NAME

atconfig − Sets up AppleTalk networks

SYNOPSIS

atconfig interface [ up | down ] [ zone zone_name ]

DESCRIPTION

The atconfig command is used to set up AppleTalk networks.  It can also be used to display information on the present AppleTalk interface.  This command requires that interface be specified.  At present, the valid interface names are Ethernet interfaces(en0, en1, en2,...) and when LocalTalk interface is available, you can select lt0.  Note that only one interface can be specified at any one time. 
NEWS supports EtherTalk Phase II only.

The file /etc/atrouter.conf is necessary only if NEWS is to be used as the AppleTalk seed router.  Otherwise it should be deleted.  Also, if NEWS is to be a router, a minimum of two network interfaces must be capable of supporting AppleTalk. 

The meanings of the options are described below. 

up | down
Makes the specified interface up (enabled) or down (disabled).

zone zone_name
Specifies the zone for the designated interface.

If the interface name is specified with no options, the address of the interafce is displayed. 

EXAMPLE

% atconfig en0 This displays the address presently assigned to en0 in the format shown below. Network Number ..................... 10 (0xa)
Node ID ............................ 228 (0xe4) A setting such as the following is used for interfaces which will actually be used as AppleTalk interfaces. # atconfig en0 up This activates en0 as an AppleTalk interface. In this case a network number and node number are assigned automatically. # atconfig en0 up zone news1 This activates en0 as an AppleTalk interface and sets news1 as its zone name. 

AppleTalk ROUTER

To use NEWS as an AppleTalk Seed router, /etc/atrouter.conf file must be set up.  The format for entries in atrouter.conf is as follows.  <interface_name>:<net_range>:<zone_name><,zone_name>..  “−”, “,”, “:” and “#” characters can be quoted using “\\*(rq. Spaces in <interface_name> or <net_range> are ignored, but spaces in the <zone_name> list are considered a part of the zone names. Also, the first zone name listed becomes the default zone.  For example, en0:10-20:news1,news2,news3
en1:40-40:news4
lt0:50:LocalTalk sets up en0 with a network range of 10 through 20 and sets the zones as news1, news2 and news3 with news1 as the default zone.  In like manner, en1 has a network range of 40 and its zone is news4.  In LocalTalk network, network number is specified instead of network range. In addition, the only one zone name is acceptable. 
If the following commands are issued after making the above settings, # atconfig en0 up
# atconfig en1 up
# atconfig lt0 up the three interfaces are brought up (activated) and function as AppleTalk routers.

If NEWS is used as a non-seed router, there is no need for /etc/atrouter.conf.  In this case, issuing the commands, # atconfig en0 up
# atconfig en1 up
# atconfig lt0 up causes the three interfaced to come up and to function as AppleTalk routers.

MacIP

MacIP is a kind of encapsulation of IP packet into AppleTalk packet.  MacIP allows a Macinotsh with LocalTalk interface only to use telnet, ftp so on.  MacIP gateway is a gateway between AppleTalk and IP networks. A Macintosh using IP is called MacIP client.  MacIP configuration is set in /etc/atrouter.conf.  macip: <ifaddr>:<netmask>:
<dynamic start>-<dynamic end>:
<static start>-<static end>:
<DNS address>: <domain>:
<NBP proxy arp>:<DDP glean> <ifaddr> and <netmask> are configuration of ’network interface at0’.
<dynamic start>-<dynamic end> is the range of IP address as a Dynamic assigned IP address. It is optional.
<static start>-<static end> is the range of IP address as a static assigned IP address. It is optional. In this case MacIP client should be on the same zone as MacIP address assignee. However, when <DDP glean> flag is on, outer zone clients can get the service.
<DNS address> is the IP address of Domain Name Server. It is optional.
<NBP proxy arp> is a flag for the older clients which can not recognize sub network. When this flag is on, such clients can get the service. As usual this flag should be off.
<DDP glean> is a flag of gleaning MacIP address. When this flag is on, a set of address <AppleTalk-addr, IP-addr> is maintained. If you would like to use the IP assign service from the outer zone clients, this flag should be on. Both host name and dot notation (130.0.0.1) are acceptable as a IP address.However we recommend to use dod notation.Also a number in hex (0xffff0000) is acceptable as a netmask notation. After setting up the configuration, to start MacIP service you type
 
# atconfig macip up
 
To stop MacIP service, you type
 
# atconfig macip down
 
To show the MacIP configurations, you type
 
# atconfig macip
 

NOTES

AppleTalk uses a concept referred to as the “seed router”.  When multiple segments are connected via routers, one router has the job of supplying essential data to other routers when they are brought up.  (It seeds the other routers with data.) 
Thanks to this function it is not necessary to individually set up all of the routers on the AppleTalk network. The router that first supplies the data is called a seed router and the others are referred to as non-seed routers. Also, there is no rule that there may be no more than one seed router on a network. However, if this is the case (if there are two or more seed routers set up), care must be taken to ensure that the data they supply to other routers is not inconsistent.

NEWS can be set up either as a seed router or as a non-seed router. 
If NEWS is used as a non-seed router, /etc/atrouter.conf is not needed, as was mentioned above. 
To use NEWS as a seed router it is necessary to set up /etc/atrouter.conf. 
In either case, NEWS exchanges data with the other routers after it is activated.

BUGS

If there are no other routers on the network, attempts to bring up NEWS as a non-seed router (not set up in /etc/atrouter.conf) will be unsuccessful. 

Some of the messages issued by atconfig are difficult to understand.  Also, there may be cases where the interface comes up even though an error message has been output. 

When using NEWS as a router, the first interface brought up should be the last one shut down.  In other words, this sequence of commands, # atconfig en0 up
# atconfig en1 up should be followed by this one. # atconfig en1 down
# atconfig en0 down The first interface brought up will not shut down until after all of the other interfaces.

SEE ALSO

atnetstat(1), atlookup(1)

NEWS-OSRelease 4.2.1R