Transcript Survival of the Fittest DECnet in an IP

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
DECnet in an IP-only World
John Marshall
Riverwillow Pty Ltd
What Problem Are We
Trying to Fix?



Company relies upon DECnet for Client/Server
and Peer-to-Peer Applications across its WAN
Addition of IP systems and applications means
that the company either has multiple WAN circuits
or runs multi-protocol WAN circuits
Management wants to reduce network costs and
standardize on an IP-only WAN
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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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What Happens to Our
DECnet Applications?

Re-write to use IP protocols?
–
Can you find the source code? the programmer?
Replace (all) with IP-capable applications?
 Centralize all DECnet hosts onto a single
LAN?
 Configure DECnet to use the IP transport?

–
No need to touch applications!
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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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DECnet Is…?

DECnet-Plus
–
–
–
DECnet Transport
OSI Transport
IP Transport
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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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DECnet Is…?
DECnet
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Application Layer
Presentation Layer
Session Layer
Transport Layer
Transport Layer
Network Layer
Network Layer
Data Link Layer Data Link Layer
Physical Layer
Physical Layer
John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
IP
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DECnet Session Control
Applications
FAL
(17)
 MAIL
(27)
 PHONE (29)
 NOTES (33)
 CTERM (42)
 …and others
 All still work!

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What Do We Need?
DECnet-Plus
 TCP/IP Services (Compaq or other vendor)

–

Must include PWIP driver
(Examples in following slides use:)
–
–
–
OpenVMS VAX V7.1
DECnet-Plus V7.1 ECO 6
UCX V4.2 ECO 4
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How Do We Get Started?

SYS$MANAGER:UCX$CONFIG.COM
–
[4] Optional Components
•

Configure PWIP Driver (for DECnet-Plus and PATHWORKS)
SYS$MANAGER:NET$CONFIGURE.COM
–
[2] Change Naming Information
•
•
–
Include DOMAIN Directory Service
Supply IP FQDN and Address
[4] Configure Transports
•
Configure OSI Transport
–
–
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Run OSI Applications over TCP/IP
Run DECnet over TCP/IP
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How Do We Make It
Transparent?
Resolve Addresses from Simple Names
 Resolve Addresses to Simple Names
 Add new UAF PROXY records

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DECnet Name Resolution

Common Directory Interface (CDI)
–
Interface between DECnet Session Control and
any configured Directory Services
•
•
•
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DECdns
LOCAL
DOMAIN
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DECdns Directory Service

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DEC Distributed Name Service
DECnet and OSI Name/Address/Synonym
Implemented via DECdns Servers
Maintained via DECNET_REGISTER.EXE
Full Name:
DECUSOZ:.syd.vms01
Node Synonym:
VMS01
DECnet Address:
62.606
•
•
•
27 March 2001
$ type DECUSOZ:.syd.vms01::PUBLIC:fred.txt
$ type VMS01::PUBLIC:fred.txt
$ type 62.606::PUBLIC:fred.txt
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LOCAL Directory Service
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LOCAL Name Service
DECnet and OSI Name/Address/Synonym
Implemented via per-node/cluster database
Maintained via DECNET_REGISTER.EXE
Full Name:
LOCAL:.vms01
Node Synonym
VMS01
DECnet Address:
62.606
•
•
•
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$ type LOCAL:.vms01::PUBLIC:fred.txt
$ type VMS01::PUBLIC:fred.txt
$ type 62.606::PUBLIC:fred.txt
John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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DOMAIN Directory
Service
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Internet Name Service (DNS/BIND)
Internet Name/Address
Implemented via DNS Servers/Local Host Files
Maintained via UCX or text editors (edt/tpu/vi)
Full Name:
DOMAIN:.vms01.syd.decusoz.com
IP Address:
123.123.4.51
•
•
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$ type DOMAIN:.vms01.syd.decusoz.com::PUBLIC:fred.txt
$ type 123.123.4.51::PUBLIC:fred.txt
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CDI Search Path Templates
Allow us to query directory services using
simple names
 Session Control

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CDI Search Path Templates

Applying
–

to the template
–
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“vms01”
“LOCAL:.*”
Will lookup “LOCAL:.vms01” and return
DECnet address 62.606
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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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CDI Search Path Templates
(DOMAIN)

Applying
–

to the template
–

“vms01”
“*.syd.decusoz.com”
Will lookup “vms01.syd.decusoz.com” and
return IP address 123.123.4.51
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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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CDI Search Path Templates
DOMAIN (Reverse) Lookup of
123.123.104.52
 Results in “vms02.mel.decusoz.com”
 If we have the DOMAIN template
“*.mel.decusoz.com” in the CDI Search
Path, CDI will return the simple name
“vms02” to DECnet

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CDI Search Path Templates
Default DOMAIN templates supplied by
NET$CONFIGURE will include the DNS
domain of the local host
 Custom templates can be added via
NET$SEARCHPATH_LOCAL.NCL
(in SYS$MANAGER)

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CDI Search Path Templates

With valid CDI Search Path templates…
–
–
–
$ type vms01::PUBLIC:fred.txt
Will return a network address from the
directory service with the first match
Will connect to DECnet on the remote node via
the corresponding transport
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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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IP Local Host File


If a node is defined in the IP Local Host file with a
simple-name alias, CDI will use the simple name
even if there is no corresponding DOMAIN
template mask
UCX> set host vms02.mel.decusoz.com –
/address=123.123.104.52 –
/alias=vms02
Useful if your network does not have a DNS
server or if you have DECnet systems in many
different IP subdomains
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If DOMAIN Directory
Service is Not Configured

Connection is still possible but via IP
address only
No DOMAIN Directory Service
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How Do We Make It
Transparent?
Resolve Addresses from Simple Names
 Resolve Addresses to Simple Names
 Add new UAF PROXY records

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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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UAF PROXY Records

Specify the Full Name of the Remote Host
–
UAF> add/proxy –
vms02.mel.decusoz.com::john john/default
Incoming connections do not use cluster
alias IP address
 Need to add PROXY entries for individual
nodes in remote cluster

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John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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Can DECnet Applications
Tell the Difference?
No
 Unless you are not resolving to simple
names
 Or unless you explicitly test
SYS$REM_NODE_FULLNAME

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Can I Tell the Difference?

If you’re keen!
Transport Discovery 1
Transport Discovery 2
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What Tools Do We Have?
CDI$TRACE.EXE
CDI Trace
 DECNET_REGISTER.EXE
DECnet Register
 NCL
 DCL
 UCX

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What are the Obstacles?
Fear of DECnet-Plus
 Fear of NCL
 Fear of IP
 Your company’s DNS subdomain structure

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Beware!
Troubleshooting can be difficult if you
forget that CDI maintains a cache.
 To Flush the CDI Naming Cache

•

NCL> flush session control naming cache entry “*”
CDI$TRACE.EXE is your friend 
CDI Trace
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QUESTIONS?
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Useful Links
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27 March 2001
http://www.compaq.com/info/spd/
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/doc/index.html
mailto:[email protected]
John Marshall - Riverwillow Pty. Ltd.
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NCP> set executor state shut