Documentation for URONode program dated 28/03/2020 Contents: I - Introduction II - What it is III - Generic commands IV - Extra commands V - Where to get it VI - Where to get support VII - Acknowledgements Introduction: I decided to make URONode primarily for my own use and purposes but those who came to login my node enjoyed it's functionality so much that they would want a copy of their own so I decided around the year 2000 to release it. At the time I was also helping K2MF with MFNOS and wanted something a bit similar in functionality with xNOS that would also keep true to form with the basics of the linux-nodes (and variants). Since the original code, there's been many changes and additions. Around 2015 it became a standard node in Debian and Red Hat repositories having proven itself as a sturdy node for native linux. I took the best of all the linux based nodes, put them all together into one and made many changes including adding a color schema if a user desires full ansi colors to their screens. The prompt systems are also unique in nature as depending on how the user connects IN to a URONode system is the style of prompt they get returned to them. No other node system allows for such a thing. The advantage is that under no circumstance if a user (or bbs for that matter) connects via NetRom, never ever will a CTEXT or MOTD text get pushed out which can disrupt a BBS session. The same goes for any sort of DTEXT under a NetRom session. All your configuration file manuals are online at a shell prompt. Just type: man to view the online help. Ex: man uronode.conf to read up on the main uronode configuration file or man flexd.conf to see how to add flexnet routing into your node. If by chance you do find a man page missing feel free to let me know. There's some what I call helper apps included for you such as axDigi and FlexD for example. AxDigi is a true cross-interface digipeater. There's NO configuration you need to do for axDigi at all. It will auto-sense your ax.25 interfaces and simply listen for requests to digi in from one and out the other interface. For more information on this, type "man axdigi". What URONode is: What many people get extremely confused about it is the fact it's not a daemon - it's a shell. Like with bash/dash/sh/etc, it doesn't stay in memory. You'll only see it listed in your process list if someone is connected to you and it's been commanded to spawn so it doesn't hog up any system resources when it's not needed unlike other systems that do. It's also much smaller than bash, and with all features compiled into URONode it's still under 500K in size. This makes it a smart choice to use as it's not sitting there using CPU for nothing, which makes the CPU run cooler thus improving it's lifespan. It also locks the connected user to the command-set either within the shell itself or any external commands the sysop may allow for, so there's no file manipulation available, or system info available to "steal" such as user account information. It also never overrides a human command like some other systems may do. for an example, c won't force a user to use an internet gated route to the remote end, but will follow the human instruction to use the RF interface as commanded. If a user wishes to stay RF they may do so and not be forced on wired internet because the systems sees it's a quicker path. For those who still believe IP is a wire link only and not a protocol, if you wish not to use it, say NO during the configuration to TCP/IP. Same with ROSE, NetRom, FlexNet, etc. when you compile it if you compile your own. I believe when it's packaged by the various distributions all options are flagged on (which would make sense). All protocol routing is handled by the kernel and various tools. Like with bash, it doesn't provide any routing whatsoever. All routing for all protocols is handled internally within the linux kernel. The same for firewalling. By not introducing a "middle man" or trying to re-invent the wheel by using the native protocol stacks within linux itself, URONode is a much faster system. For those who aren't that linux savvy, I've made 2 versions of an install script for URONode, axMail-FAX (an SMTP plugin module for the node), and a library installer to get you ready for LinFBB if you so choose to run a BBS with your node. This gives you the opportunity to be fully messaging compliant. One version of the install system is for sysvinit, the other for systemd. It also will install ampr-ripd routing daemon if you're looking to run as an internet gateway, along with an axip and an axudp interface along with what I consider to be a master control file I call ax25 and is located in /usr/local/bin/. All your amateur services can be controlled from this one file quite easily. Generic node commands: Online help is available for all native compiled commands. The user simply does: help to see the online help. If a sysop wishes to add more commands to their node they should follow the format of the online help files (located in /path/to/node/help) to keep consistent with the online help system. Every node may be configured with different commands as sysops often may develop their own tools/apps for their set of users. A brief description of compiled-in commands