Timothy
Parker Consulting Incorporated
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Peer-to-Peer Networks, part 5 Last column we set up DOS and Windows 3.X machines for our network. Now it’s time to look at the UNIX boxes that may be sharing our simple peer-to-peer setup. Contrary to many VARs’ opinions, setting up UNIX to work in a TCP/IP environment is really simple. There’s nothing complex about it, as long as you have a basic familiarity with UNIX directory structures and the specific version of UNIX you are working with. Even then, you can fake most of it given a little time. Throughout this column, whenever we refer to UNIX you can assume the same applies to Linux, as well. There are many versions of UNIX and Linux, so we can only look at general approaches, and each version of UNIX will have peculiarities of their own, but documentation should explain those items well enough to allow you to proceed. If you are installing a brand new machine, loading UNIX specifically for use on the network, then things are a little easier than if you are adding networking to an existing system. We start by assuming a brand new installation. Most versions of UNIX or Linux will ask you during operating system installation if the machine is going to be networked. Obviously you reply positively, which loads most of the routines you need for you. At some point during the installation, you will be asked about your network card and TCP/IP configuration. Network card support with most versions of UNIX and Linux is spotty, at best. Most of the inexpensive network cards simply don’t have UNIX support, so you may find yourself digging around for a supported card. Practically every version of UNIX includes a hardware compatibility guide, so use that to check for a supported network card. Also, most versions of UNIX, such as SCO UNIX (in all its incarnations) include only limited network card drivers on the distribution media, so you may have to find a driver from a Web page or FTP site. Some vendors include UNIX drivers with their cards, but the majority do not. Also, check connectors; UNIX networks used to be almost exclusively coax-based, so many supported cards lack RJ45 connectors. Fortunately, that’s changed. I used two cards from Kingston Technologies in the machines configured for this article (one SCO OpenServer V and the other Linux Slackware). Drivers were included with the cards. After telling the operating system the type of card you installed, most systems will try to verify it can talk to the card. You may have to specify IRQ and I/O address for ISA cards, but most PCI cards will be set automatically to default values. A DOS boot disk is handy for using utilities to soft-set these items on many network cards. As a final step, the operating system will ask for IP address, subnet mask, and machine name information, then complete the installation for you. After installation is done, reboot and try to ping another machine on the network. In case of problems, check all the configuration information. Especially watch during boot time to make sure the network card is recognized. If you are adding a network card and TCP/IP to existing UNIX systems, you will need to add the network card first. Many systems include menu-driven utilities for system administration, and the procedure is much the same as described for a first-time setup. Configure the network card, reboot, and make sure UNIX sees the card. Then, you may have to load the networking drivers from the distribution media if they are not already on the system. Again, a menu-driven interface is usually provided for adding new software. Finally, set the IP address and other configuration details through the menu system, reboot, and test. UNIX systems usually have two IP addresses set up in their configuration files. Most network information is saved in the file /etc/hosts. There will be a loopback driver with an IP address of 127.0.0.1, which is used by many utilities that require an IP address even if the machine is not connected to a network. There will also be the IP address of the UNIX box on the peer-to-peer network. You can add other machine names and IP addresses in the /etc/hosts file, and use that to locate machines by name. As mentioned, most operating systems automate the entire installation process for network cards, TCP/IP, and IP information through utilities. SCO systems, for example, use scoadmin for character-based systems and an icon in the root X desktop for GUI interfaces. Linux has a number of different utility names. Workstation UNIX versions like Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX all have menu-driven administration utilities, as well. Following the instruction on these system tools is simple, but you must remember that the kernel needs to be rebuilt after every configuration change to the hardware (and sometimes after software changes, too). Not all utilities will start the kernel rebuild and relink for you. Since TCP/IP was originally developed for UNIX interconnectivity, it’s not surprise that UNIX systems are amongst the least trouble-free when it comes to installing and configuring for a network. |
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