.TH NODE 8 "26 April 1997" Linux "Linux System Managers Manual"
.SH NAME
node \- Node front end for AX.25, NET/ROM, Rose and TCP
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B node
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
.B Node
is a simple node front end, modelled after the node shells of TheNet
and G8BPQ nodes.
.SH COMMANDS
The following commands are supported for users of
.B node:
.TP 14
.BI ?
Give short list of available commands.
.TP 14
.BI Bye
Disconnect user from the node.
.TP 14
.BI "Connect <port> <call> [via <call1> ...] [d|s]  For AX.25"
.TP 14
.BI "Connect <call | alias> [d|s]                   For NET/ROM"
.TP 14
.BI "Connect <call> <address> [<digi>] [d|s]        For ROSE"
.sp 1
Initiate an AX.25, NET/ROM or ROSE connection to a remote host.
If only one argument is supplied then the connection is assumed to be a
NET/ROM connection and the argument specifies the callsign of alias of a
NET/ROM node. If more than one argument is supplied and the second parameter
is composed of numeric characters only then the connection is assumed to be
a ROSE connection. Any other combination is assumed to be an AX.25 connection
with the first argument being the AX25 port to use for the connection.
.sp
For a ROSE connection the <address> part must be exactly six or ten digits.
If only six digits are supplied, the DNIC (first four digits) default to the
local DNIC. The local DNIC is assumed to be that of the first configured
Rose port in /etc/ax25/rsports.
.sp
The user may optionally supply as the last argument a single character
which modifies the default behaviour on disconnection of the connection.
If a single `s' is entered as the last argument, then when the remote host
disconnects you will be returned to this node. If a single `d' is entered as
the last argument, you will be disconnected from this node too. The Default
behaviour (neither `s' nor `d' entered) is configured in the node configuration
file and depends on the sysop preference.
.TP 14
.BI "CAllbook <call>[@<server>]"
Retrieve data about a callsign from an internet-accessible
callbook server. The server name can usually be omitted, since
the default server configured by the operator is usually
valid. The default setting can be overridden by specifying
a host name.
.TP 14
.BI "Escape [<escape string>]"
Override the sysop configured default escape character setting. If the Escape
command is given without an argument then the current escape character setting
is returned to the user. The escape string may be specified using any of the
well known codings:
.IP
.BI "<char>"
to enter the escape character in its binary form.
.IP
.BI "^C"
to enter the escape character as a control character value.
.IP
.BI "NNN"
to set the escape character to a Decimal value.
.IP
.BI "0xNN"
to set the escape character to a HexaDecimal value.
.IP
.BI "0NNN"
to set the escape character to an Octal value.
.IP
.BI "off"
to disable the escape character.
.TP 14
.BI "Finger [<username>][@<hostname>]"
Retrieve information about users of a system. If the user
name is omitted, shows the users currently logged on the
host. If the hostname is omitted, defaults to the local host.
.TP 14
.BI "Help [<command>]"
Give help for the specified command or this text if no
command is specified. Commands can not be abbreviated.
Use the "?" command to retrieve a list of available commands.
.TP 14
.BI "HOst <hostname> | <ip address>"
Give the Domain Name Service host name information about <hostname> or
<ip address>.
.TP 14
.BI Info
Display the version information and the contents of the
/etc/ax25/node.info file, which should describe any aspects
of your system that you would like to brag about.
.TP 14
.BI "Links [* | <call>]"
Give a list of active AX.25 connections to and from the local host.
With an optional argument * list also AX.25 sockets in state listening.
A callsign as argument gives a list of all connections with <call> as
source or destination address.
.TP 14
.BI "Mheard <portname>"
Give a list of heard AX.25 stations on the specified port.
.TP 14
.BI "Nodes [* | <node>]"
Show the NET/ROM node table of the local host. The nodes on this
list can be reached using the Connect command without knowing the
actual network path used (assuming the network is OK).
.sp
The optional argument '*' toggles verbose mode, showing the
Obsolescence counter, relative path quality and the port and
neighbour node used to reach each node. You can also specify
a node callsign to get the verbose information for a single node.
In that case a "which" field that tells what route the kernel
will use to reach the node is also shown.
.TP 14
.BI Ports
Show the available AX.25 ports. Shown are the port name and a short
description for the port. The port name is used when using the Connect
command to connect to an user or service not running NET/ROM (eg. not
visible in the Nodes list).
.TP 14
.BI "PIng <host> [<size>]"
Check if a host can be reached trough the network by sending
an ICMP Echo Request packet to the host and waiting for it to
reply. If a reply is received the round-trip-time (RTT)
between the local and remote hosts is shown.
.sp
If an optional length is specified the data portion of the
packet is filled with length number of bytes.
.TP 14
.BI Routes
Show the NET/ROM neighbour table of the local host (ie. the nodes
which the local node directly talks with). These nodes are used
to reach the other nodes on the node table.
.TP 14
.BI Status
Give some more or less useful information about the system.
.TP 14
.BI "Telnet <host> [<port>] [<string>] [d|s]"
Initiate a telnet session to a remote host using TCP/IP.
By default, the telnet command connects to the TCP port 23
(allocated for telnet). You can specify another TCP port or
a TCP port name.
.sp
If an optional third argument <string> is given, that string, followed
by a CRLF is sent to the remote host right after the connection is
established. This is mainly useful for command aliases.
.sp
If a single `s' is entered as the last parameter, then when
the remote host disconnects you will be returned to this node.
If a single `d' is entered as the last parameter, you will
be disconnected from this node too. Default behaviour (neither
`s' nor `d' entered) depends on sysop configuration.
.TP 14
.BI "TAlk <user> <message>"
Send a message to another user of the node. The user
in question must be in idle state (ie. not connected/connecting
anywhere or running a program).
.sp
If the user has an SSID other than zero, the SSID must be
specified. If multiple users are logged in with the same
callsign/SSID pair, those who are in idle state, get the message.
.TP 14
.BI Users
Show a list of users currently connected to the local node,
where the users are coming from, and what are they doing at the
moment.
.SH FILES
.LP
.TP 5 
.B /etc/ax25/node.conf
LinuxNode configuration file.
.br
.TP 5
.B /etc/ax25/node.perms
LinuxNode permissions file.
.br
.TP 5
.B /etc/ax25/node.motd
LinuxNode message of the day file.
.br
.TP 5 
.B /etc/ax25/node.info
The response to the 'info' command.  
This file should be edited to reflect the local configuration.
.br
.TP 5 
.B /var/ax25/node/loggedin
Database of current users.
.br
.TP 5
.B /var/ax25/mheard/mheard.dat
Information about AX.25 stations heard.
.br
.TP 5 
.B /usr/lib/ax25/node/help/*.hlp
The online help files.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR node.conf (5),
.BR node.perms (5),
.BR axports (5),
.BR ax25d (8),
.BR mheardd (8).
.SH AUTHOR
Tomi Manninen OH2BNS <tpmannin@cc.hut.fi>
.br
Alan Cox GW4PTS <gw4pts@gw4pts.ampr.org>