Network Working Group G. Kessler
Request for Comments: 1739 S. Shepard
Category: Informational Hill Associates, Inc.
December 1994
A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction .................................................. 2
2. A Beginner's Guide to TCP/IP-based Utilities and Applications . 2
2.1. NSLOOKUP .................................................... 3
2.2. PING ........................................................ 5
2.3. FINGER ...................................................... 6
2.4. TRACEROUTE .................................................. 7
2.5. FTP ......................................................... 10
2.6. TELNET ...................................................... 14
2.7. User Database Lookup Tools .................................. 17
2.7.1. WHOIS/NICNAME ............................................. 17
2.7.2. KNOWBOT ................................................... 20
2.7.3. NETFIND ................................................... 21
2.8. Information Servers ......................................... 24
2.8.1. ARCHIE .................................................... 24
2.8.2. GOPHER .................................................... 27
2.8.3. Other Information Servers ................................. 30
2.9. Uniform Resource Locator Format ............................. 31
3. Distribution Lists and Mailing Lists .......................... 32
3.1. Internet Discussion Lists ................................... 33
3.2. Usenet ...................................................... 33
3.3. BITNET/EARN ................................................. 35
4. Internet Documentation ........................................ 36
4.1. Request for Comments (RFCs) ................................. 36
4.2. Internet Standards .......................................... 38
4.3. For Your Information Documents .............................. 39
4.4. RARE Technical Reports ...................................... 40
5. Perusing the Internet ......................................... 40
6. Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................... 42
7. Security Considerations ....................................... 43
8. Acknowledgements .............................................. 43
9. References .................................................... 43
10. Authors' Addresses ........................................... 46
Kessler & Shepard [Page 1]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
1. Introduction
This memo is an introductory 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 determining if a particular host is
up to viewing a multimedia thesis on foreign policy. It also
describes discussion lists accessible from the Internet, ways to
obtain Internet documents, and resources that help users weave their
way through the Internet. This memo may be used as a tutorial for
individual self-learning, a step-by-step laboratory manual for a
course, or as the basis for a site's users manual. It is intended as
a basic guide only and will refer to other sources for more detailed
information.
2. A Beginner's Guide to TCP/IP-based Utilities and Applications
This section provides descriptions and detailed examples of several
TCP/IP utilities and applications, including actual sessions using
these utilities (with some extraneous information removed). Each
section below describes a single TCP/IP-based tool, it's application,
and, in some cases, how it works. The text description is followed
by an actual sample session.
The sample dialogues shown below were made using the Multinet TCP/IP
software for VAX/VMS or DOS versions of FTP Software's PC/TCP. While
the examples below can be used as a guide to using and learning about
the capabilities of these tools, the reader should understand that
not all of these utilities 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 graphical user interfaces running over Windows, X-Windows,
OS/2, or Macintosh systems. The Internet has many exciting things to
offer but standardized interfaces to the protocols is not yet one of
them! This guide will not provide any detail or motivation about the
Internet Protocol Suite; more information about the TCP/IP protocols
and related issues may be found in RFC 1180 [18], Comer [22], Feit
[23], and Kessler [30].
In the commands shown in the descriptions below, any item appearing
in square brackets ([]) is optional and the vertical-bar (|) means
"or"; parameters appearing with no brackets or within curly brackets
({}) are mandatory. In the sample dialogues, most user input is in
capital letters (only where allowed) and lines containing user input
are designated with a "**" in the far-left margin.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The sample dialogues are easier to read in the
secondary, Postscript version of this RFC.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 2]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
2.1. NSLOOKUP
NSLOOKUP is the name server lookup program that comes with many
TCP/IP software packages. A user can use NSLOOKUP to examine entries
in the Domain Name System (DNS) database that pertain to a particular
host or domain; one common use is to determine a host system's IP
address from its name or the host's name from its IP address. The
general form of the command to make a single query is:
NSLOOKUP [IP_address | host_name]
If the program is started without any parameters, the user will be
prompted for input; the user can enter either an IP address or host
name at that time, and the program will respond with the name and
address of the default name sever, the name server actually used to
resolve each request, and the IP address and host name that was
queried. "Exit" is used to quit the NSLOOKUP application.
Three simple 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", which is the
same host as in the first query. Note that NSLOOKUP provides a
"non-authoritative" answer. Since NSLOOKUP just queried this same
address, the information is still in its cache memory. Rather than
send additional messages to the name server, the answer is one that
it remembers from before; the server didn't look up the information
again, however, so 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".
One additional query is shown in the dialogue below. NSLOOKUP
examines information that is stored by the DNS. The default NSLOOKUP
queries examine basic address records (called "A records") to
reconcile the host name and IP address, although other information is
also available. In the final query below, for example, the user
wants to know where electronic mail addressed to the "uvm.edu" domain
actually gets delivered, since "uvm.edu" is not the name of an actual
host. This is accomplished by changing the query type to look for
Kessler & Shepard [Page 3]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
mail exchange (MX) records by issuing a "set type" command (which
must be in lower case). The query shows that mail addressed to
"uvm.edu" is handled though a mail server called "moose.uvm.edu". The
DNS is beyond the scope of this introduction, although more
information about the concepts and structure of the DNS can be found
in STD 13/RFC 1034 [12] and RFC 1591 [13]. The "help" command can be
issued at the program prompt for information about NSLOOKUP's more
advanced commands.
TECHNICAL NOTE: There are other tools that might be available on your
system or with your software for examining the DNS. Alternatives to
NSLOOKUP include HOST and DIG.
