User Guide to ROSE X.25 Packet Networking Copyright 1992 Donald A. Rotolo, N2IRZ Copyright 1992 Radio Amateur Telecommunications Society All rights reserved This ASCII file version of the User Guide may be redistributed, provided it is unaltered in any way. RATS will usually approve other uses of this document, but prior permission is required. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The ROSE Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Some Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The ROSE Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Entry and Exit digipeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Call Progress Messages and Disconnect Codes . . . . . . 6 Call Traceability and Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ROSE Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 HEARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 USERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 555 Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 411 Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 1 Introduction This Users Guide is provided to members of the Radio Amateur Telecommunications Society as a member service. It is made available to others at a nominal charge to cover production expenses. Every effort has been made to insure the accuracy of the information herein, but the occasional error always sneaks in. Also, keep in mind that all aspects of he RATS Open Systems Environment (ROSE) are constantly being updated. If you find that things are not behaving as expected, check which version of the ROSE application with which you are experiencing difficulty. It may be that you are using a system running a different version of the application. If you are using a newer version of a ROSE application, please contact RATS for availability of updated documentation. If, on the other hand, it is an older version of the application, we suggest you contact the system operator and suggest that the system be upgraded. 1. The ROSE Network The ROSE network provides short and long distance networking, all initiated by a simple connect command at your TNC. To connect to another station, you only need to know: * The other station's callsign * The callsign of your local switch * The address of the other station's local switch[1] This information is typed into your TNC as a normal connect command. ROSE can be thought of as a pair of intelligent digipeaters, with a callsign specifying the point you enter the network and an address specifying the point you exit the network. All of the routing from switch to switch is handled by the network, just like the telephone system. All connects using the ROSE network are done from your TNC's cmd: prompt, by issuing a connect command of the following form: C callsign Via [entry digi,]switch callsign,[DCC,]exit address[,exit digi] Where ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 2 callsign is the callsign of the station you want to connect to. This is usually an Amateur callsign, but may take other forms (such as HEARD or CROWD), and may include an SSID. entry digi (Optional) is the callsign of a digipeater required to access your local ROSE switch. A maximum of one entry digipeater is possible, because longer digipeats are very wasteful of channel time. switch callsign is the callsign of your local ROSE switch. ROSE switches do not beacon, but you may see it in use. Generally, ports for USER access to the network are on the 2m band, with an SSID of 3. DCC (Optional) is the four-digit country code for the ROSE switch local to the other station. This is only used when connecting into another country. A list of X.121 Data Country Codes (DCC) is provided later in this Users Guide. exit address is the six-digit[2] address of the ROSE switch local to the station you want to connect to. In North America, addresses for a particular area code may be found by connecting to the INFO application at that area code and exchange 555. (Example: 201555 for area code 201). exit digi (Optional) is the callsign of a digipeater required between the station you want to connect to and their local ROSE switch. Also see entry digi. 1.1 Some Examples As an example, we will look at how a basic connect command is made and then try a few variations. To help with these examples, we've created a make believe network map[3]. Normally, such a map is unnecessary with ROSE networks, but in this case it will help to visualize switch locations. My callsign is N2IRZ. Suppose I wanted to connect to my local ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 3 BBS, WB2GTX-4. From the map, I see that the N2DSY-3 (201744) switch is nearest to WB2GTX-4, and on the same frequency. My local switch Printed copies of this is