Subject: Re: [netatalk-admins] Atalk over TCP/IP only?
From: Georg Schwarz (schwarz@physik.tu-berlin.de)
Date: Thu Jun 25 1998 - 15:02:21 EDT
> Previously...
> >when using AppleTalk over TCP/IP only with Netatalk (i.e. no Ethertalk
> >access is needed) do you still need some kernel that supports AppleTalk?
>
> Yes you do, but only because the netatalk package has only been ported
> where the kernel can go. It is theoretically possible (and has been
> kicked around as a possibility on several occassions) to write an
> IP-only afpd (AppleShare server).
OK, I thought it could be *compiled* to only use TCP/IP.
>
> >I'd suppose atalkd etc. are then just ordinary TCP/IP apps.
>
> No, atalkd implements listening on AppleTalk, requiring that AppleTalk
> support be present in the kernel. afpd is a hybrid, being able to
> listen both on atalk and ip.
yes, and it looks like it cannot be reduced to IP only on compile time :-(
>
> >Is that assumption correct? Can Asun's version of Netatalk be configured to
> >use AppleTalk over TCP/IP only?
>
> Yes, it can. 'man afpd' provides information on how to create an
> afpd.conf for listening only on IP or on Atalk.
but still the compiled code would contain and thus require Ethertalk
capabilities :-(
>
> >If so, is it possible to install it on some
> >UNIX whose kernel does not support AppleTalk, e.g. SGI IRIX?
>
> No. See above. Adrian's making some strides in separating the IP from
:-(
> the Atalk in the source tree. At some point it may be possible to grab
> an afpd for IP source tree that would be more portable than a
> "classic" netatalk, the portability of which is sharply limited by the
> requirements of kernel drivers.
yes, unfortunately :-(
>
> >Is there any disadvantage of using AppleTalk over TCP/IP with a MacOS 8.1
> >client that uses TCP/IP anyway? Can you mount volumes from more than just
> >one server at a time using AppleTalk over TCP/IP? Can you mix AppleTalk over
> >TCP/IP and Ethertalk (from the client's perspective)?
>
> Yes on all counts. This stuff is all relatively easy to witness once
> you actually try out ASIP connectivity.
nice to know
>
> >Another question: would netatalk using AppleTalk over IP require privileged
> >prots, or could it in principle be ran under a non-root id, assuming you
> >only want to serve files for which that user has access permissions?
>
> Kernel driver installation requires root privelige, so I guess you are
sure.
> referring to the fabled IP-only afpd. Theoretically what you
> describe should be possible. Starting a process and listening on a
> port should be doable for any user id, I think. It may require SUID
yes, if it's a port > 1024. I'm not sure which port # the AppleTalk over IP protocol uses.
> root though, in order to bind a port?
not if it's a nonprivileged port (i.e. > 1024).
>
> I'm relatively sure that what I've written is right, and if anything's
> wrong I'm sure someone can jump in and correct me. Just give netatalk
> a test drive though, since it's easy enough to find the answers to a
> lot of your questions once netatalk's properly installed.
I'm already running a couple of Netatalk servers on Linux, but Ethertalk
only so far (and only on Linux).
-- Georg Schwarz schwarz@physik.tu-berlin.de Institut für Theoretische Physik Tel. +49 30 314-24254, FAX -21130 Technische Universität Berlin http://home.pages.de/~schwarz/ Sekr. PN 7-1, Hardenbergstr. 36, D-10623 Berlin IRC: kuroi
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