==================================================================
** 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
** > set type=MX
** > UVM.EDU
Server: LOCALHOST
Address: 127.0.0.1
uvm.edu preference = 10, mail exchanger = moose.uvm.edu
Kessler & Shepard [Page 4]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
moose.uvm.edu internet address = 132.198.101.60
** > EXIT
SMCVAX$
==================================================================
2.2. PING
Ping is one of the most widely available tools bundled with TCP/IP
software packages. Ping uses a series of Internet Control Message
Protocol (ICMP) Echo messages to determine if a remote host is active
or inactive, and to determine the round-trip delay in communicating
with it. The Ping command, referred to as the Packet Internetwork
Groper in some references, has the following general format:
PING [-s] {IP_address | 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, the "-s" parameter tells the 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
Kessler & Shepard [Page 5]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
----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. 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 RFC 1288 [20]. 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. Additional information may be
supplied at the option of the user in "plan" and/or "project" files
that they supply; these files are often named PLAN.TXT or
PROJECT.TXT, respectively, and reside 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.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 6]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
==================================================================
** C:\> FINGER KUMQUAT@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU
[smcvax.smcvt.edu]
KUMQUAT Gary Kessler 20A02991 MAIL TXA3
Last login Fri 15-Jul-1994 2:59 PM-EDT
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 or kumquat@hill.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
** C:\> FINGER @SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU
[smcvax.smcvt.edu]
Friday, July 15, 1994 4:00PM-EDT Up 21 03:41:31
7+0 Jobs on SMCVAX Load ave 0.24 0.31 0.25
User Personal Name Subsys
DENIS Denis Stratford MAIL
GOODWIN Dave Goodwin RTPAD
JAT John Trono EDT
KUMQUAT Gary Kessler MAIL
INFO SMC Info Service TELNET
SYSTEM System Manager *DCL*
SMITH Jim Smith LYNX
C:\>
================================================================
2.4. TRACEROUTE
Traceroute is another common TCP/IP tool, this one allowing users to
learn about the route that packets take from their local host to a
remote host. Although used often by network and system managers as a
simple, yet powerful, debugging aid, traceroute can be used by end
users to learn something about the structure of the Internet.
The Traceroute command has the following general format (where "#"
represents a positive integer value associated with the qualifier):
TRACEROUTE [-m #] [-q #] [-w #] [-p #] {IP_address | host_name}
Kessler & Shepard [Page 7]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
where -m is the maximum allowable TTL value, measured as 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)
The Traceroute example below shows the route between a host at St.
Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont (smcvax.smcvt.edu) and a
host at Bellcore in Red Bank, New Jersey (thumper.bellcore.com). The
output has some interesting points:
1. NEARnet, the New England Academic and Research Network, is a
regional network serving the northeastern U.S. The packets' route
runs from St. Mike's NEARnet gateway (smc-gw) to the University of
Vermont (uvm-gw), 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 packets travel on the National
Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) T3 backbone (lines 7-11). The
NSFNET backbone nodes are identified as "ans.net" since the NSFNET
is operated by Advanced Networks and Services, Inc. (ANS). The
packets travel within ANS' network on their core nodal switching
subsystems ("cnss") until ready to jump off the backbone; line 11
indicates an ANS exterior nodal switching subsystem ("enss"). The
datagrams are then 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 take the same route. In
particular, only two of the datagrams go through the ANS gateway
referred to at line 10. Note also line 17; here, the first two
datagrams go through one router at Bellcore, while the third
datagram goes through a companion router.
TECHNICAL NOTE: Traceroute works by sending a sequence of User
Datagram Protocol (UDP) datagrams to an invalid port address at the
remote host. 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 Time
Exceeded Message (TEM) 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 TEMs. This
Kessler & Shepard [Page 8]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
process continues until the packets actually reach the other
destination. Since these datagrams are trying to access an invalid
port at the destination host, ICMP Destination Unreachable Messages
are returned indicating an unreachable port; this event signals the
Traceroute program that it is finished! The Traceroute program
displays the round-trip delay associated with each of the attempts.
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". (See Section 2.5 for a discussion of anonymous
FTP.)
==================================================================
** 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$
==================================================================
Kessler & Shepard [Page 9]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
2.5. FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) [16] is one of the most useful and
powerful TCP/IP utilities 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. The general form of the FTP command is:
FTP [IP_address | host_name]
As shown, FTP can be initiated in several ways. In the example shown
below, an FTP control connection is initiated to a host by supplying
a host name with the FTP command; optionally, the host's IP address
in dotted decimal form could be used. If neither host name nor IP
address are supplied in the command line, a connection to a host can
be initiated by typing "OPEN host_name" or "OPEN IP_address" once the
FTP application has been started.
The remote host will now ask for a username and password. If a
legitimate, registered user of this host supplies a valid username
and password, then 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" (although an increasing number of 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. This command is very important one, by the way; if
transferring a binary or executable file, be sure to set the type to
"image" (or "binary" on some systems).
The "dir" command provides a directory listing of the files in the
current directory at the remote host; the UNIX "ls" command may also
usually be used. Note that an 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:
Kessler & Shepard [Page 10]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
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; the
"show-directory" (may be truncated to fewer characters, as shown)
command, if available, may be used 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 (download) 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.
FTP's "put" (or "send") command allows uploading from the local host
to the remote. "Put" is often 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.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 11]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
TECHNICAL NOTE: 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 (using MultiNet for
VMS), the "show" command will display the current directory; in
another package (e.g., FTP Software's PC/TCP), "show" will display a
file from the remote host at the local host. Some packages have
nothing equivalent to either of these commands!
==================================================================
** 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 ?
Commands may be 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
Kessler & Shepard [Page 12]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
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
<Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
total 25
drwxr-xr-x 2 9013 daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 .cap
drwxr-xr-x 4 9013 daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 About
-rw-r--r-- 1 9013 daemon 791 Apr 6 1993 About_Gopher
drwxr-xr-x 3 9013 daemon 512 Jul 12 1993 Books
drwxr-xr-x 13 9013 daemon 512 Jul 1 1993 Clinton
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root daemon 12 Feb 26 07:02 Economic_Plan
-> 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
<Transfer complete.
1490 bytes transferred at 4966 bps.
Run time = 10. ms, Elapsed time = 2400. ms.
** WIRETAP.SPIES.COM> CD Gov
<CWD command successful.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 13]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
** WIRETAP.SPIES.COM> SHOW
<"/Gov" is current directory.
** WIRETAP.SPIES.COM> DIR *.act
<Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
-rw-r--r-- 1 9013 42 32695 Dec 10 21:37 brady.act
-r--r--r-- 1 9013 42 168649 Mar 26 1993 disable.act
-r--r--r-- 1 9013 42 62602 Mar 30 1993 ecpa.act
-r--r--r-- 1 9013 42 29519 Mar 30 1993 faircredit.act
-r--r--r-- 1 9013 42 57206 Mar 30 1993 privacy.act
-r--r--r-- 1 9013 42 16261 Mar 26 1993 warpower.act
<Transfer complete.
401 bytes transferred at 7638 bps.
Run time = 0. ms, Elapsed time = 420. ms.
** WIRETAP.SPIES.COM> GET faircredit.act FAIRCRDT.TXT
<Opening ASCII mode data connection for faircredit.act (29519
bytes).
<Transfer complete.
30132 bytes transferred at 39976 bps.
Run time = 40. ms, Elapsed time = 6030. ms.
** WIRETAP.SPIES.COM> QUIT
<Goodbye.