would be: announcements - local news/announcements to share. bye/exit (ipv4/ipv6 only)/quit - leave the node. connect - gateway out to another system/node. desti - bring up a list of flexnet destinations if applicable. escape - This can change/display/disable your escape character. Defaults to ctrl-T finger - finger information from the local or a remote host. host - look up an IP or Hostname in dns. info - read the uronode.info file and display it to the end user. jheard - the most recent 20 just heard stations jlong - a long list of stations heard. This may be quite long. links - connectable nodes hard coded into the uronode.routes file. msg - an "instant message" utility build into the node to talk to another user. nodes - display a listing of NetRom based nodes. ping - an ICMP ping utility to see how fast a path to a remote is. ports - a display of the ax.25 interfaces available on the node. routes - a display of direct neighbor NetRom links. status - a display of some of the hosts statistics including uptime. telnet - a means to use tcp/ip to gateway out to a remote site. users - who's online at the moment. version - display information about the node's version. who - information about a node's users or a specific user. This command set is automatically compiled into URONode for you based on the options you choose at pre-compilation time with the configure command. Extra commands: URONode supports execution of external commands from it's own shell such as the axMail-FAX plugin. Some standard shell commands such as "netstat" are preconfigured for you so that you may easily see how to duplicate adding a custom command for your system. Typically these are commanded by executing bash scripts. The ideas of added commands you may choose are endless in nature! I have the old Z-80 based game Zork available on my node for example. I also run an Ambient Weather station to which users may pull real-time weather information from via my URONode that calls Lynx (text based browser) and other formulas to gather real-time statistics on my local weather. I do provide a bunch of add-ons both on my FTP server and on SourceForge for those who wish to add even more functionality to their node(s). An example of one very useful one is NodeSearch where a user may enter a string either by alias or by callsign to find a NetRom node. An example of searching for either type of string: n1uro-15@n1uro.ampr.org:/uronode6: ns Executing command... Which node are you looking for (no * please): n9 Searching NetRom nodes for N9 ... BBSLYA:N9LYA-4 IN105:N9LYA-7 INNOS:N9LYA-5 NodeSearch v2.2 by N1URO for URONode. Goodbye. End of command. n1uro-15@n1uro.ampr.org:/uronode6: ns Executing command... Which node are you looking for (no * please): in Searching NetRom nodes for IN ... DZINOD:SV1DZI-11 DZINOS:SV1DZI-12 IN105:N9LYA-7 INNOS:N9LYA-5 NodeSearch v2.2 by N1URO for URONode. Goodbye. End of command. Bob Tenty has written a parallel for flexnet destis: n1uro-15@n1uro.ampr.org:/uronode6: ds Executing command... Enter the first character or more of a flexnet digi callsign: k1y Searching Flexnet Digi nodes for K1Y ... K1YON 1-1 K1YON 2-14 Flexnet DigiSearch by VE3TOK for URONode. Adaptation of NodeSearch v1.7 by N1URO. Goodbye. End of command. While URONode handles HF just fine such as on Net105, some guys seem to live by the game of "he with the most nodes listing on their node wins", a listing of more than 80 nodes may time out a guest connecting into you via HF thus NOT making them feel welcome. Having easy to use search utilities for example will make their stay with you pleasant and easier to use than some other systems. Where to get it: Latest release of URONode and various plug-ins may be downloaded from one of two below sites: ftp://ftp.n1uro.net/pub/hamradio/packet/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/uronode/ It's always best to wait until you see a new version with .tgz or .tar.gz appended so you know the code has been tested to be as bug-free as possible or else you're on your own. Where to get support: I run an email list server which you may subscribe to by visiting the official URONode website at https://uronode.n1uro.com/ just look for the link. Acknowledgements: I'd like to acknowledge the following people and groups for their various contributions and support of the project: Marius Petrescu - code contributor and member of the URONode development team Bob Tenty - code contributor and member of the URONode development team Paul Lewis - supplied many great ideas for URONode Tomasz Stankiewicz - supplied many great ideas for URONode Barry Siegfried - supplied code for URONode Dave Hibbard - Debian contact Jaroslav Skarvada - Red Hat contact and code contributor Craig Small - originated axDigi Tomi Manninen - original (linux) node creator Alan Cox - early linux ax.25 developer Roy Van Zundert - FlexNode developer Stefano Noferi - AWZNode developer TAPR - very supportive of URONode ... and the many others involved as sysops and developers of the ax.25 and tcp/ip stacks for linux. URONode comes with absolutely NO WARRANTEE whatsoever. Use at your own risk. There are no fees to use this software and unlike others we will never "beg" for donations either. Thanks for your support by using URONode.