Title: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: andreas_g on May 14, 2021, 06:25:06 AM
Post by: andreas_g on May 14, 2021, 06:25:06 AM
Hello all,
during the boot procedure I get the message "Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server. Please wait or press ´c´ to continue without network user accounts.". Does anyone know what kind of information NeXTstep expects here? Is there a way to make NeXTstep happy without configuring network user accounts while keeping network auto-configuration?
Or even better: Can I do full auto-configration via NetInfo (e.g. mount NFS shared directories, configure the network to connect to the internet, etc)?
The question is not about how to set up NetInfo on a server but about what Ethernet packets one would need to send from a non-NeXT machine.
I'm looking forward to your answers!
Best wishes,
Andreas
during the boot procedure I get the message "Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server. Please wait or press ´c´ to continue without network user accounts.". Does anyone know what kind of information NeXTstep expects here? Is there a way to make NeXTstep happy without configuring network user accounts while keeping network auto-configuration?
Or even better: Can I do full auto-configration via NetInfo (e.g. mount NFS shared directories, configure the network to connect to the internet, etc)?
The question is not about how to set up NetInfo on a server but about what Ethernet packets one would need to send from a non-NeXT machine.
I'm looking forward to your answers!
Best wishes,
Andreas
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: mikeboss on May 14, 2021, 08:08:14 AM
Post by: mikeboss on May 14, 2021, 08:08:14 AM
AFAIR this behavior was exactly the same on black hardware.
using "SimpleNetworkStarter.app" configure the system to
"Use the network, but don't share administrative data".
using "SimpleNetworkStarter.app" configure the system to
"Use the network, but don't share administrative data".
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: andreas_g on May 14, 2021, 08:22:34 AM
Post by: andreas_g on May 14, 2021, 08:22:34 AM
Thank you for the quick reply! I'm afraid my question was not clear enough. I want the system to be auto-configured during the boot process without having a real NetInfo server. Now most things, like hostname, IP, broadcast address, netmask and router already work but on every boot it stops with that message and I think it would be great if we could just send some message to make NeXTstep happy without any manual configuration.
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: user341 on May 15, 2021, 01:30:19 AM
Post by: user341 on May 15, 2021, 01:30:19 AM
I remember there was a non simple way to get dynamic IP address assigned on black hardware. I wish I remembered it, but it was intricate. That said, just setting the VM to a static IP that's internal to your network is probably way easier.
But, either setting a static IP or the DHCP should get you past it getting stuck.
But, either setting a static IP or the DHCP should get you past it getting stuck.
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: andreas_g on May 15, 2021, 02:16:59 AM
Post by: andreas_g on May 15, 2021, 02:16:59 AM
It does not really get stuck but it is some kind of unfinished work to have to press 'c' on every boot. My goal was to create a setup, that allows for auto-configuration of a newly installed system. So the user does not have to do any network configuration. Ideally it would also automatically mount an NFS shared directory for file transfer.
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: andreas_g on May 15, 2021, 06:43:12 AM
Post by: andreas_g on May 15, 2021, 06:43:12 AM
After reading some documentation I think what I need to know is what protocol is used to exchange information between the NetInfo server and client. Does anyone know what information is exchanged during the boot process?
The client sends this packet and waits for a reply:
I think this is the beginning of some kind of "conversation" that I would need to understand. Data contains the words "previous" (host name of the client), "local" (domain name) and "network".
The client sends this packet and waits for a reply:
Code Select
<< Outgoing packet (158 byte) >>
Layer 2 Ethernet frame:
MAC dst: ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
MAC src: 00:00:0f:00:f3:02
EtherType: 0800
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4):
Version: 4
IHL: 5 (20 byte)
DSCP: 0
ECN: 0
Length: 144
ID: 0494
Flags: 0
Offset: 0
TTL: 30
Protocol: 11
Checksum: 80bc
IP src: 10.0.2.15
IP dst: 10.255.255.255
User Datagram Protocol (UDP):
Port src: 2562
Port dst: 111
Length: 124
Checksum: 3bc4
Data: offset = 42, length = 116:
60 9E 9D BA 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 01 86 A0
00 00 00 02 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 20
60 9F AD 2B 00 00 00 08 70 72 65 76 69 6F 75 73
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B ED 48 A1 00 00 00 01
00 00 00 08 00 00 00 1C 0A 00 02 0F 00 00 00 05
6C 6F 63 61 6C 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 6E 65 74 77
6F 72 6B 00
I think this is the beginning of some kind of "conversation" that I would need to understand. Data contains the words "previous" (host name of the client), "local" (domain name) and "network".