SMCVAX$
================================================================
2.6. TELNET
TELNET [17] is TCP/IP's virtual terminal protocol. Using TELNET, a
user connected to one host can login to another host, appearing like
a directly-attached terminal at the remote system; this is TCP/IP's
definition of a "virtual terminal." The general form of the TELNET
command is:
TELNET [IP_address | host_name] [port]
As shown, a TELNET connection is initiated when the user enters the
"TELNET" command and supplies either a "host_name" or "IP_address";
if neither are given, TELNET will ask for one once the application
begins.
In the example below, a user logged onto a PC on a LAN will use
TELNET to attach to the remote host "smcvax.smcvt.edu". Once logged
in via TELNET, the user can do anything on the remote host that they
could do if they were on a directly-connected terminal or had dialed-
up by modem. The commands that are used are those available on the
remote system to which the user is attached. In the sample dialogue
Kessler & Shepard [Page 14]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
below, the user attached to SMCVAX will use basic VAX/VMS commands:
o The "dir" command lists the files having a "COM" file extension.
o The "mail" command enters the MAIL system (there are no messages).
o "Pinging" the home host shows that it is alive!
When finished, "logout" logs the user off the remote host; TELNET
automatically closes the connection to the remote host and returns
control to the local system.
It is important to note that TELNET is a very powerful tool, one that
may provide users with access to many Internet utilities and services
that might not be otherwise available. Many of these features are
accessed by specifying a port number with the TELNET command, in
addition to a host's address, and knowledge of port numbers provides
another mechanism for users to access information with Telnet.
This guide discusses several TCP/IP and Internet utilities that
require local client software, such as Finger, Whois, Archie, and
Gopher. But what if your software does not include a needed client?
In some cases, Telnet may be used to access a remote client and
provide the same functionality.
This is done by specifying a port number with the TELNET command.
Just as TCP/IP hosts have a unique IP address, applications on the
host are associated with an address, called a "port". Finger, for
example, is associated with the well-known port number 79. In the
absence of a Finger client, TELNETing to port 79 at a remote host may
provide the same information. You can "finger" another host with
TELNET by using a command like:
TELNET host_name 79
Other well-known TCP/IP port numbers include 20 (FTP data transfer),
21 (FTP control), 25 (SMTP), 43 (whois), 70 (Gopher), and 185
(KNOWBOT).
Some services are available on the Internet using TELNET and special
port numbers. A geographical information database, for example, may
be accessed by TELNETing to port 3000 at host
"martini.eecs.umich.edu"; current weather information is available at
port 3000 at hosts "downwind.sprl.umich.edu" and
"wind.atmos.uah.edu".
Kessler & Shepard [Page 15]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
==================================================================
** C:\> TELNET SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU
FTP Software PC/TCP tn 2.31 01/07/94 12:38
Copyright (c) 1986-1993 by FTP Software, Inc. All rights reserved
- Connected to St. Michael's College -
** Username: KUMQUAT
** Password:
St. Michael's College VAX/VMS System.
Node SMCVAX.
Last interactive login on Thursday, 9-JUN-1994 11:55
Last non-interactive login on Thursday, 9-JUN-1994 08:20
Good Afternoon User KUMQUAT. Logged in on 12-JUN-1994 at 3:27 PM.
User [GUEST,KUMQUAT] has 4292 blocks used, 5708 available,
of 10000 authorized and permitted overdraft of 100 blocks on $1$DIA2
** SMCVAX$ DIR *.COM
Directory $1$DIA2:[GUEST.KUMQUAT]
BACKUP.COM;24 24 16-JUL-1990 16:22:46.68 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
DELTREE.COM;17 3 16-JUL-1990 16:22:47.58 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
EXPANDZ.COM;7 2 22-FEB-1993 10:00:04.35 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
FTSLOGBLD.COM;3 1 16-JUL-1990 16:22:48.57 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
FTSRRR.COM;2 1 16-JUL-1990 16:22:48.73 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
LOGIN.COM;116 5 1-DEC-1993 09:33:21.61 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
SNOOPY.COM;6 1 16-JUL-1990 16:22:52.06 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
SYLOGIN.COM;83 8 16-JUL-1990 16:22:52.88 (RWED,RWED,RE,RE)
SYSHUTDWN.COM;1 0 16-JUL-1990 16:22:53.04 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
SYSTARTUP.COM;88 15 16-JUL-1990 16:22:53.21 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
WATCH_MAIL.COM;1 173 10-MAY-1994 09:59:52.65 (RWED,RWED,RE,)
Total of 11 files, 233 blocks.
** SMCVAX$ MAIL
** MAIL> EXIT
** SMCVAX$ PING HILL.COM /N=5
PING HILL.COM (199.182.20.4): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 199.182.20.4: icmp_seq=0 time=290 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.4: icmp_seq=1 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.4: icmp_seq=2 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.4: icmp_seq=3 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.4: icmp_seq=4 time=260 ms
Kessler & Shepard [Page 16]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
----HILL.COM PING Statistics----
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip (ms) min/avg/max = 260/266/290
** SMCVAX$ LOGOUT
KUMQUAT logged out at 12-JUN-1994 15:37:04.29
Connection #0 closed
C:\>
==================================================================
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 RFC 954 [4].
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 RFC 1400 [19]. The MILNET database resides at
"nic.ddn.mil" and PSI's White Pages pilot service is located at
"psi.com".
Many software packages contain a WHOIS/NICNAME client that
automatically establishes the TELNET connection to a default name
server database, although users can usually specify any name server
database that they want.
The accompanying dialogues shows several types of WHOIS/NICNAME
information queries. In the session below, we request information
about an individual (Denis Stratford) by using WHOIS locally, a
specific domain (hill.com) by using NICNAME locally, and a high-level
domain (edu) using TELNET to a WHOIS server.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 17]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
==================================================================
** 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$
** C:\> NICNAME HILL.COM
Hill Associates (HILL-DOM)
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Domain Name: HILL.COM
Administrative Contact:
Kessler, Gary C. (GK34) kumquat@HILL.COM
(802) 655-8633
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Monaghan, Carol A. (CAM4) cam@HILL.COM
(802) 655-8630
Record last updated on 15-Jun-94.
