TITLE: NET.CFG Parameters Used with NetWare Lite DOCUMENT ID: TID1200392 DOCUMENT REVISION: 3 DATE: 11Apr95 ALERT STATUS: Yellow README FOR: NA NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: NETWARE LITE V1.1 ABSTRACT: NA --------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEAN TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSUE: The information contained in this document is taken from the NOVELL NetWare ODI Shell for DOS and the NetWare Version 3.11 Installation manuals. It is intended to help when creating and changing the NET.CFG when used with ODI drivers and NetWare Lite. The NET.CFG is a control file that contains information and options used to change the default parameters of the ODI driver. If you are using IPXODI and have not changed the default settings on the LAN adapter, then you do not need a NET.CFG file. If you are using Novell's LAN Workplace or a third-party protocol (such as TCP/IP) or if you have changed any of the hardware options, you need a NET.CFG file. Create the NET.CFG file using a DOS text editor. Make the main section headings left-justified. Indent the options with a space or a tab under each heading. The options and main headings are not case sensitive. Create the following as the main section headings for the NET.CFG: 1. Link Support 2. Protocol 3. Link Driver Comments can be entered in the file by preceding the line with a semicolon (;). End each line with a hard carriage return. All numbers used in the file are to be entered in decimal form unless otherwise noted. The following is a list of valid options for each main heading: Link Support -------------------------------------------------- BUFFERS communication_number [size] This option configures the number and size of the receive buffers. The number of buffers must be large enough to hold all packet headers and the maximum data size. Minimum size of the buffers is 618, and the default is 1130. The default number of buffers is 0. Note: The IPXODI protocol stack does not use the Link Support Layer buffers. Novell's TCP/IP requires at least two buffers. Example: Link Support Buffers 2 1130 MEMPOOL number [k] Some protocols use this option to configure the size of the memory pool buffers that the LSL will maintain. Refer to your third-party documentation for the settings needed. Novell's TCP/IP requires at least 2048 bytes of MEMPOOL. The [k] means that you need to specify the number in multiples of 1024. Note: The IPXODI protocol stack does not use the MEMPOOL buffers. Example: Link Support MEMPOOL 2048 ***************** Protocol protocol_name -------------------------------------------------- BIND name Usually IPXODI binds to the first network board it finds. This option limits the search to the network board you specify. Replace NAME with the LAN driver name. Example: Protocol IPX Bind NE2000 SESSIONS number This option configures the number of sessions the protocol stack will be required to maintain at one time. See your third-party documentation to see if this parameter is applicable to you. Note: IPXODI ignores this parameter. Example: Protocol IPX SESSIONS 5 ***************** Link Driver drivername ------------------------------------------------- DMA [#1|#2] channel_number This option specifies the hardware DMA setting of the network board used in the workstation. Enter the channel number to be used. If the default channel is not specified, it is #1. Example: Link Driver NE2000 DMA 3 INT [#1|#2] interrupt_request_number This option specifies the interrupt for the network board used. If you do not specify which interrupt line (#1 or #2) to configure, this option uses #1 as the default interrupt line. Example: Link Driver NE2000 INT 2 MEM [#1|#2] hex_starting_address [hex_length] This option specifies a memory range for the network board. Enter the hex physical address of the memory used by the board. The starting address must match the starting address configured on the board. Enter the length of the memory address used by the board, which is usually 16 bytes. Example: Link Driver TRXNET MEM D0000 Note: Usually the length is not needed. PORT [#1|#2] hex_starting_address hex_number_of_ports Use this option to specify the starting port and number of ports in the range. Enter all values in their hex form. Example: Link Driver NE2000 PORT 300 Note: The number of ports is optional. NODE ADDRESS hex_address If the hardware allows it, this option overrides the hard-coded node address for the network board. Enter the number in hex form. Example: Link Driver NE2000 Node Address 1BAD1234 Note: Changing the node address can create conflicts with other network boards. Novell suggests that you stay with the hard-coded node address whenever possible. SLOT number Use the number of the slot into which you inserted the board. The slot number is found on the back of the computer. The driver will then use the board found in that slot. If you are using two NE/2 boards in the same workstation and you insert one board into slot 1 and one into slot 2, the NET.CFG will look like the following: Example: Link Driver NE2 Link Driver NE2 Slot 2 Then place the following lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: LSL NE2 NE2 FRAME frame_type This option specifies the frame type used with the network board. Use this option to support multiple frame types. Example: Link Driver Frame ETHERNET_II Frame ETHERNET_802.3 PROTOCOL name hex_protocol_ID frame_type This option allows new protocols to be handled by existing