Network Working Group G. Kessler
Request for Comments: 2151 S. Shepard
FYI: 30 Hill Associates, Inc.
Obsoletes: RFC 1739 June 1997
Category: Informational
A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools and Utilities
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.
Abstract
This memo is an introductory guide to many of the most commonly-
available TCP/IP and Internet tools and utilities. It also describes
discussion lists accessible from the Internet, ways to obtain
Internet and TCP/IP documents, and some resources that help users
weave their way through the Internet.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................... 2
2. Nomenclature................................................... 2
3. Finding Information About Internet Hosts and Domains........... 3
3.1. NSLOOKUP.................................................. 3
3.2. Ping...................................................... 6
3.3. Finger.................................................... 8
3.4. Traceroute................................................ 9
4. The Two Fundamental Tools...................................... 12
4.1. TELNET.................................................... 12
4.2. FTP....................................................... 15
5. User Database Lookup Tools..................................... 19
5.1. WHOIS/NICNAME............................................. 19
5.2. KNOWBOT................................................... 23
6. Information Servers............................................ 24
6.1. Archie.................................................... 24
6.2. Gopher.................................................... 28
6.3. VERONICA, JUGHEAD, and WAIS............................... 30
7. The World Wide Web............................................. 31
7.1. Uniform Resource Locators................................. 34
7.2. User Directories on the Web............................... 35
7.3. Other Service Accessible Via the Web...................... 36
8. Discussion Lists and Newsgroups................................ 37
8.1. Internet Discussion Lists................................. 37
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8.2. LISTSERV.................................................. 38
8.3. Majordomo................................................. 38
8.4. Usenet.................................................... 39
8.5 Finding Discussion Lists and Newsgroups.................... 40
9. Internet Documentation......................................... 41
9.1. Request for Comments (RFCs)............................... 41
9.2. Internet Standards........................................ 44
9.3. For Your Information Documents............................ 45
9.4. Best Current Practices.................................... 45
9.5. RARE Technical Reports.................................... 46
10. Perusing the Internet......................................... 46
11. Acronyms and Abbreviations.................................... 48
12. Security Considerations....................................... 49
13. Acknowledgments............................................... 49
14. References.................................................... 49
15. Authors' Address.............................................. 51
1. Introduction
This memo is an introductory guide to some of the most commonly-
available 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 and TCP/IP documents, and some
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. Nomenclature
The following sections provide descriptions and detailed examples of
several TCP/IP utilities and applications, including the reproduction
of actual sessions using these utilities (with some extraneous
information removed). Each section describes a single TCP/IP-based
tool, it's application, and, in some cases, how it works. The text
description is usually followed by an actual sample session.
The sample dialogues shown below were obtained from a variety of
software and hardware systems, including AIX running on an IBM
RS/6000, Linux on an Intel 486, Multinet TCP/IP over VMS on a VAX,
and FTP Software's OnNet (formerly PC/TCP) running on a DOS/Windows
PC. While the examples below can be used as a guide to using and
learning about the capabilities of TCP/IP 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
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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. Windows-based sessions are not
shown in this RFC because of the desire to have a text version of
this document; in addition, most GUI-based TCP/IP packages obscure
some of the detail that is essential for understanding what is really
happening when you click on a button or drag a file. 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 [29], Comer [6], Feit [7], Kessler [14], and
Stevens [30].
In the descriptions below, commands are shown in a Courier font
(Postscript and HTML versions); items appearing in square brackets
([]) are optional, the vertical-bar (|) means "or," parameters
appearing with no brackets or within curly brackets ({}) are
mandatory, and parameter names that need to be replaced with a
specific value will be shown in italics (Postscript and HTML
versions) or within angle brackets (<>, text version). In the sample
dialogues, user input is in bold (Postscript and HTML versions) or
denoted with asterisks (**) in the margin (text version).
3. Finding Information About Internet Hosts and Domains
There are several tools that let you learn information about Internet
hosts and domains. These tools provide the ability for an application
or a user to perform host name/address reconciliation (NSLOOKUP),
determine whether another host is up and available (PING), learn
about another host's users (Finger), and learn the route that packets
will take to another host (Traceroute).
3.1. 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
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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 www.hill.com, the World
Wide Web server at Hill Associates. As it turns out, this is not
the true name of the host, but an alias. The full name of the host
and the IP address are listed by NSLOOKUP.
2 Requests the address of host syrup.hill.com, 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 hill.com domain
actually gets delivered, since hill.com is not the true name of an
actual host. This is accomplished by changing the query type to look
for mail exchange (MX) records by issuing a set type command (which
must be in lower case). The query shows that mail addressed to
hill.com is actually sent to a mail server called mail.hill.com. If
that system is not available, mail delivery will be attempted to
first mailme.hill.com and then to netcomsv.netcom.com; the order of
these attempts is controlled by the "preference" value. This query
also returns the name of the domain's name servers and all associated
IP addresses.
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 [19], RFC 1591 [21], and Kessler [16]. The help
command can be issued at the program prompt for information about
NSLOOKUP's more advanced commands.
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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: ns1.ner.bbnplanet.net
Address: 192.52.71.5
**> www.hill.com
Name: syrup.hill.com
Address: 199.182.20.3
Aliases: www.hill.com
**> syrup.hill.com
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: syrup.hill.com
Address: 199.182.20.3
**> 128.250.1.21
Name: munnari.OZ.AU
Address: 128.250.1.21
**> set type=MX
**> hill.com
hill.com preference = 20, mail exchanger = mail.hill.com
hill.com preference = 40, mail exchanger = mailme.hill.com
hill.com preference = 60, mail exchanger = netcomsv.netcom.com
hill.com nameserver = nameme.hill.com
hill.com nameserver = ns1.noc.netcom.net
hill.com nameserver = ns.netcom.com
mail.hill.com internet address = 199.182.20.4
mailme.hill.com internet address = 199.182.20.3
netcomsv.netcom.com internet address = 192.100.81.101
ns1.noc.netcom.net internet address = 204.31.1.1
ns.netcom.com internet address = 192.100.81.105
**> exit
SMCVAX$
====================================================================
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3.2. Ping
Ping, reportedly an acronym for the Packet Internetwork Groper, is
one of the most widely available tools bundled with TCP/IP software
packages. Ping uses a series of Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMP) [22] Echo messages to determine if a remote host is active or
inactive, and to determine the round-trip delay in communicating with
it.
A common form of the Ping command, showing some of the more commonly
available options that are of use to general users, is:
ping [-q] [-v] [-R] [-c Count] [-i Wait] [-s PacketSize] Host
where:
-q Quiet output; nothing is displayed except summary
lines at startup and completion
-v Verbose output, which lists ICMP packets that are
received in addition to Echo Responses
-R Record route option; includes the RECORD_ROUTE
option in the Echo Request packet and displays the route buffer
on returned packets
-c Count Specifies the number of Echo Requests to be sent
before concluding test (default is to run until interrupted
with a control-C)
-i Wait Indicates the number of seconds to wait between
sending each packet (default = 1)
-s PacketSize Specifies the number of data bytes to be sent;
the total ICMP packet size will be PacketSize+8 bytes due to
the ICMP header (default = 56, or a 64 byte packet)
Host IP address or host name of target system
In the first example below, the user pings the host
thumper.bellcore.com, requesting that 6 (-c) messages be sent, each
containing 64 bytes (-s) of user data. The display shows the round-
trip delay of each Echo message returned to the sending host; at the
end of the test, summary statistics are displayed.