Domain servers in listed order:
NETCOMSV.NETCOM.COM 192.100.81.101
NS.NETCOM.COM 192.100.81.105
** C:\> TELNET RS.INTERNIC.NET
Connected to RS.INTERNIC.NET, a SUN 670 running SUNOS-4.1.3
******************************************************************
* -- InterNIC Registration Services Center --
******************************************************************
Cmdinter Ver 1.3 Mon Mar 21 13:42:27 1994 EST
** [dec-vt220] 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.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 18]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
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 16-May-94.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.INTERNIC.NET 198.41.0.4
AOS.ARL.ARMY.MIL 128.63.4.82, 192.5.25.82
NS1.ISI.EDU 128.9.0.107
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 1504 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 1499 more matches. Show them? N
** Whois: EXIT
** [dec-vt220] InterNIC> QUIT
Connection #0 closed
C:\>
==================================================================
Kessler & Shepard [Page 19]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
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 several 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 at host
"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 "Gary Kessler"; this command automatically starts a search
through the default set of Internet databases.
==================================================================
** C:\> TELNET INFO.CNRI.RESTON.VA.US 185
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@HILL.COM
** > QUERY KESSLER, GARY
Trying whois at ds.internic.net...
The ds.internic.net whois server is being queried:
No match for "KESSLER and GARY"
The rs.internic.net whois server is being queried:
Kessler, Gary C. (GK34) kumquat@HILL.COM
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
(802) 655-8633
The nic.ddn.mil whois server is being queried:
Kessler, Gary P. (GK15) sa75@TECNET1.JCTE.JCS.MIL
NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER-AD PAX
Simulation & Control Technology Dept
SATD
Patuxent River, MD 20670
301-826-3192 (DSN) 326-3192 (FAX) 301-826-4555
MILNET TAC user (Issued: 11-jul-1994)
Kessler & Shepard [Page 20]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
TAC authorizing host: TECNET1.JCTE.JCS.MIL (NATC-3COM)
Trying mcimail at cnri.reston.va.us...
Trying ripe at whois.ripe.net...
Trying whois at whois.lac.net...
No match found for .KESSLER,GARY
** > QUIT
KIS exiting
Connection #0 closed
C:\>
==================================================================
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 user 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 is known to work at Goddard Space Flight Center ("gsfc")
at NASA ("nasa.gov").
The primary NETFIND server is located at the University of Colorado
in Boulder (bruno.cs.colorado.edu); alternate servers include:
archie.au (AARNet, Melbourne, Australia)
dino.conicit.ve (Nat. Council for Tech. & Sci. Res., Venezuela)
ds.internic.net (InterNIC Directory & DB Svcs., S. Plainfield, NJ)
eis.calstate.edu (California State University, Fullerton, CA)
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.fnet.fr (Association FNET, Le Kremlin-Bicetre, France)
netfind.icm.edu.pl (Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland)
netfind.if.usp.br (University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Kessler & Shepard [Page 21]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
netfind.oc.com (OpenConnect Systems, Dallas, Texas)
netfind.sjsu.edu (San Jose State University, San Jose, California)
netfind.vslib.cz (Liberec Univ. of Technology, Czech Republic)
nic.uakom.sk (Academy of Sciences, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia)
redmont.cis.uab.edu (University of Alabama at Birmingham)
==================================================================
** C:\> TELNET DS.INTERNIC.NET
SunOS UNIX (ds)
** login: netfind
===================================================
Welcome to the InterNIC Directory & Database 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 - mail intended
for "maufer" should be addressed to "tom@gsfc.nasa.gov"
rather than "tom@stimpy.gsfc.nasa.gov".
Kessler & Shepard [Page 22]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
( 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 #0 closed
C:\>
==================================================================
Kessler & Shepard [Page 23]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
2.8. Information Servers
2.8.1. ARCHIE
Archie is a tool for locating files on the Internet, originally
developed at the Computer Science Department at McGill University in
Montreal. Archie allows users to find software, data, and other
information files that reside at anonymous FTP archive sites across
the Internet; the name of the program, reportedly, is derived from
the word "archive" and not from the comic book character. Archie
tracks the contents of over 1,000 anonymous FTP archive sites
containing over 2 million files. The Archie server automatically
updates the information from each registered site about once a month,
providing relatively up-to-date information without unduly stressing
the network.
Before using Archie, you must identify a server address. The sites
below all support Archie; 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)
Kessler & Shepard [Page 24]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
Archie servers may be accessed using TELNET. When TELNETing to an
Archie site, login as "archie" (you MUST use lower case); just hit
<ENTER> if a password is requested.
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
standard. Armed with this information, a user can use anonymous FTP
to examine these directories and 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.
Additional information about Archie can be obtained by sending e-mail
to Bunyip Information Systems (archie-info@bunyip.com). Client
software is not required to use Archie, but can make life a little
easier; some such software can be downloaded using anonymous FTP from
the "/pub/archie/" directory at host "ftp.cs.widener.edu" or in
"/pub/archie/clients/" at "ftp.sura.net". Most shareware and
commercial Archie clients hide the complexity described in this
section; users usually connect to a pre-configured Archie server
merely by typing an "ARCHIE" command line.
==================================================================
** C:\> TELNET 129.93.1.14
SunOS UNIX (crcnis2)
** login: archie
** Password:
Welcome to the ARCHIE server at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln
# Bunyip Information Systems, 1993
** unl-archie> HELP
These are the commands you can use in help:
Kessler & Shepard [Page 25]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
. go up one level in the hierarchy
? display a list of valid subtopics at the current level
<newline>
done, ^D, ^C quit from help entirely
<string> help on a topic or subtopic
Eg.
"help show"
will give you the help screen for the "show" command
"help set search"
Will give you the help information for the "search" variable.
The command "manpage" will give you a complete copy of the archie
manual page.
** help> DONE
** unl-archie> SET MAXHITS 5
** unl-archie> PROG MPEG
# Search type: sub.
# Your queue position: 1
# Estimated time for completion: 02:18
Host ftp.germany.eu.net (192.76.144.75)
Location: /pub/applications/graphics
DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 512 bytes 00:00 7 Jul 1993 mpeg
Location: /pub/comp/amiga/gfx
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 bytes 00:00 7 Sep 1993 mpeg
Host stsci.edu (130.167.1.2)
Location: /stsci/epa
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 bytes 12:55 21 Jun 1994 mpeg
Host ftp.nau.edu (134.114.64.70)
Location: /graphics
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 bytes 04:51 3 Apr 1994 mpeg
Host gum.isi.edu (128.9.32.31)
Location: /share/in-notes/media-types/video
FILE -rw-r--r-- 15 bytes 18:45 11 Jan 1994 mpeg
** unl-archie> WHATIS SECURITY
RFC 1037 Greenberg, B.; Keene, S. NFILE - a file access
protocol. 1987 December; 86 p.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 26]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
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
# Bye.
Connection #0 closed
C:\>
==================================================================
2.8.2. GOPHER
The Internet Gopher protocol was developed at the University of
Minnesota's Microcomputer Center in 1991, as a distributed
information search and retrieval tool for the Internet. Gopher is
described in RFC 1436 [1]; the name derives from the University's
mascot.