N2KBD-3 -- I know this document include a because I see it on the air graphical map of Northern often. Alternately, I could New Jersey here... Sorry, have found my local switch but we can't reproduce it using the User Port listing in an ASCII file. that comes with this Users guide. So, to connect to the BBS, I would issue a connect command at my TNC's cmd: prompt like: C WB2GTX-4 V N2KBD-3,201744 Once N2KBD-3 acknowledged my connection, my TNC would say *** Connected to WB2GTX-4. Immediately after that, the network would acknowledge my connect request by sending the message Call being Setup. I would then wait a few moments while the network set up the connection. When the connection is established, the network would tell me by sending the message Call Complete to WB2GTX-4 @ 3100201744[4]. At this point, I am connected to the BBS, and everything operates as if I were connected directly. If the connection attempt had failed for any reason, the network would inform me and provide the reason for the failure by sending a disconnect code[5]. Refer to Section 3 for more details. Now a few variations: Suppose I was visiting a friend in Trenton, where the local ROSE switch's callsign is N2EVW-3. To connect to WB2GTX-4, I would type: C WB2GTX-4 V N2EVW-3,201744 at my TNC's cmd: prompt. Note that the only change is my entry point into the network, in this case N2EVW-3 instead of N2KBD-3. My exit point from the network (201744) as well as the callsign of the BBS both remain the same. Now suppose that, when I came back from Philadelphia, I wanted to connect to my friend for a keyboard to keyboard "conversation." Knowing that my friend's callsign is KA2USU, that N2EVW-3 is his local ROSE switch, and that N2EVW-3's ROSE address is 609824, I would type: C KA2USU V N2KBD-3,609824 Of course, my local ROSE switch in this case is N2KBD-3. ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 4 Now suppose I wanted to connect to another friend, who lives near the N2DSY-3 (201744) ROSE switch. I would type: C N2FWI V N2KBD-3,201744 Compare this with the first example. As a final example, If I again wanted to connect to WB2GTX-4, and I couldn't reach N2KBD-3 directly, I could use the K2SK-2 digipeater as an entry digipeater. In this case, I would type: C WB2GTX-4 V K2SK-2,N2KBD-3,201744 Once again, the basic form of the connect command remains the same. Refer to Section 1 above for the detailed syntax of a ROSE network connect command, and remember that all connect commands to the ROSE network are made while DISCONNECTED from the local switch. 1.2 The ROSE Address Every ROSE switch has a unique callsign and address. The callsign is the same as any other packet callsign, and usually has an SSID. The address consists of ten digits (in North America), which is broken into two parts. The first four digits care the X.121 Data Country Code (DCC), which is an internationally recognized standard[6]. The last six digits are uniquely assigned to each ROSE switch based upon that ROSE switch's location. In North America, the 3 digit telephone area code and the 3 digit telephone exchange are combined for six digits. Other countries may use different addressing schemes, perhaps with different length addresses, as required by national standards or regulations. If the user does not specify the DCC when making the connect request, the network assumes that the exit address is within the country of origin. The DCC portion of the address is not shown on the maps, since it is the same for all switches in the USA. For example, the full address of the N2DSY-3 ROSE switch is 3100201744, where 3100 is the DCC for the USA. If you are attempting an international connection[7] you must specify the DCC. Note that the DCC uses its own digipeater field -- because a TNC will not allow more than 6 digits in any one field. Now you know how the addressing works in a ROSE switch. You may ask why an address is used at all, when the callsign is also a unique identifier. The answer is ROUTING. If the callsigns were used, then each switch in the network would have to know about ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 5 every other switch in the network[8]. This addressing scheme allows a ROSE switch to route the connect request based upon standardized information, thereby allowing for routing to a practically unlimited number of switches, locally, regionally, nationally and worldwide[9]. 