2. Functional Overview

Introduction

This chapter presents a functional overview of the TCPware components. It addresses questions you may have, such as what you use to:

·         Access to network filesystems as if they were local filesystems

·         Transfer (copy) files over the network

·         Print network files

·         Log in to and perform commands on a remote system

·         Send or receive mail or message over the network

·         Access to network magnetic tape or CD-ROM drives

·         Dynamically configure network hosts and find network information

·         Control network activity

·         Synchronize clocks across the network

·         Secure resources on the network

·         Tunnel external protocol applications over IP

·         Program network interfaces

For more details on each subject, we provide you with references to the appropriate section of this documentation set at the end of this chapter.

 


 

Remote Filesystem Access

You can access remote filesystems as if they were your own, using NFS.

This component...

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NFS client

On a TCP/IP network, transparently access filesystems on remote servers so that they appear as resident filesystems in OpenVMS.

To access remote filesystems, run the NFS client.  You must have authorization to access them.

simply use the filesystems as if they were on your local system.  No special commands are required.

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 13, Managing NFS Client.

NFS server

Provide a service so that remote system users can access your local OpenVMS filesystems as if they were their own.

For remote systems users to access OpenVMS files on your system, run the NFS server.  The remote user must have authorization to access your local filesystems.

 

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 14, Managing NFS Server.

 

Transferring Files

You can transfer files to or from your OpenVMS system using FTP (which includes the RCP feature) or TFTP.

This component...

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FTP

Copy, get, and put files to and from remote systems using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).  TCPware provides both the client function so that local users can transfer files to and from remote systems, and the server function so that remote users can transfer files from your local system.

 

The remote system must support FTP.

 

As a user, see the User’s Guide, Chapter 3, FTP: Transferring Files.

 

As a system manager, see the Management Guide, Chapter 12, Managing FTP.

 

As a system programmer, see the Programmer’s Guide, Chapter 7, FTP Library.

RCP

Use a UNIX-like command to copy files to and from remote systems right on the system command line.

 

TCPware also provides the RCP server so that remote users can copy files to or from your system.

The server must support equivalents of the UNIX shell and exec services.  You must register the other hosts in your HOSTS.EQUIV or .RHOSTS files.

 

As a user, see the User’s Guide, Chapter 7, RCP: Copying Files.

 

As a system manager, see the Management Guide, Chapter 16, Managing R Commands.

TFTP

Transfer files to and from remote systems.  Because TFTP is more primitive than FTP, you can mainly use TFTP to allow remote diskless systems to read bootstrap images over the network.

The remote system must support TFTP.

 

As a user, see the User’s Guide, Chapter 13, TFTP: Trivial File Transfers.

 

As a system manager, see the Management Guide, Chapter 16, Managing R Commands.

 

Printing Files

You can print files over the network using the Line Printer Services or Terminal Server Print Services.

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Line Printer Services

Send files to, remove jobs from, and display the status of remote print queues using UNIX-like commands.  Line Printer Services also provides a server so that remote users can access local print queues.

to define the remote printers during installation.

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 5, Networking Printing.

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 15, Managing Print Services.

Terminal Server Print Services

If you are on a TCP/IP network, send files to printers connected to remote terminal servers.

Use the regular PRINT/QUEUE commands.

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 5, Network Printing.

see the Management Guide, Chapter 15, Managing Print Services, the Terminal Server Print Services section.

 

Logging In to Remote Hosts

You can log in to and execute commands on remote hosts using the RLOGIN or RSH features of TCPware.

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RLOGIN

Use a UNIX-like command to log in to a remote host.

 

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 8, RLOGIN: Logging In to a Remote Host.

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 16, Managing R Commands.

RSH

Use a UNIX-like command to execute a single command on a remote host without logging in.

 

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 9, RSH: Issuing Commands on the Remote Host.

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 16, Managing R Commands.

TELNET-OpenVMS

Initiate virtual terminal connections to remote hosts using the TELNET protocol.  You can open multiple remote sessions.  TCPware also provides a server function so that remote users can make virtual terminal connections to the OpenVMS host.

see the Programmer’s Guide,
Chapter 9, TELNET Library.

see the User’s Guide,
Chapter 12, TELNET: Connecting to Remote Terminals.

