Exploring the Internet Judy Hallman (Judy_Hallman@unc.edu) August 1992 This handout (for a two-hour hands-on class) is available for anonymous FTP from sunsite.unc.edu. It is in pub/doc/about- the-net with filename exploring_oit. What is the Internet? The Internet is a network of networks using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol or TCP/IP. BITNET is a different network. E-mail can be sent from one network to another. (It goes through a gateway.) The Internet was started by the defense agency to allow logging onto remote computers and file transfer. The Backbone telephone lines were paid for with tax dollars. Today, the Office of Information Technology pays an annual fee for membership in Internet. We do not pass along this charge, so your use of the Internet is free. Internet addressing Internet e-mail addresses have the form: userid@host.subdomain.subdomain.domain For example: hallman@gibbs.oit.unc.edu Judy_Hallman@unc.edu Host is the computer's name. Subdomains from left to right can include department name and university/company name; there can be several subdomains or none. Sample domains include: com commercial edu educational gov government mil military net network organizations org private organizations au Australia ca Canada uk United Kingdom Internet provides: -- E-mail and news groups -- these are covered in other classes. -- Telnet TELNET is a command you issue from the host that logs you onto a computer at another site. You specify the Internet address of the host in the following form: host.subdomain.subdomain.domain For example, uncvx1.oit.unc.edu or 128.109.157.1. Use the alphabetic form if you know it instead of the numbers. The computer you log onto may require VT100 terminal emulation or 3270 terminal emulation. The IBM systems (MVS and CMS) use 3270 emulation. For VT100 emulation, the command usually has the following form: TELNET host.subdomain.subdomain.domain For 3270 emulation, the command usually has the following form: TN3270 host.subdomain.subdomain.domain When you log onto another computer, you are under the control of that computer (you may need to know function keys to move around). Check for instructions before and after you connect. CTRL-Z or CNTL-C will usually get you back out of another system. -- FTP (File Transfer Protocol) FTP is used to transfer files from one computer to another. When this is done using the userid anonymous the process is called anonymous ftp. The usual sequence of commands for file transfer is: FTP host.subdomain.subdomain.domain when prompted for userid, type anonymous when prompted for password, type your full e-mail address change to the correct directory: for example, cd /pub/software/docs get filename (or get filename newfilename) quit Notes: (1) The filename assigned to the file when it is transferred to your machine will be the same as the original filename. Some operating systems have restrictions on files names that require you to change the name of the file when you GET it. You'll get a message from your operating system if it doesn't like the name, and you can reissue the GET command specifying the filename to use on your machine. (2) The file names are often case sensitive. (3) There are different file types. Most files are ASCII files; these usually have txt as the last level of the file name. Some are in PostScript format; these usually have PS as the last level of the file name. Make sure you know what the filetype is. Contact User Service if you have trouble. (4) Other FTP commands you might want to use after you make connection and login: ls -- use this command to list files and directories in the current directory dir -- use this to be able to distinguish between a file and a directory (shows a "d" at the beginning of the line for directories) binary (return) -- use this command before ftping an executable program help (return) -- lists commands you can use (5) When you are looking for a file that is available for ftp look first at sunsite.unc.edu and then at ftp.oit.unc.edu. The files in these places are maintained by OIT and are likely to be the latest versions available. (OIT maintains sunsite.unc.edu as a repository for public domain software and documentation for SUN.) How to connect (hardware/software) To use the Internet, your machine must be connected to the Internet (it must have an IP number). There aren't really any public terminals on the Internet; however, you could probably use a machine at the help desk in Room 30 of Phillips Hall. You can also get a userid on one of the campus computers on the Internet, log onto the computer to use TELNET or FTP, and then download files retrieved by FTP to your personal computer. TELNET and FTP are available on the OIT mainframes under VMS, MVS (see OIT document G-051 for information on using Telnet and FTP under MVS), VM/CMS and ConvexOS, and on the School of Public Health VAX under VMS, as well as on a variety of UNIX workstations on campus. Macintosh computers on campus usually use NCSA Telnet, TN3270, and HYPERFTP or FETCH. IBM PCs and compatibles usually use Clarkson Telnet. Help If you get stuck, call one of the help desks at 962-0273 or 962-3601 or send e-mail to help@unc.bitnet or micro_help@unc.edu. If