+ 3. Setting up the AX25 Utilities
+
+ The aim of this section is not to fully cover the installation and
+ configuration of all the possible ax25 modules. I will attempt to
+ cover a simple installation and configure 2 serial ports as if they
+ had TNC's on them. I will also show what additional configuration the
+ DXSpider program requires.
+
+
+ Please bear in mind that I am basing this section on a RedHat 7.1
+ distribution, if you are using SuSe or any other distibution then your
+ mileage may vary. I will be happy to make any changes and additions
+ if you email me any errors or distribution specific requirements.
+
+
+ You would probably benefit from reading the AX25-HOWTO which is much
+ more comprehensive and an interesting configuration program is also
+ available called ax25-config which may help you to configure things.
+
+
+ The following files are extracts from the working files at GB7MBC and
+ are in daily use. However, there are many ways that you can configure
+ the ax25 utils, this is just the one I use, it does not mean it is
+ necessarily the best or for that matter, the right way!
+
+
+ 3.1. Getting Started
+
+ There are 2 things you need to do initially. You need to get the 3
+ files required for the ax25 installation and you need to make some
+ changes to the kernel configuration.
+
+
+ The first thing is to get the versions of the ax25 utils that match
+ your kernel. You may also wish to get a node package of some kind.
+ There are 2 main node packages in use of which I shall keep to the
+ original by Tomi Manninen, OH2BNS as this is included in the ax25 rpms
+ as standard. The other is AWZNode by IZ5AWZ.
+
+
+ For 2.4 kernels you need these files...
+
+
+
+ o libax25-0.0.7-7.i386.rpm
+
+ o ax25-tools-0.0.6-13.i386.rpm
+
+ o ax25-apps-0.0.4-9.i386.rpm
+
+
+ 3.2. The kernel
+
+ First you need to add Amateur Radio Support to your kernel. This is a
+ main menu item and should be easily found. Within this header you
+ will find lots of options. For our purposes you need to enable
+ Amateur Radio AX.25 Level 2 Protocol, NET/ROM and the Serial Port KISS
+ Driver. For the purposes of this document I will work under the
+ assumption that you include them in the kernel fully, ie not as
+ modules. If you need to look at compiling your kernel for ax25 more
+ fully, I would refer to the excellent AX25-HOWTO
+
+
+ I should say at this stage that NET/ROM is not mandatory. If you do
+ not use it simply ignore any instruction concerning it.
+
+
+ Now recompile your kernel in the normal way and reboot your system.
+
+
+ 3.3. Installing the RPM's
+
+ Now install the RPM's you downloaded, libax25 first, then ax25-tools,
+ then ax25-apps.
+
+
+
+ rpm -ivh libax25-0.0.7-7.i386.rpm
+ rpm -ivh ax25-tool-0.0.6-13.i386.rpm
+ rpm -ivh ax25-apps-0.0.4-9.i386.rpm
+
+
+
+
+
+ 3.4. Configuration
+
+ You will find the configuration files in /etc/ax25. These consist of
+ several files ...
+
+
+ o axports
+
+ o nrports
+
+ o nrbroadcast
+
+ o ax25d.conf
+
+ o node.conf
+
+
+ These are the main files. You will find other files but they do not
+ have any use unless you are wanting to use that particular protocol,
+ Rose or axip for example.
+
+
+ NOTE:- before we start it is important to realise that every interface
+ requires a different SSID. You should be able to follow this in the
+ following examples.
+
+
+ 3.5. axports
+
+ This file sets up the ax25 ports you want to use. An example is below
+ for a standard TNC2 ...
+
+
+
+ #portname callsign baudrate paclen window description
+ 2m gb7mbc-2 19200 256 2 2m port on 144.900MHz
+ 4m gb7mbc-4 19200 256 2 4m port on 70.325MHz
+
+
+
+ Note that the portnames have to be unique.
+
+
+ The file headings are as follows ...
+
+
+ portname - The name you will refer to the port by
+ callsign - The ax25 callsign you want to assign to the port
+ baudrate - The speed you communicate between TNC and computer
+ paclen - The maximum packet length for ax25 connections
+ window - The ax25 window parameter. This is like 'maxframe'
+ description - A textual description of the port
+
+
+
+
+ 3.6. nrports
+
+ This file sets up the netrom ports you want to use. An example is
+ below and includes a port for both cluster and node. You will see why
+ we need 2 ports later ...
+
+
+
+ #portname callsign alias paclen description
+ netrom gb7mbc-8 BARE 236 Node Netrom Port
+ netrom2 gb7mbc-9 MBCDX 236 Cluster Netrom Port
+
+
+
+
+
+ Note that the portnames have to be unique.
+
+
+ The file headings are as follows ...
+
+
+ portname - The name you will refer to the port by
+ callsign - This is the callsign that NET/ROM traffic from this
+ port will use
+ alias - The NET/ROM alias this port will be assigned
+ paclen - The maximum size of NET/ROM frames transmitted
+ description - A textual description of the port
+
+
+
+
+ 3.7. nrbroadcast
+
+ This file sets up the netrom broadcast qualities. An example is below
+ ...
+
+
+
+ #axport min_obs def_qual worst_qual verbose
+ 4m 5 10 100 1
+
+
+
+
+
+ The file headings are as follows ...
+
+
+
+ axport - The port name in axports that you wish to broadcast
+ NET/ROM on.
+ min_obs - The minimum obsolescence value for the port
+ def_qual - The default quality for the port
+ worst_qual - The worst quality for the port. Any routes under
+ this quality will be ignored
+ verbose - This flag determines whether you will only broadcast
+ your own node (0) or all known nodes (1)
+
+
+
+
+ 3.8. ax25d.conf
+
+ This file controls any incoming ax25 and NET/ROM connections and
+ steers them to the relevant program. There are lots of configuration
+ options you can set here, however they are well covered in the
+ AX25-HOWTO. For our purposes I will show a typical set of parameters.
+ An example is below ...
+
+
+
+ [gb7mbc-0 via 2m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+ [gb7mbc-1 via 2m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * 0 root /usr/sbin/node node
+
+ [gb7mbc-0 via 4m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+ [gb7mbc-1 via 4m]
+ parameters 2 1 6 900 * 15 0
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * 0 root /usr/sbin/node node
+
+ <netrom2>
+ parameters 1 10 * * * 3 *
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
+
+ <netrom>
+ parameters 1 10 * * * 3 *
+ NOCALL * * * * * * L
+ default * * * * * * 0 root /usr/sbin/node node
+
+
+
+
+
+ There are a few things to take note of here. Firstly, all ax25
+ sections are wrapped in [ ] and all NET/ROM sections are wrapped in <
+ >. Secondly you should be able to see that anyone who forgets to set
+ their callsign in a TNC and tries to connect with the standard NOCALL
+ set into their TNC will not connect, the 'L' means 'lockout'. Lastly
+ and importantly, notice the order of the sections. They are all done
+ in interface order.