``INTERNET-DRAFT'' Expires: 5 December 1994 ``INTERNET-DRAFT'' User Services Working Group G.C. Kessler ``INTERNET-DRAFT'': S.D. Shepard FYI: 2x Hill Associates, Inc. Category: Informational (DRAFT) xxxx 1994 A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools (DRAFT) Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months. Internet-Drafts may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is not appropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as a ``working draft'' or ``work in progress.'' To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the 1id-abstracts.txt listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow Directories on ds.internic.net, nic.nordu.net, ftp.isi.edu, or munnari.oz.au. Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................. 1 2. A Starter's Guide to Some of the Utilities and Applications ... 2.1. NSLOOKUP .................................................... 2.2. PING ........................................................ 2.3. TRACEROUTE .................................................. 2.4. FINGER ...................................................... 2.5. FTP ......................................................... 2.6. TELNET ...................................................... 2.7. User Database Lookup Tools .................................. 2.7.1. WHOIS/NICNAME ............................................. 2.7.2. KNOWBOT ................................................... 2.7.3. NETFIND ................................................... 2.8. Information Servers ......................................... 2.8.1. ARCHIE .................................................... 2.8.2. GOPHER .................................................... 2.8.3. Other Information Servers ................................. 2.9. Electronic Mail and SMTP .................................... 2.10. Getting Even More Information On-line ...................... 2.10.1. Distribution Lists and Mailing Lists ..................... 2.10.1.1. Internet Discussion Lists .............................. 2.10.1.2. USENET ................................................. 2.10.1.3 BITNET/EARN ............................................ 2.10.2. Request for Comments (RFCs) .............................. 2.10.3. Internet Standards ....................................... 2.10.4. Getting FYIs ............................................. 2.10.5. Perusing the Internet .................................... 2.10.6. Getting Connected ........................................ 3. Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................... 4. Security Considerations ....................................... 5. Acknowledgements .............................................. 6. References .................................................... 7. Authors' Address .............................................. 1. Introduction An ever-increasing number of people are using the Internet and, many for the first time, are using the tools and utilities that at one time were only available on a limited number of computer systems (and only for really intense users!). One sign of this growth in use has been the significant number of TCP/IP and Internet books, articles, courses, and even TV shows that have become available in the last year. Most of the popular literature, however, has been oriented towards the system administrator or network manager at a site, and even the "introductory topics" intimidate the first-time users. Many sites, in fact, could use a basic guide that teaches their users how to access the common utilities found in today's TCP/IP packages for mainframes and personal computers alike. This ``INTERNET-DRAFT'' is a brief guide to some of the TCP/IP and Internet tools and utilities that allow users to access the wide variety of information on the network, from finding out if a particular host is up and running to a multimedia thesis on foreign policy. This is meant as a brief guide for the end user and will refer to other sources for more detailed information. It can act as a tutorial or laboratory manual for new users first using the Internet and TCP/IP tools and utilities. This ``INTERNET-DRAFT'' assumes that users will be using TCP/IP, but does not provide any detail nor motivation about the Internet Protocol Suite. More information on TCP/IP and related issues may be found in [tt], [za], and [zb]. 2. A Starter's Guide to Some of the Utilities and Applications This section provides detailed descriptions and examples of several TCP/IP utilities and applications. These sections include actual sessions using these utilities (with some extraneous information removed). Most of the sample dialogues shown below were made using the Multinet TCP/IP software for VAX/VMS systems. While these examples can be used as a guide to using and learning about the capabilities of these tools, the reader should understand that not all applications may be found at all TCP/IP hosts nor in all commercial software packages. Furthermore, the user interface for different packages will be different and the actual command line may appear differently than shown here; this will be particularly true for graphic user interfaces such as Windows, OS/2, or the Mac. The Internet has many exciting things to offer but standardized interfaces to the protocols is not yet one of them! In the sections below, any option or parameter shown in square brackets ([]) is optional, and the vertical-bar (|) means "or". 2.1. NSLOOKUP NSLOOKUP is the name server lookup program that comes with many TCP/IP systems. With NSLOOKUP, a user can determine a host system's IP address from its name or its name from the IP address. The form of the command to make a single query is: NSLOOKUP IP_address | host_name Alternatively, the program may be started by typing "NSLOOKUP" without any parameters. At the prompt, the user can enter either an IP address or host name, and the program will respond with the name and address of the default name sever, the actual name server used to resolve each request, and the IP address and host name that was queried. "Exit" is used to quit the NSLOOKUP application. Three queries are shown in the example below: 1 Requests the address of the host named "emily.uvm.edu", a system at the University of Vermont (UVM). As it turns out, this is not the true name of the host, but a shortened version of the name that is accepted as an alias by the network. The full name of the host and the IP address are listed by NSLOOKUP. 2 Requests the address of host "emily.emba.uvm.edu". This is, of course, the same address as in the first query, but note that NSLOOKUP provides a "non-authoritative" answer. Since NSLOOKUP just queried this same address, the information is still in its cache memory; therefore, rather than send additional messages to the name server, we get an answer that it remembers from before. Since we didn't look up the information again, it is not guaranteed to still be accurate (because the information might have changed within the last few milliseconds!). 3 Requests the name of the host with the given IP address. The result points to the Internet gateway to Australia, munnari.oz.au. ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ NSLOOKUP Default Server: LOCALHOST Address: 127.0.0.1 > EMILY.UVM.EDU Server: LOCALHOST Address: 127.0.0.1 Name: emily.emba.uvm.edu Address: 132.198.1.7 Aliases: emily.uvm.edu > EMILY.EMBA.UVM.EDU Server: LOCALHOST Address: 127.0.0.1 Non-authoritative answer: Name: emily.emba.uvm.edu Address: 132.198.1.7 > 128.250.1.21 Server: LOCALHOST Address: 127.0.0.1 Name: munnari.OZ.AU Address: 128.250.1.21 > EXIT SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.2. PING Ping is probably the most widely available tool available on TCP/IP systems and uses the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo messages. The Ping command has the following general format: ping [-s] host_name [size] [quantity] In the first test below, we ping the host "thumper.bellcore.com" to determine whether it is up and running. This simple use of the command contains no optional parameters. In the second test, we use the "-s" parameter to tell our system to send an ICMP Echo message every second. The optional "size" parameter specifies that each message should be 64 bytes in length (which is the default size); the optional "quantity" parameter indicates that this test will only send 12 messages (the default is to run the test continuously until interrupted). The results of the second test displays the round-trip delay of each Echo message that is returned to the sending host. At the end of the test, summary statistics are displayed. ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ PING THUMPER.BELLCORE.COM thumper.bellcore.com is alive SMCVAX$ PING -S THUMPER.BELLCORE.COM 64 12 PING THUMPER.BELLCORE.COM (128.96.41.1): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=0 time=150 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=1 time=110 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=2 time=130 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=3 time=130 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=4 time=320 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=5 time=110 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=6 time=440 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=7 time=90 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=9 time=100 ms 64 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=10 time=110 ms ----THUMPER.BELLCORE.COM PING Statistics---- 12 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 16% packet loss round-trip (ms) min/avg/max = 90/169/440 SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.3. TRACEROUTE Traceroute is another common TCP/IP tool, this one allowing users to learn about the route that packets take from your system to a remote system; it provides some interesting information that can also be used as a powerful debugging aid. Traceroute is sometimes packaged as an option of the Ping command. Traceroute works by sending a sequence of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) datagrams to an invalid port at the desired remote system. Using the default settings, three datagrams are sent, each with a Time-To-Live (TTL) field value set to one. The TTL value of 1 causes the datagram to "timeout" as soon as it hits the first router in the path; this router will then respond with an ICMP error message indicating that the datagram has expired. Another three UDP messages are now sent, each with the TTL value set to 2, which causes the second router to return ICMP replies. This process continues until we actually reach the other destination. Since these datagrams are trying to access an invalid port at the destination host, however, ICMP error messages are returned from the destination indicating an unavailable port; this event signals the Traceroute program that it is done! The Traceroute program displays the round-trip delay associated with each of the attempts. Note that the delay associated with the first message is usually longer than the two subsequent messages, which may be due to the use of the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to determine the route for the initial packet. The Traceroute command has the following general format (where "#" represents a positive integer value associated with the qualifier): traceroute [-m #] [-q #] [-w #] [-p #] where -m is the maximum allowable TTL value, measured in the number of hops allowed before the program terminates (default = 30) -q is the number of UDP packets that will be sent with each time-to-live setting (default = 3) -w is the amount of time, in seconds, to wait for an answer from a particular router before giving up (default = 5) -p is the invalid port address at the remote host (default = 33434) As an interesting aside, Traceroute did not begin life as a general- purpose utility, but as a quick-and-dirty debugging aid used to find a routing problem. The code (complete with comments!) is available by anonymous FTP in the file "traceroute.tar.Z" from the host "ftp.ee.lbl.gov". The Traceroute example below shows the route between a VAX at St. Michael's College in Vermont (smcvax.smcvt.edu) and a system at Bellcore in New Jersey (thumper.bellcore.com). The output has some interesting points: 1 NEARnet is the New England Academic and Research Network, a regional network in the northeastern U.S. The route runs from St. Mike's NEARnet gateway (smc-gw) to the University of Vermont (uvm), etc. Note that some intermediate systems (see lines 4 and 16) do not have names associated with them. 2 From NEARnet (lines 1-6), the datagrams traveled on the NSFNET's T3 backbone (lines 7-11); note that the NSFNET backbone is identified as ans.net since it is operated by Advanced Networks and Services, Inc. (ANS). The packet traveled within ANS' networks on their core nodal switching subsystems (designated "cnss") until it was ready to jump off the backbone; line 11 indicates an ANS exterior nodal switching subsystem ("enss"). After the NSFNET backbone, the datagrams were carried on the JvNCnet (lines 12-16), a regional network in New Jersey (note the use of SMDS!). Finally, the datagrams are placed on Bellcore's internal network (lines 17 and 18) for final delivery. 3 Note that not all of the datagrams took the same route. In particular, only two of the datagrams went through the ANS gateway referred to at line 10. Note also line 17; here, the first two datagrams went through one router at Bellcore, while the third datagram went through a companion router. ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ TRACEROUTE THUMPER.BELLCORE.COM traceroute to THUMPER.BELLCORE.COM (128.96.41.1), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets 1 smc-gw.near.net (192.80.64.5) 50 ms 20 ms 10 ms 2 uvm-gw.near.net (131.192.152.1) 160 ms 50 ms 30 ms 3 harvard-gw.near.net (131.192.65.1) 470 ms 60 ms 60 ms 4 131.192.32.3 (131.192.32.3) 50 ms 50 ms 40 ms 5 mit2-gw.near.net (131.192.7.1) 50 ms 40 ms 40 ms 6 enss.near.net (192.54.222.6) 60 ms 90 ms 40 ms 7 t3-2.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.3) 70 ms 100 ms 60 ms 8 t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4) 70 ms 40 ms 40 ms 9 t3-2.New-York-cnss32.t3.ans.net (140.222.32.3) 50 ms 60 ms 70 ms 10 * t3-0.New-York-cnss33.t3.ans.net (140.222.33.1) 340 ms 110 ms 11 t3-0.enss137.t3.ans.net (140.222.137.1) 90 ms 420 ms 190 ms 12 zaphod-gateway.jvnc.net (192.12.211.65) 70 ms 50 ms 70 ms 13 airport1-gateway.jvnc.net (130.94.6.250) 390 ms 110 ms 60 ms 14 airport4-gateway.jvnc.net (130.94.7.4) 70 ms 50 ms 60 ms 15 coreSMDS-gateway.jvnc.net (130.94.7.106) 80 ms 130 ms 100 ms 16 128.96.58.2 (128.96.58.2) 80 ms 70 ms 100 ms 17 lab214b-cisco.cc.bellcore.com (128.96.34.40) 120 ms 120 ms lab214-cisco.cc.bellcore.com (128.96.34.101) 130 ms 18 thumper.bellcore.com (128.96.41.1) 130 ms 430 ms 80 ms SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.4. FINGER The Finger program may be used to find out who is logged in on another system or to find out detailed information about a specific user. This command has also introduced a brand new verb; "fingering" someone on the Internet is not necessarily a rude thing to do! The Finger User Information Protocol is described in [uu]. The most general format of the Finger command is: FINGER [username]@host_name The first example below shows the result of fingering an individual user at a remote system. The first line of the response shows the username, the user's real name, their process identifier, application, and terminal port number. The remaining information is supplied, at the option of the user, in a "plan" file that they supply; this file is often named PLAN.TXT and resides in a user's root directory (or somewhere in an appropriate search path). The second example shows the result of fingering a remote system. This lists all of the processes currently running at the fingered system or other information, depending upon how the remote system's administrator set up the system to respond to the Finger command. ===================================================================== hill> FINGER KUMQUAT@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU [smcvax.smcvt.edu] KUMQUAT Gary Kessler 20A02991 TELNET TXA3 Plan: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gary C. Kessler Adjunct Faculty Member, Graduate College Senior Member of Technical Staff Hill Associates +1 802-655-8633 or 655-0940 (office) 17 Roosevelt Highway +1 802-655-7974 (fax) Colchester, VT 05446 +1 802-879-5242 (home) INTERNET: kumquat@smcvax.smcvt.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------- hill> FINGER @SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU [smcvax.smcvt.edu] Tuesday, March 15, 1994 2:52PM-EDT Up 3 19:55:51 10+0 Jobs on SMCVAX Load ave 2.12 1.54 1.53 User Personal Name Subsys DAMERON George Dameron *DCL* GOODWIN Dave Goodwin RTPAD JAT John Trono EDT KUMQUAT Gary Kessler TELNET LEAHEY Margy Leahey MAIL NELSON Mark Nelson *DCL* SUOZZI Patricia Suozzi MAIL SYSTEM System Manager *DCL* S_BRIDGE Stephen Bridge *DCL* X_DONG Xiaofan Dong TALK hill> ===================================================================== 2.5. FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) [vb] is one of the most useful and powerful TCP/IP applications for the general user. FTP allows users to upload and download files between local and remote hosts. Anonymous FTP, in particular, is commonly available at file archive sites to allow users to access files without having to pre-establish an account at the remote host. FTP can be initiated in several ways. In the example shown here, an FTP control connection is initiated to a host by using the command "FTP host_name". Optionally, the host's IP address (in dotted decimal form) could be used instead of the host's name. A third alternative would have been to start the FTP application by using only the command "FTP"; the connection to the host could then be initiated by typing the host_name, "OPEN host_name", or "OPEN IP_address". The remote host will now ask for a username and password. If a username and password are supplied that identify a legitimate user of this host, the user will have access to any files and directories to which this username has privilege. For anonymous FTP access, the username "anonymous" is used and the password (not shown in actual use) is "guest" (most systems ask that anonymous FTP users supply their Internet address as the password). The first command issued in the example below is "help ?", used to obtain a list of available FTP commands and help topics. Although not always shown, nearly all TCP/IP applications have a help command. An example of the help for FTP's "type" command is shown in the sample dialogue. The "dir" command provides a directory listing of the files in the current directory; the UNIX-like "ls" command may also usually be used. Note that a second FTP data transfer connection is established for the transfer of the directory information to the local host. The output from the "dir" command will show a file listing that is consistent with the native operating system of the remote host. Although the TCP/IP suite is often associated with UNIX, it can (and does) run with nearly all common operating systems. The directory information shown in the sample dialogue happens to be in UNIX format and includes the following information: o File attributes. The first character identifies this as a directory (d), link (l), or individual file (-). The next nine characters list the access permissions for three groups, namely, the owner, the owner's group, and all other users. Three access privileges may be assigned to each file for each of these groups: read (r), write (w), execute (x), and/or search (s). o File owner and owner's group. o File size, in bytes. o Date of last modification. If the date is followed by a timestamp, then the date is from the current year. o File name. After the directory information has been transferred, FTP closes the data transfer connection. The command "cd" is used to change to another directory, in this case the "Gov" directory (note that file and directory names may be case- sensitive). As in DOS, "cd .." will change to the parent of the current directory. The "CWD command successful" is the only indication that the user's "cd" command was correctly executed; use the "show-directory" (may be truncated to fewer characters, as shown) command at any time to see which directory you are in. Another "dir" command is used to find all files ending with the characters ".act"; note the use of the "*" wildcard character. We can now copy the file of choice (The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 1992) by using the "get" (or "receive") command, which has the following general format: GET remote_file_name local_file_name FTP opens another data transfer connection for this file transfer purpose; note that the effective data transfer rate is 39.98 kbps. While the "get" command allows the downloading of files from a remote system to a local one, FTP's "put" (or "send") command allows uploading from the local host to the remote. "Put" is typically not available when using anonymous FTP. Finally, we terminate the FTP connection by using the "close" command. The user can initiate another FTP connection using the "open" command or can leave FTP by issuing a "quit" command. "Quit" can also be used to close a connection and terminate a session. (It is important to note that different FTP packages have different commands available and even those with similar names may act differently. In the example shown here, the "show" command will display the current directory. In another package, "show" will display a file from the remote host at the local host. Some packages have nothing equivalent to either of these!) ===================================================================== SMCVAX$FTP FTP.SPIES.COM SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU MultiNet FTP user process 3.2(106) Connection opened (Assuming 8-bit connections) Username: ANONYMOUS Password: GUEST WIRETAP.SPIES.COM>HELP ? one of the following: ACCOUNT AGET APPEND APUT ASCII ATTACH BELL BINARY BYE BYTE CD CDUP CLOSE CONFIRM CPATH CREATE-DIRECTORY CWD DELETE DIRECTORY DISCONNECT EXIT EXIT-ON-ERROR GET HASH HELP LCD LDIR LOCAL-CD LOCAL-DIRECTORY LOCAL-PWD LOGIN LPWD LS MDELETE MGET MKDIR MODE MPUT MULTIPLE PASSWORD PORT PROMPT-FOR-MISSING-ARGUMENTS PROMPT-ON-CONNECT PUSH PUT PWD QUIT QUOTE RECEIVE REMOTE-HELP REMOVE-DIRECTORY RENAME RETAIN RM RMDIR SEND SHOW-DIRECTORY SITE SPAWN STATISTICS STATUS STREAM STRUCTURE TAKE TENEX TYPE USER VERBOSE VERSION WIRETAP.SPIES.COM>HELP TYPE The TYPE command changes the FTP transfer type. The possible arguments to the TYPE command are ASCII, IMAGE, BACKUP, and LOGICAL-BYTE ASCII type is used for transferring ASCII text files. IMAGE type is used for transferring binary files. BACKUP type is used for transferring VAX/VMS backup savesets with 2048 byte block size. WIRETAP.SPIES.COM>DIR Gov/Economic drwxr-xr-x 4 9013 daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 Etext lrwxrwxrwx 1 root daemon 13 Feb 26 07:01 GAO_Reports -> Gov/GAO-Trans drwxr-xr-x 29 9013 daemon 1024 Feb 3 00:15 Gov drwxr-xr-x 16 9013 daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 Library lrwxrwxrwx 1 root daemon 9 Feb 26 06:56 NAFTA -> Gov/NAFTA drwxr-xr-x 2 9013 daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 Other drwxr-xr-x 3 9013 daemon 3072 Apr 7 20:59 alt.etext drwxr-xr-x 8 root 42 512 Jul 1 1993 ba.internet dr-xr-xr-x 2 bin wheel 512 Jul 1 1993 bin drwxr-xr-x 2 root daemon 512 Feb 15 06:14 dev drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 512 Jul 1 1993 etc drwxr-xr-x 11 9038 daemon 512 Dec 17 05:37 game_archive drwx-wx-wx 3 root daemon 1024 Apr 18 02:09 incoming drwxr-xr-x 3 root ftp 512 Oct 29 02:35 pub drwxr-xr-x 2 root daemon 512 Jul 1 1992 tmp drwxr-xr-x 3 root daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 usr drwxr-xr-x 3 9013 42 1024 Jul 1 1993 waffle CD Gov SHOW <"/Gov" is current directory. WIRETAP.SPIES.COM>DIR *.act GET faircredit.act FAIRCRDT.TXT QUIT DIR total 1682 drwx------ hill others 512 Dec 10 1992 Mail/ -rw------- hill others 22382 Apr 26 07:33 dos-cdev-12.hqx drwx------ hill others 512 Jul 11 16:09 gary/ drwx------ hill others 512 Dec 10 1992 itu/ -rw------- hill others 1805 Feb 5 13:42 mbox drwx------ hill others 1024 Dec 15 1992 misc/ -rw------- hill others 87754 Apr 26 12:56 osinet.2 -rw------- hill others 566731 May 14 08:10 quicktime-16.hqx -rw------- hill others 128858 May 13 08:12 res-edit-tips.hqx -rw------- hill others 110610 May 13 08:12 res-helper.hqx drwx------ hill others 5632 Apr 23 08:51 rfc/ drwx------ hill others 512 Apr 16 09:15 xmodem/ drwx------ hill others 1024 Apr 13 16:35 zmodem/ hill> MAIL No mail for hill hill> PING SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU smcvax.smcvt.edu is alive hill> LOGOUT Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.7. User Database Lookup Tools 2.7.1. WHOIS/NICNAME WHOIS and NICNAME are TCP/IP applications that search databases to find the name of network and system administrators, RFC authors, system and network points-of-contact, and other individuals who are registered in appropriate databases. The original NICNAME/WHOIS protocol is described in [vf]. WHOIS may be accessed by TELNETing to an appropriate WHOIS server and logging in as "WHOIS" (no password is required); the most common Internet name server is located at the Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC) at rs.internic.net. This specific database, in particular, only contains INTERNET domains, IP network numbers, and points of contact; policies governing the InterNIC database are described in [vh]. The MILNET database resides at NIC.DDN.MIL and PSI's White Pages pilot service is located at psi.com. Optionally, many software packages contain a WHOIS interface that automatically establishes the TELNET connection to an appropriate server. The accompanying dialogues shows both types of WHOIS access. In the session below, we request information about an individual (Denis Stratford), a specific domain (smcvt.edu), and a high level domain (edu). ============================================================== SMCVAX$ WHOIS STRATFORD, DENIS Stratford, Denis (DS378) denis@@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU St. Michael's College Jemery Hall, Room 274 Winooski Park Colchester, VT 05439 (802) 654-2384 Record last updated on 02-Nov-92. SMCVAX$ WHOIS DOMAIN SMCVT.EDU St. Michael's College (SMCVT-DOM) Winooski Park Colchester, VT 05439 Domain Name: SMCVT.EDU Administrative Contact: Stratford, Denis (DS378) denis@@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU (802) 654-2384 Technical Contact, Zone Contact: Goodwin, David (DG176) goodwin@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU (802) 654-2220 Record last updated on 02-Nov-92. Domain servers in listed order: NIC.NEAR.NET 192.52.71.4 BU.EDU 128.197.27.7 NOC.CERF.NET 192.153.156.22 SMCVAX$ TELNET RS.INTERNIC.NET Trying... Connected to RS.INTERNIC.NET, a SUN 670 running SUNOS-4.1.3 SunOS UNIX (rs) (ttyq0) ********************************************************************* * -- InterNIC Registration Services Center -- ********************************************************************* Cmdinter Ver 1.3 Mon Mar 21 13:42:27 1994 EST [vt102] InterNIC > WHOIS Connected to the rs Database InterNIC WHOIS Version: 1.0 Mon, 21 Mar 94 13:42:32 