

	ntping/README					Jan 1993


Copyright (c) 1993, 1994 by Erik Schoenfelder and Juergen Schoenwaelder 
	TU Braunschweig, Germany,
	Institute for Operating Systems and Computer Networks


This is a ping like program for use with Tkined's Scotty interpreter.

Quick Install:
	run ./configure followed by ``make'' for compilation, and type
	``make install'' as root for installation.
	If you are using ntping within the scotty distribution, the 
	toplevel configure, will do this for you.
	Read the INSTALLATION section below for more about.

This one works asynchron for the given hosts and, if no host is
specified, it reads from stdin. It can query pings, timestamps,
netmasks and traceroute-like hops.  
Ntping is not a plug in replacement for ping.

Ntping is still around version 0.6.

I may note, that you loose, if your kernel ignores the time-to-live
parameter in raw-ip packets and sets the own default.  For SunOS 4.1.1
we have the traceroute(8) patches for the kernel installed. I would
guess: If your traceroute works, ntping should be able to traceroute
too.


Use : ntping [<options>] [<hosts>] 
options are:
	-V              show version and exit.
	-b(ones)        run in `scotty' mode.
	-s(ize) <n>     set size of packets.
	-r(etries) <n>  set # of retries.
	-t(imeout) <n>  set timeout for all answers.
	-d(elay) <n>    set the send delay to <n> us.
	-ttl <n>        trace a hop with time-to-live set to n.
	-trace <n>      same as -ttl, but the destination is returned
	                for the last hop, if it is a dotted number.
	-mask		send an icmp-mask request.
	-tstamp		request a icmp-timestamp reply and show the
			difference to the localtime in ms.

Available platforms:
	- SunOS 4.1.x
	- Linux 0.99.13  
	- Hpux 9.???     needs -DNEED_USLEEP define; not tested
	- 386BSD	 thanks to <karl@sugar.NeoSoft.COM> Karl Lehenbauer
	- DEC Alpha	 thanks to <mosedale@genome.stanford.edu> Dan
			 Mosedale and <grunwald@foobar.cs.colorado.edu> 
			 Dirk Grunwald
	- Mach 2.6	 (not very extensively tested on a Sun3)


Please note: This software is distributed ``as-is''. 
	     There is no warranty at all.


INSTALLATION:

Run ``./configure'' (with an optional --prefix=<prefix path>).
Then run simply ``make''.

To install run ``make install'' - you have to run install as root.

Before installing you may run a simple check with ``make check'':

>    % make check
>    echo '-size 120 localhost' | ./ntping -b
>    {localhost 1} 
>    echo '-size 60 -mask localhost' | ./ntping -b
>    {localhost 255.0.0.0} 
>    echo '-retries 2 -timeout 1 -ttl 1 localhost' | ./ntping -b
>    {127.0.0.1 1} 
>    echo '-size 400 -trace 1 localhost' | ./ntping -b
>    {127.0.0.1 1} 
>    echo '-tstamp localhost' | ./ntping -b
>    {localhost 0} 

The output may vary.

If you are running in trouble with the configure script, you may
cp Makefile.handmade to Makefile and edit it by hand.
Then follow with ``make'' and make ``install''.


NEWS:
	(*) Jan 1994: configure script added by
	    <schoenw@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de> Juergen Schoenwaelder. 

	(*) Nov 1993: fix for DEC Alpha added
 	    (submitted by <mosedale@genome.stanford.edu> Dan Mosedale)

	(*) Oct 1993: fix for 386bsd added (submitted by
	    <karl@sugar.NeoSoft.COM> Karl Lehenbauer)

BUGS and TODO's:

	(*) The code may need cleanups (interactive / bones / cmdline
	    mode); better handling of ping/mask/tstamp/ttl jobs.

	(*) The pkt-size seems to be buggy (too samll / too large)
	    Sometimes size is the data-size, sometimes the
	    complete paket size.

	(*) The commandline interface should be more verbose and nicer
	    formatted (eg. like ping).

--
(schoenfr@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de) Erik Schoenfelder
(schoenw@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de) Juergen Schoenwaelder