Gopher provides a tool so that publicly available information at a
host can be organized in a hierarchical fashion, allowing it to be
perused using a simple menu system. Gopher allows a user to view a
file on demand without requiring additional file transfer protocols.
Gopher also has the capability to "link" gophers on the Internet, so
that each Gopher site can be used as a stepping stone to access other
sites and reducing the amount of duplicate information and effort on
the network.
In many cases, users can access Gopher by TELNETing to a valid Gopher
location; if the site provides a remote Gopher client, the user will
see 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. Note that not all Gopher sites
provide a remote Gopher client; users may need local Gopher client
software on their system.
The Gopher server at "ds.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. In the
sample dialogue below, the remote Gopher client is accessed by
TELNETing to the host. With the menu interface shown here, the user
merely follows the prompts. Initially, the main menu will appear;
selecting item 2 causes Gopher to seize and display the "InterNIC
Information Services" menu. Move to the desired menu item by typing
Kessler & Shepard [Page 27]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
the item number or by moving the "pointer" (-->) down to the desired
entry using the <DOWN-ARROW> key on the keyboard, and then hitting
<ENTER>. To quit the program at any time, press "q" (quit); "?" 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.
Menu item 7 (selected in the dialogue shown here) is titled
"Beginners: Start Here", an excellent place for new users to obtain
information about the Internet, available tools, terms and concepts,
and, perhaps most importantly, some of the cultural aspects of the
Internet community.
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 3.1 for information on subscribing to Internet
discussion lists). More information on Gopher clients can be found
in the Gopher Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file, which can be
downloaded using anonymous FTP in file
"/pub/usenet/news.answers/gopher-faq" at the host "rtfm.mit.edu";
this FAQ also lists sources for a number of Gopher clients for a wide
range of hardware/software platforms.
==================================================================
** SMCVAX$ TELNET DS.INTERNIC.NET
SunOS UNIX (ds)
** login: gopher
SunOS Release 4.1.3 (DS) #3: Tue Feb 8 10:52:45 EST 1994
******************************************************************
Welcome to the InterNIC Directory and Database Server.
******************************************************************
Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11
Root gopher server: ds0.internic.net
--> 1. Information About the InterNIC/
2. InterNIC Information Services (General Atomics)/
3. InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)/
4. InterNIC Directory and Database Services (AT&T)/
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** View item number: 2
Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11
InterNIC Information Services (General Atomics)
--> 1. README.
2. About the InfoGuide/
3. About InterNIC Information Services/
4. About the Internet/
5. Getting Connected to the Internet/
6. Beginners: Start Here/
7. Using the Internet/
8. Internet Resources/
9. Advanced Users: NIC Staff, System Administrators, Programmer
10. Frequently Asked Questions at InterNIC IS/
11. Scout Report/
12. WAIS search InfoGuide (and elsewhere) by keyword/
13. InfoGuide INDEX.
Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1
** View item number: 6
Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11
Beginners: Start Here
--> 1. About This Directory.
2. Introductions to the Internet/
3. Glossaries And Definitions/
4. Network Tools/
5. Further Reading/
6. Collection of Usenet FAQs/
7. Internet Culture and Netiquette/
Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1
** q
Really quit (y/n) ?
** y
Connection closed by Foreign Host
SMCVAX$
==================================================================
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2.8.3. Other Information Servers
There are a number of other information servers that are growing in
popularity and use. 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 in Reno as an
adjunct to Gopher. As the number of Gopher sites continues to grow,
it has become increasingly harder to find information in
"Gopherspace" since Gopher is designed to search a single database at
a time. Veronica maintains an index of titles of Gopher items and
performs a keyword search on all of the Gopher sites that it has
knowledge of and access to, obviating the need for the user to
perform a menu-by-menu, site-by-site search for information. When a
user selects an item from the menu of a Veronica search, "sessions"
are automatically established with the appropriate Gopher servers,
and a list of data items is returned to the originating Gopher client
in the form of a Gopher menu so that the user can access the files.
Veronica is available as an option on many Gopher servers, including
"internic.net".
Another Gopher-adjunct is Jughead (Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy
Excavation And Display). Jughead supports key word searches and the
use of logical operators (AND, OR, and NOT). The result of a Jughead
search is a display of all menu items which match the search string
which are located in the University of Manchester and UMIST
Information Server, working from a static database that is re-created
every day. Jughead is available from many Gopher sites (including
"internic.net"), although Veronica may be a better tool for global
searches.
Archie and Gopher are primarily used for the indexing of text-based
files. The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) Project, initiated by the CERN
Institute for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland, 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,
sound, image, and video. WWW treats all searchable Internet files as
hypertext documents. "Hypertext" is a new term which merely refers
to text that contains pointers to other text, allowing a user reading
one document to jump to another document for more information on a
given topic, and then return to the same location in the original
document. The original WWW site is at CERN and may be accessed via
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Telnet at "nxoc01.cern.ch". The user will be automatically logged in
and a help menu can be displayed by entering the "h" command.
To generally access WWW servers, users must run client software
called a "browser". The browser reads documents from WWW servers and
can access files by FTP, gopher, and other methods. WWW can also
handle hypermedia documents; "hypermedia" is another new term,
referring to a file using any medium that contains pointers to
another medium. WWW browsers, then, are able to display images,
sound, or animations in addition to text. 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 most commonly used WWW browser is Mosaic, developed at the
National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) at the
University of Illinois. 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. A
large number of shareware Mosaic clients are available at
"ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu". It should be noted that commercial versions of
Mosaic will also become available for a variety of platforms after
the summer of 1994.
The Wide Area Information Server (WAIS, pronounced "ways") was
initiated jointly by Apple Computer, Dow Jones, KMPG Peat Marwick,
and Thinking Machines Corp. It is a set of free-ware, share-ware,
and commercial software products for a wide variety of
hardware/software platforms, which work together to help users find
information on the Internet. 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, from host "rtfm.mit.edu" in file
"/pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq".
2.9. Uniform Resource Locator Format
As more and more protocols have become available to identify files,
archive and server sites, news lists, and other information resources
on the Internet, it was inevitable that some shorthand would arise to
make it a little easier to designate these sources. The common
shorthand that is employed is called the Uniform Resource Locator
(URL) format.