Whois: DOMAIN EDU Education top-level domain (EDU-DOM) Network Solutions, Inc. 505 Huntmar park Dr. Herndon, VA 22070 Domain Name: EDU Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact: Network Solutions, Inc. (HOSTMASTER) HOSTMASTER@INTERNIC.NET (703) 742-4777 (FAX) (703) 742-4811 Record last updated on 06-Jul-93. Domain servers in listed order: NS.INTERNIC.NET 198.41.0.4 AOS.ARL.ARMY.MIL 128.63.4.82, 192.5.25.82 KAVA.NISC.SRI.COM 192.33.33.24 C.NYSER.NET 192.33.4.12 TERP.UMD.EDU 128.8.10.90 NS.NASA.GOV 128.102.16.10, 192.52.195.10 NIC.NORDU.NET 192.36.148.17 NS.NIC.DDN.MIL 192.112.36.4 Would you like to see the known domains under this top-level domain? Y There are 1419 known sub-domains: 0.EDU Reserved Domain 1.EDU Reserved Domain 2.EDU Reserved Domain 22CF.EDU 22nd Century Foundation 3.EDU Reserved Domain There are 1414 more matches. Show them? N Whois: EXIT [vt102] InterNIC > QUIT Mon Mar 21 13:43:08 1994 EST Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ ============================================================== 2.7.2. KNOWBOT KNOWBOT is an automated username database search tool that is related to WHOIS. The Knowbot Information Service (KIS) provides a simple WHOIS-like interface that allows users to query a number of Internet user databases (White Pages services) all at one time. A single KIS query will automatically search the InterNIC, MILNET, MCImail, and PSI White Pages Pilot Project; other databases may also be included. KNOWBOT may be accessed by TELNETing to port 185 on hosts INFO.CNRI.RESTON.VA.US or SOL.BUCKNELL.EDU. The "help" command will supply sufficient information to get started. The sample dialogue below shows use of the "query" command to locate a user named Tom Maufer; this command automatically starts a search through the default set of Internet databases. ============================================================== TELNET INFO.CNRI.RESTON.VA.US /PORT=185 Connected to INFO.CNRI.RESTON.VA.US, a SUN4/110 running UNIX. Knowbot Information Service KIS Client (V2.0). Copyright CNRI 1990. All Rights Reserved. Please enter your email address in our guest book... (Your email address?) > KUMQUAT@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU > QUERY MAUFER, TOM Connected to KIS server (V1.0). Copyright CNRI 1990. All Rights Reserved. Trying whois at ds.internic.net... The ds.internic.net whois server is being queried: -------------------- Maufer, Thomas A. (TAM36) tom_maufer@GSFC.NASA.GOV NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Center Network Environment Project Code 520/CBSI Greenbelt, MD 20771 (301) 286-0708 (FAX) (301) 286-4627 Record last updated on 25-Feb-93. The rs.internic.net whois server is being queried: No match for name "MAUFER,TOM". The nic.ddn.mil whois server is being queried: No match for name "MAUFER,TOM". Trying mcimail at cnri.reston.va.us... Trying ripe at whois.ripe.net... Trying whois at whois.lac.net... No match found for .MAUFER,TOM > QUIT KIS exiting Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ ============================================================== 2.7.3. NETFIND NETFIND is another tool that may be used to locate people on the network. NETFIND's advantage is that it searches for users by utilizing extant tools such as Finger and SMTP, thus providing the potential to find any users on any host without relying on databases. For NETFIND to be successful, however, the system manager of existing systems must set up Finger and SMTP to respond correctly to NETFIND's queries. NETFIND is still relatively new and use will grow over time. NETFIND is a menu-driven, text-based system. Users need to TELNET to an available NETFIND server. Once connected, login as "netfind" (must be lower-case; no password required) and follow the menu prompts. The sample dialogue below shows the search for "Tom Maufer", who I know works at Goddard Space Flight Center ("gsfc"), a part of NASA ("nasa gov"). The primary NETFIND server is located at the University of Colorado in Boulder (BRUNO.CS.COLORADO.EDU). Currently available alternate servers include: archie.au (AARNet, Melbourne, Australia) dino.conicit.ve (Nat. Council for Tech. & Sci. Research, Venezuela) ds.internic.net (InterNIC Directory & DB Svcs., S. Plainfield, NJ) eis.calstate.edu (California State University, Fullerton, CA) hto-e.usc.edu (University of Southern California, Los Angeles) krnic.net (Korea Network Information Center, Taejon, Korea) lincoln.technet.sg (Technet Unit, Singapore) malloco.ing.puc.cl (Catholic University of Chile, Santiago) monolith.cc.ic.ac.uk (Imperial College, London, England) mudhoney.micro.umn.edu (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) netfind.anu.edu.au (Australian National University, Canberra) netfind.ee.mcgill.ca (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) netfind.if.usp.br (University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil) netfind.oc.com (OpenConnect Systems, Dallas, Texas) netfind.sjsu.edu (San Jose State University, San Jose, California) netfind.vslib.cz (Liberec University of Technology, Czech Republic) nic.uakom.sk (Academy of Sciences, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia) redmont.cis.uab.edu (University of Alabama at Birmingham) ============================================================== SMCVAX$TELNET NETFIND.OC.COM Connected to MAELSTROM.OC.COM. SunOS UNIX (maelstrom.oc.com) login: netfind ================================================= Welcome to the OpenConnect Systems Netfind Server ================================================= Top level choices: 1. Help 2. Search 3. Seed database lookup 4. Options 5. Quit (exit server) --> 2 Enter person and keys (blank to exit) --> MAUFER GSFC NASA GOV Please select at most 3 of the following domains to search: 0. gsfc.nasa.gov (goddard space flight center, united states national aeronautics and space administration, greenbelt, maryland) 1. antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov (compton gamma ray observatory science support center, goddard space flight center, united states national aeronautics and space administration, greenbelt, maryland) 2. enemy.gsfc.nasa.gov (compton gamma ray observatory science support center, goddard space flight center, united states national aeronautics and space administration, greenbelt, maryland) 3. upolu.gsfc.nasa.gov (goddard space flight center, united states national aeronautics and space administration, greenbelt, maryland) Enter selection (e.g., 2 0 1) --> 0 ( 1) SMTP_Finger_Search: checking domain gsfc.nasa.gov Mail is forwarded to tom@stimpy.gsfc.nasa.gov NOTE: this is a domain mail forwarding arrangement - so mail intended for "maufer" should be addressed to "tom@gsfc.nasa.gov" rather than "tom@stimpy.gsfc.nasa.gov". ( 1) SMTP_Finger_Search: checking host stimpy.gsfc.nasa.gov ------ Domain search completed. Proceeding to host search. ------ SYSTEM: kong.gsfc.nasa.gov Login name: maufer In real life: Tom Maufer - CBSI Directory: /vault/maufer Shell: /bin/csh Last login Fri Sep 24, 1993 on ttypc from rocinante.gsfc.n No unread mail No Plan. FINGER SUMMARY: - The most promising email address for "maufer" based on the above finger search is tom@gsfc.nasa.gov. Continue the search ([n]/y) ? --> N Enter person and keys (blank to exit) --> Top level choices: 1. Help 2. Search 3. Seed database lookup 4. Options 5. Quit (exit server) --> 5 Exiting Netfind server... Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ ============================================================== 2.8. Information Servers 2.8.1. ARCHIE Archie is a database server, originally developed at the Computer Science Department of McGill University in Montreal. Its intent is to allow users to find documents and software that reside at open file transfer sites and have been registered with Archie; by early 1994, more than three million files at 1,500 locations had been registered. This program has become so popular that many sites now provide the Archie service. Before using Archie, you must identify an appropriate server location. The sites below all support Archie and there may be more; most (but not all) Archie sites support the "servers" command which lists all known Archie servers. Due to the popularity of Archie and its high processing demands, many sites limit access to non-peak hours and/or limit the number of simultaneous Archie users. Available Archie sites include: archie.au* 139.130.4.6 Australia archie.