Hidden Value: DTC connections, PC automated downloads and custom prompts

HiddenValue details commands and programs in MPE that can improve productivity on HP 3000 systems. Get a free NewsWire "HP 3000 Always Online" denim and suede cap - submit an MPE tip to Hidden Value. E-mail your tips to rseybold@zilker.net, or fax them to 512-331-3807.



I'd like to use back-to-back DTC ports to permit inbound telnet on my HP 3000 without a TAC. How can I do this?



With OpenView DTC Manager, a DTC port can be configured as one o f three types - terminal, printer, or host. If configured as a host port, the port can be accessed via telnet to the DTC's IP address at a specific TCP port number, as calculated by the following formula:



( ( ( 32 * dtc_board_number ) + dtc_port + 1 ) * 256 ) + 23



So, for example, for a DTC at IP address 199.8.123.123 to connec t to port 2 on board 0, you would use "telnet 199.8.123.123 791."

Alternate method: If you have additional IP addresses available , you can specify the desired address in the "Port Name" box of the DTCMGR port config screen, and then the port will be telnet-accessible by a simple IP address(or, presumably, by domain name if a DNS server is set up to point a name to the appropriate address).

Once this port is accessible via telnet, if it is cabled to another DTC portwhich is configured as a normal terminal, then the incoming telnet can bepassed serially to a DTC> prompt, or if switching is not enabled, pass directly to the default destination for that port. If the destination is an

MPE/iX system, then we have effectively translated from telnet to rs232 to AFCP, providing a means for a user with telnet but not NS/VT capability to access the MPE/iX system from the network, without a Telnet Access Card in the DTC.

Pay attention to these items while you're implementing the solutions above:

The cable connecting the two DTC ports must be crossed (i.e. null-modem, 2-3, 3-2, 7-7).

It's probably best to not use speed sensing on either port, but rather force them both to 19200bps.

The serial link between DTC ports is the slowest link in the cha in here, so even if the telnet user has a T1 line, they'll only get 19200bps throughput.

Only one telnet connection per port at a time. If a second user tries to connect, they'll appear to get connected but will not receive any prompts. If you set up more than one back-to-back pair and assign them the same IP address, they should function as a pool, with the next available port servicing each request (I haven't tried this though).

Some obvious security concerns are raised by this configuration. NS/VT provides a certain level of 'security by obscurity', while telnet access is more widely understood and available.

Disconnecting from the telnet session is not automatic. Upon logging off the session will be left at a new logon prompt. Most telnet clients use ^] to escape back to a telnet> prompt, from which a 'quit' or 'close' command usually terminates the connection. There may be a way to get the DTC ports to signal each other via DTR drops on disconnect, but I haven't found the right combination of DTCMGR settings and cable configuration to make this work.



Jon Diercks

Programmer/Analyst, Anderson University



I have about 20 extract files created nightly that need to be transferred from my HP 3000 (using Reflection) to my PC. Currently, I am doing it by hand. Is there a way I can write a job to run it while the extract files created? Those extract files are within the same group.



Neil Armstrong of the Robelle technical staff replies:

I can think of two ways of automating the download of some PC files to a PC. You can put the HP3000 in control of automating this in a job stream. This way you do not need a PC scheduler. I move files from our NT server to our HP3000s, and move files from my Win95 PC to the 3000. The method depends on the type of connection.



PC connected via RNS

If I had a PC connected to a LAN running Reflection for Network Series I would turn on the FTP server function found in Reflection Network Series and download the files with the following sample job stream.


!comment
!comment Download a file
!comment
!file ftptemp;temp
!echo exitonerror >> ftptemp
!echo binary >> ftptemp
!echo user test password >> ftptemp
!echo cd /download >> ftptemp
!echo put file1 file1.dat >> ftptemp
!echo quit >> ftptemp
!setvar ftplasterr 0
!run ftp.arpa.sys;info="pcname.domain.org";stdin=*ftptemp
!if ftplasterr <> 0 then
! showvar ftp@
! setjcw jcw fatal
!endif
!purge ftptemp,temp

You would have to configure a suitable username on the Reflection for Network Series Server and keep it running overnight. Please keep in mind that I have not tried this method to put files back onto a PC, but I do not see why it should not work. I use this method to pick up files from a PC on a nightly basis.



PCs connected serially

The details on how to do this are found under the :Reflect comma nd in your Qedit manual, but I thought you might like to see an example on how to do this. I would use this method if the PC I wanted to download files to was serially connected.


!job pcdownld,user.acct
!file qedcrt;dev=29
!run qedit.pub.robelle
file qedcrt;dev=58
continue
reflect receive file1.txt file1.data
exit
!eoj

Please remember that in order for this to work you must have Reflection running in the background on the PC; the Reflection baud rate must be the same as configured in MPE; and the PC must not be logged on at the time.



I want my logon prompts for my MPE/iX system appear in upper and lower case. When I make the change in SYSGEN it defaults to upper case no matter what I type. How can the prompts I want?



In order to force SYSGEN to accept the lowercase or mixed-case letters, you'll need to enclose the logon prompt string in double quotes. In SYSGEN the commands look like this:



sysgen>MISC

misc>SY LOGONPROMPT="MyLogonPrompt"



To view your change, type the SHOW command at the misc prompt inside SYSGEN. You'll see the following:



SYSTEM command parameter VALUE

LOGON PROMPT logonprompt MyLogonPrompt



Then issue the following commands:



misc>HOLD

misc>EXIT

sysgen>KEEP



Respond YES to the question to keep the configuration. Be sure t o shut down the system and bring it back up on a START NORECOVERY for the change to take effect.