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The list below provides information on how the URL format should be
interpreted for the protocols and resources that have been discussed
in this document. A complete description of the URL format may be
found in [2].
file://"host"/"directory"/"file-name"
Used to identify a specific file. E.g., the file "htmlasst" in the
"edu" directory at host "ftp.cs.da" would be denoted with URL as:
<URL:file://ftp.cs.da/edu/htmlasst>
ftp://"user":"password"@"host":"port"/"directory"/"file-name"
Used to identify an FTP site. E.g.:
<URL:ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/Crypto/*>
gopher://"host":"port"/"gopher-path"
Used to identify a Gopher site and menu path. E.g.:
<URL:gopher://info.umd.edu:901/info/Government/Factbook92>
http://"host":"port"/"directory"/"file-name"?"searchpart"
Used to identify a WWW server location. "http" refers to the
HyperText Transport Protocol; file names commonly use the ".html"
extension, indicating use of the HyperText Markup Language. E.g.:
<URL:http://info.isoc.org/home.html>
mailto:"e-mail address"
Identifies an individual Internet mail address. E.g.:
<URL:mailto:sds@hill.com>
telnet://"user":"password"@"host":"port"/
Identifies a TELNET site (the trailing "/" is optional). E.g.:
<URL:telnet//envnet:henniker@envnet.gsfc.nasa.gov>
3. 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 foreign policy.
Several, naturally, deal specifically with the Internet, TCP/IP
protocols, and the impact of new technologies.
Most of the discussion lists accessible from the Internet are
"unmoderated", meaning 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 result in a lot of messages (including inappropriate "junk
mail"). A "moderated" list has an extra step; a human list moderator
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examines all messages before they are forwarded to ensure that the
messages are appropriate to the list and not needlessly inflammatory!
Users should be warned that some lists generate a significant amount
of messages each day. Before subscribing to too many lists, be sure
that you are aware of local policies and/or charges governing access
to discussion lists and e-mail storage.
3.1. Internet Discussion Lists
A list of the known interest groups may be found by Gophering to
"ds.internic.net". Follow the menu path "InterNIC Information
Services" | "Using the Internet" | "Basic Internet Services" |
"Electronic Mail" | "Mailing Lists" to find the 8-part list of lists.
Be careful if you download these files; the list is nearly 1.5 MB in
size, listing over 800 lists! Along the way, you will find a wealth
of other information.
Mail can be sent to an Internet list at an address with the following
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 the
list administrator; do NOT send administrivia to the main list
address! The list administrator can usually be found at:
list_name-REQUEST@host_name
To subscribe to a list, it is often enough to place the word
"subscribe" in the main body of the message, although a line with the
format:
SUBSCRIBE list_name your_full_name
will satisfy most mail servers. A similar message may be used to get
off a list; just use the word "unsubscribe".
Not every list follows this convention, but it is a safe bet if you
don't have better information!
3.2. Usenet
Usenet, also known as NETNEWS or Usenet news, is another information
source with its own set of special interest mailing lists organized
into "newsgroups". Usenet originated on UNIX systems but has
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migrated to many other types of hosts, although most Usenet servers
are still UNIX-based. Usenet clients, called "newsreaders", are
available for virtually any operating system.
While Usenet newsgroups are usually accessible at Internet sites, a
prospective Usenet client host must have appropriate newsreader
software to be able to read news. Users will have to check with
their local host or network administrator to find out what Usenet
newsgroups are locally available, as well as the local policies for
using them.
Usenet newsgroup names are hierarchical in nature. 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"; the total number of newsgroups is in
the thousands. The "news.announce.newusers" newsgroup is a good
place for new Usenet users to find a detailed introduction to the use
of Usenet, as well as an introduction to its culture.
Usenet mainstream hierarchies are established by a process that
requires the approval of a majority 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 at any
site that has the 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
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A list of newsgroups 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 newsgroups and Internet
discussion lists. Some individuals join both lists in these
circumstances or, often, there is cross-posting of messages. Some
Usenet newsgroup discussions are forwarded onto an Internet mailing
list by an individual site to provide access to those users who do
not have Usenet available.
Users not connected to Usenet may post messages to a Usenet newsgroup
using Internet e-mail. First, replace the periods in the Usenet
discussion list name with 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
Usenet news may be read using Gopher. Connect to the host
"gopher.msu.edu" using the path "News & Weather" | "USENET News" or
host "gopher.bham.ac.uk" using the path "Usenet News Reader".
3.3. 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 (European Academic and Research Network), although it
is also available to Internet users.
LISTSERV commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages sent
to an appropriate list 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
Kessler & Shepard [Page 35]
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4. Internet Documentation
To fully appreciate and understand what is going on within the
Internet community, users might wish to obtain the occasional
Internet specification. The main body of Internet documents are
Request for Comments (RFCs), although a variety of RFC subsets have
been defined for various specific purposes. The sections below will
describe the RFCs and other documentation, and how to get these
documents.
NOTE: For complete, up-to-date information on obtaining Internet
documentation, users should Gopher to "ds.internic.net" and follow
the path "InterNIC Information Services" | "About the Internet" |
"Internet Documentation", and then select the desired set of
documents. This Gopher path is referred to as the "documentation
root path" in the remainder of this section.
4.1. Request for Comments (RFCs)
RFCs are the body of literature comprising Internet protocols,
standards, research questions, hot topics, humor (especially those
dated 1 April), and general information. Each RFC is uniquely issued
a 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 (i.e., postal service), but it
is easier and faster to get them on-line. One easy way to obtain
RFCs on-line is to use RFC-INFO, an e-mail-based service to help
users locate and retrieve RFCs and other Internet documents. To use
the service, send e-mail to "rfc-info@isi.edu" and leave the
"Subject:" field blank; commands that may go in the main body of the
message include:
HELP (Help file)
HELP: ways_to_get_rfcs (Help file on how to get RFCs)
RETRIEVE: RFC
Doc-ID: RFCxxxx (Retrieve RFC xxxx; use all 4 digits)
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")
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DATED-AFTER: mmm-dd-yyyy
DATED-BEFORE: mmm-dd-yyyy
OBSOLETES: RFCxxxx (List RFCs obsoleting RFC xxxx)
An alternative way to obtain RFCs by e-mail is to send an e-mail
message to "service@nic.ddn.mil", leaving the "Subject:" field blank.
In the main body of the message, use one or more of the following
commands. The RFC index, or a specific reference to an RFC, will
indicate whether the RFC is available in ASCII text or PostScript
format. By convention, all RFCs are available in ASCII while some
are also available in PostScript where use of graphics and/or
different fonts 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 1,700 documents. Note that not
all RFCs numbered below 698 (July 1975) are available on-line:
SEND HELP (Help file)
SEND RFC/RFC-INDEX (RFC Index)
SEND RFC/RFCxxxx.TXT (ASCII version of RFC xxxx)
SEND RFC/RFCxxxx.PS (PostScript version of RFC xxxx)
-------------------------------------------
TABLE 1. Some of the RFC Repositories.
