communicate with other systems and networks via a high-speed telephone line similar to the way you communicate with other systems and networks via an Ethernet cable. (Once you set up and establish an ISDN connection, you can use the same UNIX commands and IRIX Interactive Desktop tools to log in to other systems and transfer files.)
Several steps are involved in setting up your workstation so it can communicate across an ISDN connection. It may take several weeks to set up the connection, depending on how quickly you can obtain the appropriate hardware and services from your local telephone company.
The following sections step you through the process for setting up ISDN on your system. Once you've set up ISDN, you need to set up a PPP connection in order to establish communication between your local system and a remote system over the ISDN line. See “Setting Up PPP Connections” for instructions.
For information on any additional hardware that you may need to attach to your workstation to establish an ISDN connection, see your system Owner's Guide for details.
For information about establishing connections between your system and remote system over an ISDN line, see “Setting Up PPP Connections”.
The ISDN Manager provides information about all ISDN lines available from your system. To open the ISDN Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category in the System Manager window and then click “ISDN Manager.”
You can perform a number of operations with the ISDN Manager:
| Line Status | This button launches a window that displays the status for the ISDN line. | |
| Confidence Test | This button runs a confidence test to check the ISDN software and hardware. The results are displayed in the Confidence Tests panel. (For details, see the Help in the Confidence Tests panel.) | |
| Set Up | This button launches the “Using ISDN and Other Networks Simultaneously” guide, which allows you to set up and configure an ISDN line. | |
| Get Info | This button launches the ISDN status panel, which displays the status and related information of the selected ISDN line. |
The ISDN Task Menu contains these choices:
“Set Up ISDN” opens the “Set Up ISDN” guide, which lets you add and configure an ISDN line on your system. This command is equivalent to the Configure button. See “Using ISDN and Other Networks Simultaneously” for more information.
“Confidence Test” runs a confidence test to check the ISDN software and hardware. The results are displayed in the Confidence Tests panel. (For details, see the Help in the Confidence Tests panel.)
“ISDN Line Status” launches a window that displays the status for the selected line. This command is equalent to the Line Status button.
“System Manager” launches the System Manager. See “Overview of the System Manager” in Chapter 1 for more information.
“Close” closes the ISDN Manager. This command is equalent to the Close button.
If your system is connected to a standard Ethernet network, and you also want to use ISDN to connect to another network, you must work closely with the administrator of the ISDN network to set up network routing on your workstation.
This typically involves these steps:
Configure gated (the routing daemon you need to use when your system uses two or more networks simultaneously) by editing the /usr/etc/gated.conf file. A sample file appears at the end of these steps.
Turn off routed, turn on gated, and restart networking by logging in as root and typing
/etc/chkconfig routed off /etc/chkconfig gated on /etc/init.d/network stop /etc/init.d/network start
Delete the add_route line from every entry in the /etc/ppp.conf file.
Try the connection.
If you have routing problems (that is, you see an error message that says hostname: Network is unreachable), contact the administrator of the remote system or network.
In the example below, 192.0.1.1 is the IP address of the local system for both its PPP and Ethernet interfaces; 192.0.1 is the local Ethernet network. For more information, see the gated(1M) reference (man) page.
# gated.conf # # gated configuration file for automatic PPP RIP yes supplier HELLO no EGP no # Trace options traceflags internal external # Do not time out the PPP interface. This keeps gated # from timing out if it doesn't hear RIP packets from # the local system. passiveinterfaces 192.0.1.1 # Broadcast this system as a gateway at all times, # even when the PPP link is not active. net 192.0.1.0 gateway 192.0.1.1 metric 1 rip # Do not waste bandwidth by sending RIP packets to # the local system. noripoutinterface 192.0.1.1 |
An ISDN connection is basically a network connection between two systems that transfers information over a high-speed telephone line rather than an Ethernet connection. If you wish to establish an ISDN connection, you must order the PCI-BRI ISDN card from Silicon Graphics (unless you are using an Indy workstation, in which case the hardware and software are part of the system). See the manual or flier that comes with your hardware for installation instructions.
