System Management Guide: Communications and Networks

SLIP

Configuring SLIP over a Modem

To configure Serial Line Interface Protocol (SLIP) between two systems that communicate through a modem, you can use the Web-based System Manager, wsm, or use the following procedure, which alternates between the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) interface and the command line to complete the configuration. For clarity, the following instructions use the names bronze and gold for the two hosts.

1. Physically connect the modems to bronze and gold.
2. To create a tty on bronze using SMIT:
   1. Enter:

      smit maktty
      

   2. Select rs232 as the type of tty you wish to create.
   3. Select an available serial port, for example sa0 (system serial port 1).
   4. Select a port number for this tty from the list.
   5. Set the BAUD rate to the baud rate of your modem.
   6. Set Enable LOGIN to disable.
   7. Exit SMIT.
3. Create a tty on gold.

   Follow the same procedure as you did for bronze (in step 2), except set Enable LOGIN to enable.

   The rest of these instructions assume that the tty number on both bronze and gold is tty1.

4. Test the physical connection with ATE.
   1. On bronze, enter:

      ate
      

   2. At the Unconnected Main Menu, select the Alter subcommand. Set the Rate to the baud rate of your modem and the Device to tty1.
   3. At the Unconnected Main Menu, select the Connect subcommand. When ATE prompts you for a phone number, enter the phone number of gold and press Enter.
   4. At this point, you should receive a login prompt for gold. Login.
   5. Return to the connected screen, logout from gold, press Ctrl-v (to get to the ATE CONNECTED MAIN MENU), press t to terminate the connection, and press q to exit ATE.

      Note: If you do not receive a login prompt, return to step 1 and verify that your configuration is correct. Do not proceed until you can login to gold.

   Because the tty configuration for use with ATE is slightly different from the configuration for use with SLIP, you must make the following changes:
   1. On bronze, enter:

      smit chgtty
      

   2. On gold, enter:

      smit chgtty-pdisable tty1
      

      Select tty1, then select Change/Show TTY Program. Set Enable LOGIN to disable, then exit SMIT.

5. Add the following line to the /usr/lib/uucp/Devices file on both bronze and gold:

   Direct tty1 - 9600 direct  
   

   or replace 9600 with whatever your modem speed is.

6. Create a SLIP network interface on bronze.
   1. Enter:

      smit mkinet1sl
      

   2. For TTY PORT for SLIP Network Interface, select tty1.
   3. Specify an INTERNET ADDRESS, for example, 130.130.130.1.
   4. Specify the DESTINATION address (of gold), for example, 130.130.130.2.
   5. Specify the BAUD RATE of your modem.
   6. Specify the DIAL STRING, for example:
      • "" AT OK ATDT555-1234 CONNECT ""
      • The meaning of this command is: Use tty1 at 9600 baud. Send AT to the modem. The modem should respond with OK. Dial the phone number 555-1234. The modem should respond with CONNECT. The spaces before and after the "" characters are necessary.
   7. Exit SMIT.
7. Create a SLIP network interface on gold.

   Follow the same procedure as you did for bronze (in step 5), except exchange the INTERNET ADDRESS and the DESTINATION address.

8. Add the following two entries to the /etc/hosts file on both bronze and gold:

   130.130.130.1   bronze
   130.130.130.2   gold
   

   The name you assign must be unique. In other words, if the Token-Ring interface on bronze is already assigned the name bronze, assign the SLIP interface a name such as bronze_slip.

   Note: For a simplified interface to the slattach command, you might use the script /usr/sbin/slipcall.

9. Test the SLIP connection.
   1. On bronze, enter:

      ping gold
      

   2. On gold, enter:

      ping bronze
      

   If both tests succeed, the SLIP connection is ready for use. If not, return to step 5 and verify that the configuration on both bronze and gold is correct.

Configuring SLIP over a Null Modem Cable

To configure SLIP between two systems that are attached using a null modem cable, you can use the Web-based System Manager, wsm, or use the following procedure, which alternates between the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) interface and the command line to complete the configuration. For clarity, these instructions use the names bronze and gold for the two hosts.