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: evolver56k on May 17, 2021, 04:12:47 PM
Post by: evolver56k on May 17, 2021, 04:12:47 PM
It's doing an RPC request. Port 111 is SunRPC.
Just guessing: I think the netinfo client sends out an RPC to broadcast, which would be picked up by the NetInfo server's RPC daemon, and the relevant packet data (the last 32 bytes.. hostname, domain name, and "other stuff") is forwarded to nibindd, which will then do whatever to lookup the host in it's netinfo db, and reply to the client accordingly.
I'm really just speculating on the exchange, I have no idea how it actually works.
Program: Unknown (200100001) is netinfobind (from /etc/rpc)
Just guessing: I think the netinfo client sends out an RPC to broadcast, which would be picked up by the NetInfo server's RPC daemon, and the relevant packet data (the last 32 bytes.. hostname, domain name, and "other stuff") is forwarded to nibindd, which will then do whatever to lookup the host in it's netinfo db, and reply to the client accordingly.
I'm really just speculating on the exchange, I have no idea how it actually works.
Program: Unknown (200100001) is netinfobind (from /etc/rpc)
Code Select
Internet Protocol Version 4, Src: 10.0.10.221, Dst: 10.0.10.255
0100 .... = Version: 4
.... 0101 = Header Length: 20 bytes (5)
Differentiated Services Field: 0x00 (DSCP: CS0, ECN: Not-ECT)
0000 00.. = Differentiated Services Codepoint: Default (0)
.... ..00 = Explicit Congestion Notification: Not ECN-Capable Transport (0)
Total Length: 140
Identification: 0x4b19 (19225)
Flags: 0x00
0... .... = Reserved bit: Not set
.0.. .... = Don't fragment: Not set
..0. .... = More fragments: Not set
Fragment Offset: 0
Time to Live: 60
Protocol: UDP (17)
Header Checksum: 0x096d [validation disabled]
[Header checksum status: Unverified]
Source Address: 10.0.10.221
Destination Address: 10.0.10.255
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 2560, Dst Port: 111
Source Port: 2560
Destination Port: 111
Length: 120
Checksum: 0xec26 [unverified]
[Checksum Status: Unverified]
[Stream index: 0]
[Timestamps]
[Time since first frame: 0.000000000 seconds]
[Time since previous frame: 0.000000000 seconds]
UDP payload (112 bytes)
Remote Procedure Call, Type:Call XID:0x2f4c4b40
XID: 0x2f4c4b40 (793529152)
Message Type: Call (0)
RPC Version: 2
Program: Portmap (100000)
Program Version: 2
Procedure: CALLIT (5)
Credentials
Flavor: AUTH_UNIX (1)
Length: 24
Stamp: 0x2f4c4b2e
Machine Name: <EMPTY>
length: 0
contents: <EMPTY>
UID: 0
GID: 0
Auxiliary GIDs (1) [0]
GID: 0
Verifier
Flavor: AUTH_NULL (0)
Length: 0
Portmap
[Program Version: 2]
[V2 Procedure: CALLIT (5)]
Program: Unknown (200100001)
Version: 1
Procedure: proc-8 (8)
Arguments: <DATA>
length: 32
contents: <DATA>
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: andreas_g on May 18, 2021, 05:33:50 AM
Post by: andreas_g on May 18, 2021, 05:33:50 AM
Thank you very much! This is the kind of information I am looking for. Maybe someone knows some more detail about what data is exchanged and how the data structure looks like. Ideally we could make a minimalistic implementation in Previous to add automatic configuration of the guest system.
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: andreas_g on May 22, 2021, 10:23:53 AM
Post by: andreas_g on May 22, 2021, 10:23:53 AM
Finally found something useful: NetInfo Binding and Connecting (https://www.nextop.de/NeXTAnswers/1274.html)
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: pomosapien on November 08, 2021, 05:20:39 PM
Post by: pomosapien on November 08, 2021, 05:20:39 PM
Sorry, that document looked interesting and valuable and it triggered my OCD.
Here's a laid-out version
http://next.haleblian.com/document/nextstep/nextanswers/1274.html
Seems like this set of docs is valuable enough to be made readable?
Here's a laid-out version
http://next.haleblian.com/document/nextstep/nextanswers/1274.html
Seems like this set of docs is valuable enough to be made readable?
Title: Re: Still searching for parent network administration (NetInfo) server.
Post by: crimsonRE on November 20, 2021, 12:05:46 PM
Post by: crimsonRE on November 20, 2021, 12:05:46 PM
And BTW, many thanks for putting together that archive, sir - very much appreciated!