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at* 140.78.3.8 Austria archie.univie.ac.at* 131.130.1.23 Austria archie.uqam.ca* 132.208.250.10 Canada archie.funet.fi 128.214.6.100 Finland archie.th-darmstadt.de* 130.83.22.60 Germany archie.ac.il* 132.65.6.15 Israel archie.unipi.it* 131.114.21.10 Italy archie.wide.ad.jp 133.4.3.6 Japan archie.hana.nm.kr* 128.134.1.1 Korea archie.sogang.ac.kr* 163.239.1.11 Korea archie.uninett.no* 128.39.2.20 Norway archie.rediris.es* 130.206.1.2 Spain archie.luth.se* 130.240.18.4 Sweden archie.switch.ch* 130.59.1.40 Switzerland archie.ncu.edu.tw* 140.115.19.24 Taiwan archie.doc.ic.ac.uk* 146.169.11.3 United Kingdom archie.unl.edu 129.93.1.14 USA (NE) archie.internic.net* 198.48.45.10 USA (NJ) archie.rutgers.edu* 128.6.18.15 USA (NJ) archie.ans.net 147.225.1.10 USA (NY) archie.sura.net* 128.167.254.179 USA (MD) Note: Sites marked with an asterisk "*" run archie version 3.0. Archie servers may be accessed using TELNET. When TELNETing to an Archie site, login as "archie" (you MUST use lower case); no password will be required. Some packages now supply an Archie interface that hides this step; you can attach to a pre-configured Archie server merely by typing "ARCHIE". Once connected, the "help" command assists users in obtaining more information about using Archie. Two more useful Archie commands are "prog", used to search for files in the database, and "whatis", which searches for keywords in the program descriptions. In the accompanying dialogue, the "set maxhits" command is used to limit the number of responses to any following "prog" commands; if this is not done, the user may get an enormous amount of information! In this example, the user issues a request to find entries related to "mpeg", ISO's Moving Pictures Experts Group video compression algorithm. The first two responses indicate a directory named "mpeg" at academic sites in Australia (...edu.au). The next three responses show other directories with this name at sites in Sweden (...se). Armed with this information, a user can use anonymous FTP to examine these directories and download files. The next request is for files with "security" as a keyword descriptor. These responses can be used for subsequent "prog" commands. Exit archie using the "exit" command. At this point, TELNET closes the connection and control returns to the local host. Current information about Archie can be obtained by sending e-mail to Bunyip Information Systems in Canada (archie-info@bunyip.com). Archie client software is not required to use Archie, but can make life a little easier; some such software can be found in the "/pub/archie/" path at host "ftp.cs.widener.edu". ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ TELNET 129.93.1.14 Trying... Connected. SunOS UNIX (crcnis2) login: archie SunOS Release 4.1.2 (CRCNIS2) #1: Wed Dec 16 12:10:12 EST 1992 Welcome to the ARCHIE server at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln unl-archie> HELP Currently, the available help topics are: about - a blurb about archie bugs - known bugs and undesirable features bye - same as "quit" email - how to contact the archie email interface exit - same as "quit" help - this message list - list the sites in the archie database mail - mail output to a user nopager - *** use 'unset pager' instead pager - *** use 'set pager' instead prog - search the database for a file quit - exit archie set - set a variable show - display the value of a variable site - list the files at an archive site term - *** use 'set term ...' instead unset - unset a variable whatis - search for keyword in the software description database For information on one of these topics type: help unl-archie> SET MAXHITS 5 unl-archie> PROG MPEG # matches / % database searched: 5 / 0% Host csc.canberra.edu.au Location: /pub/motif DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Dec 4 03:55 mpeg Host daneel.rdt.monash.edu.au Location: /pub/images DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 512 Nov 30 16:44 mpeg Host ftp.luth.se Location: /pub/graphics/animation DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 1536 Jul 24 1993 mpeg Host ftp.sunet.se Location: /pub/graphics DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 1024 Dec 11 04:36 mpeg Host maeglin.mt.luth.se Location: /CSCW/multimedia DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Oct 5 15:23 mpeg unl-archie> WHATIS SECURITY RFC 1037 Greenberg, B.; Keene, S. NFILE - a file access protocol. 1987 December; 86 p. RFC 1038 St. Johns, M. Draft revised IP security option. 1988 January; 7 p. cops System Security analysis tool forktest Find security holes in shell-escapes kerberos Host security package safe-mkdir mkdir() and security hole *****FIX**** unl-archie> EXIT Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.8.2. GOPHER Gopher is a distributed document search and retrieval protocol for the Internet. The Internet Gopher protocol was developed by the Microcomputer Center at the University of Minnesota in 1991 and is described in [vj]. Gopher is a hierarchical, menu-based system and users need some type of client software to use Gopher servers. In many cases, users can access Gopher by TELNETing to a valid Gopher location that provides Gopher client support locally; in this case, the client typically provides a text-based, menu interface. The number of Gopher sites is growing rapidly; as the dialogue below shows, most Gopher sites have a menu item that will allow you to identify other Gopher sites. If using TELNET, login with the username "gopher" (this MUST be in lowercase); no password is required. If using a menu-based interface, the user merely follows the prompts as shown in the dialogue below. Initially, the main menu will appear; selecting item 1 causes Gopher to seize the "Information about Gopher" menu. This menu also has sub-menus, which are not shown here. To quit the program at any time, press the "q" key; "?" and "u" will provide help or go back up to the previous menu, respectively. Users may also search for strings within files (using the "/" command) or download the file being interrogated (using the "D" command). The Gopher server at is.internic.net has a tremendous amount of information for the new user, including lists of frequently asked questions and pointers to various Internet discussion lists. That is the site shown in the sample dialogue below. After establishing a connection and logging on, a root menu is displayed. Item 7 is titled "Getting Started on the Internet," we move to that menu merely by entering a "7" or by moving the arrow (-->) down to the desired entry (using the key on the keyboard) and hitting . Quit the program by typing "q" at any menu. Further information about Gopher can be obtained by contacting the Internet Gopher Team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (gopher@boombox.micro.umn.edu). This is also the site of the first Gopher server (consultant.micro.umn.edu). A Gopher-related discussion list is maintained at gopher-news@boombox.micro.umn.edu (see Section 2.10.1 for information on subscribing to discussion lists). More information on Gopher clients can be found in the Gopher Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file, which can be accessed by anonymous ftp from path "/pub/usenet/news.answers/gopher-faq" at the host "rtfm.mit.edu". This FAQ also lists sources of a number of Gopher clients for a wide range of hardware/software platforms. ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ TELNET SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU MultiNet TELNET-32 3.1(88) TELNET> OPEN IS.INTERNIC.NET Trying... Connected to IS.INTERNIC.NET. SunOS UNIX (is) login: gopher Welcome to the InterNIC Information Service Gopher Internet Gopher Information Client v2.0.12 InterNIC Information Services InfoSource --> 1. Welcome to the InfoSource/ 2. Infosource Update 3. InfoSource Table of Contents 4. Getting Connected to the Internet/ 5. InterNIC Store/ 6. About InterNIC Information Services/ 7. Getting Started on the Internet/ 8. Internet Information for Everybody/ 9. Just for NICs/ 10. NSF, NREN, National Information Infrastructure Information/ 11. Beyond InterNIC: Virtual Treasures of the Internet/ 12. Top Documents Requested at InterNIC IS/ 13. Searching the InfoSource by Keyword/ Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1 7 Internet Gopher Information Client v2.0.12 Getting Started on the Internet --> 1. What is the Internet/ 2. Fact Sheet: Getting Started on the Internet 3. Getting Connected/ 4. Things to Do on the Internet/ 5. Learning to Use the Network/ 6. Glossary of Internet Terms 7. Bibliography 8. "FYI" Series of Documents/ 9. "RFC" Series of Documents/ 10. Internet Names and Addresses 11. Internet Domain Name System 12. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)/ Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1 Q Really quit (y/n) ? Y Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.8.3. Other Information Servers There are a number of other information servers that are growing in popularity and use, although Archie and Gopher remain the two premier information access and retrieval tools. The problem with being blessed with so much information from Archie, Gopher, and other sources is exactly that -- too much information. To make it easier for users to locate the system on which their desired information resides, a number of other tools have been created. Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) was developed at the University of Nevada as an adjunct to Gopher. Whereas Gopher is designed to search a single database at a time, Veronica performs a keyword search on all of the Gopher sites that it has knowledge of and access to. When a user selects an item from the menu of a Veronica search, "sessions" are automatically established with the appropriate Gopher servers, all transparent to the user. Archie and Gopher are primarily used for the indexing of text-based files. The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) Project is designed to combine aspects of information retrieval with multimedia communications. The WWW Project is intended to allow users to access information in many different types of formats, including text and image. WWW treats all searchable Internet files as hypertext documents, allowing the user to create non-linear, non-hierarchical linkages between data points. The primary WWW site is at the CERN Institute in Switzerland, and may be accessed via Telnet at "nxoc01.cern.ch". The user will be automatically logged in and a help menu can be displayed by entering the "h" command. WWW sources and additional information may be accessed via anonymous FTP from the "/pub/WWW" directory at "info.cern.ch" or the "/Web/" directory at "ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu". The Wide Area Information Server (WAIS, pronounced "ways") was initiated as a joint venture between Apple Computer, Dow Jones, and KMPG Peat Marwick, and Thinking Machines Corp. WAIS provides a single interface through which a user can access many different information databases. The user interface allow a query to be formulated in English and the WAIS server will automatically choose the appropriate databases to search. Further information about WAIS can be obtained by reading the WAIS FAQ, available from host "rtfm.mit.edu" in file "/pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq". [[draft paragraph... more info to follow...]] Mosaic is a tool that can be used to navigate through the WWW. Mosaic supports multimedia presentations that are available on the Web, information that might include text, image, or video. Mosaic provides a uniform mechanism for finding the location of information, as well as determining the data type, presentation method, and linkages to other information. Mosaic sites are referenced in the form: http://"host_name"/"path"/"filename".html The "http" indicates that this is the default home page, where the Mosaic application will start; the ".html" file extension indicates use of the HyperText Multimedia Language. A large number of Mosaic clients are available at "ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu". 2.9. Electronic Mail and SMTP Electronic mail, or e-mail, is the biggest single use of the Internet. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) [vl] is the mail transfer application used across TCP/IP-based networks, although most users never use SMTP directly; instead they use their host system's native mail application, which uses SMTP services. Because most end users do not directly use SMTP and they do not usually write their own SMTP gateway software, this section describes SMTP only for completeness and to compare SMTP to some MAIL software. Native SMTP is neither easy to use, intuitive, nor fast. It is, on the other hand, simple and does provide the majority of the basic mail services that users demand. In the dialogue below, user KUMQUAT at host SMCVAX wants to send mail to user HILL at host EMILY. SMTP at EMILY is accessed by opening a TELNET connection, specifying TCP/IP port 25, a port that is always associated with the SMTP application. Note that after TELNETing to port 25, EMILY completes the connection without requesting a login or password. SMTP's HELO command is used to tell EMILY which host it is being accessing from; EMILY responds politely, as do most SMTP hosts! We are now ready to send mail. The sender uses the MAIL FROM: command to identify themselves. The RCPT TO: command is used to identify the intended recipient; any number of intended receivers may be specified, and SMTP will verify whether the specified users are known or not. Note that these commands require that the user identifier be placed within angle brackets (<>). When ready to send the message, the DATA command is used. The sender signals the end of the message by typing a line that contains nothing but a period (.). The user could now send more messages to users at this remote host or exit SMTP using QUIT. In the dialogue below, a second message is sent to the same recipient using the local host system's native e-mail, for comparison purposes only. E-mail is a tremendously important topic and much more detailed information may be found in [vr]. ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ TELNET EMILY.UVM.EDU /PORT=25 Trying... Connected to EMILY.EMBA.UVM.EDU. 220 emily.emba.uvm.edu Sendmail 5.65/1.07 ready at Mon, 21 Mar 1994 17:38:54 -0400 HELO SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU 250 Hello smcvax.smcvt.edu, pleased to meet you MAIL FROM: 250 ... Sender ok RCPT TO: 250 ... Recipient ok DATA 354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself HI. YES, TELNET AND SMTP SEEM OK NOW. THANKS... /KESS . 250 Ok QUIT 221 emily.emba.uvm.edu closing connection Connection closed by Foreign Host SMCVAX$ MAIL MAIL> SEND To: IN%"HILL@EMILY.UVM.EDU" Subj: CONNECTION STATUS... Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to quit: HI. YES, TELNET AND SMTP SEEM OK NOW. (#2) THANKS... /KESS ^Z Exit MAIL> EXIT SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.10. Getting More Information On-line... 2.10.1. Discussion Lists Among the most useful features of the Internet are the discussion lists that have become available to allow individuals to discuss topics of mutual concern. Discussion list topics range from SCUBA diving and home brewing of beer to AIDS research and data communications. Several, naturally, deal specifically with the Internet, TCP/IP protocols, and the impact of new technologies. Most of the available lists are "unmoderated." This means that anyone can send a message to the list's central repository and the message will then be automatically forwarded to all subscribers of the list. These lists provide very fast turn-around between submission of a message and delivery, but often results in a lot of messages. A "moderated" list has an extra step; a human list moderator examines all messages before they are forwarded to ensure that the messages are appropriate to the list and not needlessly inflammatory! 2.10.1.1. Internet Discussion Lists A list of the known interest groups may be found by Gophering to is.internic.net. Follow the menu path "Getting Started on the Internet" (item #7), "Things to Do on the Internet" (4), "Resources" (1), and "Interest Group Mailing Lists (List of Lists)" (3). Along the way, you will find another wealth of information. The "list of lists" file may also be downloaded using anonymous FTP from is.internic.net; use the file name "infosource/getting- started/things-to-do-internet/resource-lists/interest-groups". Alternatively, send an e-mail message to "MAIL-SERVER@NISC.SRI.COM", leave the "Subject:" field blank, and place the line "send INTEREST-GROUPS" in the main body of the message. Be careful if you download this file; it is nearly 1.4 MB is size, listing over 800 lists! Most Internet list names are of the form: list_name@host_name The common convention when users want to subscribe, unsubscribe, or handle any other administrative matter, is to send a message to: list_name-REQUEST@host_name Not every list follows this exact convention, but it is a safe bet if you don't have better information! 2.10.1.2. USENET USENET, also known as NETNEWS, is another information source with its own set of special interest mailing lists. USENET originated on UNIX systems but has migrated to many other types of hosts. While the USENET lists are accessible from Internet sites, the host must have appropriate software to be able to read the USENET feed. Users will have to check with their system administrator to find out what USENET lists are locally available. USENET is rapidly growing in popularity and there are more than 400 discussion groups available through USENET. USENET newsgroups use names that are hierarchical in nature, somewhat similar to the Internet address name format. The first part of the name, called the "hierarchy", provides an indication about the general subject area. There are two types of hierarchies, called "mainstream" and "alternative". Usenet mainstream hierarchies are established by a process that requires the approval of Usenet members. Most sites that receive a NETNEWS feed receive all of these hierarchies, which include: comp Computers misc Miscellaneous news Network news rec Recreation sci Science soc Social issues talk Various discussion lists The alternative hierarchies include lists that may be set up by any site that has the know how, server software, and disk space. These lists are not formally part of Usenet and, therefore, may not be received by all sites getting NETNEWS. The alternative hierarchies include: alt Alternate miscellaneous discussion lists bionet Biology, medicine, and life sciences bit BITNET discussion lists biz Various business-related discussion lists ddn Defense Data Network gnu GNU lists ieee IEEE information info Various Internet and other networking information k12 K-12 education u3b AT&T 3B computers vmsnet Digital's VMS operating system These 18 Usenet hierarchies comprise more than 2,300 discussion lists. A list of these groups may be found at host "rtfm.mit.edu", in the path "/pub/usenet/news.answers"; see the "active-newsgroups" and "alt-hierarchies" subdirectories. There is often some overlap between USENET and Internet discussion lists. Many individuals join both lists (if possible) in these circumstances or, often, there is cross-posting of messages. Some USENET lists are forwarded onto the Internet by an individual site to provide access to those users who do not have USENET available. Users with access to Internet e-mail but not Usenet may still post messages to a Usenet list. First, replace the periods in the Usenet discussion list name to hyphens (e.g., the folk music discussion list, "rec.music.folk", would become "rec-music-folk"). Then, send an e-mail message to: newsgroup_name@CS.UTEXAS.EDU Finally, Usenet news may be accessed through Gopher. Connect to "gopher.msu.edu" using the path "News & Weather", "USENET News" or "gopher.bham.ac.uk" using the path "Usenet News Reader". 