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 950502)
A completely new version of 'host', a nameserver query utility
a la 'nslookup' and 'dig', but much more versatile and robust.
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 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 the new RR types as defined by RFC 1183/1348.
o Basic NSAP support according to RFC 1637.
o Implement PX/GPOS RR types as defined by RFC 1664/1712.
o Implement LOC RR type as preliminary defined by draft-RFC.
o Allow multiple arguments on command line or from stdin.
o Configurable default options via an environment variable.
And many more; see the manual page, the RELEASE NOTES, and
the extensively documented code for details.
You want to link 'host' with the BIND 4.8.3 resolver library.
See below if you don't have this. But it will work with 4.8.2.
You can now also link it with the BIND 4.9.* resolver library,
but there may be differences in printing style in debug mode.
In order to make queries about toplevel domains, the "domain"
directive should *not* be present in the nameserver boot file.
See below for the BIND 4.8.3 version of the nameserver.
It runs at least on the following platforms:
HP/hpux, SGI/irix, IBM/aix, SUN/sunos, SUN/solaris,
DEC/ultrix, DEC/alpha, Apollo/domain, NeXT/mach, Cray/unicos
BIND 4.9.3, BIND 4.9.2, BIND 4.9, BIND 4.8.3, BIND 4.8.2
vrfy.tar.Z (Version 950410)
'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/domain, NeXT/mach, Cray/unicos
BIND 4.9.3, BIND 4.9.2, BIND 4.9, BIND 4.8.3, BIND 4.8.2
traceroute.tar.Z (Version 941215)
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.
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.
This version has been further adapted so that it can run on
platforms which do not support IPPROTO_RAW manipulation.
It runs at least on the following platforms:
HP/hpux, SGI/irix, IBM/aix, SUN/sunos,
DEC/ultrix, DEC/alpha, Apollo/domain, NeXT/mach
*without* any kernel modifications.
It should also run (but I haven't tested it) on the platforms:
SUN/solaris, Cray/unicos
ping.tar.Z (Version 950425)
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.
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,
DEC/ultrix, DEC/alpha, Apollo/domain, NeXT/mach
It should also run (but I haven't tested it) on the platforms:
SUN/solaris, Cray/unicos
rping.tar.Z (Version 930218)
This utility is no longer supported, as its functionality
has been taken over by ``ping''.
'rping' is just like 'ping', but only a single probe packet
is sent to test the reachability of a destination.
As an option, the ip route recording facility is used
to show the roundtrip route the packet has taken.
Multiple addresses of remote hosts are tried until one
responds. As an option, each of multiple addresses can be
probed unconditionally.
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, DEC/ultrix, Apollo/domain
named.tar.Z
This is the BIND 4.8.3 version of the nameserver 'named'.
This one is becoming obsolete as BIND 4.9 is emerging.
Minor changes have been applied to be able to compile if
you have old include files lacking various definitions.
The following modifications have been made:
- HASH
Bug fix for lookup hashing function, which ignored case
insensitivity for domain names. From Paul Vixie.
- TRACEROOT
Syslog incoming root NS records, and reject bogus records.
This fix has been discussed on the net.
- BOGUS
Extra check for invalid control chars in root NS records.
- YPKLUDGE
Reject T_A requests for names consisting of dotted quads.
These may be issued by old versions of gethostbyname().
(The 4.8.3 version of this routine will take care of this.)
This fix comes from Daniel Karrenberg <dfk@cwi.nl>.
- GLUE
Do not send non-authoritative glue records during outgoing
zone transfers, and do not accept such glue records during
incoming zone transfers.
This fix is based on the mods suggested by Andrew Partan
<asp@uunet.uu.net> for the incoming transfers, and by
Havard Eidnes <he@idt.unit.no> for the outgoing transfers.
- QRYLOG
Optionally write all gotten queries to a special logfile
so that statistical analysis can be done.
This mod is based on code from dfk@cwi.nl and piet@cwi.nl.
- XXX
Do not append the local domain name to single name queries.
(This was done if this single name was not in the cache.)
This should be done by the resolver routines depending on
the RES_DEFNAMES and RES_DNSRCH flags. Names presented to the
nameserver should be handled without further interpretation.
This fix is extremely useful for the 'host' utility and makes
it possible to query about toplevel domains immediately.
Before, you had to query first about a name within the domain.
All mods to the original code are properly #ifdef-ed.
resolver.tar.Z
The routines of the BIND 4.8.3 resolver library.
This one is becoming obsolete as BIND 4.9 is emerging.
Minor changes have been applied to be able to compile if
you have old include files lacking various definitions,
and to improve the legibility of the debug printout.
One bug fix has been applied to reset errno in case there
was no real error condition. (Under some circumstances,
errno would contain EAFNOSUPPORT, which would be caught
by sendmail to issue a non-relevant error message.)
Another bug fix prevents core dumps in debug mode. The
debug routines should have been using the returned size
of the answer buffer, and must check for expand errors.
The following modifications have been made:
- CONNECT (applies to sun and apollo)
Simplify datagram connection strategy in res_send().
This is because an already 'connected' datagram socket
cannot be re-used by sendto() for a different address.
Always use sequence connect()/send()/recv() to detect
error conditions without timing out.
All mods to the original code are properly #ifdef-ed.
You may want to link utilities like 'host' with this new
resolver package, especially if your default resolver
library has not been compiled with the -DDEBUG option.
Please send comments and suggestions to Eric Wassenaar <e07@nikhef.nl>
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
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