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 18, Managing TELNET Server.

 

 

Transferring Mail and Exchanging Messages

You can send and receive mail over the network using the TCPware SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 components.

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SMTP

On a TCP/IP network, send and receive mail over the network using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).  TCPware provides both an SMTP client and a server.

The remote system must support SMTP.

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 10, SMTP: Transferring Mail.

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 17, Managing Mail Services.

IMAP Server

Provide a service so that remote PCs can access mail in VMS MAIL mailboxes using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) Server.

The remote system must support the IMAP protocol.

 

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 17, Managing Mail Services, the IMAP Server section.

POP3 Server

Provide a service so that remote PCs can retrieve mail in VMS MAIL in-boxes using the Post Office Protocol (POP3) Server.

The remote system must support the POP3 protocol.

 

see the Management Guide,
Chapter 17, Managing Mail Services, the POP3 Server section.

TALK Utility

Exchange "real time" messages with another host on the local or remote network.  Display simultaneously sent and received messages on a split screen.

The remote system must support the talk protocol.

see the User’s Guide,
Chapter 11, TALK: Exchanging Terminal Messages.

 

 

 

Accessing Network Drives

You can access remote tape or CD-ROM drives, or provide access locally to remote users by using the TCPware RMT and RCD components.

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RMT Client

Use OpenVMS commands such as BACKUP, MOUNT, COPY, and EXCHANGE on remote backup tape drives.

a pseudo-device on your OpenVMS system using the command RMTSETUP. The remote system must support the RMT protocol.

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 6, RCD and RMT: Remote CD-ROMs and Tapes.

 

RCD Client

Use OpenVMS commands such as BACKUP, MOUNT, COPY, and EXCHANGE on remote CD-ROM drives.

a pseudo-device on your OpenVMS system using the command RMTSETUP.  The remote system must support the RMT protocol.

see the User’s Guide, Chapter 6, RCD and RMT: Remote CD-ROMs and Tapes.

 

RMT Service

Provide a service so that remote clients can use the rdump or rrestore UNIX utilities to access a magnetic tape on your system.

the Berkeley R Commands for RMT services.  The remote system must support the RMT protocol.

 

see the Management Guide,
 Chapter 16, Managing R Commands.

 

 

Configuring Hosts

TCPware provides various components and features with which you can configure network hosts, as listed below.

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DHCP/BOOTP

Assign IP addresses and provide configuration data to hosts over the network.

see the Management Guide, Chapter 2, DHCP/BOOTP Server.

Domain Name Services

Obtain information such as host Internet addresses and names by connecting to a distributed database.

see the Management Guide, Chapter 3, Domain Name Services.

Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

Configure the network to send IP datagrams over serial links, including DECnet or modern connections.

See the Management Guide, Chapter 5, Serial Link Interfaces: PPP and SLIP.

Serial Line IP (SLIP) Protocol

Further configure the network to send IP datagrams over serial links.

 

 

 

Controlling Network Functions

You can perform network management functions and test networks by using the TCPware features listed below.

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Network Control Utility (NETCU)

NETCU is the utility program system managers and user use to configure and control network activity.

see the NETCU Command Reference.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Services

Obtain timely information about network activities of OpenVMS server hosts, such as routing, line status, volume of traffic, and error conditions.  SNMP supports the MIB-I and MIB-II Management Information bases, as well as SNMP Multiplexing (SMUX) and SNMP Agent eXtensibility (AGENTX).

see the Management Guide, Chapter 7, Managing SNMP Services.

 

see the Programmer’s Guide, Chapter 10, SNMP Extendible Agent API Routines.

 

 

Synchronizing Time Clocks

TCPware provides the network time synchronization components listed below.

This component...

On a TCP/IP network, allows you to...

As a system manager, see the Management Guide,

Network Time Protocol

 synchronize your system clock with an Internet Time Server.

 Chapter 10, Network Time Protocol (NTP).

TIMED

use the Time Synchronization Protocol (TSP) and the timed service to synchronize the clocks of LAN hosts.

Chapter 11, TIMED.

 

 

Using Network Testing Tools

TCPware provides various network testing tools, and utilities and services with which you can obtain network information, as listed below.

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FINGER

Extract user information from a remote user information program.