REGION HOST ADDRESS DIRECTORY
U.S. nic.ddn.mil rfc
U.S. nisc.jvnc.net rfc
U.S. ftp.isi.edu in-notes
U.S. wuarchive.wustl.edu info/rfc
U.K. src.doc.ic.ac.uk rfc
Europe funet.fi rfc
Pacific munnari.oz.au rfc
-------------------------------------------
To obtain an RFC via anonymous FTP, connect to one of the RFC
repositories listed in Table 1 using FTP. After connecting, 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)
Finally, check out the path "RFC's (Request for Comments)" under the
documentation root path for the RFC index, complete instructions on
obtaining RFCs, and a complete set of RFCs.
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The sample dialogue below, although highly abbreviated, shows a user
obtaining RFC 1594 (Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User"
Questions) using the first three methods described above.
==================================================================
** 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$ MAIL
** MAIL> SEND
** To: IN%"RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU"
** Subject:
Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to quit
** RETRIEVE: RFC
** Doc-ID: RFC1594
** ^Z
** MAIL> EXIT
** SMCVAX$ FTP NIC.DDN.MIL
** Username: ANONYMOUS
** Password:
** NIC.DDN.MIL> CD rfc
** NIC.DDN.MIL> GET rfc1594.txt RFC-1594.TXT
** NIC.DDN.MIL> EXIT
SMCVAX$
==================================================================
4.2. Internet Standards
RFCs describe many aspects of the Internet. By the early 1990s,
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 them as 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-
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1001/RFC-1002."
The availability of new STDs is announced on the RFC-DIST mailing
list. STD-1 [14] always refers to the latest list of "Internet
Official Protocol Standards". The Internet standards process is
described in RFC 1602 [6] and STD notes are explained in RFC 1311
[15].
STDs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
repository. In addition, some RFC sites (such as "nic.ddn.mil")
provide an STD directory so that STD documents can be found in the
path "/STD/xx.TXT", where "xx" refers to the STD number.
STD documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 4.1. STDs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the "RETRIEVE: STD" and "Doc-ID: STDxxxx" commands. Also, check out
the path "STD's (Standard RFC's)" under the documentation root path
for the STD index, complete instructions on obtaining STDs, and a
complete set of STDs.
4.3. For Your Information Documents
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 people that use 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 domain name
system.
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." The FYI notes are explained in FYI 1 [9].
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 in the
path "/FYI/xx.TXT", where "xx" refers to the FYI number.
FYI documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 4.1. FYIs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the "RETRIEVE: FYI" and "Doc-ID: FYIxxxx" commands. Also, check out
the path "FYI's (For Your Information RFC's)" under the documentation
root path for the FYI index, complete instructions on obtaining FYIs,
and a complete set of FYIs.
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4.4. RARE Technical Reports
The Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne (RARE) is the
Association of European Research Networks and their users. RARE's
charter is to promote and participate in the creation of a high-
quality European computer communications infrastructure for the
support of research endeavors. RARE member networks use Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) protocols and TCP/IP. Since the summer of
1993, to promote a closer relationship between RARE and the IETF,
RARE Technical Reports (RTRs) are also published as RFCs.
RTR documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 4.1. RTRs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the "RETRIEVE: RTR" and "Doc-ID: RTRxxxx" commands. Also, check out
the path "RTR's (RARE Technical Report RFC's)" under the
documentation root path for the RTR index, complete instructions on
obtaining RTRs, and a complete set of RTRs. They may also be
obtained via anonymous FTP from "ftp.rare.nl".
NOTE: As of December 1994, RARE and EARN have merged to form TERENA
(Trans-European Research and Education Network Association).
5. Perusing the Internet...
This guide is intended to provide the reader with a rudimentary
ability to use the utilities that are provided by TCP/IP and the
Internet. By now, it is clear that the user's knowledge, ability,
and willingness to experiment are about the only limits to what can
be accomplished.
The next step is to explore the nooks and crannies of the network.
One software tool that will users in this quest is the Merit Computer
Center's (Ann Arbor, MI) "Cruise of the Internet", available at no
cost from the host "nic.merit.edu" using FTP. For more information,
read the "readme" files in the directories "internet/resources/
cruise.mac" and "internet/resources/cruise.dos" for Mac and PC
versions, respectively. For general information about resources at
this site, see the READ.ME file in the root directory or send e-mail
to "nic-info@nic.merit.edu".
Several RFCs 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" [11], an excellent guide for
someone who wants to look around the Internet for a wide range of
material. Other good sources include the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Internet" (RFC 1118) [7] and the "Guide to Network Resource Tools"
(FYI 23/RFC 1580) [3]. Answers to frequently asked questions for
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both new and experienced users of the Internet may be found in FYI
4/RFC 1594 [10] and FYI 7/RFC 1207 [8], respectively.
There are many other sources that cite locations from which to access
specific information about a wide range of subjects using such tools
as FTP, Telnet, Gopher, and WWW. These include:
o The INTERNET SERVICES LIST, maintained by Scott Yanoff of the
University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and updated at least once a
month. This list can be obtained at <URL:ftp://ftp.csd.uwm.edu/
pub/inet.services.txt> or <URL:gopher://csd4.csd.uwm.edu/Remote
Information Services/Special Internet Connections>.
o An excellent starting point for searching the World Wide Web is to
point your WWW browser at "http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software
/Mosaic/StartingPoints/NetworkStartingPoints.html".
o The Scout Report is a weekly service by the InterNIC Information
Services team. To subscribe to the Scout Report mailing list, send
e-mail to "majordomo@is.internic.net" and place the line "subscribe
scout-report" in the main body of the message. Optionally, Gopher
to "ds.internic.net" and follow the path "InterNIC Information
Services" | "Scout Report" or point your WWW browser at
"http://www.internic.net/infoguide.html".
o "The INTERNET Yellow Pages" by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout [28].
