XRNODES

Name

XRNODES -- Routes / Nodes Recovery File.

Description

The XRNODES file contains a list of the known NetRom routes and nodes, and is used to populate the nodes table when XRPi boots. This allows XRPi to be stopped and restarted without losing the nodes table. Without this file, it would take several hours to rebuild the nodes table from received broadcasts.

The nodes and routes tables are saved to this file every NODESINTERVAL, at close-down, and whenever the SAVENODES command is used (unless a different filename is specified).

The file is created by XRPi, but may be edited by the sysop. Apart from the lack of .TXT extension, it is an ordinary plain text file.

Format

The ROUTE entries are specified first, and have the following format:

        ROUTE ADD <call> <port> <qual> [!] [VIA call ...] [options]

<call> is the callsign of the neighbour node.

<port> is the port on which the neighbour is reached.

<qual> is a "quality" between 0 and 255 indicating how "good" the route is.

[!] indicates a locked route (i.e. one which will not expire).

[VIA] indicates that the neighbour is reached via digipeater(s). Digipeater callsigns are separated by exactly ONE space, with the end of the list marked by exactly TWO spaces.

[options] are "non-standard" parameters which can override the port defaults for that route as follows:

	[maxframe [frack [paclen [maxtt [maxhops]]]]]

For example:

	ROUTE ADD W7XCV 1 100
	ROUTE ADD G8UYL 2 240 ! 5 7000 120
	ROUTE ADD G7DIG 5 ! VIA M7FRT M3RED  2

The first line shows unlocked neighbour W7XCV on port 1 with quality of 100. The second line shows neighbour G8UYL locked in on port 2 with a quality of 240, maxframe of 3, frack of 7000, and paclen 120. The third line shows neighbour G7DIG locked in using a digipeated path via M7FRT and M3RED, with maxframe of 2.

Following the ROUTE entries, the remainder of the file consists of NODE entries, one per line. The format is as follows:

        NODE ADD <alias:call> <route1> <port1> <qual1> [!] [<route2> ...]

<alias:call> is the alias and callsign of the distant node. <route1> is the callsign of the primary route to that node, for which there must exist a ROUTE entry.

<port1> is the port used to reach the neighbour.

<qual1> is the quality of the route to the node via that neighbour.

[!] indicates a locked entry.

There can be up to 3 different routes listed for each node. For example:

	NODE ADD #TLFRD:GB7IPT-7 G8PZT 1 142 ! G8UYL 2 139
	NODE ADD BRUM:GB7BM G8PZT 1 94 G8UYL 2 92
	NODE ADD BUXTON:GB7DAD-8 G8PZT 1 22 G8UYL 2 21

Files

XRNODES is located in the same directory as XRPi.

Caveats

If XRPi is closed down for more than a few hours, the network may change, and the XRNODES file will become out of date. This could re-introduce expired nodes back into the tables when XRPi is started. In this case it would be better to delete XRNODES before booting up, and let XRPi rebuild the tables from broadcasts.

See also

LOADNODES(8) -- Load the nodes and routes tables.
ROUTES(1) -- Display / Modifiy Neighbour Routes
SAVENODES(8) -- Save the nodes and routes tables.