To use ISDN, your situation and location must have these characteristics:
The remote system that you plan to connect to must already be set up to use ISDN; that is, it must already have ISDN hardware, software, and services in place. See also “Requirements for Remote ISDN Systems”.
Your system must be located near a telephone switching office that offers ISDN services, typically, within two to three miles (three to five kilometers) of such an office. See also “Ordering ISDN Services and Hardware”.
You need a telephone jack. If you have a standard jack that supports only one telephone number, your local telephone company can split the jack so it can support both the existing telephone number and a new, dedicated ISDN telephone number.
If you do not have a jack, or you already have two telephone numbers on your existing jack, you can have the telephone company or an electrician install a new telephone wire and jack.
If your situation meets all the prerequisites listed in “Prerequisites for Using ISDN”, you are ready to order your services and hardware.
Contact your telephone company and go through the questions and ordering requests in this section with a person qualified to set up ISDN services.
Make sure your telephone company can provide Basic Rate Interface (BRI) ISDN services to your location. Typically, your system must be within two to three miles (three to five kilometers) of a telephone switching office that offers ISDN.
Tell the telephone company that you want a BRI (not PRI) ISDN connection.
When asked about the B channels and D channel, say this:
You want circuit-switched data on both B channels. You do not want X.25 (also called packet-switched data); you do not want voice or any of the additional voice-related services (such as call hold, consultation hold, 3-way conference, and so on).
You want standard signaling on the D channel. You do not want X.25 (also called packet-switched data) or any additional services.
U.S. customers only: Ask what type of switch hardware and switch software your telephone company uses. It will be one of four types:
5ESS hardware running 5ESS custom software
5ESS hardware running 5ESS National ISDN 1 software (also called NI1 software)
DMS100 hardware running BCS level 31, 32, 33, or 34 (Protocol Version 1) software
DMS100 hardware running BCS level 35 or higher (Protocol Version 2) software (also called DMS100 National ISDN 1 or NI1 software).
The telephone company representative may not know all this information. If this is the case, ask the representative to research both the software and the hardware types.
U.S. customers only: The telephone company representative will request information about your workstation, also called an ISDN terminal, Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), or a Terminal Adapter (TA). The information the telephone company needs depends on the type of switch software the telephone company uses.
Note: Some telephone companies do not require the detail listed here; they automatically assume you have a type D terminal, which provides you with a superset of the services you need. The list below shows the switch software type and the appropriate information.
5ESS custom Terminal type: ENumber of call appearances: NoneDisplay: NoIdle call appearances: NoneAutohold: NoOne touch: NoNo. of circuit-switched data channels: 2EKTS: NoData line class: point-to-point
Note: If you plan to connect more than one device to the ISDN line, your data line class is point-to-multipoint, or just multipoint.
5ESS NI1 Terminal Type: ANumber of call appearances: NoneDisplay: NoIdle call appearances: NoneAutohold: NoOne touch: NoNo. of circuit-switched data channels: 2EKTS: No
DMS100 BCS level 31, 32, 33, or 34 (Protocol Version 1) Dynamic TEI: YesMaximum number of keys: 3Ringing indicator: NoEKTS: No
DMS100 NI1 Dynamic TEI: YesMaximum number of keys: 3Ringing indicator: NoEKTS: No
U.S. customers only: The telephone company may ask these additional questions:
Does the system have automatic or fixed Terminal End Identifier (TEI)? It has automatic TEI.
Is the system functional or stimulus? (This applies only if the telephone company's hardware is DMS100.) It is functional.
Germany customers only: Find out if the telephone company's switch runs 1TR6 or NET3 software.
Ask for your ISDN telephone number(s) and Service Profile Identifier (SPID) number(s). The information the telephone company provides depends on the type of switch software it uses. The list below shows the switch software type and the information you need.
5ESS custom: One telephone number. The telephone company may provide you with a corresponding SPID number; you need to know the SPID number only if you are setting up a point-to-multipoint connection rather than the standard point-to-point connection.