 

See the Management Guide, Chapter 30, Network Testing Tools.

IDENT

Determine the user associated with a connection.

 

See the Management Guide, Chapter 30, Network Testing Tools.

NSLOOKUP

Extract information about network hosts from the Domain Name Systems.

 

See the Management Guide, Chapter 30, Network Testing Tools.

PING

Find out if a host is up and if you can reach it.

 

See the Management Guide, Chapter 30, Network Testing Tools.

TCPDUMP Utility

Track TCP packets by printing information in packet headers.

 

See the Management Guide, Chapter 30, Network Testing Tools.

TRACEROUTE

Trace the path of an IP packet to an internet host.

 

See the Management Guide, Chapter 30, Network Testing Tools.

WHOIS

Query the Network Information Center (NIC) username directory services to obtain usernames.

See the User’s Guide,
Chapter 15, WHOIS: Username Directory Services.

 

 

TCPware also provides other useful testing utilities and services, including CHARGEND, DAYTIMED, DISCARD, ECHOD, NETCU DEBUG, QUOTED, and TIME. See the Management Guide, Chapter 29, Network Testing Tools, for details.

 

Securing Resources

You can secure resources on the network using the TCPware features described below.

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Allows you to...

As a system manager, see the Management Guide,

As a user, see the User’s Guide,

Incoming Access Restrictions

Restrict the hosts and networks that can access the services the master server activates.

Chapter 20, Access Restrictions.

 

Outgoing Access Restrictions

Restrict requests for remote services to specific users and ports.

Chapter 20, Access Restrictions.

 

Packet Filtering

Restrict the datagrams a network interface can receive by protocol, source and destination address, or destination port.  Use convenient NETCU commands.

Chapter 21, Packet Filtering.

 

IP Security Option (IPSO)

Provide IP datagram protection using the IP Security Option (IPSO) protocol.

Chapter 24, IP Security Option (IPSO).

 

Secure Shell (SSH)

Configure and maintain the TCPware Secure Shell (SSH) server. This is the server side of the software that allows secure interactive connections to other computers in the manner of rlogin/rshell/telnet.

Chapter 25, Configuring the Secure Shell (SSH) Server.

Chapter 16,  Accessing Remote Systems with the Secure Shell (SSH) Utilities

 

 

Tunneling External Applications over IP

You can tunnel DECnet applications over IP networks if you are using DECnet Phase IV. A connection established between two systems running different protocols is known as a tunnel.

This component...

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As a system manager, see the Management Guide,

Tunneling DECnet over IP (for DECnet Phase IV)

Connect two DECnet networks over an IP link.

 

Use with DECnet Phase IV only.  There is no need to use this feature with DECnet/OSI (DECnet Phase V).

Chapter 27, Tunneling DECnet over IP.

 

 

Programming Network Interfaces

If you are a network programmer, you can perform programming functions using the programming interfaces discussed in the Programmer's Guide.

This component...

Allows you to...

As a system programmer, see the Programmer’s Guide,

FTP Library

Use a programming interface to the FTP protocol.  Use the FTP library routines in your own applications to provide FTP capabilities.

Chapter 7, FTP Library.

Socket Library

Use either the HP C Socket Library (for OpenVMS Version 5.3 and later) or the TCPware Socket Library (for earlier versions or if you are using the Remote Procedure Call routines).

Chapter 8, Socket Library.

TELNET Library

Use a programming interface to the TELNET protocol.  Use the TELNET library routines in your own applications to provide TELNET capabilities.

Chapter 9, TELNET Library.

UCX Compatibility Services

Use the BGDRIVER $QIO programming interface for compatibility with HP’s TCP/IP Services (formerly UCX) product.

Chapter 2, UCX Compatibility Services.

QIO Programming Interfaces

Use $QIO programming interfaces to TCP/IP.  These include the BGDRIVER, TCPDRIVER, UDPDRIVER, IPDRIVER, and INETDRIVER interfaces.

Chapter 10, SNMP Extendible Agent API Routines.

SNMP Extendible Agent Application Programming Interface (API) Routines

Use API routines required for an application program to export private Management Information Bases (MIBx) using the TCPware SNMP agent.

Chapter 10, SNMP Extendible Agent AAPI Routines.