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In the second example, the user pings the host smcvax.smcvt.edu,
requesting that 10 messages be sent in quite mode (-q). In this case,
a summary is printed at the conclusion of the test and individual
responses are not listed.
TECHNICAL NOTE: Older versions of the Ping command, which are still
available on some systems, had the following general format:
ping [-s] {IP_address|host_name} [PacketSize] [Count]
In this form, the optional "-s" string tells the system to
continually send an ICMP Echo message every second; the optional
PacketSize parameter specifies the number of bytes in the Echo
message (the message will contain PacketSize-8 bytes of data; the
default is 56 bytes of data and a 64 byte message); and the optional
Count parameter indicates the number of Echo messages to send before
concluding the test (the default is to run the test continuously
until interrupted).
====================================================================
**syrup:/home$ ping -c 6 -s 64 thumper.bellcore.com
PING thumper.bellcore.com (128.96.41.1): 64 data bytes
72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=240 time=641.8 ms
72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=240 time=1072.7 ms
72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=240 time=1447.4 ms
72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=240 time=758.5 ms
72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=240 time=482.1 ms
--- thumper.bellcore.com ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 16% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 482.1/880.5/1447.4 ms
**syrup:/home$ ping -q -c 10 smcvax.smcvt.edu
PING smcvax.smcvt.edu (192.80.64.1): 56 data bytes
--- smcvax.smcvt.edu ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 8 packets received, 20% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 217.8/246.4/301.5 ms
====================================================================
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3.3. 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 [32]. 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.
====================================================================
**C:> finger kumquat@smcvax.smcvt.edu
[smcvax.smcvt.edu]
KUMQUAT Gary Kessler KUMQUAT not logged in
Last login Fri 16-Sep-1996 3:47PM-EDT
Plan:
===================================================================
Gary C. Kessler
Adjunct Faculty Member, Graduate College
INTERNET: kumquat@smcvt.edu
===================================================================
**C:> finger @smcvax.smcvt.edu
[smcvax.smcvt.edu]
Tuesday, September 17, 1996 10:12AM-EDT Up 30 09:40:18
5+1 Jobs on SMCVAX Load ave 0.16 0.19 0.21
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User Personal Name Subsys Terminal Console Location
GOODWIN Dave Goodwin LYNX 6.NTY2 waldo.smcvt.edu
JAT John Tronoan TELNET 1.TXA5
HELPDESK System Manager EDT 2:08.NTY4 [199.93.35.182]
SMITH Lorraine Smith PINE .NTY3 [199.93.34.139]
SYSTEM System Manager MAIL 23.OPA0 The VAX Console
*DCL* SMCVX1$OPA0 The VAX Console
====================================================================
3.4. 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 tool, traceroute can be used by end
users to learn something about the ever-changing structure of the
Internet.
The classic 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}
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 (domain smcvt.edu) and a host at Hill Associates
(www.hill.com), both located in Colchester, VT but served by
different Internet service providers (ISP).
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RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
1 St. Michael's College is connected to the Internet via BBN
Planet; since the mid-1980s, BBN operated the NSF's regional ISP,
called the New England Academic and Research Network (NEARNET),
which was renamed in 1994. The first hop, then, goes to St. Mike's
BBN Planet gateway router (smc.bbnplanet.net). The next hop goes
to another BBN Planet router (denoted here only by IP address
since a name was not assigned to the device), until the packet
reaches the BBN Planet T3 backbone.
2 The packet takes two hops through routers at BBN Planet's
Cambridge (MA) facility and is then forwarded to BBN Planet in New
York City, where the packet takes four more hops. The packet is
then forwarded to BBN Planet in College Park (MD).
3 The packet is sent to BBN Planet's router at MAE-East, MFS
Datanet's Network Access Point (NAP) in Washington, D.C. MAE
stands for Metropolitan Area Exchange, and is a Fiber Distributed
Data Interface (FDDI) ring interconnecting routers from
subscribing ISPs. The packet is then forwarded to NETCOM, Hill
Associates' ISP.
4 The packet now travels through NETCOM's T3 backbone, following
links from Washington, D.C. to Chicago to Santa Clara (CA), to San
Jose (CA).
5 The packet is now sent to Hill Associates router (again, a
system designated only by an IP address since the NETCOM side of
the router was not named) and then passed to the target system.
Note that the host's real name is not www.hill.com, but
syrup.hill.com.
TECHNICAL NOTE: The original version of 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
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RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
TEMs. This 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. (Note that some current implementations of Traceroute use
the Record-Route option in IP rather than the method described
above.)
As an 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 4.2 for a discussion of anonymous FTP.)
====================================================================
**SMCVAX$ traceroute www.hill.com
traceroute to syrup.hill.com (199.182.20.3), 30 hops max, 38 byte
packets
1 smc.bbnplanet.net (192.80.64.5) 10 ms 0 ms 0 ms
2 131.192.48.105 (131.192.48.105) 0 ms 10 ms 10 ms
3 cambridge1-cr4.bbnplanet.net (199.94.204.77) 40 ms 40 ms 50 ms
4 cambridge1-br1.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.205) 30 ms 50 ms 50 ms
5 nyc1-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.121) 60 ms 60 ms 40 ms
6 nyc2-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.154) 60 ms 50 ms 60 ms
7 nyc2-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.154) 60 ms 40 ms 50 ms
8 nyc2-br1.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.54) 70 ms 60 ms 30 ms
9 collegepk-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.21) 50 ms 50 ms 40 ms
10 maeeast.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.18) 200 ms 170 ms 210 ms
11 fddi.mae-east.netcom.net (192.41.177.210) 60 ms 50 ms 70 ms
12 t3-2.was-dc-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.181) 70 ms 60 ms 50 ms
13 t3-2.chw-il-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.186) 70 ms 80 ms 80 ms
14 t3-2.scl-ca-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.190) 140 ms 110 ms 160
ms
15 t3-1.sjx-ca-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.193) 120 ms 130 ms 120
ms
16 198.211.141.8 (198.211.141.8) 220 ms 260 ms 240 ms
17 syrup.hill.com (199.182.20.3) 220 ms 240 ms 219 ms
SMCVAX$
====================================================================
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4. The Two Fundamental Tools
The two most basic tools for Internet applications are TELNET and the
File Transfer Protocol (FTP). TELNET allows a user to login to a
remote host over a TCP/IP network, while FTP, as the name implies,
allows a user to move files between two TCP/IP hosts. These two
utilities date back to the very early days of the ARPANET.
4.1. TELNET
TELNET [27] 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 of a PC uses 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 would be possible if connected
via a directly-attached terminal or via modem. The commands that are
subsequently used are those available on the remote system to which
the user is attached. In the sample dialogue 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 VMS MAIL subsystem; the dir command
here lists waiting mail.
o Ping checks the status of another host.
When finished, the logout command 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.
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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 (see Section 3.3
above), 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 port numbers include 25 (Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol), 43 (whois), 80 (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and 119
(Network News Transfer Protocol).