5ESS NI1, DMS100 BCS level 31, 32, 33, or 34 (Protocol Version 1), or DMS100 NI1: Two telephone numbers and two corresponding SPID numbers.
NTT, 1TR6, or NET3 (also known as Euro-ISDN or DSS-1): One telephone number.
Write down your switch software type, the telephone number(s), and, if necessary, the SPID number(s).
This should be enough information for the telephone company to set up your ISDN service. If the company needs more information about your system, see “ISDN Technical Details” for more-detailed technical information.
Before you end your conversation with the telephone company representative, ask if that person can do the following:
Order additional hardware from the telephone company or from a vendor that the telephone company recommends. See “Ordering ISDN Hardware”.
Set up long-distance calling service for the line if you plan to connect to systems that are located outside your area code.
If you live in Japan or Germany, after you've ordered your ISDN services as described in “Ordering ISDN Services”, your local telephone company automatically ships you the additional ISDN hardware you need to connect to a telephone jack.
If you live in the United States, you must explicitly order additional ISDN hardware from your local telephone company or from a vendor that the telephone company recommends. When you order the hardware, make sure it includes all the appropriate cables. The list below itemizes the equipment and cabling you need to connect your workstation to a standard telephone jack.
An NT1 device: This small device (about the size of a standard VHS videotape) converts the standard 2- or 4-wire telephone jack signal (also called a U interface) to an 8-wire ISDN signal (called an S/T interface).
A power supply unit for the NT1 device: This is roughly the same size as the NT1 device; it supplies power from a standard AC outlet to the NT1 device.
A power cable: This connects the power supply unit to the AC outlet. Typically this cable is already connected to the power supply unit.
A short, straight-through RJ-45 cable: This connects the NT1 device to the power supply unit. It is usually included with the power supply unit.
A long, straight-through RJ-11 cable: This is the standard cable that connects a telephone to a standard jack. With an ISDN connection, it connects the power supply or NT1 device to the jack.
A 5- to 7-foot straight-through RJ-45 cable: This 8-wire high-speed cable with RJ-45 connectors on both ends connects the NT1 device to your workstation.
Note: This is not the same type of cable that is used for a 10-Base-T connection. If your telephone company does not supply this cable, you can order it from a number of vendors, including Silicon Graphics and Inmac.
When your hardware arrives and your ISDN services are ready (see “Ordering ISDN Services”), go to “Setting Up ISDN Hardware”.
A wide variety of NT1 devices is available in various countries. This section shows a sample setup that consists of a workstation, a Northern Telecom Meridian NT1 device, a Northern Telecom Meridian power supply unit for the NT1, and a telephone wall jack.
Set up the connection as follows, regardless of the type of NT1 device you have:
The wall jack supplies a standard RJ-11 telephone jack; this is called the U interface.
Connect one end of a standard 4-wire RJ-11 cable to the wall jack (U interface) and connect the other end to the RJ-11 port on the power supply unit (if you have one) or the NT1 device. This port should be labeled with a U.
If you have both a power supply unit and an NT1 device, connect the RJ-11 cable to the wall jack and the U port on the power supply, then connect the short RJ-45 cable to the jacks labeled with a U and a solid and dashed line on both the power supply unit and the NT1 device. Connect the power cable on the power supply unit to a standard AC outlet.
Connect one end of a straight-through 8-wire RJ-45 cable to either of the RJ-45 ports on the NT1 that are labeled S/T. Connect the other end of this cable to the ISDN port on the workstation. (On an Indy, this port is labeled with a telephone symbol.)
When all the hardware is set up, see “Setting Up ISDN Software”.
You need root privileges to set up ISDN software. It involves these three steps:
Install the UUCP, PPP, and ISDN software.
Configure system files for basic ISDN use; see “Setting Up Basic ISDN”.
Build a list of PPP connections with remote ISDN systems and networks that you want to access; see “Setting Up PPP Connections”.
Note: To perform many of the operations described below, you need to know the root password or be logged into the root account.