1.3 Entry and Exit digipeaters The ROSE switch allows for the optional use of one digipeater at each end of a ROSE network connection. Both, one or neither digi may be used, as necessary. For example, say I could only reach the N2KBD-3 ROSE switch via a digipeater, K2SK-2, and KA2USU needed the K2GL-2 digi to reach N2EVW-3. The connect command to my TNC would look like: C KA2USU Via K2SK-2,N2KBD-3,609824,K2GL-2 As another example, suppose I wanted to connect to TI0PAQ (Chuck) in Costa Rica, again using a digipeater at each end: C TI0PAQ v K2SK-2,N2KBD-3,7120,100110,TI2CES-2 That represents a real example of the longest possible connect command you may have to make using the ROSE network. 7120 is Costa Rica's DCC, 100110 is the ROSE address local to TI0PAQ, and TI2CES-2 is the digi he needs to use. 1.4 Call Progress Messages and Disconnect Codes When you issue a connect command using the ROSE network, messages indicating the progress of your call are sent to you so you know something is happening. For example, if you were to issue the following command: C WB2GTX-4 Via N2DSY-3, 201744, N2DSY-3 would send you an acknowledgement of your connect request on behalf of WB2GTX-4. At this point your TNC's connected status LED lights, and your TNC generates the familiar *** Connected to... message, but this doesn't indicate that your connection to WB2GTX-4 is complete. Along with the connect acknowledgement, N2DSY-3 also sends you a message Call being setup, indicating that your call has been accepted by the network and is being routed. Once the call has been completed to WB2GTX-4, N2DSY-3 sends you another message: Call Complete to WB2GTX-4 @ 3100201744. You are now connected to WB2GTX-4. If for some reason the connection to the destination station cannot be made, or a disconnection occurs, your local ROSE switch will send you a disconnect code explaining the reason before actually disconnecting. One reason for receiving a disconnect code is if the other station is busy -- another reason would be a normal disconnect, such as typing "b" to a BBS. ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 6 The disconnect code takes the form: *** Disconnect*** #### Where #### is a four digit Hexadecimal number[10] explaining the reason. Some common codes are listed below -- a complete list appears later in this Users Guide. A switch can be configured to also provide a plain-text explanation of each code, in various languages. Refer to Section 3.3. 0000 Remote Station Disconnected This is a normal disconnect, such as when you type "b" to a BBS. 0100 Remote Station is Busy This means that the other station is either busy or has CONOK off. 0900 Link is Out of Order This means that one of the switches you're using in the network has exceeded the RETRY counter, or has suffered a more ominous fate (like smoke), and there is no alternate route available. It may also be seen when there's a typo in the address. If you think that a link has failed, tell the network sysop--usually that's the only way they find out about failures. 0D00 Route not Known This usually means that your local switch is not configured. Please inform the network sysop. 3900 Remote Station Not Responding This means that the station you're trying to connect to is not on the air, or is not within range of the switch you specified in the exit address. 2. Call Traceability and Accountability One unique advantage of the ROSE network is the traceability of connections. For example, I have connected to KA2USU using this connect command: C KA2USU Via N2KBD-3, 609824. If I were to type the text "Hello Ted", someone monitoring 223.4 would see N2EVW-3 transmit the following frame: N2IRZ>201977>N2EVW-3*>KA2USU: Hello Ted. First, note that the ROSE switch ALWAYS identifies its transmissions with its own callsign -- NEVER the callsign of any user. While this is a legal requirement in some countries, it also makes ID beacons (and the resultant waste of channel time) unnecessary. Second, note that EACH frame carries ALL of the information required to connect back to me. Just like any digipeater connection, you would simply reverse the order of the digipeater fields. Thus, to connect back to me after I disconnect, you could use the command: ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 7 C N2IRZ Via N2EVW-3, 201977. With the ROSE network there is never any question as to whom is connected to whom, which station is transmitting, or how to reach the remote station--all of that information is included with every transmitted frame. 3. ROSE Applications The ROSE switch supports three[11] user-accessible applications: INFO, USERS and HEARD. These applications can be optionally uploaded by the ROSE switch sysop to provide functions which are not built into the standard ROSE switch software. To use an application, you simply connect to it. For example, to get the heard list from the Trenton, NJ ROSE switch, you might type (assuming your local switch is N2KBD-3): C Heard Via N2KBD-3, 609824. The "Call Complete" message will be followed by the application's output[12]. Please see the HEARD, USERS and INFO Application instructions following for more details. Note that, since these applications are uploadable at the sysop's option, they may not be in all switches. If the application you are trying to connect to is not loaded into the ROSE switch at the address you specify, you will receive a disconnect code of 3900. If you would like a particular application loaded into a switch, send a message to the ROSE network sysop. 