CONNECT.CON(5,F) AIX Technical Reference CONNECT.CON(5,F)
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connect.con
PURPOSE
Controls communication connections and data transfer.
DESCRIPTION
The connection configuration file, /usr/lib/INnet/connect.con or
$HOME/bin/connect.con, controls the setup of connections for the connect
program and for certain optional communications programs. It provides a very
general, flexible mechanism to specify how connections are made and how data is
transferred after making a connection.
The connect.con files are attribute files. The following attributes may appear
in the connection control file.
Connection Options
The connection options and their descriptions are:
prefix, address, suffix
The telephone number to dial or the network address to contact. The
actual number is constructed by concatenating the prefix (if any),
the address, and the suffix (if any). Usually the prefix and suffix
are defined in /etc/ports because they depend on the peculiarities of
the dialer, and the address is defined in connect.con.
Multiple addresses can be specified by consecutive address assignment
lines or by multiple address values separated by commas. The
addresses are tried in the order given. To specify a comma as part
of the command that is sent to the modem, enclose the entire address
value in quotation marks.
connect Type of connection to make. This option is specified in /etc/ports
since it is usually associated with the hardware configuration of the
outgoing line. Permissible values are:
permanent The connection is hard-wired. No dialing or other
special attention is needed.
manual The connection must be completed manually. This
generally implies a modem that does not dial, for
example, an acoustic coupler.
hayes_1200 The line has a Hayes Stack Smartmodem 1200.
hayes_2400 The line has a Hayes Stack Smartmodem 2400.
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vadic The line has a Racal-Vadic 3451P autodialer.
ventel The line has a Ventel MD212+ autodialer.
other_name The line is associated with a dialer program, which is
not built into the connect program. This option allows
you to augment the capabilities of the connect program
and other communications programs when dealing with new
types of communications lines and dialers. The program
searches for the named dialer program in
/usr/lib/INnet/dialers or $HOME/bin.
The assumptions made for dialer programs you supply are:
the port to be used can be opened before dialing and the
file will be opened as descriptor 3. Two parameters are
passed: number to dial as parameter 1, and dialer
hardware to use or value of the dialer option, if any as
parameter 2. Any code exit from the dialer except 0
indicates the dialer failed. The failure code returned
by the dialer determines the message printed by the
programs.
linetype Type of communication line protocols, either synchronous or
asynchronous. Different protocols are used on different line types,
so the talker programs may differ. The default linetype is
asynchronous.
type The name invoked with the connect program that determines the kind of
connection attempted. Only those stanzas with the proper type are
processed. Currently, the connect program itself uses only terminal
type stanzas. The default type is terminal.
use This option directs the connect program to read the named stanza and
follow the instructions there.
Line Options and Parameters
Line options and parameters used are:
min The minimum value to use in kernel buffering. Min value characters
must be received before a call to the read system call returns, unless
value specified in time elapses.
parity The line is checked for the indicated parity: even, odd, any, or none.
speed The transmission speed, generally 110, 300, 1200, 2400, 9600, and so
on.
time The value to use in kernel buffering. Time in tenths of a second to
receive a character before a call to the read system call returns
unless min characters are received. See the discussion of ICANON in
"termio." Setting these parameters can result in improved performance.
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timeout The time limit to complete the connection in seconds. When the time
limit expires, the connection is aborted. This attribute is not
needed for devices with a built-in timeout.
System Options
The system options are:
device The name of the special file to use to make the connection. The device
must appear in /etc/ports (see "ports") and the information in the
ports file entry that is made available to the connect program. Note
that this attribute can appear only in the last of the list of stanzas
associated with making the connection on this device, and that the use
option must not appear.
dialer This option specifies the dialer hardware to be used in dialing the
number. It is normally in /etc/ports file, associated with the device
to be used. It may also be specified in a connection file, so that its
value can be passed to a user-specified dialer program.
Diagnostics
The following diagnostics are displayed, based on the return value from system-
or user-supplied dialer programs. The values 8 through 14 are treated as fatal
errors.
Code Message
0 Connected
1 Cannot open dialer
2 Busy or no answer
3 Not able to fork
4 Terminated attempts
5 Communication failure
6 Busy
7 No answer
8 Dead phone
9 Bad phone number
10 Cannot open device specified
11 Address not specified
12 Bad connect.con format
13 Cannot run dialer
14 No autodialer specified.
Login Script
A login script is file with the given name that is interpreted before notifying
you that the connection is complete. Script files are located either in the
$HOME/bin file or in the /usr/lib/INnet/scripts file.
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script A script file is organized into a group of states. In each state, the
script file optionally sends a string to the remote system, then waits
for a response. Several possible responses can be listed for each
state along with an action to be performed if the response is received.
A time limit can also be set in each state, along with an action to be
performed if the time expires without an expected string arriving. The
actions are to terminate script interpretations, with either a success
or failure indication, or to move to another state. A sample script is
shown under "Example."
DONE
A successful termination of script interpretation.
ERROR string
An unsuccessful termination of script interpretation. The last
message received from the remote site is reported to you.
GOTO n
Continues processing in state n.
RECV string action
This action is performed if the given string is received.
SEND string
Sends the given string to the remote system. Any name enclosed in
braces in the string is taken to be an option reference and is
replaced by the value of that option. If that option is not present
in the list of stanzas, you are prompted for its value using the
option name as the prompt. If a - (dash) precedes the name within
the braces, the typed characters are not echoed. This is handy for
including passwords as parameters in the script file without having
them stored on the system. Thus, script files can be given
parameters so that they can be used in different connection stanzas
and by different users.
STATE n
Declares the beginning of state n.
TIMER n action
This action is performed if no expected string is received in n
seconds.
Talker Program
A talker program handles the work of moving data across a connection. This
program runs after a connection is established. The default talker for the
connect program is atalk. You can override this and specify your own talker
program.
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talker This is the name of the program to run when the connection is made.
The conventions observed between the connect program and the talker are
not complex: the connection is opened by the program as file descriptor
3. The only flag passed by connect to the talker program is:
-llockfile
Note: If the -l flag is present, the talker must remove the named
lockfile to make the port available to other users.
flags This option passes flags (other than the above) to the talker program.
This option is valid with both default or user-specified talkers.
EXAMPLE
A typical script might be:
STATE 0 RECV User: GOTO 1
TIMER 10 ERROR "No login"
STATE 1 SEND "{myname}\n"
RECV Password: GOTO 2
RECV "Unknown:" ERROR "Name unknown"
TIMER 10 ERROR "No password msg"
STATE 2 SEND "{-mypass}\n"
RECV "$" DONE
RECV Invalid ERROR "Wrong password"
TIMER 20 ERROR "No prompt"
This script could be used for login to a remote AIX system. In this file,
connect waits up to 10 seconds for a "User:" prompt. When received, it sends
the value of the myname option from the control file or by prompt, as the user
name. It then waits for 10 seconds for the "Password:" prompt, then it sends
the value of mypass as the password. The password is not echoed. It then
waits another 20 seconds for another prompt. At each stage, it looks for
messages that could occur if the given user name or password is invalid. With
more states, you can write a script that tries several different user names and
types the necessary information to dial through a port selector.
FILES
/usr/lib/INnet/connect.con
$HOME/bin/connect.con
RELATED INFORMATION
In this book: "attributes," "ports," and "termio."
The connect and uucp commands in AIX Operating System Commands Reference.
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