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
and current weather information is available at port 3000 at host
downwind.sprl.umich.edu.
====================================================================
**C:> telnet smcvax.smcvt.edu
FTP Software PC/TCP tn 3.10 01/24/95 02:40
Copyright (c) 1986-1995 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 Monday, 16-SEP-1996 15:47
Last non-interactive login on Wednesday, 6-MAR-1996 08:19
You have 1 new Mail message.
Good Afternoon User KUMQUAT. Logged in on 17-SEP-1996 at 1:10 PM.
User [GUEST,KUMQUAT] has 3225 blocks used, 6775 available,
of 10000 authorized and permitted overdraft of 100 blocks on $1$DIA2
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RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
To see a complete list of news items, type: NEWS DIR
To read a particular item, type NEWS followed by
the name of the item you wish to read.
**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)
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 10 files, 233 blocks.
**SMCVAX$ mail
You have 1 new message.
**MAIL> dir
NEWMAIL
# From Date Subject
1 IN%"ibug@plainfield. 15-SEP-1996 ANNOUNCE: Burlington WWW Conference
**MAIL> exit
**SMCVAX$ ping kestrel.hill.com /n=5
PING HILL.COM (199.182.20.24): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=0 time=290 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=1 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=2 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=3 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=4 time=260 ms
----KESTREL.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 17-SEP-1996 13:17:04.29
Connection #0 closed
C:>
====================================================================
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 14]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
4.2. FTP
FTP [26] 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.
TELNET might, in fact, be used for this purpose but TELNET gives the
user complete access to the remote system; FTP limits the user to
file transfer activities.
The general form of the FTP command is:
ftp [IP_address|host_name]
An FTP session can be initiated in several ways. In the example shown
below, an FTP control connection is initiated to a host (the Defense
Data Network's Network Information Center) by supplying a host name
with the FTP command; optionally, the host's IP address in dotted
decimal (numeric) 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 ask for a username and password. If a bona fide
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. Historically, the password for the anonymous user
(not shown in actual use) has been guest, although most systems today
ask for the user's Internet e-mail address (and several sites attempt
to verify that packets are coming from that address before allowing
the user to login).
The "help ?" command may be used to obtain a list of FTP commands and
help topics available with your software; 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
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 15]
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host. Although the TCP/IP suite is often associated with UNIX, it can
(and does) run with nearly all common operating systems. The
directory information shown in the sample dialogue happens to be in
UNIX format and includes the following information:
o File attributes. The first character identifies the type of file
entry as a directory (d), link or symbolic name (l), or individual
file (-). The next nine characters are the file access permissions
list; the first three characters are for the owner, the next three
for the owner's group, and the last three for all other users.
Three access privileges may be assigned to each file for each of
these roups: read (r), write (w), and execute (x).
o Number of entries, or hard links, in this structure. This value
will be a "1" if the entry refers to a file or link, or will be
the number of files in the listed directory.
o File owner
o File owner's group.
o File size, in bytes.
o Date and time 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 working directory, in
this case the rfc 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 working directory you
are in.
Another dir command is used to find all files with the name
rfc173*.txt; note the use of the * wildcard character. We can now
copy (download) the file of choice (RFC 1739 is the previous version
of this primer) 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 93.664 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.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 16]
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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.
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 working directory; in
FTP Software's OnNet, 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 nic.ddn.mil
SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU MultiNet FTP user process 3.4(111)
Connection opened (Assuming 8-bit connections)
<*****Welcome to the DOD Network Information Center*****
< *****Login with username "anonymous" and password "guest"
**Username: anonymous
help type
TYPE
Set the transfer type to type.
Format
TYPE type
Additional information available:
Parameters Example Restrictions
**TYPE Subtopic? parameters
TYPE
Parameters
type
Specify a value of ASCII, BACKUP, BINARY, IMAGE or LOGICAL-
BYTE.
Use TYPE ASCII (the default) for transferring text files.
Use TYPE BACKUP to set the transfer type to IMAGE and write the
local file with 2048-byte fixed length records. Use this
command to transfer VAX/VMS BACKUP save sets.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 17]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
Use TYPE BINARY to transfer binary files (same as TYPE IMAGE).
Use TYPE IMAGE to transfer binary files (for example, .EXE).
Use TYPE LOGICAL-BYTE to transfer binary files to or from a
TOPS-20 machine.
**TYPE Subtopic?
**Topic?
**NIC.DDN.MIL> dir
rfc
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 10 1024 Sep 16 23:00 gosip
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 512 Mar 19 1996 home
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 512 Mar 19 1996 lost+found
lrwxrwxrwx 1 nic 1 8 Mar 19 1996 mgt -> ddn-news
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 1024 Sep 13 12:11 netinfo
drwxr-xr-x 4 nic 1 512 May 3 23:00 netprog
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 1024 Mar 19 1996 protocols
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 512 Mar 19 1996 pub
drwxr-xr-x 3 140 10 512 Aug 27 21:03 registrar
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 29696 Sep 16 23:00 rfc
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 5632 Sep 9 23:00 scc
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 1536 Sep 16 23:00 std
drwxr-xr-x 2 nic 1 1024 Sep 16 23:00 templates
drwxr-xr-x 3 nic 1 512 Mar 19 1996 usr
cd rfc
show
<"/rfc" is current directory.
**NIC.DDN.MIL> dir rfc173*.txt
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 18]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
get rfc1739.txt primer.txt
quit
nicname hill.com
[198.41.0.5]
Hill Associates (HILL-DOM)
17 Roosevelt Hwy.
Colchester, Vermont 05446
US
Domain Name: HILL.COM
Administrative Contact:
Kessler, Gary C. (GK34) g.kessler@HILL.COM
802-655-0940
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Monaghan, Carol A. (CAM4) c.monaghan@HILL.COM
802-655-0940
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 20]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
Billing Contact:
Parry, Amy (AP1257) a.parry@HILL.COM
802-655-0940
Record last updated on 11-Jun-96.
Record created on 11-Jan-93.
Domain servers in listed order:
SYRUP.HILL.COM 199.182.20.3
NS1.NOC.NETCOM.NET 204.31.1.1
**C:> telnet rs.internic.net
SunOS UNIX 4.1 (rs1) (ttypb)
***********************************************************************
* -- InterNIC Registration Services Center --
*
* For wais, type: WAIS
* For the *original* whois type: WHOIS [search string]
* For referral whois type: RWHOIS [search string]
*
**********************************************************************
Please be advised that use constitutes consent to monitoring
(Elec Comm Priv Act, 18 USC 2701-2711)
**[vt220] InterNIC > whois
InterNIC WHOIS Version: 1.2 Wed, 18 Sep 96 09:49:50
**Whois: 199.182.20.0
Hill Associates (NET-HILLASSC)
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Netname: HILLASSC
Netnumber: 199.182.20.0
Coordinator:
Monaghan, Carol A. (CAM4) c.monaghan@HILL.COM
802-655-0940
Record last updated on 17-May-94.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 21]
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**Whois: com-dom
Commercial top-level domain (COM-DOM)
Network Solutions, Inc.
505 Huntmar park Dr.
Herndon, VA 22070
Domain Name: COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Network Solutions, Inc. (HOSTMASTER) hostmaster@INTERNIC.NET
(703) 742-4777 (FAX) (703) 742-4811
Record last updated on 02-Sep-94.