3.1 The HEARD Application The HEARD application is very useful when looking for stations to connect with at a remote network address. The "Last Heard" listing lets you know how recently a station was heard, and the "RXCnt" gives some insight into how reliable a path is going to be (higher RXCnts mean better paths), as well as the other station's activity level. This information makes it much easier to select a station to connect to than a simple list. To connect to this application, issue a command like: C HEARD v Localswitch, Address Where Localswitch is the call of your local switch, and Address is the address of the switch you want a HEARD list from. A sample HEARD list is shown below: ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 8 cmd: C HEARD V n2dsy-3,201977 *** CONNECTED to HEARD VIA N2DSY-3,201977 Call being Setup Call Complete to HEARD-0 @ 3100201977 ROSE X.25 Packet Switch Version 3.0 (920730) by Thomas A. Moulton, W2VY Heard List for N2KBD-3 3100201977 Last First (How long ago) Port Station Destination Heard Heard RXCnt FType Path 1 N2IRZ-9 N2KBD-3 00:00 02:37 36 I 1 N2IRZ-12 N2KBD-3 00:00 05:30 67 RR 0 W2NRE MAIL 00:00 00:00 1 UI 0 WB2COP MAIL 00:01 00:01 1 UI 1 NX2P-10 N2KBD-3 00:01 09:51 119 RR 0 N2DZZ BEACON 00:01 00:36 4 UI 1 N2KBD-6 N2KBD-3 00:02 00:42 9 RR 0 K2SK-8 WF2M 00:04 00:06 9 DISC 1 N2IRZ-12 NX2P-10 00:05 04:42 677 RR 1 NX2P-10 N2IRZ-12 00:05 01:51 307 I 0 KB4CYC-3 KB2EAR-3 00:05 00:05 1 RR KE2GG-2 1 NX2P-10 N2KBD-6 00:06 00:37 8 RR 0 W2ZQ-4 WB2QOT 00:06 00:16 4 RR 1 N2KBD-6 NX2P-10 00:06 00:37 8 RR 1 N2IRZ-12 N2KBD-6 00:06 00:40 23 RR Type H to redisplay or * for All or Disconnect now END> Port: 0 means the Radio port, 1 means the RS 232 port (direct link to co-located switches on other frequencies) Station: The station that sent the packet Destination: The station that the packet is sent to Last Heard: Hours and Minutes ago that the most recent packet from station was heard First Heard: Hours and Minutes ago that first packet from station was heard RXCnt: Total number of frames received from station FType: (Frame Type) Last frame type monitored from station Path: Lists digipeater fields used between station and destination 3.2 The USERS Application The USERS application is useful for determining who is connected to a remote station or server (i.e., what Virtual Circuits (VCs) are passing through a switch). There are several other functions ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 9 which are mainly of interest to the network sysop: The total amount of memory available and the amount in use; The connect status of each switch in a cluster; The status of each Virtual Connection (VC) passing through the switch (e.g., Pending, Connected, etc.); Any links that are out of order. A more detailed explanation of these parameters may be found in the ROSE System Manager's Manual[13]. To connect to this application, issue a command like: C USERS v Localswitch, Address Where Localswitch is the call of your local switch, and Address is the address of the switch you want a USERS list from. A Sample USERS list is shown below: cmd: C users v n2kbd-3,201977 *** CONNECTED to USERS VIA N2KBD-3,201977 Call being Setup Call Complete to USERS-0 @ 3100201977 ROSE X.25 Packet Switch Version 3.0 (920730) by Thomas A. Moulton, W2VY User List for N2KBD-3 3100201977 Memory Size is: 27788 Bytes Memory Used is: 18528 Bytes EPROM Checksum: 26h N2IRZ-9 X.25 Trunk (R1) with the following connections: N2IRZ @ 3100201790 ( 1 P4 D1) --> USERS @ 3100201977 NX2P-10 X.25 Trunk (R1) with no connections. N2IRZ-12 X.25 Trunk (R1) with no connections. N2KBD-6 X.25 Trunk (R1) with no connections. There are no calls Pending. The Following X.25 Trunks are listed as Out of Order: - All Links Operational Type U to redisplay or Disconnect now END> The USERS list above shows only one user --N2IRZ-- who is connected from the switch at address 201790 to the USERS application at this switch (Address 201977). The VC passes on to the N2IRZ-9 switch. To find out where it goes from there, connect to USERS at that switch. The three other switches in this cluster (NX2P-10, N2IRZ-12, and N2KBD-6) have no VCs from this switch (201977). It is possible, however, that they are carrying VCs from other switches -- To determine that, connect to USERS at the desired switch. Please note that most backbone ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 10 switches don't have any applications loaded, and therefore their addresses are not shown in the User Ports and Services listing. Contact your local network sysop for more information about backbone switches. 