Before setting up the ISDN software, refer to “Setting Up ISDN Hardware”. To set up basic ISDN, follow these steps:
After the ISDN line is installed, make sure you have:
The type of switch software, for example, DMS100, or NT1. Get this from the telephone company.
The SPID number or numbers. Depending on the type of switch software, you may not be given an SPID number or you may be given one or more SPID numbers. Get this from the telephone company.
For 5ESS point-to-multipoint, you need one SPID number, which you obtained in “Ordering ISDN Services”. DMS100 BCS level 31, 32, 33, or 34 (Protocol Version 1) and DMS100 NI1 have 2 SPID numbers.
A hostname and an IP address for your system. Get this information from the network administrator of the network to which you plan to connect.
Open the “Set Up ISDN” guide and use the information from Step 1 to set up ISDN on your system.
To open the guide, open the System Manager if it isn't already open. Select the Network and Connectivity category in the left-hand column of the System Manager window. In the right-hand column, click “Set Up ISDN”; follow the steps in the interactive guide to complete the configuration. When you are finished, ISDN is up and running.
If you haven't assigned a hostname and IP address to your system or haven't turned on basic networking, do so now using the “Set Up and Start Networking” guide.
If you do not have an Ethernet cable connected to your system (if ISDN is the only type of networking you're using), use the “Modify Network Settings” guide to disable the primary network interface.
On the page headed “Set the state of the primary network interface” in the “Modify Network Settings” guide, select “Disable.” Then go to the end of the guide and click OK.
The basic ISDN software is set up. Go to “Setting Up PPP Connections” for information about setting up a connection between your system and a remote system over an ISDN line; that section includes information how to allow remote systems to access your system over ISDN.
Once you have set up the basic ISDN software (see “Setting Up Basic ISDN”), you can test the connection.
Open the ISDN Manager, if it isn't already open.
Choose System Manager from the System toolchest, select the “Network and Connectivity” category in the left-hand column, and then click “ISDN Manager” in the right-hand column.
Click the Confidence Test button to start the test.
If there is a problem, one or more error messages appear, in which case, see “Troubleshooting the ISDN Connection” in Chapter 8. If there are no error messages, ISDN is working properly.
Open the PPP Manager and double-click the icon for an outgoing connection.
A status panel for the connection appears.
Note: If you haven't created any outgoing PPP connections yet using the “Add an Outgoing PPP Connection,” do so now by following instructions in “Adding a PPP Connection”. Click the Open Connection button in the status panel.
Check the status of the connection (“The connection is CLOSED” or “The connection is OPEN”).
In the ISDN Manager window, click the Line Status button to verify that the remote system has accepted your PPP connection.
A window appear that displays the activity of your ISDN lines.
Choose “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
In the shell window, type
/usr/etc/ping hostname
For example, if the hostname is mars, type
/usr/etc/ping mars
After ten seconds, press Ctrl+C.
If you see a message that reports 0% packet loss, the connection is working. Go to the next step.
If the message reports a large percentage of packet loss, the connection or network routing is not working. See “Troubleshooting the ISDN Connection” in Chapter 8.
Close the connection by clicking the Close Connection button in the PPP Status Panel.
The /etc/hosts file contains a list of all the remote systems that your system can access once the ISDN connection is open. Each line of the file contains an IP address and a hostname. Use the “Add a Host Entry” guide to add a new system (host) to your /etc/hosts file.
For more complete information about some of the hardware and technical specification details of ISDN, click on the appropriate link below:
Your ISDN hardware provides a Basic Rate Interface (BRI) S/T interface. There are two B channels, each capable of transferring up to 64 Kbits/second, and one D channel, capable of transferring 16 Kbits/second. For more information, see “About Transfer Rates”.
The B channels carry the actual data. The hardware supports only data communications (no voice communications). The D channel carries signaling and protocol data only. You cannot transmit user data over the D channel.