1. Physically connect bronze and gold by the null modem cable. The following cables are required.. (The cables are listed in the order they will be connected from bronze to gold.)
   1. Cable B (part number 00G0943). Serial Port Jumper Cable; two are provided with each system, except models 220, 340, and 350 do not require them.
   2. Cable D (part number 6323741, feature code 2936). Asynchronous Cable EIA-232/V.24.
   3. Cable E (part number 59F2861, feature code 2937). Printer/Terminal Interposer EIA-232 (null modem cable).
   4. Changer Adapter (both sides of the adapter are sockets).
2. Create a tty on bronze.
   1. Enter:

      smit maktty
      

   2. Select rs232 as the type of tty you wish to create.
   3. Select an available serial port, for example sa0 (system serial port 1).
   4. Select a port number for this tty from the list.
   5. Set the BAUD rate to 19200. (Later, you will change this to 38400. But for now, use 19200.)
   6. Set Enable LOGIN to disable, and then exit SMIT.
3. Create a tty on gold.

   Follow the same steps as you did for bronze (in step 2), except set Enable LOGIN to enable.

   Note: The rest of these instructions assume that the tty number on both bronze and gold is tty1.

4. Test the physical connection with ATE.
   1. On bronze, enter:

      ate
      

   2. At the Unconnected Main Menu, select the Alter subcommand. Set the Rate to 19200, and the Device to tty1.
   3. At the Unconnected Main Menu, select the Connect subcommand. When ATE prompts you for a phone number, press Enter. You should receive the message:

      ate: 0828-010 The Connect command has made a connection through port tty1
      

   4. Press Enter. You should receive a login prompt for gold. Login to gold.
   5. Finally, return to the connected screen, logout from gold, press Ctrl-v (to get to the ATE CONNECTED MAIN MENU), press t to terminate (end) the connection, and press q to exit ATE.

      Note: If you do not receive a login prompt, return to step 1 and verify that your configuration is correct. Do not proceed until you can login to gold.

   Since the tty configuration for use with ATE is slightly different from the configuration for use with SLIP, you must make the following changes:
   1. On bronze, enter:

      smit chgtty
      

      Select tty1. Set the BAUD rate to 38400, and then exit SMIT.

   2. On gold, enter:

      pdisable tty1
      

   3. On gold, enter:

      smit chgtty
      

      Select tty1. Set Enable LOGIN to disable, set the BAUD rate to 38400, and then exit SMIT.

5. Add the following line to the /usr/lib/uucp/Devices file on both bronze and gold:

   Direct tty1 - 38400 direct
   

6. Create a SLIP network interface on bronze.
   1. Enter:

      smit mkinet1sl
      

   2. For TTY PORT for SLIP Network Interface, select tty1.
   3. Specify an INTERNET ADDRESS, for example 130.130.130.1.
   4. Specify the DESTINATION address (of gold), for example, 130.130.130.2, and then select OK or Enter.
7. Create a SLIP network interface on gold.

   Follow the same procedure as you did for bronze (in step 5), except exchange the INTERNET ADDRESS and the DESTINATION address.

8. Add the following two entries to the /etc/hosts file on both bronze and gold:

   130.130.130.1   bronze
   130.130.130.2   gold
   

   The name you assign must be unique. In other words, if the Token-Ring interface on bronze is already assigned the name bronze, assign the SLIP interface a name such as bronze_slip.

9. Start SLIP on both bronze and gold.

   Enter:

   slattach tty1
   

10. Test the SLIP connection.
    1. On bronze, enter:

       ping gold
       

    2. On gold, enter:

       ping bronze
       

    If both tests succeed, the SLIP connection is ready for use. If not, return to step 5 and verify that the configuration on both bronze and gold is correct.

Deactivating a SLIP Connection

To deactivate a SLIP connection:

1. Enter:

   ps -ef | grep slatt
   

   Note the process numbers of processes associated with the slattach command.

2. For each process number, enter:

   kill process_number
   

   Do not use the -9 flag of the kill command.

   If slattach is accidentally killed with a -9 flag, a slip lock might remain in /etc/locks. Delete this lock file to clean up after slattach.

Removing a TTY

To remove a tty, you can use the Web-based System Manager, wsm, or the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) fast path, smit rminet.