3.3 The INFO Application The INFO application has three functions: * The first is to allow users to remotely obtain a brief text file describing a particular switch, which can otherwise be obtained (without INFO) by connecting directly to the switch and pressing . The text is determined by the sysop, and changes can be uploaded over the air. * The second is to provide two useful services: the 555 (Services) and the 411 (Users) servers. These services, described in detail below, help users find their way around the network. * The third function is to append a clear text description to each disconnect code (See section 3), making it easier to understand the disconnect codes. The text descriptions are presently available in English, Spanish, and German. Using INFO, you can retrieve text from a remote switch, in order to learn a little about it. In many cases the INFO text from a distant switch will contain information about the distant area that might otherwise be unknown. Connecting to the INFO application is just like any other ROSE connection: C INFO v Localswitch, Address Where Localswitch is the call of your local switch, and Address is the address of the switch you want the INFO text from. The 555 Server For every Area Code served by a ROSE network, there is one INFO server that provides a complete list of all ROSE switches within that Area Code that are available for User access, as well as all of the local services available. This special INFO server responds to the address XXX555, where the XXX is the 3 digit Area Code. For example, to get the list for the 201 Area Code, issue the command: C INFO via Localswitch, 201555 ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 11 Where Localswitch is the call of your local switch. The 411 Server Similar in nature to the 555 Server, each Area Code also has a 411 server. This application contains a list of local users and where they can be found. If you would like to be added to this listing, simply contact the local network sysop. If you encounter problems accessing either of these servers, or have updated information, please contact the network sysop. Acknowledgements The contributions of Bill Slack, NX2P, to this work are gratefully acknowledged. And, of course, there would be no need for this User Guide if it weren't for the work of Thomas A. Moulton, W2VY, the author of the ROSE X. Packet Switch. NOTES 1. In a properly configured ROSE network, the address of the other station's local ROSE switch is identical with the other station's telephone number. The only unknown would then be the frequency of the other station's local ROSE switch. 2. In North America, switch addresses consist of six digits - the telephone area code and 3 digit exchange. In other countries, the addressing scheme may differ. Some TNCs, as well as some other networking systems, will not accept an all-numeric digipeater field. The ROSE switch permits you to substitute the letter O for a zero and either L or I for a one in the address. 3. The sample map is used only for this example. Contact RATS for accurate network maps. 4. The 3100 part of the address shown is the X.121 Data Country Code (also called the DCC) for the United States. Please refer to Section 1.2 for more information about the DCC. 5. This will appear in the form of a 4 digit number in Hexadecimal. A properly configured ROSE switch will also give you a brief text explanation. A complete listing of the codes, which are internationally standardized CCITT X.25 disconnect codes, is given later in this User Guide. ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 12 6. A complete listing of standard X.121 Data Country Codes is given later in this User Guide. 7. Not possible at this time, but soon, as Central America and Australia both have extensive ROSE networks. 8. This is one of the biggest problems with NetRom/TheNet software. 9. This may be expanded to the known universe, when necessary. 10. These codes are standard CCITT X.25 disconnect codes. The last two digits are always zero. 11. As of this writing. Other applications are being developed. 12. Prior to Version 2.8, HEARD and USERS waited for the user to press before sending data. 13. The ROSE System Manager's Manual is being rewritten at this time (4/92). Release is expected 6/92. ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 13 ____________________________________________________________ RATS Network User Guide Page 14  .