198 lines
6.1 KiB
Groff
198 lines
6.1 KiB
Groff
.\" Copyright (c) 1992,1994,1996 Bunyip Information Systems Inc.
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.\" All rights reserved.
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.\"
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.\" Archie 3.5
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.\" August 1996
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.\"
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.\" @(#)archie_protocol.5
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.\"
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.TH ARCHIE_PROTOCOL 5 "August 1996"
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B Archie_protocol
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\- description of the internal client/server Archie protocol
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.PP
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This protocol describes the \fBinternal\fP Archie protocol, not that used
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between the Prospero servers and clients for querying the database.
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This protocol is used for distributing data between Archie systems
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worldwide.
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Protocol commands themselves are in ASCII printable characters and <cr>,
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<lf> (ASCII 13 and 10 respectively) although data such as that from the
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Archie files database are transmitted as a binary stream in Sun XDR
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format. All commands must start at the beginning of the line and are
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terminated by <cr><lf>. Intervening whitespace may be spaces or tabs or
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both. The data stream may be compressed depending on the configuration of
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the servers at either end of the connection.
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The basic security mechanism enforced by the server is such that it only
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allows those clients attempting connection from "approved" hosts to
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establish a session. This is described in
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.BR arserver (n).
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It is assumed in the following description that such a session (the
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\fIcontrol connection\fP) has been
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established.
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The following commands are used by the client and server to communicate:
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.PP
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.B LISTSITES
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Sent by the client to the server to request all sites matching the
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criteria set out by the parameters to the command. These parameters in
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order are:
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.RS
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<db> '<'|'>' <from date> <domainlist>
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.RE
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All sites which have been updated in the databases named <db> more/less
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recently than <from date> are to be listed. <db> is composed of a colon
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separated list of database names. The character '<' means less recently,
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'>' means more recently. <from date> is a date string in the format
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YYYYMMDDHHMMSS in UTC. All zeros in this field is taken to mean that all
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sites in <db> are to be listed. Sites listed must also match the
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<domainlist> field. This can either be '*' for any domain or a colon
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separated list of real domains or pseudo domains. Pseudo-domains are
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user created and reside after installation in the file
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\fB~Archie/host_db/domain-db\fP. See
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.BR ardomains (n)
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for further explanation.
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The first line of response from the server is:
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.RS
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TUPLELIST <number>
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.RE
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If <number> is non-zero the rest of the response is composed of a set
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tuples, <site tuple>, one for each site/database pair in the files
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matching the given criteria, one per line terminated by <cr><lf>. If
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<number> is zero, then no further lines are transmitted. Each tuple
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uniquely identifies that entry across the entire Archie system. The
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tuples consist of the following fields in the given order:
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<source>:<date>:<primary name>:<pref name>:<ip addr>:<db>
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Where:
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.RS
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.TP
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.B <source>
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is the Archie host responsible for monitoring that site
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.TP
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.B <date>
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is the date of listing retrieve of anonymous ftp host
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.TP
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.B <primary name>
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is the primary host name of site in the database
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.TP
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.B <pref name>
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is the preferred host name (CNAME) of host. Field may be empty if no such
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name is stored
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.TP
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.B <ip addr>
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is the primary IP address of the host
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.TP
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.B <db>
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is the database name
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.RE
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Host names are specified in standard RFC 1037 format
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IP addresses are specified in standard 'dotted decimal' notation
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The date is specified YYYYMMDDHHMMSS in UTC. However this value is not
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examined other than for inequality tests with internal records.
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.PP
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.B SENDSITE
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With this command, the client informs the server that it would like the
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information about a particular site/database combination. It determines
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this by comparing the tuples returned by the LISTSITES command above with
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its local database. The parameters to the command in order are:
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.RS
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<primary hostname>:<database>[:<port>] ["compress"]
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.RE
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If the "compress" string is included with the protocol command, then the
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remote server is requested to compress the data stream. The remote server
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may agree but also has the option of ignoring this request.
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In the case of the `webindex' database, the port is specified, as multiple
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servers can reside on the `<primary hostname>' machine.
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The server responds with:
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.RS
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SITELIST <port number>
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.RE
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With this response the server informs the client that it ready to
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transmit the information and that it is available on <port number>. The
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client then opens a connection (data channel) on the server host with
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that <port number>.
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The format in which the information for this site/database combination is
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transmitted is determined by the actual database information. See
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.BR arserver (n).
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The header for that site/database is usually the first piece of
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information to be transmitted on the data channel, however this is not
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defined by the protocol.
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There is no acknowledgement from the client.
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.PP
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.B SENDHEADER
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With this command the client specifies to the server that the header
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record should be transmitted on the control connection. This command is
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used by the client when invoked in "retrieval mode" (see
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.BR arserver (n).
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The parameters with this command are (in order):
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.RS
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<primary hostname>:<database>
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.RE
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There is no acknowledgement from the client.
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.PP
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.B SENDEXCERPT
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With this command the client specifies to the server that the excerpt record
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should be transmitted on the data connection. This command is used by the
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client after receiving the site for the `webindex' database.
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This command creates the sam reply from the server as if it was a
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SENDSITE command.
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The parameters with this command are (in order):
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.RS
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<primary hostname>:<database>:<port>
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.RE
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.PP
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.B DUMPCONFIG
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This command causes the server to list its arupdate.cf configuration
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file. The format is the same as that used in the configuration file
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except that semicolons (':') are used as field separators. The server
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signals the termination of the output by the line ENDDUMP.
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.PP
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.B QUIT
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The client requests that the control connection be closed. There is no
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acknowledgement from the server.
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
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.BR arserver (n)
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.SH AUTHOR
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Bunyip Information Systems
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.br
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Montr\o"\'e"al, Qu\o"\'e"bec, Canada
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.sp
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Archie is a registered trademark of Bunyip Information Systems Inc., Canada,
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1990.
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