2.10.1.3 BITNET/EARN Another important set of discussion groups is maintained using a program called LISTSERV. LISTSERV is a service provided widely on BITNET and EARN, although it is also available to Internet users. LISTSERV commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages sent to an appropriate mail server location. To find out what lists are available, send a message to LISTSERV@BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU with the command "list global" in the main body of the message; whatever you place in the "Subject" field: will be ignored. Once you have found a list of interest, you can send a message to the appropriate address with any appropriate command, including: HELP Get help & a list of commands SUBSCRIBE list_name your_full_name Subscribe to a list UNSUBSCRIBE list_name Unsubscribe from a list INDEX Get a list of LISTSERV files GET file_name Obtain a file from the server 2.10.2. Request for Comments (RFCs) To fully understand what is going on within the Internet community, users might wish to obtain the occasional Request for Comments, or RFC. RFCs are the body of literature comprising Internet protocols, standards, research questions, humor (especially those dated 1 April), and general information. Each RFC is uniquely issued a 4- digit number which is never reused or reissued; if a document is revised, it is given a new RFC number and the old RFC is said to be "obsoleted." Announcements are sent to the RFC-DIST mailing list whenever a new RFC is issued; anyone may join this list by sending e- mail to rfc-request@nic.ddn.mil. RFCs may be obtained through the mail, but it is easier and faster to get them on-line. Detailed information on how to do this may be obtained by using RFC-INFO, an e-mail-based service to help users locate and retrieve RFCs, Internet Monthly Reports, and FYI documents. To use the service, send e-mail to rfc-info@isi.edu and leave the "Subject:" field blank. Commands go in the main body of the message: HELP (Help file) HELP: ways_to_get_rfcs (Help file on how to get RFCs) RETRIEVE: RFC Doc-ID: RFCxxxx (Retrieve RFC xxxx) LIST: RFC (List all RFCs...) [options] (...[matching the following options]) KEYWORDS: xxx (Title contains string "xxx") AUTHOR: xxx (Written by "xxx") ORGANIZATION: (Issued by company "xxx") DATED-AFTER: mmm-dd-yyyy DATED-BEFORE: mmm-dd-yyyy OBSOLETES: RFCxxxx (List RFCs obsoleting RFC xxxx) To get an RFC on-line without using RFC-INFO, you need two things; namely, the Internet address of an RFC repository and the RFC number. The primary RFC repositories throughout the world include those listed in Table 1. The RFC index, or a specific reference for an RFC, will indicate whether the RFC exists in ASCII text or PostScript format; by convention, all RFCs are available in ASCII while some are also available in PostScript where that adds more information or clarity. The instructions below show how to get the index; be aware that this file is very large, containing the citing for over 1600 documents. --------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE 1. Some of the RFC Repositories. REGION HOST ADDRESS DIRECTORY E-MAIL SERVER U.S. venera.isi.edu in-notes rfc-index@isi.edu U.S. wuarchive.wustl.edu info/rfc (none) U.S. nic.ddn.mil rfc service@nic.ddn.mil U.S. nisc.jvnc.net rfc sendrfc@jvnc.net U.K. src.doc.ic.ac.uk rfc info-server@doc.ic.ac.uk Europe funet.fi rfc archive-server@funet.fi Pacific munnari.oz.au rfc (none) --------------------------------------------------------------------- There are two mechanisms for on-line retrieval of RFCs, namely, by using an electronic mail server or via anonymous FTP. To obtain RFCs using the electronic mail server, send an e-mail message to an appropriate mail server listed in Table 1 and leave the "Subject:" field blank. In the main body of the message, use one or more of the following commands (where "dir" is replaced with the directory name as shown in Table 1): SEND HELP (Help file) SEND dir/RFC-INDEX (RFC Index) SEND dir/RFCxxxx.TXT (ASCII version of RFC xxxx) SEND dir/RFCxxxx.PS (PostScript version of RFC xxxx) To obtain RFCs using anonymous FTP, login to one of the RFC servers listed in Table 1 with the username "anonymous" and password "guest". After logging in, change to the appropriate RFC directory (as shown in Table 1) using the "cd" command. To obtain a particular file, use the "get" command: GET RFC-INDEX.txt local_name (RFC Index) GET RFCxxxx.txt local_name (ASCII version of RFC XXXX) GET RFCxxxx.ps local_name (PostScript version of RFC XXXX) ===================================================================== SMCVAX$ MAIL MAIL> SEND To: IN%"SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL" Subject: Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to quit: SEND RFC/RFC1594.TXT ^Z MAIL> EXIT SMCVAX$ FTP VENERA.ISI.EDU Username: ANONYMOUS Password: VENERA.ISI.EDU> CD IN-NOTES VENERA.ISI.EDU> GET RFC1594.TXT RFC-1594.TXT VENERA.ISI.EDU> EXIT SMCVAX$ ===================================================================== 2.10.3 Internet Standards RFCs describe many aspects of the Internet. Over the years, however, so many specifications of various protocols had been written that it was not always clear as to which documents represented standards for the Internet. For that reason, a subset of RFCs have been designated as STDs to identify the Internet standards. Unlike RFC numbers that are never reused, STD numbers always refer to the latest version of the standard. UDP, for example, would be completely identified as "STD-6/RFC-768." Note that STD numbers refer to a standard, which is not necessarily a single document; an STD, therefore, might refer to several RFCs. STD 19, for example, is the NetBIOS Service Protocols standard and comprises RFCs 1001 and 1002; a complete citation for this standard would be "STD-19/RFC- 1001/RFC-1002." STDs are obtained in the same way as RFCs. The availability of new STDs is announced on the RFC-DIST mailing list. STD-1 [vn] always refers to the latest list of "Internet Official Protocol Standards". The Internet standards process is described more in [vo] and the STD notes are explained in [vq]. 2.10.4 Getting FYIs The For Your Information (FYI) series of RFCs provides Internet users with information about many topics related to the Internet. FYI topics range from historical to explanatory to tutorial, and are aimed at the wide spectrum of users that access the Internet. The FYI series includes answers to frequently asked questions by both beginning and seasoned users of the Internet, an annotated bibliography of Internet books, and an explanation of the DNS. Like the STDs, an FYI number always refers to the latest version of an FYI. FYI 4, for example, refers to the answers to commonly asked questions by new Internet users; its complete citation would be "FYI- 4/RFC-1594." FYIs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC repository. In addition, some RFC sites (such as NIC.DDN.MIL), provide an FYI directory so that FYI documents can be found using the path /FYI/mm.TXT, where "mm" refers to the FYI number. FYIs can also be obtained by an automatic mail service; send an e-mail message to SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL and place the command "SEND FYI/FYImm.TXT" in the main body of the message. The availability of new FYIs is announced on the RFC-DIST mailing list. The FYI notes are explained in FYI-1 [vs]. 