This README_FIRST file describes software which is made available in the directory '/pub/network' on the machine 'ftp.nikhef.nl' [192.16.199.1] Up-to-date copies may be retrieved from other sites only if they mirror this directory officially. host.tar.Z (Version 991529) A completely new version of 'host', a nameserver query utility a la 'nslookup' and 'dig', but much more versatile and robust. It is used for the RIPE monthly European hostcount survey. Among the new features are: o Extensive error checking. o Optionally (very) verbose output and debugging info. o Checking for extraneous conditions during zone listings such as non-authoritative glue records and lame delegations. o Checking for illegal characters in certain domain names. o Checking for dangling CNAME pointers without RR records. o Verify that some host-related domain names are canonical. o Perform ttl consistency checking during zone listings. o Recursive traversion of delegated zones up to a given level. o Maintaining of resource record and host count statistics. o Option to check reverse mappings of host addresses. o Option to compare SOA records at the primary and secondary nameservers of a zone to check for anomalies such as out-of-sync serial numbers, and other discrepancies. o Recognition of many new RR types as defined by latest RFCs. o Allow multiple arguments on command line or from stdin. o Configurable default options via an environment variable. o Anticipate non-BIND behaviour during zone listings. o Facility to maintain local disk cache files for zone data. And many more; see the manual page, the RELEASE NOTES, and the extensively documented code for details. You want to link with a BIND 4.9.3 (or newer!) resolver library. But it is backward compatible with 4.8.3 and even with 4.8.2. In order to make queries about toplevel domains, the "domain" directive should *not* be present in the nameserver boot file. It runs at least on the following platforms: HP/HPUX, SGI/IRIX, IBM/AIX, SUN/SunOS, SUN/Solaris, DEC/Ultrix, DEC/Alpha, Apollo/DomainOS, NeXT/MACH, BSDI/4.4BSD, SCO/ODT3, SCO/OS5, Linux, Cray/Unicos BIND 8.*.*, BIND 4.9.*, BIND 4.8.3, BIND 4.8.2 On non-unix platforms it should run on: Windows-NT, Windows-95 but the windows port is pretty out-of-date. To compile, you need the NT port of BIND 4.9.* A pre-compiled executable is available as host_YYMMDD.exe.Z It expects a resolv.conf file in the %windir% directory. ping.tar.Z (Version 991020) A completely new version of good old 'ping'. New features are: o Redesign for proper flood and cisco style ping handling. o Packet loss is now properly reported in all modes. o Support for loose source route option besides record route. o Quick ping without normal output, quit when target is alive. o Option to probe all addresses of multi-homed destinations. o Support for pinging to broadcast address. o Portability hooks for easy installation on various platforms. o Recognize various new icmp packet types and subcodes. o Recognize bounce messages to our own ping requests. o Round-trip time reporting in fractional milliseconds. o Display rtt standard deviation in statistics summary. o Cache nameserver lookups to minimize DNS queries. o Auto-adjust timeout period to cope with slow links. o Multiple gateways to define explicit loose source route. o Define explicit source address for multi-homed hosts. o Option to set an explicit TOS value in the IP header. Contains a patch for making ip route recording work in case you have a SUN with an NC400 ethernet controller. It runs at least on the following platforms: HP/HPUX, SGI/IRIX, IBM/AIX, SUN/SunOS, SUN/Solaris, DEC/Ultrix, DEC/Alpha, Apollo/DomainOS, NeXT/MACH, BSDI/4.4BSD, SCO/ODT3, SCO/OS5, Linux BIND 8.*.*, BIND 4.9.*, BIND 4.8.3, BIND 4.8.2 It should also run (but I haven't tested it myself) on the platforms: Cray/Unicos traceroute.tar.Z (Version 991603) A new version of 'traceroute', a utility to show the network route to a certain destination. Among the new features are: o Optional ttl reporting. o Optional use of the loose source routing facility, to show the route between arbitrary destinations. o Enhanced portability, to run on a variety of platforms. o Improved timeout handling during icmp packet catching. o Option to probe all addresses of multi-homed destinations. o Option to disable fragmentation and perform MTU discovery. o Recognize various new icmp packet types. o Round-trip time reporting in fractional milliseconds. o Option to display the Autonomous System number for each hop. o Option to display the network name for each hop. o Configurable default options via environment variables. o Optional setting of initial ttl to skip first hops. o Optional min/avg/max rtt statistics summary for each hop. o Include standard deviation in rtt statistics summary. o Cache nameserver lookups to minimize DNS queries. This version has been further adapted so that it can run on platforms which do not support IPPROTO_RAW manipulation, or on which IP_HDRINCL interferes with IPOPT_LSRR. It runs at least on the following platforms: HP/HPUX, SGI/IRIX, IBM/AIX, SUN/SunOS, SUN/Solaris, DEC/Ultrix, DEC/Alpha, Apollo/DomainOS, NeXT/MACH, BSDI/4.4BSD, SCO/ODT3, SCO/OS5, Linux BIND 8.*.*, BIND 4.9.*, BIND 4.8.3, BIND 4.8.2 *without* any kernel modifications. It should also run (but I haven't tested it myself) on the platforms: Cray/Unicos vrfy.tar.Z (Version 990522) 'vrfy' is a tool to verify email addresses and mailing lists. In its simplest form it takes an address "user@domain", figures out the MX hosts for "domain", and issues the SMTP command VRFY at the primary MX host (optionally all), or at "domain" itself if no MX hosts exist. Without "domain" it goes to "localhost". More complex capabilities are: recursively expanding forward files or mailing lists, and detecting mail forwarding loops. Full-blown RFC822 address specifications are understood. Syntax checking can be carried out either locally or remotely. Various options are provided to exploit alternative protocol suites if necessary, and to print many forms of verbose output. Obvious limitations exist, but on average it works pretty well. Needless to say you need internet (nameserver and SMTP) access. See the man page and the extensive documentation in the source for further details. It runs at least on the following platforms: HP/HPUX, SGI/IRIX, IBM/AIX, SUN/SunOS, SUN/Solaris, DEC/Ultrix, DEC/Alpha, Apollo/DomainOS, NeXT/MACH, BSDI/4.4BSD, Linux, Cray/Unicos BIND 8.*.*, BIND 4.9.*, BIND 4.8.3, BIND 4.8.2 Please send comments and suggestions to Eric Wassenaar If you want to receive notification of updates, please send an email with the keyword "subscribe" in the subject or the body to the address