More books and specialized articles came out about the Internet in
1993 and 1994 than in all previous years (squared!). Some of them
are directly related to finding your way around, or finding things
on, the Internet; a very partial list includes:
o "The Internet Directory" by Eric Braun [21]
o "The MAC Internet Tour Guide", "The PC Internet Tour Guide", and
"The Windows Internet Tour Guide" by Michael Fraase [24, 25, 26]
o "The Internet Navigator" by Paul Gilster [27]
o "Zen and the Art of the Internet" by Brendan Kehoe [29]
o "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog" by Ed Krol [31]
o "INTERNET: Getting Started" by April Marine, Susan Kirkpatrick,
Vivian Neou, and Carol Ward [33]
o "Finding it on the Internet: The Next Challenge for Librarianship"
by Brian Nielsen [34]
Kessler & Shepard [Page 41]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
o "Navigating the Internet" by Richard Smith and Mark Gibbs [35]
A much more comprehensive list of Internet-related books may be found
in FYI 19/RFC 1463 [5].
Finally, Carl Malamud has written a delightful book called "Exploring
the Internet: A Technical Travelogue" [32], chronicling not the
Internet as much as the people who built it and use it. This book
will not teach you how to perform an anonymous FTP file transfer nor
how to use Gopher, but provides insights about our network (and
Carl's gastro-pathology) that no mere statistics can convey.
6. Acronyms and Abbreviations
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
BITNET Because It's Time Network
DDN Defense Data Network
DNS Domain Name System
EARN European Academic Research Network
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions list
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FYI For Your Information series of RFCs
HTML HyperText Markup Language
HTTP HyperText Transport Protocol
ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
ISO International Organization for Standardization
NetBIOS Network Basic Input/Output System
NIC Network Information Center
NICNAME Network Information Center name service
NSF National Science Foundation
NSFNET National Science Foundation Network
RFC Request For Comments
RARE Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne
RTR RARE Technical Reports
SMDS Switched Multimegabit Data Service
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
STD Internet Standards series of RFCs
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TTL Time-To-Live
UDP User Datagram Protocol
URL Uniform Resource Locator
WAIS Wide Area Information Server
W3 World Wide Web
WWW World Wide Web
Kessler & Shepard [Page 42]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
7. Security Considerations
Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
8. Acknowledgements
Our thanks are given to all sites where we FTPed, TELNETed, GOPHERed,
and otherwise used system resources, particularly St. Michael's
College in Colchester, Vermont (smcvax.smcvt.edu). We also
appreciate the comments and suggestions from our colleagues at Hill
Associates, our students, and other members of the Internet
community, particularly Mark Delany and the rest of the gang at the
Australian Public Access Network Association, Margaret Hall (BBN),
John Martin (RARE), Tom Maufer (NASA), Michael Patton (BBN), and
Brian Williams. Special thanks are due to Joyce Reynolds for her
continued encouragement and direction.
9. References
[1] Anklesaria, F., McCahill, M., Lindner, P, Johnson, D., Torrey,
D., and B. Alberti, "The Internet Gopher Protocol", RFC 1436,
University of Minnesota, March 1993.
[2] Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and M. McCahill, Editors, "Uniform
Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, CERN, Xerox PARC, University
of Minnesota, December 1994.
[3] EARN Staff, "Guide to Network Resource Tools", FYI 23, RFC 1580,
EARN Association, March 1994.
[4] Harrenstien, K., Stahl, M., and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS", RFC
954, SRI, October 1985.
[5] Hoffman, E. and L. Jackson, "FYI on Introducing the Internet-- A
Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Readings", FYI
19, RFC 1463, Merit Network, Inc., NASA, May 1993.
[6] Internet Architecture Board, Internet Engineering Steering Group,
"The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 2", RFC 1602, IAB,
IESG, March 1994.
[7] Krol, E., "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet", RFC 1118,
University of Illinois Urbana, September 1989.
[8] Malkin, G., Marine, A., 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.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 43]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
[9] Malkin, G., and J. 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.
[10] Marine, A., Reynolds, J., 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.
[11] 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.
[12] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities", STD
13, RFC 1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.
[13] Postel, J., "Domain Name System Structure and Delegation",
USC/Information Sciences Institute, RFC 1591, March 1994.
[14] Postel, J., Editor, "Internet Official Protocol Standards", STD
1, RFC 1720, Internet Architecture Board, November 1994.
[15] Postel, J., "Introduction to the STD Notes", RFC 1311,
USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1992.
[16] Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP), STD
9, RFC 959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985.
[17] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification", STD
8, RFC 854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983.
[18] Socolofsky, T., and C. Kale, "TCP/IP Tutorial", RFC 1180, Spider
Systems Ltd., January 1991.
[19] Williamson, S., "Transition and Modernization of the Internet
Registration Service", RFC 1400, Network Solutions, Inc., March
1993.
[20] Zimmerman, D., "The Finger User Information Protocol", RFC 1288,
Rutgers University, December 1991.
[21] Braun, E., "The Internet Directory", New York: Fawcett Columbine,
1994.
[22] Comer, D., "Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. I: Principles,
Protocols, and Architecture", 2/e. Englewood Cliffs (NJ):
Prentice-Hall, 1991.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 44]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
[23] Feit, S., "TCP/IP", New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
[24] Fraase, M., "The MAC Internet Tour Guide", Chapel Hill (NC):
Ventana Press, 1994.
[25] Fraase, M., "The PC Internet Tour Guide", Chapel Hill (NC):
Ventana Press, 1994.
[26] Fraase, M., "The Windows Internet Tour Guide", Chapel Hill (NC):
Ventana Press, 1994.
[27] Gilster, P., "The Internet Navigator", New York: John Wiley &
Sons, 1993.
[28] Hahn, H., and R. Stout, "The Internet Yellow Pages", Berkeley
(CA): Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1994.
[29] Kehoe, B., "Zen and the Art of the Internet", Englewood Cliffs
(NJ): Prentice-Hall, 1993.
[30] Kessler, G., "An Overview of TCP/IP Protocols and the Internet",
August 1994. <URL:gopher://ds.internic.net/Information
Services/Advanced Users/tcp-ip>.
[31] Krol, E., "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog", Sebastopol
(CA): O'Reilly & Associates, 1992.
[32] Malamud, C., "Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue",
Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1992.
[33] Marine, A., Kirkpatrick, S., Neou, V., and C. Ward. "INTERNET:
Getting Started", Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1993.
[34] Nielsen, B., "Finding it on the Internet: The Next Challenge for
Librarianship." Database, Vol. 13, October 1990, pp. 105-107.
[35] Smith, R., and M. Gibbs, "Navigating the Internet", Carmel (IN):
SAMS, 1994.
Kessler & Shepard [Page 45]
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994
10. Authors' Addresses
Gary C. Kessler
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: +1 802-655-8633
Fax: +1 802-655-7974
EMail: kumquat@hill.com
Steven D. Shepard
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: +1 802-655-8646
Fax: +1 802-655-7974
EMail: sds@hill.com
Kessler & Shepard [Page 46]
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