TIPC User's Guide ================= Last modified: 28 November 2005 This document is intended to assist software developers in setting up and operating a network that supports TIPC. For information about writing applications that use TIPC please see the TIPC Programmer's Guide. Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Installing TIPC 2. Configuring TIPC 3. Monitoring TIPC 4. Command Reference 5. FAQ 1. Installing TIPC ------------------ To activate TIPC on a node you must first compile it, then load it. You can do this in two ways: 1) As an integrated part of the Linux source tree, compiled either as a kernel module or as part of the kernel. Use the Makefile under /net/tipc. 2) Use the standalone build support provided by the Makefile located directly under the top directory (i.e. the directory you get when you first unpack the downloaded .tar file). Method 2 is simplest to use if you just downloaded the code, and will be described here. 1) cd 2) make KINCLUDE=/include 3) su root 4) insmod net/tipc/tipc.ko In /var/log/messages you should now see printouts about the installation of the module. Applications will now be able to use TIPC, but only to communicate within a single node. 2. Configuring TIPC ------------------- To get TIPC to join a cluster of network nodes you must use the "tipc-config" tool to assign the node a TIPC network address, and to tell it which network interface(s) to use. For example, to assign TIPC the address <1.1.1> on network 1234 and have it use Ethernet interface eth0 you would enter: tools/tipc-config -netid=1234 -a=1.1.1 -be=eth:eth0 Once this is done, /var/log/messages will show printouts about the enabling of the interface(s). If there are other TIPC nodes with the same network ID present within your LAN you will also see printouts showing links being established. Many users will have no need to do any additional configuration of TIPC, since the system defaults will be sufficient for their needs. For a complete list of configuration options see the "Command Reference" section below. Configuring Redundant Ethernets ------------------------------- If you want to use redundant Ethernets it is very important that they are not directly interconnected. The auto-configuration mechanism will be utterly confused if a given Ethernet interface receives a series of neighbour detection broadcasts from another node containing different Ethernet addresses. (This is essentially the same confusion that results if multiple nodes are assigned the same address.) You may still replace a NIC card, however. 3. Monitoring TIPC ------------------ The "tipc-config" tool allows users to monitor the behavior of a TIPC network. Commonly used options include the following: -nt - display information in TIPC's name table -p - display the ports for this node known to TIPC -n - display the network nodes known to TIPC -l - display the links used by TIPC For a complete description of these options see the "Command Reference" section below. 4. Command Reference -------------------- The tipc-config command supports numerous options, which are typically processed one at a time in the order they are entered. Certain options are only available to users having "network administrator" privileges. Syntax conventions: - a network address, specified using the syntax: Z.C.N - a bearer name (eg. eth:eth0) - a link name (eg. 1.1.10:eth3-1.1.17:eth2) All other items of the form represent unsigned integer values. The following options are supported: -v Enable "verbose" mode. The command will produce additional output to describe what it is doing. -i Enable "interactive" mode. The command will prompt for confirmation before attempting to change the configuration of TIPC. -dest= Redirect configuration options to the specified node. (Note that some options will be refused if requested remotely.) -a[=] Set the network address of the node; if is omitted, the current network address is displayed. -netid[=] Set the network ID of the node to ; if is omitted, the current network address is displayed. This option makes it possible to define private clusters on a LAN (for development purposes, for example) whose nodes will not interact with each other. This parameter need not be set if you are the only TIPC user on the LAN. -mng[=enable|disable] Allow or disallow remote management of the node. -nt[=[,][,[,]]] Displays the requested name table information known by TIPC on the node. Specify to control how much info is displayed: types = displays type info only names = displays type and instance info (i.e. name info) ports = displays type, instance, and port info all = displays type, instance, port, and publication info If is omitted, all info is displayed. Specify ,, to control which name table entries are displayed: displays all entries for the specified type , displays all entries overlapping the specified name ,, displays all entries overlapping the specified name sequence If is omitted, all name table entries are displayed. -p List all ports known by TIPC on the node. -m List all media known by TIPC on the node. -b List all bearers known by TIPC on the node. -be=[/[/]] Enable the specified bearer by having TIPC attach to the interface . The bearer name has the form :, denoting the media type used by the interface and the interface's name. (For example, "eth:eth0".) Once enabled, TIPC starts broadcasting messages to detect other nodes in the network. The optional value specifes a "neighbour detection domain" which restricts the set of nodes that TIPC will automatically set up links to. For example, <0.0.0> (the default) means that TIPC should contact all nodes it can find, <1.1.0> tells TIPC to only look for nodes within cluster <1.1>. More than one interface may be enabled at a time by specifing multiple bearers in a comma separated list (e.g. -be=eth:eth0,eth:eth1). -bd= Disable the specified bearer. -n[=] List all nodes known by the node within the specified network domain. If is omitted, the domain <0.0.0> (i.e. the entire network) is used. -l[=] List all links used by the node within the specified network domain. If is omitted, the domain <0.0.0> (i.e. the entire network) is used. -ls= Display status and statistics information about the specified link. -lsr= Reset the statistics counters for the specified link. -lp=/ Sets the priority of the specified link to . -lw=/ Sets the window of the specified link to messages. -lt=/ Sets the tolerance of the specified link to milliseconds. -max_ports[=] Sets the maximum number of ports allowed by the node to ; if is omitted, the current setting is displayed. -max_publ[=] Sets the maximum number of publications allowed by the node to ; if is omitted, the current setting is displayed. -max_subscr[=] Sets the maximum number of subscriptions allowed by the node to ; if is omitted, the current setting is displayed. -max_zones[=] Sets the largest allowed zone number allowed by the node to ; if is omitted, the current setting is displayed. -max_clusters[=] Currently unsupported. -max_nodes[=] Sets the largest allowed node number allowed by the node to ; if is omitted, the current setting is displayed. -max_slaves[=] Currently unsupported. -log[=] Sets the size of TIPC's system log to the specified number of bytes. If is omitted, the contents of the system log are displayed and the log is reset to empty. -help Displays a summary of the options supported by this command. 4. FAQ ------ This section contains the answers to frequently asked questions. There are currently no entries in this section. [END OF DOCUMENT]