Record created on 01-Jan-85.
Domain servers in listed order:
A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 198.41.0.4
H.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 128.63.2.53
B.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 128.9.0.107
C.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 192.33.4.12
D.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 128.8.10.90
E.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 192.203.230.10
I.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 192.36.148.17
F.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 192.5.5.241
G.ROOT-SERVERS.NET 192.112.36.4
**Would you like to see the known domains under this top-level domain? n
**Whois: exit
**[vt220] InterNIC > quit
Wed Sep 18 09:50:29 1996 EST
Connection #0 closed
C:>
====================================================================
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 22]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
5.2. KNOWBOT
KNOWBOT is an automated username database search tool that is related
to WHOIS. The Knowbot Information Service (KIS), operated by the
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) in Reston,
Virginia, 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 host info.cnri.reston.va.us.
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 "Steven Shepard"; this command automatically starts a
search through the default set of Internet databases.
====================================================================
**C:> telnet info.cnri.reston.va.us
Knowbot Information Service
KIS Client (V2.0). Copyright CNRI 1990. All Rights Reserved.
KIS searches various Internet directory services
to find someone's street address, email address and phone number.
Type 'man' at the prompt for a complete reference with examples.
Type 'help' for a quick reference to commands.
Type 'news' for information about recent changes.
Please enter your email address in our guest book...
**(Your email address?) > s.shepard@hill.com
**> query shepard, steven
Trying whois at ds.internic.net...
The ds.internic.net whois server is being queried:
Nothing returned.
The rs.internic.net whois server is being queried:
Shepard, Steven (SS2192) 708-810-5215
Shepard, Steven (SS1302) axisteven@AOL.COM (954) 974-4569
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 23]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
The nic.ddn.mil whois server is being queried:
Shepard, Steven (SS2192)
R.R. Donnelley & Sons
750 Warrenville Road
Lisle, IL 60532
Trying mcimail at cnri.reston.va.us...
Trying ripe at whois.ripe.net...
Trying whois at whois.lac.net...
No match found for .SHEPARD,STEVEN
**> quit
KIS exiting
Connection #0 closed
C:>
====================================================================
6. Information Servers
File transfer, remote login, and electronic mail remained the primary
applications of the ARPANET/Internet until the early 1990s. But as
the Internet user population shifted from hard-core computer
researchers and academics to more casual users, easier-to-use tools
were needed for the Net to become accepted as a useful resource. That
means making things easier to find. This section will discuss some of
the early tools that made it easier to locate and access information
on the Internet.
6.1. Archie
Archie, developed in 1992 at the Computer Science Department at
McGill University in Montreal, allows users to find software, data,
and other information files that reside at anonymous FTP archive
sites; the name of the program, reportedly, is derived from the word
"archive" and not from the comic book character. Archie tracks the
contents of several thousand anonymous FTP sites containing millions
of 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. Archie,
however, is not as popular as it once was and many sites have not
updated their information; as the examples below show, many of the
catalog listings are several years old.
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RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
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 at some sites 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 archie.rediris.es
archie.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at archie.luth.se
archie.univie.ac.at archie.switch.ch
archie.uqam.ca archie.ncu.edu.tw
archie.funet.fi archie.doc.ic.ac.uk
archie.th-darmstadt.de archie.unl.edu
archie.ac.il archie.internic.net
archie.unipi.it archie.rutgers.edu
archie.wide.ad.jp archie.ans.net
archie.kr archie.sura.net
archie.sogang.ac.kr
All archie sites can be accessed using archie client software. Some
archie servers may be accessed using TELNET; when TELNETing to an
archie site, login as archie (you must use lower case) and hit
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
"dilbert"; armed with this information, a user can use anonymous FTP
to examine these directories and files.
The next request is for files with "tcp/ip" 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.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 25]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
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/clients/ directory at ftp.sura.net (note that the
newest program in this directory is dated June 1994). 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 archie.unl.edu
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:
. go up one level in the hierarchy
? display a list of valid subtopics at the current level
done, ^D, ^C quit from help entirely
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 dilbert
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 26]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
# Search type: sub.
# Your queue position: 2
# Estimated time for completion: 00:20
Host ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4)
Last updated 10:08 25 Dec 1993
Location: /multimedia/images/gif/unindexed/931118
FILE -rw-r--r-- 9747 bytes 19:18 17 Nov 1993 dilbert.gif
**unl-archie> whatis tcp/ip
RFC 1065 McCloghrie, K.; Rose, M.T.
Structure and identification of management information for TCP/IP-based
internets. 1988 August; 21 p. (Obsoleted by RFC 1155)
RFC 1066 McCloghrie, K.; Rose, M.T.
Management Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based
internets. 1988 August; 90 p. (Obsoleted by RFC 1156)
RFC 1085 Rose, M.T. ISO presentation
services on top of TCP/IP based internets. 1988 December; 32 p.
RFC 1095 Warrier, U.S.; Besaw, L. Common
Management Information Services and Protocol over TCP/IP (CMOT). 1989
April; 67 p. (Obsoleted by RFC 1189)
RFC 1144 Jacobson, V. Compressing TCP/IP
headers for low-speed serial links. 1990 February; 43 p.
RFC 1147 Stine, R.H.,ed. FYI on a
network management tool catalog: Tools for monitoring and debugging
TCP/IP internets and interconnected devices. 1990 April; 126 p. (Also
FYI 2)
RFC 1155 Rose, M.T.; McCloghrie, K.
Structure and identification of management information for TCP/IP-based
internets. 1990 May; 22 p. (Obsoletes RFC 1065)
RFC 1156 McCloghrie, K.; Rose, M.T.
Management Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based
internets. 1990 May; 91 p. (Obsoletes RFC 1066)
RFC 1158 Rose, M.T.,ed. Management
Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based internets:
MIB-II. 1990 May; 133 p.
RFC 1180 Socolofsky, T.J.; Kale, C.J.
TCP/IP tutorial. 1991 January; 28 p.
RFC 1195 Callon, R.W. Use of OSI
IS-IS for routing in TCP/IP and dual environments. 1990 December; 65 p.
RFC 1213 McCloghrie, K.; Rose,M.T.,eds.
Management Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based
internets:MIB-II. 1991 March; 70 p. (Obsoletes RFC 1158)
log_tcp Package to monitor tcp/ip connections
ping PD version of the ping(1) command. Send ICMP
ECHO requests to a host on the network (TCP/IP) to see whether it's
reachable or not
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 27]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
**unl-archie> exit
# Bye.
Connection #0 closed
C:>
====================================================================
6.2. 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 using simple text
descriptions, allowing files to be perused using a simple menu
system. Gopher also allows a user to view a file on demand without
requiring additional file transfer protocols. In addition, Gopher
introduced the capability of linking sites 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.
Any Gopher site can be accessed using Gopher client software (or a
WWW browser). 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 grew rapidly between 1991 and 1994, although growth tapered due
to the introduction of the Web; in any case, 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.