2.10.5. Perusing the Internet... This RFC is intended to provide the reader with the most rudimentary ability to use the utilities that are provided by TCP/IP and the Internet. By now, it is clear that the knowledge and ability of the user is one of the only limits to what can be accomplished. The next step after basic use of the tools is to explore the nooks and crannies of the network. Several software tools are available to help users in this quest. Among them are: o Merit Computer Center (Ann Arbor, MI) offers "Cruise of the Internet" software for Macs and PCs that can display 256 colors. The software is available for no cost from the host nic.merit.edu. For more information, read the READ.ME file and/or contact cruise2feedback@merit.edu. o A "Tour of the Internet" is available from BBN Systems and Technologies (Cambridge, MA) for Macintosh system 6.0.5 or higher equipped with HyperCard 2. The software is available by anonymous FTP in the directory internet-tour on the host nnsc.nsf.net. For more information, contact nnsc@nnsc.nsf.net or call BBN at +1 617- 873-3400. Several RFCs also provide invaluable information about finding things on the Internet. One of the best such sources is FYI 10/RFC 1402, titled "There's Gold in them thar Networks! -or- Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places" [vt], an excellent guide for someone who wants to look around the Internet for a wide range of material. Other good sources are the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet" (RFC 1118) [vm] and the "Guide to Network Resource Tools" (FYI 23/RFC 1580) [vv]. Answers to frequently asked questions by both new and experienced users of the Internet may be found in FYI 4/RFC 1594 [vx] and FYI 7/RFC 1207 [vz], respectively. In addition, more books and specialized articles came out about the Internet in 1993 than in all previous years (squared!). Some of them are directly related to finding your way around or finding things on the Internet, including: o "The Internet Directory" by Eric Braun [wa] o "The PC Internet Tour Guide" by Michael Fraase [ap] o "Navigating the Internet" by Mark Gibbs and Richard Smith [wc] o "The Internet Navigator" by Paul Gilster [wo] o "The Internet Yellow Pages" by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout [aq] o "Zen and the Art of the Internet" by Brendan Kehoe [we] o "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog" by Ed Krol [wg] o "Users' Directory of Computer Networks" edited by Tracy LaQuey [xa] o "INTERNET: Getting Started" by April Marine, Susan Kirkpatrick, Vivian Neou, and Carol Ward [wi] o "Finding it on the Internet: The Next Challenge for Librarianship" by Brian Nielsen [wk] A much more comprehensive list of Internet-related books may be found in RFC 1463/FYI 19 [az]. Finally, Carl Malamud has written a delightful book called "Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue" [wm], chronicling not the Internet as much as the people who use it. This book will not teach you how to perform an anonymous FTP file transfer nor how to use Gopher, but provides insights that no mere statistics can convey. 2.10.6 Getting Connected This document is based upon the premise that "access to the Internet" means more than just electronic mail. For this guide, "access to the Internet" means access to the complete suite of TCP/IP tools and utilities, including some or all of the ones listed above. There are a number of ways in which users can access the Internet, either as an individual or a company over dial-up or leased lines through a regional or national Internet access provider. This RFC will not suggest any particular method nor carrier; this will not be an issue for most end-users anyway. There are a variety of sources available that identify the different access providers; an on-line list is available via Gopher at "is.internic.net". Optionally, send an e-mail message to "mail-server@nisc.sri.com", leave the subject line blank, and place one or both of the following commands in the main body of the message: send INTERNET-ACCESS-PROVIDERS-NON-US.TXT send INTERNET-ACCESS-PROVIDERS-US.TXT 3. Acronyms and Abbreviations ARP Address Resolution Protocol ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange BITNET Because It's Time Network DDN Defense Data Network DNS Domain Name System EARN European Academic and Research Network FAQ Frequently Asked Questions list FTP File Transfer Protocol FYI For Your Information series of RFCs ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol IP Internet Protocol ISO International Organization for Standardization NIC Network Information Center NICNAME Network Information Center name service NSF National Science Foundation NSFNET National Science Foundation Network RFC Request For Comments SMDS Switched Multimegabit Data Service SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol STD Standards series of RFCs TCP Transmission Control Protocol TTL Time-To-Live WAIS Wide Area Information Server W3 World Wide Web WWW World Wide Web 4. Security Considerations Security issues are not discussed in this memo. 5. Acknowledgements Our thanks are given to all sites where we ftp'ed, telnet'ed, gopher'ed, and otherwise used system resources. Our particular thanks are given to St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont (smcvax.smcvt.edu). 6. References [vj] Anklesaria, F., M. McCahill, P. Lindner, D. Johnson, D. Torrey, and B. Alberti, "The Internet Gopher Protocol", RFC 1436, University of Minnesota, March 1993. [vv] EARN Staff, "Guide to Network Resource Tools", FYI 23, RFC 1580, March 1994. [vf] Harrenstien, K., M. Stahl, and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS", RFC 954, SRI, October 1985. [az] Hoffman, E. and L. Jackson, "FYI on Introducing the Internet-- A Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Readings", RFC 1463, FYI 19, xxx, May 1993. [vo] Internet Architecture Board, Internet Engineering Steering Group, "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 2", RFC 1602, March 1994. [vm] Krol, E., "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet", RFC 1118, University of Illinois, September 1989. [vz] Malkin, G., A. Marine, and J. Reynolds, "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly Asked 'Experienced Internet User' Questions", FYI 7, RFC 1207, FTP Software, SRI, USC/Information Sciences Institute, February 1991. [vs] Malkin, G.S. and J.K. Reynolds, "F.Y.I. on F.Y.I.: Introduction to the F.Y.I. notes", FYI 1, RFC 1150, Proteon, USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1990. [vz] Marine, A., J. Reynolds, and G. Malkin, "FYI on Questions and Answers - Answers to Commonly asked 'New Internet User' Questions", FYI 4, RFC 1594, NASA Ames Research Center, USC/Information Sciences Institute, Xylogics, March, 1994. [vt] Martin, J., "There's Gold in them thar Networks! Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places", FYI 10, RFC 1402, Ohio State University, January 1993. [vn] Postel, J., Editor, "Internet Official Protocol Standards", STD 1, RFC 1600, Internet Architecture Board, March 1994. [vq] Postel, J., "Introduction to the STD Notes", RFC 1311, USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1992. [vl] Postel, J., "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", STD 10, RFC 821, USC/Information Sciences Institute, August 1982. [vb] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP), STD 9, RFC 959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985. [vd] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification", STD 8, RFC 854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983. [tt] Socolofsky, T.J. and C.J. Kale, "TCP/IP Tutorial", RFC 1180, Spider Systems Ltd., January 1991. [vh] Williamson, S., "Transition and Modernization of the Internet Registration Service", RFC 1400, Network Solutions, Inc., March 1993. [uu] Zimmerman, D., "The Finger User Information Protocol", RFC 1288, Rutgers University, December 1991. [wa] Braun, E. "The Internet Directory". New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1994. [za] Comer, D. "Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. I: Principles, Protocols, and Architecture", 2/e. Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-Hall, 1991. [zb] Feit, S. "TCP/IP". New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993. [ap] Fraase, M. "The PC Internet Tour Guide." Chapel Hill (NC): Ventana Press, 1994. [wc] Gibbs, M. and R. Smith. "Navigating the Internet". Carmel (IN): SAMS, 1993. [wo] Gilster, P. "The Internet Navigator". New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1993. [aq] Hahn, H. and R. Stout. "The Internet Yellow Pages". Berkeley (CA): Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1994. [we] Kehoe, B. "Zen and the Art of the Internet". Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-Hall, 1993. [wg] Krol, E. "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog". Sebastopol (CA): O'Reilly & Associates, 1992. [xa] LaQuey, T., Editor. "Users' Directory of Computer Networks". Bedford (MA): Digital Press, 1990. [wm] Malamud, C. "Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue". Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1992. [wi] Marine, A., S. Kirkpatrick, V. Neou, and C. Ward. "INTERNET: Getting Started". Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1993. [wk] Nielsen, B. "Finding it on the Internet: The Next Challenge for Librarianship." Database, Vol. 13, October 1990, pp. 105-107. [vr] Rose, M. "THE INTERNET MESSAGE: Closing the Book With Electronic Mail". Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1993. 7. Authors' Address Gary C. Kessler Hill Associates 17 Roosevelt Highway Colchester, VT 05446 Phone: +1 802-655-8633 Fax: +1 802-655-7974 EMail: kumquat@smcvax.smcvt.edu Steven D. Shepard Hill Associates 17 Roosevelt Highway Colchester, VT 05446 Phone: +1 802-655-8646 Fax: +1 802-655-7974 EMail: sshepard@emily.emba.uvm.edu ``INTERNET-DRAFT'' Expires: 5 December 1994 ``INTERNET-DRAFT''