InfiNet - The International Freedom of Information Network. AreaFix Tutorial for Hubs, Hosts, and Nodes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This text file assumes (if for a hub/host) use of GECHO mail processor. The tutorial section of text pertaining to nodes is generic, however. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AreaFix (also called AreaMgr) is an EXCELLENT tool for hubs and hosts. What it does, is allow systems polling you to setup/change/add/delete bases and connections, without ANY intervention from yourself. Once you've setup a node, they can add and remove bases at will. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To setup a node for areafix, go into Gsetup, Node Manager. Hit Insert, then enter, then type in the system's node number. Go down one, hit enter, and type in the sysop's handle. Scroll down to AreaMgr Password, and type in the AreaFix password the sysop has requested. Once you've entered it, hit return, and it will be replaced by Alt-254's (ώ) for added security. Move down one, to Read/Write Groups. Now, what this does, is notify Gecho of which areas this system has access to. At the very minimum, on your end, you should have each network separated into a different group name. Ideally, you have your networks separated into subdivisions, like this: ΥΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ Read/write groups Έ ³ A SBCnet N ³ ³ B STATiCNet O --InfiNet Regional-- ³ ³ C StormWatch P ³ ³ D OOFnet Q ³ ³ E FidoNet R --InfiNet Required-- ³ ³ F PODnet S $yndicateNet ³ ³ G TCSnet T ³ ³ H U ³ ³ I V ³ ³ J W ³ ³ K X Inactive Base ³ ³ L Y ³ ³ M MultiNetworked Bases Z --InfiNet General-- ³ ΤΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΎ As you can see, in this example, InfiNet is separated into four categories: MultiNetworked (FEDZINFO etc), Regional, Required (eight basic core echoes), and General (everything else). Anyway, simply type the letters for which areas you wish the new node to access, then hit escape. Now, scroll around and toggle "YES" for the following options: Allow Rescan, Forward Requests, Send Notify List, and Pack Netmail. Actually, the only one that should be set to NO is "Remote Maintenance." And, finally, move to "Mail Archive Status", and toggle it until you see only "Hold Direct" toggled on. Hit F10 to save, and you're done. To process areafix requests, you can either run just GECHO MGR, which ONLY processes areafix requests, or GECHO TOSS, which does areafix plus toss. In your batch files, if you specify GECHO TOSS /NOMGR, gecho ignores any current areafix requests, in case you wish to be onhand to watch them process. Just so you can see a completed product, here is what a typical Node Manager entry looks like: Υ View 24/67 ΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ Node manager Έ ³ ³ ³ Node address 69:11/1234 ³ ³ SysOp name Desolation Angel ³ ³ Route via ³ ³ Packet password ³ ³ ΐΔCheck password n/a ³ ³ AreaMgr password ώώώώώ ³ ³ Read/write groups MRZ ³ ³ Read groups MRZ ³ ³ Remote maintenance No ³ ³ Allow rescan Yes ³ ³ Forward requests Yes ³ ³ Send notify list Yes ³ ³ Compression method D:\PKZIP -ao ³ ³ Mail archive status Hold Direct ³ ³ AreaMgr msg status Direct ³ ³ Pack netmail Yes ³ ³ ³ ΤΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΎ And that's it. You can, however, play around with some of your gecho settings for speed, memory, etc: Gsetup > Miscellaneous > GEcho Limits: ΥΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ GEcho limits Έ ³ ³ ³ Maximum area records 500 ³ ³ Maximum node records 85 ³ ³ Maximum connections 80 ³ ³ Maximum outgoing QQQs 200 ³ ³ Maximum file handles 25 ³ ³ Maximum cache size 0 ³ ³ Maximum packet size 0 ³ ³ Maximum archive size 0 ³ ³ ³ ΤΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΎ On this screen, everything is editable... Area Records - the maximum number of message bases you have setup in your Area manager. If you only have 82 bases setup, only set it to 100 or so. Anything higher is a waste of memory. Node Records - maximum number of systems you have entered in your Node manager. Again, set the max to only 10 or so more than you currently have setup. Connections - this is the maximum number of systems you will