In the sample dialogue below, the user attaches to the Gopher server
at the Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC) by TELNETing to
ds.internic.net. With the menu interface shown here, the user merely
follows the prompts. Initially, the main menu will appear. Selecting
item 3 causes Gopher to seize and display the "InterNIC Registration
Services (NSI)" menu; move to the desired menu item by typing 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.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 28]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
Menu item 1 within the first submenu (selected in the dialogue shown
here) is titled "InterNIC Registration Archives." As its submenu
implies, this is a place to obtain files containing the InterNIC's
domain registration policies, domain data, registration forms, and
other information related to registering names and domains on the
Internet.
====================================================================
**SMCVAX$ telnet ds.internic.net
UNIX(r) System V Release 4.0 (ds2)
**login: gopher
********************************************************************
Welcome to the InterNIC Directory and Database Server.
********************************************************************
Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3
Home Gopher server: localhost
--> 1. About InterNIC Directory and Database Services/
2. InterNIC Directory and Database Services (AT&T)/
3. InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)/
4. README
Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1
**View item number: 3
Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3
InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)
--> 1. InterNIC Registration Archives/
2. Whois Searches (InterNIC IP, ASN, DNS, and POC Registry)
Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu Page: 1/1
**View item number: 1
Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3
InterNIC Registration Archives
--> 1. archives/
2. domain/
3. netinfo/
4. netprog/
5. policy/
6. pub/
7. templates/
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 29]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu Page: 1/1
**q
**Really quit (y/n) ? y
Connection closed by Foreign Host
SMCVAX$
====================================================================
6.3. VERONICA, JUGHEAD, and WAIS
The problem with being blessed with so much information from FTP,
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 at Reno as an
archie- like adjunct to Gopher. As the number of Gopher sites quickly
grew after its introduction, it became increasingly harder to find
information in gopherspace since Gopher was 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.
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, although
VERONICA may be a better tool for global searches.
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
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 30]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
access many different information databases. The user interface
allows 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.
7. The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW) is thought (erroneously) by many to be the
same thing as the Internet. But the confusion, in many ways, is
justified; by early 1996, the WWW accounted for over 40% of all of
the traffic on the Internet. In addition, the number of hosts on the
Internet named www has grown from several hundred in mid-1994 to
17,000 in mid-1995 to 212,000 in mid-1996 to over 410,000 by early
1997. The Web has made information on the Internet accessible to
users of all ages and computer skill levels. It has provided a
mechanism so that nearly anyone can become a content provider.
According to some, growth in the number of WWW users is unparalleled
by any other event in human history.
The WWW was developed in the early 1990s at the CERN Institute for
Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland. The Web was designed to
combine aspects of information retrieval with multimedia
communications, unlike archie and Gopher, which were primarily used
for the indexing of text-based files. The Web allows users to access
information in many different types of formats, including text,
sound, image, animation, and video. WWW treats all searchable
Internet files as hypertext documents. Hypertext is a 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. WWW hypermedia documents are able to employ
images, sound, graphics, video, and animation in addition to text.
To access WWW servers, users must run client software called a
browser. The browser and server use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) [3]. WWW documents are written in the Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML) [2, 20], a simple text-based formatting language that
is hardware and software platform-independent. Users point the
browser at some location using a shorthand format called a Uniform
Resource Locator (URL), which allows a WWW servers to obtain files
from any location on the public Internet using a variety of
protocols, including HTTP, FTP, Gopher, and TELNET.
Mosaic, developed in 1994 at the National Center for Supercomputer
Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, was the first widely-used browser. Because it was
available at no cost over the Internet via anonymous FTP, and had a
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 31]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
version for Windows, Mac, and UNIX systems, Mosaic was probably the
single reason that the Web attracted so many users so quickly. The
most commonly used browsers today include the Netscape Navigator
(http://www.netscape.com), Microsoft's Internet Explorer
(http://www.microsoft.com), and NCSA Mosaic
(http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/).
The WWW is ideally suited to a windows environment, or other point-
and-click graphical user interface. Nevertheless, several text-based
Web browsers do exist, although their usefulness is limited if trying
to obtain graphical images, or audio or video clips. One text-based
Web browser is Lynx, and an example of its use is shown below. Items
in square brackets in the sample dialogue are Lynx's way of
indicating an image or other display that cannot be shown on an ASCII
terminal.
====================================================================
**gck@zoo.uvm.edu> lynx www.hill.com
Getting http://www.hill.com/
Looking up www.hill.com.
Making HTTP connection to www.hill.com.Sending HTTP request.
HTTP request sent; waiting for response.Read 176 bytes of data.
512 of 2502 bytes of data.
1024 of 2502 bytes of data.
536
2048
502
Data transfer complete
Hill Associates
[INLINE] Hill Associates, Inc.
Leaders in Telecommunications Training and Education Worldwide
_________________________________________________________________
Hill Associates is an international provider of voice and data
telecommunications training and education. We cover the full breadth
of the field, including telephony, computer networks, ISDN, X.25 and
fast packet technologies (frame relay, SMDS, ATM), wireless, TCP/IP
and the Internet, LANs and LAN interconnection, legacy networks,
multimedia and virtual reality, broadband services, regulation,
service strategies, and network security.
Hill Associates' products and services include instructor-led,
computer-based (CBT), and hands-on workshop courses. Courseware
distribution media include audio tape, video tape, CD-ROM, and 3.5"
disks (PC).
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 32]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
_________________________________________________________________
Hill Associates products, services, and corporate information
* About Hill Associates
* HAI Products and Services Catalog
* Datacomm/2000-ED Series
* Contacting Hill Associates
* Employment Opportunities
* HAI Personnel Home Pages
On-line information resources from Hill Associates
* HAI Telecommunications Acronym List
* Articles, Books, and On-Line Presentations by HAI Staff
* GCK's Miscellaneous Sites List...
Hill Associates is host to the:
* IEEE Local Computer Networks Conference Home Page...
* Vermont Telecommunications Resource Center
________________________________________________________________
Please send any comments or suggestions to the HAI Webmaster. Come
back again soon!
Information at this site (c) 1994-1997 Hill Associates.
Arrow keys: Up and Down to move. Right to follow a link; Left to go
back.
H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search
[delete]=history list
**G
**URL to open: http://www.bbn.com
Getting http://www.bbn.com/
Looking up www.bbn.com.
Making HTTP connection to www.bbn.com.Sending HTTP request.
HTTP request sent; waiting for response.Read 119 bytes of data.
500
1000 bytes of data.
2
5
925
Data transfer complete
BBN On The World Wide Web
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 33]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
[LINK]
BBN Reports Fourth-Quarter and Year-End 1996 Results
[INLINE]
[ISMAP]
[ISMAP]
[LINK]
[INLINE]
Who Won Our Sweepstakes
How The Noc Solves Problems
Noc Noc Who's There
BBN Planet Network Map
[LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK]
[LINK]
Contact BBN Planet
Directions to BBN
Text only index of the BBN Web site
|
Corporate Disclaimer
Send questions and comments about our site to Webmaster@bbn.com
(c) 1996 BBN Corporation
Arrow keys: Up and Down to move. Right to follow a link; Left to go
back.
H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search
[delete]=history list
**Q
gck@zoo.uvm.edu>
====================================================================
7.1. Uniform Resource Locators
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 easier to designate these sources. The common shorthand
format is called the Uniform Resource Locator. The list below
provides information on how the URL format should be interpreted for
the protocols and resources that will be discussed in this document.