drivers. Replace NAME with the name of the new protocol. Use the assigned hex ID number. Replace FRAME_TYPE with the frame type for the new protocol. If you are using a new protocol (XYZ) with an NE2-32 network board, the NET.CFG file would look similar to the following: Example: Link Driver NE2-32 Frame ETHERNET_SNAP Protocol XYZ 904A ETHERNET_SNAP SAPS number If you use the LANSUP driver, you may specify the number of Service Access Points (SAPs) needed. Set this option to allow for all applications using the IBM LAN Support Program. The maximum value depends on the type of board used. The default is 1. LINK STATIONS number If you use the LANSUP driver, you may specify the number of link stations needed. Set the option to allow for all applications using the IBM LAN Support Program. The maximum depends on the type of network board used. The Default is 1. ALTERNATE Normally the LANSUP, Token, and PCN2 drivers will use a primary adapter. Use this option so the driver will use a different adapter. Example: Link Driver LANSUP ALTERNATE MAX FRAME SIZE number This option sets the maximum number of bytes that the Token-Ring adapter can put on the wire. The default is 4216. The value for NUMBER must be a multiple of 8. It must include the number of bytes for the data packet, for adapter overhead (6 bytes), and for the largest possible header (currently, 35 bytes LAN header, plus 5 bytes SNAP header, plus 74 bytes protocol header equaling 114 bytes). Example: If you wanted to run with 2 KB packets, the number would be calculated as the following: 2048 + 6 + 35 + 5 + 74 = 2168 The NET.CFG would look similar to the following: Link Driver TOKEN MAX FRAME SIZE 2168 NETWORK SHARING = ON This is a previously undocumented and a currently unsupported parameter. However, for more information on this parameter, see document 1200394 from the Novell's FaxBack System or TID1200394 in the NSE Pro or on Compuserve. ROUTE = xxxxxxxx:yyyyyyyyyyyy This is a previously undocumented and a currently unsupported parameter. However, for more information on this parameter, see document 1200394 from the Novell's FaxBack System or TID1200394 in the NSE Pro or on Compuserve. DOMAIN = n This is a previously undocumented and a currently UNSUPPORTED parameter. However, for more information on this parameter, see document 1200394 from the Novell's FaxBack System or TID1200394 in the NSE Pro or on Compuserve. ***************** These are the parameters specific to the NET.CFG. However, many of the parameters for the SHELL.CFG that are used by IPX.COM can also be used in the NET.CFG for IPXODI.COM. Some of these are explained in the following paragraphs. All the following parameters can be added to the NET.CFG file. These parameters should be entered at the top of the file (before the Link Support area) and must be left-justified. INT64 = on/off This parameter allows applications to use interrupt 64h to access IPX services. Default=ON INT7A = on/off This parameter allows applications to use interrupt 7A to access IPX services. Default=ON IPX RETRY COUNT = n This parameter sets the number of times the workstation resends a packet. On networks that lose many packets, this retry count may need to be increased. Increasing this number will cause a longer delay for some network functions. Default=20 retries IPX SOCKETS = n This parameter specifies the maximum number of sockets that IPX can have open at the workstation. An IPX specific programs may require more than the default number of sockets. Default=20 sockets SPX ABORT TIMEOUT = n This parameter adjusts the amount of time that SPX will wait, without receiving any response from the other side of the connection, before it terminates the session. The timeout number is in ticks (18.21 ticks per second on IBM PCs and compatibles). Default=540 ticks (about 30 seconds) SPX CONNECTIONS = n This parameter specifies the maximum number of SPX connections a workstation can use at the same time. Default: 15 connections. SPX LISTEN TIMEOUT = n This parameter adjusts the time that SPX will wait, without receiving a packet from the other side of the connection, before it starts requesting the other side to send back a packet ensuring the connection is still valid. If SPX has not received from the other side of the connection within this time, it will send packets to the other side prompting for verification that the connection still exists. The timeout number is in ticks. Default=108 ticks (about 6 seconds) SPX VERIFY TIMEOUT = n This parameter adjusts the frequency at which SPX sends a packet to the other side of a connection to inform it that its side is still alive. If no packets are being exchanged on the SPX connection by the software that established the session, SPX will send packets at regular intervals to make sure that the connection is still working. The timeout number is in ticks. Default=54 ticks (about 3 seconds) ***************** The following are some examples of how to put all of this together: Example 1: route=00beef00:ffffffffffff domain=59 ipx retry count =25 Link Support Buffers 8 1500 MemPool 4096 Protocol IPX BIND NE2000 Link Driver NE2000 INT 3 PORT 300 Frame Ethernet_802.3 Frame Ethernet_II Frame Ethernet_SNAP Protocol IPX 0 Ethernet_802.3 Protocol TCPIP 8137 ethernet_II Example 2: route=00123456:00001b123456 domain=10 ipx retry count=30 network sharing=on link driver NE2000 int 5 port 340 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. 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