GNET(1) XR32 REFERENCE MANUAL 24/1/2013
COMMAND
GNET -- Display / Set GNET parameters.
SYNOPSIS
G[net] A[ddress] [addr]
G[net] R[oute] A[dd] <gnetaddr>[/bits] <nodecall>
G[net] R[oute] D[rop] <gnetaddr> <bits>
G[net] R[oute] L[ist]
G[net] T[tl] [1-255]
AVAILABILITY
Sysops-only.
DESCRIPTION
The GNET commands allow sysops to display and set the GNET
parameters such as address and routing.
GNET is an experimental global network, which uses ip-like
addressing and routing to tunnel traffic across the NetRom
network, unrestricted by NetRom horizons.
Not only does GNET offer global routing between all users,
but it also offers up to 65536 possible session types
between those users.
OPTIONS
"GNET ADDRESS" is used to display or set the XR32's GNET
address. See NOTES below for details of address format.
The GNET address defaults to 0.0.0.0 which disables all GNET
activity.
"GNET ROUTE ADD" is used to add a route to the GNET routing
table. The first argument is the address to be routed, with
optional mask. e.g. 131.90.1.2/32 means "match all 32 bits",
whereas 131.90.1.0/24 means "match the most significant 24
bits", and would route all 256 addresses from 131.90.1.0 to
131.90.1.255. The second argument <nodecall>, is the NetRom
callsign of the GNET gateway to which the addresses should
be routed.
"GNET ROUTE DROP" removes a routing entry from the GNET
routes table. The arguments are the GNET address and mask.
"GNET ROUTE LIST" lists all the GNET routes in the table.
"GNET TTL" sets the "Time To Live", i.e. the maximum number
of hops a packet is allowed to make. A low TTL helps to
suppress bouncing packets in the event of a routing loop.
The default is 25
EXAMPLES
GNET ADDR 147.22.14.2
GNET ROUTE ADD 131.91.2.0/24 G8PZT
GNET ROUTE DROP 131.91.2.0 24
GNET TTL 15
FILES
There is no provision in XROUTER.CFG for spcifying the GNET
address and routing, but this can be achieved by using the
GNET commands in BOOTCMDS.SYS.
NOTES
GNET addressing is based on numeric country and region codes
and the addresses look like IP addresses, although this
protocol does not involve IP at all.
Addresses are of the form <country>.<region>.<router>.<user>
allowing up to 255 countries, 255 regions per country, 255
routers per region and 255 users per router. But this is not
rigid; Each country may assign the regions as it sees fit.
Country codes are the same as the ones used for amprnet,
e.g. 131 is the UK, 147 is New Zealand etc. Region codes can
be the same as the amprnet regions. Router codes can be
assigned by local agreement, and user codes are assigned by
the router sysops.
HISTORY
GNET was invented in 2002 by G8PZT, and was implemented in
XRouter. The development name adopted for the system was
"GlobalNet", because it was a global networking system!
However, it later transpired that the name was being used
by an ISP, so the shorter name "GNET" (pronounced "jee-net")
was adopted to avoid confusion.
The system showed great promise, but never took off because
there was no sysop documentation, and interest in DOS
XRouter was waning as more people wanted to run their
systems on Windows. The author's attention turned to more
urgent matters, and no more development was done. There was
so much more that could have been done.
The GNET protocol and commands were included when XRouter
was ported from DOS to Windows to create XR32. Development
may resume in future. In the meantime, sysops are encouraged
to experiment with this mode.
LIMITATIONS
There is currently no mechanism for resolving user callsigns
to GNET addresses. This is a vital part of the system, which
will be the next component to be added.
CAVEATS
GNET relies on the NetRom network to provide links between
its gateways. In order to route GNET traffic to a gateway,
it must be present in your node table
SEE ALSO
GPING(1) -- Send GNET Echo Requests
IPCODES(9) -- IP Country Codes
GNET(1) END OF DOCUMENT
|