A complete description of the URL format may be found in [4].
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file://host/directory/file-name
Identifies a specific file. E.g., the file htmlasst in the edu
directory at host ftp.cs.da would be denoted, using the full URL
form: .
ftp://user:password@host:port/directory/file-name
Identifies an FTP site. E.g.:
ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/Crypto/*.
gopher://host:port/gopher-path
Identifies a Gopher site and menu path; a "00" at the start of
the path indicates a directory and "11" indicates a file. E.g.:
gopher://info.umd.edu:901/00/info/Government/Factbook92.
http://host:port/directory/file-name?searchpart
Identifies a WWW server location. E.g.:
http://info.isoc.org/home.html.
mailto:e-mail_address
Identifies an individual's Internet mail address. E.g.:
mailto:s.shepard@hill.com.
telnet://user:password@host:port/
Identifies a TELNET location (the trailing "/" is optional).
E.g.: telnet://envnet:henniker@envnet.gsfc.nasa.gov.
7.2. User Directories on the Web
While finding users on the Internet remains somewhat like alchemy if
using the tools and utilities mentioned earlier, the Web has added a
new dimension to finding people. Since 1995, many telephone companies
have placed national white and yellow page telephone directories on-
line, accessible via the World Wide Web.
For a while, it seemed that the easiest and most reliable approach to
finding people's e-mail address on the Internet was to look up their
telephone number on the Web, call them, and ask for their e-mail
address! More recently, however, many third parties are augmenting
the standard telephone directory with an e-mail directory. These
services primarily rely on users voluntarily registering, resulting
in incomplete databases because most users don't know about all of
the services. Nevertheless, some of the personal directory services
available via the Web with which e-mail addresses (and telephone
numbers) can be found include Four11 Directory Services
(http://www.Four11.com/), Excite
(http://www.excite.com/Reference/locators.html), and Yahoo! People
Search (http://www.yahoo.com/search/people/).
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In addition, the Knowbot Information Service (KIS), CNRI's automated
username database search tool described earlier in this document, is
also available on the Web, at http://info.cnri.reston.va.us/kis.html.
Users can select several options for the KIS search, including the
InterNIC, MILNET, MCImail, and Latin American Internic databases;
UNIX finger and whois servers; and X.500 databases.
7.3. Other Service Accessible Via the Web
Many of the other utilities described earlier in this document can
also be accessed via the WWW. In general, the Web browser acts as a
viewer to a remote client rather than requiring specialized software
on the user's system.
Several sites provide DNS information, obviating the need for a user
to have a local DNS client such as NSLOOKUP. The hosts
http://ns1.milepost.com/dns/ and
http://sh1.ro.com/~mprevost/netutils/dig.html are among the best DNS
sites, allowing the user to access all DNS information. The site
http://www.bankes.com/nslookup.htm allows users to do multiple,
sequential searches at a given domain. Other Web sites providing
simple DNS name/address translation services include
http://rhinoceros.cs.inf.shizuoka.ac.jp/dns.html,
http://www.engin.umich.edu/htbin/DNSquery, http://www.lublin.pl/cgi-
bin/ns/nsgate, and http://www.trytel.com/cgi-bin/weblookup.
Ping is another service available on the Web. The
http://sh1.ro.com/~mprevost/netutils/ping.html page allows a user to
select a host name, number of times to ping (1-10), and number of
seconds between each ping (1-10), and returns a set of summary
statistics. Other Web-based ping sites include
http://www.net.cmu.edu/bin/ping (sends ten pings, and reports the
times and min/max/avg summary statistics) and
http://www.uia.ac.be/cc/ping.html (indicates whether the target host
is alive or not).
Traceroute is also available on the Web. Unfortunately, these servers
trace the route from their host to a host that the user chooses,
rather than from the user's host to the target. Nevertheless,
interesting route information can be found at
http://www.net.cmu.edu/bin/traceroute. Traceroute service and a list
of a number of other traceroute sites on the Web can be found at
http://www.lublin.pl/cgi-bin/trace/traceroute.
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Access to archie is also available via the WWW, where your browser
acts as the graphical interface to an archie server. To find a list
of archie servers, and to access them via the Web, point your browser
at http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/FTP_Sites/
Searching/Archie/.
Finally, even Finger can be found on the World Wide Web; check out
http://sh1.ro.com/~mprevost/netutils/finger.html.
8. Discussion Lists and Newsgroups
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,
or "spam"). A moderated list has an extra step; a human list
moderator examines all messages before they are forwarded to ensure
that the messages are appropriate to the list and not needlessly
inflammatory!
Users should be warned that some lists generate a large number 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.
8.1. Internet Discussion Lists
Mail can be sent to almost all Internet lists 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
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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" followed by the list
name. Not every list follows this convention, but it is a safe bet if
you don't have better information!
8.2. LISTSERV
A large set of discussion groups is maintained using a program called
LISTSERV. LISTSERV is a service provided widely on BITNET and EARN,
although it is also available to Internet users. A LISTSERV User
Guide can be found on the Web at http://www.earn.net/lug/notice.html.
Mail can be sent to most LISTSERV lists 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 commands in a
message to the LISTSERV server; do not send administrivia to the main
list address! The list server can usually be found at:
LISTSERV@host_name
LISTSERV commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages sent
to an appropriate list server location. Once you have found a list of
interest, you can send a message to the appropriate address with any
appropriate command, such as:
subscribe list_name your_full_name Subscribe to a list
unsubscribe list_name Unsubscribe from a list
help Get help & a list of commands
index Get a list of LISTSERV files
get file_name Obtain a file from the server
8.3. Majordomo
Majordomo is another popular list server for Internet discussion
lists. The Web site http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/ has a
large amount of information about Majordomo.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 38]
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Mail is sent to Majordomo lists using the same general address format
as above:
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
Majordomo list server; do not send administrivia to the main list
address! The Majordomo server can usually be found at:
MAJORDOMO@host_name
Majordomo commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages
sent to an appropriate list server location. Available commands
include:
help Get help & a list of commands
subscribe list_name your_e-mail
Subscribe to a list (E-mail address is optional)
unsubscribe list_name your_e-mail
Unsubscribe from a list (E-mail address is optional)
info list Sends an introduction about the specified list
lists Get a list of lists served by this Majordomo server
8.4. 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 migrated
to many other types of hosts. Usenet clients, called newsreaders, use
the Network News Transfer Protocol [13] and are available for
virtually any operating system; several web browsers, in fact, have
this capability built in.
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.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 39]
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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
8.5 Finding Discussion Lists and Newsgroups
Armed with the rules for signing up for a discussion list or
accessing a newsgroup, how does one find an appropriate list given
one's interests?
There are tens of thousands of e-mail discussion lists on the
Internet. One List of Lists may be found using anonymous FTP at
ftp://sri.com/netinfo/interest-groups.txt; the List of Lists can be
searched using a Web browser by going to
http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html. Other places to
look are the Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists index at
http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/byname.html and the LISZT
Directory of E-Mail Discussion Groups at http://www.liszt.com.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 40]
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To obtain a list of LISTSERV lists, send e-mail to
listserv@bitnic.cren.net with the command lists global in the body of
the message. Alternatively, look on the Web at
http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/index.html. The Web site
http://www.liszt.com has a Mailing Lists Database of lists served by
LISTSERV and Majordomo.
