TCP/IP BUGS AND LIMITATIONS Domain name resolution might not work when you give a nickname instead of a complete host name in the SET PORT TCP/IP command and Kermit transforms the nickname into the desired complete host name by combining it with your TCP/IP DOMAIN. Kermit does not use a special Hosts file to relate nicknames to complete host names. Workarounds: use a complete hostname, an IP host number, or set your TCP/IP DOMAIN correctly. It should be obvious that Domain Name Servers are specified by their IP number rather than name. Version 3.13 supports multiple gateways on the local network. Choosing the incorrect gateway normally results in that gateway sending an ICMP Redirect message to Kermit indicating the preferred gateway, and Kermit displays such messages. Version 3.12 and earlier did not implement ICMP Redirect actions. For IBM mainframe linemode TELNET connections, automatic appearance of the login banner might not work. Type a carriage return (Enter) to get the login banner. Local-echo and linemode operation are negotiated automatically. BOOTP requests are handled correctly within the local network, and have been tested successfully through Novell's BOOTP forwarder NLM and through Cisco routers with software version 8.2.7. In the SET TCP/IP ADDRESS command, the words BOOTP and RARP must be spelled out in full. Version 3.11 and 3.12 support original RFC951 and 1048 BOOTP protocol, and version 3.13 adds support for downloading of the PC's full host (domain) name as specified in RFC1395. See MSKERM.HLP (KERMIT.HLP) for details. EXIT from Kermit closes your TCP/IP session (just like HANGUP). PUSHing or running DOS commands from Kermit keeps it open. In version 3.12 and later, EXITing while a session is active causes a warning / confirmation message to appear so you can change your mind. Version 3.11 of MS-DOS Kermit uses only the TELNET port (23) for SET PORT TCP connections. Version 3.12 and later allow you to specify any desired port (except 25) in the SET PORT TCP command, after the host name or address. MS-DOS Kermit honors TELNET protocol negotiations, including terminal type and ECHO/SGA. Version 3.11 always sends "VT100" as its terminal type; later versions send MS-DOS Kermit's active terminal type or allows the user to create an override string with command SET TCP/IP TELNET-TERM-TYPE. Not supported: FTP, TFTP, automatic setting of PC date/time from network, 3270 emulation (tn3270), etc. There is no PING command, but MS-DOS Kermit responds when PINGed and when probed by Traceoute. The keyboard verb \Knethold does nothing. Multiple simultaneous TCP/IP sessions are supported in version 3.13; see MSKERM.HLP (KERMIT.HLP) for details. For TCP/IP connections to IBM mainframes in full screen 3270 mode, you need an intermediate host or device to do the 3270/ASCII terminal conversion. Typical setup is a TCP/IP terminal server with its serial lines connected to a protocol converter (e.g. IBM 7171), a UNIX host that has tn3270 available, or a terminal server (like Cisco) that does 3270 terminal emulation. To transfer files with an IBM mainframe, you might have to tell MS-DOS Kermit to SET PARITY SPACE. Version 3.12 and later support inbound connections to MS-DOS Kermit. Inbound TELNET connections do not copy DOS screens, etc, like Carbon Copy and PC Anywhere and the free telnetd program of Erick Engelke; a Kermit-to-Kermit connection is made instead. To configure MS-DOS Kermit to be a TCP/IP server, give the following command: SET PORT TCP * [ ] SET SERVER LOGIN [ ] ; (recommended but not required) SERVER Use asterisk instead of an IP name or address, followed optionally by a TCP port number (the default is 23 = TELNET), and then enter server mode. Anybody who TELNETs to your PC will see a brief screen message telling them to escape back to their local Kermit prompt and issue commands from there, for example: REMOTE LOGIN REMOTE DIRECTORY GET OOFA.TXT Kermit's TCP/IP support cannot be used simultaneously with PC NFS because both applications want to register use of ARP and IP with the packet driver, but each protocol can only be assigned to one application. This is only one particular case of the more general rule: Only one TCP/IP based application can use a LAN adapter at once. which also applies to DesqView/X and other TCP/IP products for the PC. (There is a program called PKTMUX that, under some conditions, might allow coexistence of multiple TCP/IP applications, but it is risky and not recommended.) To make MS-DOS Kermit work simultaneously with PC-NFS, Kermit would have to be linked with the proprietary socket-library routines, which we cannot do. If you need to have NFS active simultaneously with an MS-DOS Kermit TCP/IP connection, it is best to use a different NFS package that also works with Kermit such as FTP Software, Novell LWP, or Beame and Whiteside. The SET TCP/IP and SET PORT TCP/IP commands only return failure codes if there is a parse error. The connection is not opened until the first attempt to communicate with the remote host: CONNECT, PAUSE, OUTPUT, etc. While connection establishment is in progress, you can't interrupt the program with Ctrl-C. Use IF SUCCESS / FAILURE after PAUSE 0 to check if the connection is open, for example: DEFINE TELNET SET PORT TCP \%1 \%2, PAUSE 0, IF SUCCESS CONNECT The second variable above is for the optional TCP port number in version 3.12 and later. TCP/IP performance hints: Set your Kermit packet size to 500 or larger to achieve most data sent per network packet. A convenient setting is SET RECEIVE PACKET 1000, SET WINDOW 4, resulting in four 1000-byte packets in a window. SET FLOW NONE lets TCP/IP do the flow control and eliminates Kermit's need to check for Xon/Xoff. In most situations beyond the local network performance will be limited by the long distance lines rather than by the PC. End of MSKERM.BWR / KERMIT.BWR .