A daemon, isdnd, listens on the D channel for incoming calls. It also makes calls on behalf of local applications. Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) is shipped with IRIX and can make ISDN calls and communicate over ISDN B channels. The isdnd daemon also accepts ASI messages from ASI program entities; see the ISDN Release Notes for details.
ISDN supports both PPP and ASI. The implementation of PPP supports these standards:
magic numbers
LCP address and control field compression
LCP protocol field compression
Asynchronous control character map
IP header compression (also called VJ compression)
PAP authentication
CHAP authentication
IP address negotiation
demand dialing
a nonstandard (but not proprietary) multilink protocol
The remote system must use ISDN and either of the following:
IETF PPP
ASI
Although each B channel can transfer 64 Kbits/second, many U.S. and international calls cannot transfer at this rate because the telephone company uses 1 bit out of every 8 to send the data between switch hardware. This makes the actual rate on each B channel 56 Kbits/second.
You can transfer information within the United States at 64 Kbits/second only if both your system and the remote ISDN system use the same physical switch hardware. In most cases, this requires that both systems be located in the same general geographic location (for example, in the same city) and that the calls be placed to each other in the same central switching office.
This section summarizes the configuration files that you edit to set up your ISDN connection.
/etc/config/isdnd.options is an ISDN file in which you specify the switch software type that your telephone company uses.
/etc/uucp/Devices is a UUCP file in which you specify an ISDN line as an available device.
/etc/uucp/Systems is a UUCP file in which you specify the name and telephone numbers of systems to which you will connect via ISDN.
/etc/ppp.conf is a PPP file in which you can customize PPP for each system to which you will connect via ISDN.
/etc/hosts is a networking file in which you specify the hostname, hostname alias, and IP address of each system to which you will connect via ISDN, as well as each system that you will access after establishing an ISDN connection.
/usr/etc/gated.conf is a networking file that controls the behavior of the gated routing daemon. See also “Using ISDN and Other Networks Simultaneously”.
Once you have set up the necessary hardware and software for your system to communicate over a phone line (using a modem) or using ISDN, you need to set up a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) connection between your local system and a remote system.
There are two types of PPP connections: outgoing and incoming. An outgoing PPP connection allows your system to call up and connect to a remote system. An incoming PPP connection allows a remote system to call up and connect to your local system. The System Manager provides guides to set up both types of PPP connections.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The PPP Manager provides access to a number of guides that let you set up, change, and delete PPP Connections. To open the PPP Manager, open the System Manager if it isn't already running. (Choose System Manager from the System toolchest.) Select the Network and Connectivity category and then click “PPP Manager.” (You can also open the individual PPP guides.)
The PPP Manager window displays the name of each PPP connection on the system, whether the connection is incoming or outgoing, and the type of hardware being used for the connection.
You can use the Get Info button to display detailed information about a connection. Select the name of the connection in the PPP Manager window and click Get Info. A PPP Status Panel appears and displays the name of the connection, the type of connection (outgoing or incoming), the hardware being used (ISDN or modem), and the status of the connection (closed or open). The PPP Status Panel also lets you open or close an outgoing connection. See “Changing a PPP Connection” for more information.
The Task menu in the PPP Manager window contains these choices:
“Add Outgoing” opens the “Add an Outgoing PPP Connection” guide, which lets you create an outgoing PPP connection between your workstation and a remote computer. This command is equivalent to the Add Outgoing button. See “Adding a PPP Connection” for information.
“Add Incoming” opens the “Add an Incoming PPP Connection” guide, which lets you create an incoming PPP connection between a remote computer and your workstation. This command is equivalent to the Add Incoming button. See “Adding a PPP Connection” for information.
“Delete” opens the “Delete a PPP Connection” guide, which lets you remove an incoming or outgoing PPP connection from your system. This command is equivalent to the Delete button. See “Removing a PPP Connection” for information.
“Modify” opens the “Modify an Incoming PPP Connection” guide or the “Modify an Outgoing PPP Connection” guide, depending on the type of connection you select. These guides let you make changes to an existing connection. This command is equivalent to the Modify button. See “Changing a PPP Connection” for information.