be exporting to in ANY SINGLE BASE. Ie, on my system, INF-SYS has the highest number of connections, 72, since everyone picks that base up, so I set mine to 80. If your INF-SYS base only has 10 systems listed under connections, set this no higher than 25 or so. Outgoing QQQs - This is basically related to the previous two setups. QQQs are the temporary files Gecho uses while tossing/packing messages. I found highest performance by adding Node Records plus Connections, and adding a few. No higher than that, however. The next four are pretty much self-explanatory. I've found that setting file handles anything higher than 25, unless you've got MAJOR memory to spare, really starts causing problems. I also set my cache to zero, because it's a memory hog and really doesn't significantly affect speed. GSetup > Miscellaneous > Mgr Options: ΥΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ Mgr options Έ ³ ³ ³ Keep requests No ³ ³ Keep receipts No ³ ³ Allow +* Yes ³ ³ Allow %COMPRESS Yes ³ ³ Allow %FROM Yes ³ ³ Allow %NOTIFY OFF Yes ³ ³ Allow %PAUSE Yes ³ ³ Allow %PWD Yes ³ ³ Allow %PKTPWD Yes ³ ³ Allow %RESCAN Yes ³ ³ Auto-disconnect No ³ ³ Auto-add nodes No ³ ³ Public groups ³ ³ ³ ΤΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΎ Keep all these areas set this way, and everything will work perfectly. And finally, here's a sample of what a typical areafix request would look like... My password "DEATH", on the Re: line. Notice the extra options, which are processed AFTER the current areafix session: -L - lists all available areas, designating which are connected, which are NOT connected. -U - lists only those areas which are NOT currently connected. -R - rescans your bbs\msg directories, packing up any messages for bases which were just added. (I only run Revmail purge once a day, this way, any system that adds new bases and processes them with Rescan, will get any inbound messages for the last 24 hours). (219) Sat 16 Apr 94 10:05a By: Midnight Sorrow To: Areafix, ³³ InfiNet Texas ³³ (2713/0) Re: DEATH -L -U -R St: Pvt Crash Kill Direct ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---* +INF-SYS +INF-TEST +INF-GEN In the text of the message, there are several options... -* disconnects ALL currently connected areas, EXCEPT areas marked as "REQUIRED" in your area manager - I have the InfiNet "REQUIRED" bases marked as required, so once a system has connected to them, they cannot be disconnected. +* will connect EVERY single available area to the calling system. Then, to add a single base, you can type either +{basename} or just type the basename by itself, and areafix will add it. To remove a base, only -{basename} will work. And that's it. Kinda involved, but once you've set it up, it's incredibly easy. lateron ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Easy AreaFix'ing for nodes: Assuming your hub has already set you up (hopefully using the above procedure :), then you're free to send in your first areafix request. It's REALLY simple, as long as you follow a few simple rules. This section assumes you're using InterMail with InterEdit, but it will also work with FrontDoor, and most likely any other Front End Mailer or program that sends netmail. Just be sure to follow the basic rules outlined here, and you'll be fine. From IM/FD, hit Alt-E from the WFC screen to enter the editor. Cardinal Rule Number One: Before you begin entering the message, your AKA (node address) MUST equal the same address which your host set you up for! (If you were just assigned node number 69:300/298, and your main address is 1:372/801, if you enter the message using that address, IT WILL FAIL. Additionally, once a message is saved with an incorrect address, there is NO way to change it, short of erasing the message and starting over correctly.) To change your current AKA, hit ALT-W, and a list will be shown. Scroll down to your InfiNet address, highlight it, and select it (hit enter). Now, at the top of the screen, you will see your InfiNet address, instead of whatever was shown before. Now, you are ready to enter your areafix request. Simply hit Insert, to enter a new message. Type in AreaFix, then hit enter. The system will then be waiting for a node number; enter the