There are also thousands of Usenet newsgroups. One Usenet archive can
be found at gopher://rtfm.mit.edu/11//pub/usenet/news.answers; see
the /active-newsgroups and /alt-hierarchies subdirectories. Usenet
news may also be read at gopher://gopher.bham.ac.uk/11/Usenet. A good
Usenet search facility can be found at DejaNews at
http://www.dejanews.com/; messages can also be posted to Usenet
newsgroups from this site.
Note that 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.
9. 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 them.
The Internet standardization process is alluded to in the following
sections. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the guiding
body for Internet standards; their Web site is http://www.ietf.org.
The IETF operates under the auspices of the Internet Society (ISOC),
which has a Web site at http://www.isoc.org. For complete, up-to-date
information on obtaining Internet documentation, go to the InterNIC's
Web site at http://ds.internic.net/ds/dspg0intdoc.html. The IETF's
history and role in the Internet today is described in Kessler [15].
For information on the organizations involved in the IETF standards
process, see RFC 2028 [11]. For information on the relationship
between the IETF and ISOC, see RFC 2031 [12].
9.1. 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
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 41]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
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
majordomo@zephyr.isi.edu with the line "subscribe rfc-dist" in the
body of the message.
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: xxx (Issued by company "xxx")
DATED-AFTER: mmm-dd-yyyy
DATED-BEFORE: mmm-dd-yyyy
OBSOLETES: RFCxxxx (List RFCs obsoleting RFC xxxx)
Another RFC e-mail server can be found at the InterNIC. To use this
service, send an e-mail message to mailserv@ds.internic.net, leaving
the Subject: field blank. In the main body of the message, use one or
more of the following commands:
help (Help file)
file /ftp/rfc/rfcNNNN.txt (Text version of RFC NNNN)
file /ftp/rfc/rfcNNNN.ps (Postscript version of RFC NNNN)
document-by-name rfcNNNN (Text version of RFC NNNN)
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 42]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
-------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE 1. Primary RFC Repositories.
HOST ADDRESS DIRECTORY
ds.internic.net rfc
nis.nsf.net internet/documents/rfc
nisc.jvnc.net rfc
ftp.isi.edu in-notes
wuarchive.wustl.edu info/rfc
src.doc.ic.ac.uk rfc
ftp.ncren.net rfc
ftp.sesqui.net pub/rfc
nis.garr.it mirrors/RFC
funet.fi rfc
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 (Text version of RFC xxxx)
GET RFCxxxx.PS local_name (Postscript version of RFC
xxxx)
The RFC index, or a specific reference to an RFC, will indicate
whether the RFC is available in ASCII text (.txt) or Postscript (.ps)
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; an increasing number are also
being converted to HTML. Be aware that the index file is very large,
containing the citing for over 2,000 documents. Note that not all
RFCs numbered below 698 (July 1975) are available on-line.
Finally, the InterNIC's Web site at
http://ds.internic.net/ds/dspg1intdoc.html contains the RFC index and
a complete set of RFCs. More information about Web-based RFC servers
can be found at http://www.isi.edu/rfc-editor/rfc-sources.html.
The sample dialogue below, although highly abbreviated, shows a user
obtaining RFC 1594 (Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User"
Questions) using e-mail and anonymous FTP.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 43]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
====================================================================
**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 ds.internic.net
**Username: anonymous
**Password:
**NIC.DDN.MIL> cd rfc
**NIC.DDN.MIL> get rfc1594.txt rfc-1594.txt
**NIC.DDN.MIL> exit
SMCVAX$
====================================================================
9.2. 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; STD
19, for example, is the NetBIOS Service Protocols standard comprising
RFCs 1001 and 1002, and a complete citation for this standard would
be "STD-19/RFC-001/RFC-1002."
The availability of new STDs is announced on the RFC-DIST mailing
list. STD-1 [23] always refers to the latest list of "Internet
Official Protocol Standards". The Internet standards process is
described in RFC 2026 [5] and STD notes are explained in RFC 1311
[24].
STDs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
repository. In addition, some RFC sites (such as ds.internic.net)
provide an STD directory so that STD documents can be found in the
path /STD/xx.TXT, where xx refers to the STD number.
Kessler & Shepard Informational [Page 44]
RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
STD documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 9.1. STDs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the RETRIEVE: STD and Doc-ID: STDxxxx commands. Also, check out the
InterNIC's Web site at http://www.internic.net/std/ for the STD index
and a complete set of STDs.
9.3. 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 [18].
FYIs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
repository. In addition, some RFC sites (such as ds.internic.net)
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 9.1. FYIs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the RETRIEVE: FYI and Doc-ID: FYIxxxx commands. Also, check out the
InterNIC's Web site at http://www.internic.net/fyi/ for the FYI index
and a complete set of FYIs.
9.4. Best Current Practices
Standards track RFCs are formally part of the IETF standards process,
subject to peer review, and intended to culminate in an official
Internet Standard. Other RFCs are published on a less formal basis
and are not part of the IETF process. To provide a mechanism of
publishing relevant technical information which it endorsed, the IETF
created a new series of RFCs, called the Best Current Practices (BCP)
series. BCP topics include variances from the Internet standards
process and IP address allocation in private networks.
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Like the STDs and FYIs, a BCP number always refers to the latest
version of a BCP. BCP 5, for example, describes an IP address
allocation plan for private networks; its complete citation would be
"BCP-5/RFC-1918." The BCP process is explained in BCP 1 [25].
BCP documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 9.1. BCPs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the RETRIEVE: BCP and Doc-ID: BCPxxxx commands. Also, check out the
RFC Editor's Web site at http://www.isi.edu/rfc-editor/ for the BCP
index and a complete set of BCPs.
9.5. RARE Technical Reports
RARE, the Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne (Association
of European Research Networks), has a charter 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. To promote a closer relationship between RARE and the
IETF, RARE Technical Reports (RTRs) have also been published as RFCs
since the summer of 1993.
RTR documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 9.1. RTRs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the RETRIEVE: RTR and Doc-ID: RTRxxxx commands. Also, check out the
InterNIC's Web site at http://www.internic.net/rtr/ for the RTR index
and a complete set of RTRs. Finally, RTRs may be obtained via
anonymous FTP from ftp://ftp.rare.nl/rare/publications/rtr/.
10. 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.
There are several books that will help you get started finding sites
on the Internet, including The INTERNET Yellow Pages [9]. But much
more timely and up-to-date information can be found on the Internet
itself, using such search tools as Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com),
Excite (http://www.excite.com), Lycos (http://www.lycos.com),
WebCrawler (http://www.webcrawler.com), and AltaAvista
(http://altavista.digital.com).
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There are several 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. One of the best periodic
lists, and archives, is through the Scout Report, a weekly
publication by the InterNIC's Net Scout Services Project at the
University of Wisconsin's Computer Science Department. To receive the
Scout Report by e-mail each week, join the mailing list by sending
email to listserv@lists.internic.net; place the line subscribe
scout-report your_full_name in the body of the message to receive the
text version or use subscribe scout-report-html your_full_name to
receive the report in HTML. The Scout Report is also available on the
Web at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report and
http://rs.internic.net/scout/report, or via anonymous FTP at
ftp://rs.internic.net/scout/.