“System Manager” opens the System Manager window, which gives you access to all of the system administration interactive guides.
“Close” closes the PPP Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
The Sort menu contains these choices:
“By Name” lists the connections alphabetically by their names.
“By Type” lists the connections according to their type (incoming or outgoing).
“By Hardware” lists the connections according to the hardware being used (ISDN or modem).
The Help menu contains a list of help topics. To view a topic, choose it from this menu.
You need to create a PPP connection for each remote computer with which you want to communicate. You can create as many PPP connections as you need. You can even create more than one connection with a particular remote computer. For example, you may want to create an outgoing connection using a modem and one using ISDN.
To create a PPP connection, use the “Add an Incoming PPP Connection” or the “Add an Outgoing PPP Connection” guide, depending on the type of connection you want to set up.
You can open these guides using one of these methods:
Open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, and click the name of the guide that you want to open.
Open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, click “PPP Manager,” and then click the Add Outgoing or the Add Incoming button. (You can also choose “Add Incoming” or “Add Outgoing” from the Task menu.
For further details, see “PPP Manager”.
You can make changes to an existing PPP connection using the “Modify an Incoming PPP Connection” and “Modify an Outgoing PPP Connection” guides.
You can open these guides using one of these methods:
Open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, and click the name of the guide that you want to open.
Open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, click “PPP Manager,” select the connection you want to change, and then click the Modify button. (You can also select the connection and choose “Modify” from the Task menu.)
For further details, see “PPP Manager”.
You can remove an existing PPP connection from your system using the “Delete a PPP Connection” guide.
You can open this guide using one of these methods:
Open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, and click “Delete a PPP Connection.”
Open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, click “PPP Manager,” select the connection you want to remove, and then click the Delete button. (You can also select the connection and choose “Delete” from the Task menu.)
For further details, see “PPP Manager”.
When you open a PPP connection, you are placing a telephone call from your system to another system. The telephone company charges you by the minute as long as the connection is open, regardless of whether you are actively transferring files or are logged in to a remote system. Be sure to close the connection when you are not using it (see “Closing a PPP Connection”).
| Note: You need the root password or the necessary privileges to open a PPP connection. |
To open a connection, follow these steps:
Open the PPP Manager.
Select the Network and Connectivity category in the left-hand column of the System Manager window. In the right-hand column, click PPP Manager.
In the list of PPP connections that appears, double-click the connection you want to open.
In the PPP Status Panel that appears, click the Start Connection button.
The status line informs you that the connection is open.
To close the connection, click the Close Connection button.
The status line informs you that the connection is closed.
Note: Be sure to close the connection when you are not using it. As long as the connection is open, the telephone company charges you just as it does for a standard telephone call.
Once the PPP connection is open, you can log in to the following:
The remote system to which you are connected
Any remote system that's on the same network as the system to which you connected and whose hostname and IP address appear in your /etc/hosts file
To log in to a remote system, follow these steps:
Choose “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
Log in to the remote system using either the rlogin command or the telnet command.
To use rlogin, type
rlogin remote hostname -l your login name
You are logged in when you see the remote system's prompt. For more information, see the rlogin(1C) reference (man) page.
If you do not see the prompt after several seconds, press Ctrl+C.
Then see “Troubleshooting the ISDN Connection” in Chapter 8.
To use telnet, type
telnet remote hostname
The remote system responds with a login prompt. Type your login name and, if requested, your password. For more information, see the telnet(1C) reference (man) page.
If you do not see the prompt after several seconds, press Ctrl+C.
Then see “Troubleshooting the ISDN Connection” in Chapter 8.
To log out of a remote system, type
logout
When you are finished using the remote system, you may want to close your connection; see “Closing a PPP Connection”.
To close a connection, follow these steps:
Open the PPP Manager.
Double-click the name of the connection that you want to close.
You can also select the connection and click the Get Info button.
Click the Close Connection button in the PPP Status Panel.
The PPP Status Panel changes the status of the connection to “Closed.”