node # of your host (ie, 69:1/0). You will then be moved to the Re: line. On this line, enter your password, a space, followed by -L -U -R (exactly as displayed). Lastly, hit Ctrl-C and Ctrl-K, followed by enter. So, if your pw is DEATH, you would see... Re: DEATH -L -U -R St: Pvt Crash Kill Direct ...on the two completed lines. (If you don't see Direct or Pvt there, hit Alt-S, followed by Ctrl-P, Ctrl-D, and enter). Now, you're in the main text of the message. This is where you control exactly which bases you'll be turning on or off. Hopefully, you made a text file earlier, listing all the bases you wish to carry. If not, shell to dos from this point (Alt-Z to shell), and edit the current INFINECH file so all you see is... INF-XXXX INF-XXXX INF-XXXX ...with one base per line, and no descriptions. To import a text into the body of the message, hit ALT-F2, followed by the path and filename to import. Now, just to be safe, scroll back to the very first line of the message, and type -*{enter} for the first line. What this does, is disconnect (remove) any bases that may already be connected for your node number (in case your hub was still inadvertantly packing for a system that had previously used your node number (and was removed)). This way, ONLY the bases that you have listed here will be turned on for your system, and you can be sure of that. Additional commands you may use here: +* - Turns on EVERY message base available to you. This is much easier if you plan on carrying all InfiNet bases. Also, hubs do NOT automatically upgrade your system for new bases that may be added - so you'll need to send in a new AreaFix request to accomplish this - and the +* option is easier than anything else. +INF-COM* - Wildcards ARE usable in MOST areafix systems. This option would automatically turn on any INF-COM.... base available. -INF-VIDE - This command disconnects a single base. You may also use wildcards here, if you wish, but is generally advised against. Once you've finished adding/removing your bases, hit Ctrl-Z to save the message. Exit from the editor. You marked the message as "CrashMail", so your system should now attempt to poll your hub, and send through your AreaFix request. (If you do NOT want this message sent CrashMail, and instead wish to wait until your normal nightly mail poll, simply go back into the editor, hit Alt-S, then Ctrl-C.) Finally, here is the stock Gecho help file, for your information. This ends the tutorial, hopefully I covered it well enough. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Address all requests to 'GEcho', 'AreaMgr', 'AreaFix' or 'ConfMgr' (without quotes). The subject should start with your AreaMgr password. In the body of the message to AreaMgr: [+] Connect an area - Disconnect an area %HELP Request this help text %LIST List of all areas available to you %QUERY List areas to which you are connected %UNLINKED List areas to which you are not connected %COMPRESS Change the compression program %COMPRESS ? List available compression programs %PWD Change your AreaMgr password %PKTPWD Change your packet password %RESCAN Rescan messages in all added areas %PAUSE Temporary suspend all connected areas %RESUME Resume all temporary suspended areas %NOTIFY Enable/disable notify messages %NOTE [text] Note for the SysOp, request is not deleted [---] Everything below the tear line is ignored You can also use the -H, -L, -Q, -R and -U switches on the subject line. Example: By: Desolation Angel (69:11/1234) To: AreaFix, InfiNet WHQ (69:1/0) Re: DEATH -L -U -R St: Pvt Crash Kill Direct ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -* INF-GEN INF-SUGG INF-SYS INF-TEST INF-NIN INF-RAVE INF-METL INF-INDU INF-LYRC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The above sample disconnects all currently connected areas, then connects General, Suggestions, Sysops-Only, Text, Nine Inch Nails, Rave, Metal, Industrial, and the Lyrics base. It will then show a listing of all available bases (and which ones you've currently connected to), a listing of all UNconnected areas, then rescan your hub's message bases and pack up all current new bases for the bases you've just added. Nifty, eh? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------