1 Enjoy NETPIPES 4
2
3 by Robert Forsman
4 thoth@purplefrog.com
5
6 primary ftp site: ftp://ftp.purplefrog.com/pub/netpipes/
7 HTML docs: http://web.purplefrog.com/~thoth/netpipes/netpipes.html
8 ssl-auth archive site: http://www.cryptography.org/ , then look in
9 the network/ subdirectory
10
11----
12
13WHY NOW? (10/28/1998)
14
15 I've been sitting on some new features and general fixes for too
16long. It would be 4.1.2, but I added the --netslave* flags and a
17couple of new criteria for ssl-auth. Have a slice of 4.2 pie! yummy!
18
19 It seems to work for me, but I'm sure it has bugs ("Hey, Bob,
20beautiful car, but WHERE'S THE STEERING WHEEL?!").
21
22``Break it and send me the pieces.''
23 -attribution lost
24
25----
26
27BUILDING
28
29 Check the Makefile. You will want to change where it installs
30stuff. Some systems require extra libraries and each one requires
31slightly different compile flags.
32
33 Type "make". Witness the miracle of compilation.
34
35If you have the US/Canada version, the SSLeay-0.8.1 library and wish
36to build ssl-auth, then instead type "make all ssl-auth".
37
38 To install the binaries and manual pages, "make INSTROOT=/usr/local
39install". Change INSTROOT to taste (it defaults to
40/depot/collections0/netpipes-x.x).
41
42----
43
44CHANGES
45
46 4.2 added the -netslave* flags to hose. These flags are introduced
47to cope with servers who do not gracefully deal with a close of half
48of the connection. Also new is "support" for GNU Win32. This
49basically involves removing the UNIX-domain sockets. Unfortunately, I
50think there are bugs in GNU Win32 because the subprocesses are unable
51to perform I/O on the descriptors as reliably as under UNIX. It also
52includes some porting patches. In ssl-auth, we've added some new
53criteria: --public-key-match-cert, --cert-md5-digest, and
54--write-pem-cert.
55
56 4.1 switched over to HTML as the primary means of documentation. I
57build the .man pages from the HTML using a mind-numbingly primitive
58and barely functional perl script. Faucet & hose now set SO_REUSEADDR
59by default. They had no such capability before. This should cut down
60on the "address in use" errors. Faucet now supports a backlog
61parameter to listen(2) like TCP Suite. Encapsulate now supports a
62"--slave"-like mode. Encapsulate should now support specifying the
63SCP session id. Hose used to core dump when you forgot to specify the
64subcommand; no more.
65
66 4.0 adds a pair of new utilities. The classic faucet and hose
67should be very solid, but encapsulate, and timelimit have seen very
68limited testing, and might not even build out-of-the-box. As always,
69send me email with your problems.
70
71 3.0 changed the way that the subcommand is specified. It is MUCH
72better than the ancient way. Read the manual pages.
73
74---
75
76 EMAIL LIST!
77
78 Join the email list. This way I will have a list of interested
79folks to whom I can announce each release. Send email to
80majordomo@purplefrog.com with a message containing either
81
82 subscribe netpipes
83or
84 subscribe netpipes-announce
85
86 The netpipes list is for netpipes-related discussion, trading magic
87spells, help compiling, etc. but not for politics or jokes. The
88netpipes-announce list is strictly for me to announce new releases and
89patches and includes everyone on the netpipes list (so don't subscribe
90to both).
91
92---
93
94 BABBLINGS OF A MAN DRIVEN INSANE BY HIS INSIGHT INTO THE WORKINGS OF
95 THE UNIVERSE (or, GUY WHO READ TOO MUCH H.P.LOVECRAFT)
96
97 Someone suggested using setsid(2) to disassociate myself from the
98terminal. Sounds great. I hope everyone has it.
99
100 Also, I need portable ways to clean up child processes. Maybe I'll
101just read the perl source one day or buy the Stevens Advanced UNIX
102Programming book.
103
104 This program has, in the past, been compiled and tested on a DEC
1055100, an RS6k, an HP9k, an SGI, SCO v5.0.2, a Solaris box, SunOS
1064.1.3, DG/UX 4.11 MU04, and sees almost daily usage under Linux 2.0.x.
107
108 If you compile this program on an architecture/OS not mentioned
109above, drop me a line. If you have problems compiling on any
110architecture, I want to hear about it (and I'll try to help you fix
111the problem and make sure that the next version compiles out of the
112box).
113
114 Normally, I say all software sucks, but I can now proudly say that
115NETPIPES RULES! If you disagree, tell me why and I'll see if I can
116fix it.
117
118---
119
120 SSL-AUTH
121
122 Since SSL-AUTH uses cryptography libraries, I can't distribute it
123with the main NetPipes package. However, I finally found a site that
124can distribute it for me. If you are in the U.S. or Canada and are a
125citizen of those countries, you can download the full version of
126NetPipes from http://www.cryptography.org/ . You will have to fill
127out a simple HTTP form to affirm that you can legally download the
128software, and then it will give you access.
129
130---
131
132 THINGS NOT INCLUDED
133
134 SSLeay-0.8.1 . You need to go get your own version of this.
135ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL
136
137 I want to re-distribute multitee by Dan Bernstein. It's rather
138awkward to use properly, but when you can get the invocation just
139right, it is a nuclear-powered power-tool! I'm currently too rushed
140to properly integrate it into the build tree, so you should just go
141get it yourself. Assuming you can find it :/
142
143---
144
145 OTHER PACKAGES LIKE NETPIPES
146
147 The idea behind NetPipes is like the wheel. Everybody reinvents it.
148Here are some other packages that do similar stuff, some of which
149might predate netpipes:
150
151ucspi-tcp 0.73 beta
152Apr 10, 1997
153Dan Bernstein
154http://pobox.com/~djb/ucspi-tcp.html
155
156netcat 1.10
157Mar 20, 1996
158popular with "elite hackers"
159Avian Research <hobbit@avian.org>
160ftp://avian.org/src/hacks/nc110.tgz
161Weld's NT version:
162http://l0pht.com/~weld/netcat/
163
164Socket 1.1
165September 1992
166J�rgen Nickelsen
167http://www.snafu.de/~jn/socket.html
168
169