About This Manual

This manual describes how to configure and manage the network interfaces and network services and solve problems that might arise on systems running Digital UNIX®.

This manual assumes that the operating system and the appropriate networking subsets are installed.

Audience

This manual is intended for system and network adminstrators responsible for configuring and managing network services. Administrators should have knowledge of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networking concepts and network configuration; this manual is not a TCP/IP networking tutorial. They should also have knowledge of operating system concepts, commands, and configuration.

New and Changed Features

This manual, formerly named Network Administration and Problem Solving in previous releases, has been revised to include the following:

• Information that was previously contained in the Network Configuration manual.

• A new chapter on using the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

• A new chapter on point-to-point connections, including Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP).

• Any changes that are part of the current release.

Organization

This manual is divided into 16 chapters, 9 appendixes, and an index. The following list describes the contents in more detail:

Chapter 1	Describes the meaning of network administration and the components covered in this manual.
Chapter 2	Describes the tasks to administer the basic network connections.
Chapter 3	Describes the tasks to administer the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
Chapter 4	Describes the tasks to administer point-to-point connections.
Chapter 5	Describes the tasks to administer Local Area Transport (LAT).
Chapter 6	Describes the tasks to administer the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND service).
Chapter 7	Describes the tasks to administer the Network Information Service (NIS).
Chapter 8	Describes the tasks to administer the Network File System (NFS).
Chapter 9	Describes the tasks to administer the UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program (UUCP).
Chapter 10	Describes the tasks to administer the Network Time Protocol.
Chapter 11	Describes the tasks to administer the mail environment.
Chapter 12	Describes the Simple Network Management (SNMP) environment.
Chapter 13	Describes how to solve network and network service problems.
Chapter 14	Describes the various diagnostic tests available to solve problems.
Chapter 15	Describes how to test BIND servers and resolve BIND server problems.
Chapter 16	Describes how to report your problem to Digital and the information you should provide.
Appendix A	Contains the Configuration Worksheet. Copy this appendix and fill in the information before completing the tasks described in this manual.
Appendix B	Describes how to monitor the Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), and token ring network interfaces by using the netstat command.
Appendix C	Describes how to write automount maps.
Appendix D	Contains two scripts you can copy for adding NIS slave servers to and removing NIS slave servers from an NIS domain.
Appendix E	Contains NFS client error messages and describes possible solutions.
Appendix F	Contains uucp error messages and describes possible solutions.
Appendix G	Contains sendmail error messages and describes possible solutions.
Appendix H	Describes the Digital UNIX Host MIB implementation, including sample data.
Appendix I	Contains a worksheet for recording information as you solve BIND server problems.

Related Documents

For more information about Digital UNIX networking and communications, see the Command and Shell User's Guide.

The printed version of the Digital UNIX documentation set is color coded to help specific audiences quickly find the books that meet their needs. (You can order the printed documentation from Digital.) This color coding is reinforced with the use of an icon on the spines of books. The following list describes this convention:

Audience	Icon	Color Code
General users	G	Blue
System and network administrators	S	Red
Programmers	P	Purple
Device driver writers	D	Orange
Reference page users	R	Green

Some books in the documentation set help meet the needs of several audiences. For example, the information in some system books is also used by programmers. Keep this in mind when searching for information on specific topics.

The Documentation Overview, Glossary, and Master Index provides information on all of the books in the Digital UNIX documentation set.

Reader's Comments

Digital welcomes any comments and suggestions you have on this and other Digital UNIX manuals.

You can send your comments in the following ways:

• Fax: 603-881-0120 Attn: UEG Publications, ZK03-3/Y32

• Internet electronic mail: readers_comment@zk3.dec.com

  A Reader's Comment form is located on your system in the following location:

  /usr/doc/readers_comment.txt
  

• Mail:

  Digital Equipment Corporation
  UEG Publications Manager
  ZK03-3/Y32
  110 Spit Brook Road
  Nashua, NH 03062-9987

  A Reader's Comment form is located in the back of each printed manual. The form is postage paid if you mail it in the United States.

Please include the following information along with your comments:

• The full title of the book and the order number. (The order number is printed on the title page of this book and on its back cover.)

• The section numbers and page numbers of the information on which you are commenting.

• The version of Digital UNIX that you are using.

• If known, the type of processor that is running the Digital UNIX software.

The Digital UNIX Publications group cannot respond to system problems or technical support inquiries. Please address technical questions to your local system vendor or to the appropriate Digital technical support office. Information provided with the software media explains how to send problem reports to Digital.

Conventions

This manual uses the following conventions: This document uses the following typographic conventions:

% $	A percent sign represents the C shell system prompt. A dollar sign represents the system prompt for the Bourne and Korn shells.
#	A number sign represents the superuser prompt.
% cat	Boldface type in interactive examples indicates typed user input.
file	Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values, placeholders, and function argument names.
[ | ] { | }	In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed.
. . .	In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.
cat(1)	A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, cat(1) indicates that you can find information on the cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.
[Return]	In an example, a key name enclosed in a box indicates that you press that key.
Ctrl/x	This symbol indicates that you hold down the first named key while pressing the key or mouse button that follows the slash. In examples, this key combination is enclosed in a box (for example, [Ctrl/C]).