Another list is Yanoff's Internet Services List, which may be found
at http://www.spectracom.com/islist/ or
ftp://ftp.csd.uwm.edu/pub/inet.services.txt. Gary Kessler, one of the
co-author's of this document, maintains his own eclectic
Miscellaneous Sites List at
http://www.together.net/~kessler/gck_site.html.
If you are looking for Internet-specific information, one good
starting point is
http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/. The InterNIC
is another valuable resource, with their Scout Report and Scout
Toolkit (http://rs.internic.net/scout/toolkit).
There is also a fair amount of rudimentary tutorial information
available on the Internet. The InterNIC cosponsors "The 15 Minute
Series" (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/15min/), a collection of
free, modular, and extensible training materials on specific Internet
topics. ROADMAP96 (http://www.ua.edu/~crispen/roadmap.html) is a
free, 27-lesson Internet training workshop over e-mail.
More books and specialized articles came out about the Internet in
1993 and 1994 than in all previous years (squared!), and that trend
has seemed to continue into 1995, 1996, and beyond. Three books are
worth notable mention because they do not directly relate to finding
your way around, or finding things on, the Internet. Hafner and Lyon
[8] have written Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the
Internet, a history of the development of the Advanced Research
Projects Agency (ARPA), packet switching, and the ARPANET, focusing
primarily on the 1960s and 1970s. While culminating with the
APRANET's 25th Anniversary in 1994, its main thrusts are on the
groups building the ARPANET backbone (largely BBN) and the host-to-
host application and communication protocols (largely the Network
Working Group). Salus' book, Casting The Net: From ARPANET to
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INTERNET and beyond... [28], goes into the development of the network
from the perspective of the people, protocols, applications, and
networks. Including a set of "diversions," his book is a bit more
whimsical than Hafner & Lyon's. Finally, Carl Malamud has written a
delightful book called Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue
[17], chronicling not the history of the Internet as much as a subset
of the people currently active in building and defining 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.
11. Acronyms and Abbreviations
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
BCP Best Current Practices
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
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
WWW World Wide Web
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12. Security Considerations
Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
13. Acknowledgments
Our thanks are given to all sites that we accessed or otherwise used
system resources in preparation for this document. We also appreciate
the comments and suggestions from our students and members of the
Internet community, particularly after the last version of this
document was circulated, including Mark Delany and the rest of the
gang at the Australian Public Access Network Association, Margaret
Hall (BBN), John Martin (RARE), Tom Maufer (3Com), Carol Monaghan
(Hill Associates), Michael Patton (BBN), N. Todd Pritsky (Hill
Associates), and Brian Williams. Special thanks are due to Joyce
Reynolds for her continued encouragement and direction.
14. References
[1] Anklesaria, F., M. McCahill, P. Lindner, D. Johnson, D. Torrey,
and B. Alberti, "The Internet Gopher Protocol," RFC 1436,
University of Minnesota, March 1993.
[2] Berners-Lee, T. and D. Connolly, "Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0,"
RFC 1866, MIT/W3C, November 1995.
[3] _____, R. Fielding, and H. Frystyk, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol -
HTTP/1.0," RFC 1945, MIT/LCS, UC Irvine, MIT/LCS, May 1996.
[4] _____, L. Masinter, and M. McCahill, Editors, "Uniform Resource
Locators (URL)," RFC 1738, CERN, Xerox Corp., University of
Minnesota, December 1994.
[5] Bradner, S. "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3," RFC
2026, Harvard University, October 1996.
[6] Comer, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. I: Principles,
Protocols, and Architecture, 3/e. Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-
Hall, 1995.
[7] Feit, S. TCP/IP: Architecture, Protocols, and Implementation with
IPv6 and IP Security, 2/e. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
[8] Hafner, K. and M. Lyon. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins
of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
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RFC 2151 Internet & TCP/IP Tools & Utilities June 1997
[9] Hahn, H. and R. Stout. The Internet Yellow Pages, 3/e. Berkeley
(CA): Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1996.
[10] Harrenstien, K., M. Stahl, and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS,"
RFC 954, SRI, October 1985.
[11] Hovey, R. and S. Bradner. "The Organizations Involved in the IETF
Standards Process," RFC 2028, Digital, Harvard University, October
1996.
[12] Huizer, E. "IETF-ISOC Relationship," RFC 2031, SEC, October 1996.
[13] Kantor, B. and P. Lapsley. "Network News Transfer Protocol," RFC
977, U.C. San Diego, U.C. Berkeley, February 1986.
[14] Kessler, G.C. "An Overview of TCP/IP Protocols and the Internet."
URL: http://www.hill.com/library/tcpip.html. Last accessed: 17
February 1997
[15] _____. "IETF-History, Background, and Role in Today's Internet."
URL: http://www.hill.com/library/ietf_hx.html. Last accessed: 17
February 1997.
[16] _____. "Running Your Own DNS." Network VAR, July 1996. (See also
URL: http://www.hill.com/library/dns.html. Last accessed: 17
February 1997.)
[17] Malamud, C. Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue.
Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1992.
[18] Malkin, G.S. and J.K. Reynolds, "F.Y.I. on F.Y.I.: Introduction to
the F.Y.I. notes," FYI 1/RFC 1150, Proteon, USC/Information
Sciences Institute, March 1990.
[19] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities,"
STD 13/RFC 1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.
[20] National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA). "A
Beginner's Guide to HTML." URL:
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html. Last
accessed: 2 February 1997.
[21] Postel, J., "Domain Name System Structure and Delegation,"
USC/Information Sciences Institute, RFC 1591, March 1994.
[22] _____, "Internet Control Message Protocol," USC/Information
Sciences Institute, RFC 792, September 1981.
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[23] _____, Editor, "Internet Official Protocol Standards,"
STD 1/RFC 2000, Internet Architecture Board, February 1997.
[24] _____, "Introduction to the STD Notes," RFC 1311, USC/Information
Sciences Institute, March 1992.
[25] _____, T. Li, and Y. Rekhter, "Best Current Practices," BCP 1/RFC
1818, USC/Information Sciences Institute, Cisco Systems, August
1995.
[26] _____ and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP),"
STD 9/RFC 959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985.
[27] _____ and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification,"
STD 8/RFC 854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983.
[28] Salus, P.H. Casting The Net: From ARPANET to INTERNET and beyond...
Reading (MA): Addison-Wesley, 1995.
[29] Socolofsky, T.J. and C.J. Kale, "TCP/IP Tutorial," RFC 1180, Spider
Systems Ltd., January 1991.
[30] Stevens, W.R. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols. Reading
(MA): Addison-Wesley, 1994.
[31] Williamson, S., "Transition and Modernization of the Internet
Registration Service," RFC 1400, Network Solutions, Inc., March
1993.
[32] Zimmerman, D., "The Finger User Information Protocol," RFC 1288,
Rutgers University, December 1991.
15. Authors' Address
Gary C. Kessler
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: +1 802-655-8659
Fax: +1 802-655-7974
E-mail: kumquat@hill.com
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Steven D. Shepard
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: +1 802-655-8646
Fax: +1 802-655-7974
E-mail: s.shepard@hill.com
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RFC, FYI, BCP