you need help getting connected to the Internet, contact your department's computer guru or Networking Systems (962-0658) or send e-mail to gogan.dvc@mhs.unc.edu. References -- Venturing Into the Internet, OIT document G-064, is available free from Room 37 of Phillips Hall, 13 pages. ftp sunsite.unc.edu login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd pub/docs/about-the-net get venturing_oit quit -- Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet, by Brendon P. Kehoe, Widener University, 95 pages. Printed copies are available from the OIT in Room 37 of Phillips Hall for $3.00 (cost of printing). ftp sunsite.unc.edu login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd pub/docs/about-the-net/ZEN get zen10.txt (for the ASCII version; the first six pages contain information about Project Gutenberg) or get zen-1.0.PS (for the PostScript version) quit -- NorthWestNet User Services Internet Resource Guide (NUSIRG) It is not available for ftp in ASCII; here is the information for getting the PostScript version. It is divided into several files. ftp ftphost.nwnet.net login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd nic/nwnet/user-guide get filename quit Filenames: nusirg.beginner.overview.ps 13 pages; Section 1, Overview of NUSIRG and the Internet nusirg.email.ftp.telnet.ps 51 pages, Section 2, E-mail, FTP, TELNET and Archie (pages 18- 69) nusirg.listserv.usenet.ps 23 pages, Section 3, USENET and LISTSERV (pages 70-93) nusirg.online.info.resources.ps 75 pages; Section 4, Electronic books, electronic journals, online library catalogs, databases and bibliographies, WAIS, and Internet directories (pages 94-169) nusirg.teach.k-12.ps 43 pages; Section 5, The Internet and K-12 education (pp 174- 217) nusirg.supercomputers.ps Supercomputers on the Internet -- Information Sources: the Internet and Computer Mediated Communication Six pages. Lists pointers to information describing the Internet and issues related to computer mediated communication. ftp ftp.rpi.edu login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd pub/communications get internet-cmc quit -- Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters, by Michael Strangelove, University of Ottawa. This is a directory of over 500 scholarly lists, about 30 journals, over 60 newsletters, and 15 other titles. About 110 pages. ftp infolib.murdoch.edu.au login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd pub/dir/netinfo get e-journals.dir quit -- Health Science Resource List, by Lee Hancock, University of Kansas Medical Center. About 21 pages. This is a list of health science resources available on the networks, including Listserv groups, Usenet groups, Freenets, Data Archives, Electronic Newsletters, and Health Science oriented databases. ftp ftp.sura.net login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd pub/nic get medical.resources.6-12 newfilename quit DOS doesn't like the original filename, so you may need to specify a different name, like med.doc. -- Information Available on the Internet: A Guide to Selected Sources Prepared by SURAnet Network Information Center (about 47 pages). Pointers to sources of information available on the Internet. ftp ftp.sura.net login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd pub/nic get infoguide.7-27.txt newfilename quit -- A Glossary of Networking Terms Network Working Group, Request for Comments (RFC) 1208 (18 pages) ftp nis.nsf.net login as anonymous type your e-mail address as the password cd internet/publications/rfc get rfc1208.txt quit Exercises: -- All the exercises have things to see if you follow the instructions step by step. Note that not all the RETURNs (or ENTER key) are listed, and you should read the screens for instructions as you go along, anyhow. Also, menus change -- so check that the description of the item shown on the screen matches this text. -- There are more exercises than you can do in this class; you can do more of them in your office. Choose those that interest you to do now. Don't try to do them in order; it puts too much of a load on services if we all use them at once. Note that some will not work today; you can try them again later. -- With the software we are using on these machines, when you enter a telnet command, you will see an NCSA message on the top of the screen and the address you are trying connect to in the bottom left corner. If nothing happens after 30 seconds or so, the service you are trying to use is probably very busy and you'd be best off to cancel your request by holding down the ALT key and pressing the x key (ALT-X). -- The software used is not standardized, so navigation and search techniques vary from one service to another. -- Please try using the Free-Nets and volunteer to help set up a similar service for the Research Triangle. Contact Judy_Hallman@unc.edu. -- Be sure to try using WAIS, Gopher, and World-Wide Web. You can get to all of them from the BBS and from LIBTEL (section 4 of the exercises). Gopher, WAIS, and World-Wide Web use client/server architecture to present information so that users can navigate through it using the tools they have on their workstations. Each database is presented by a server, and the user's interface to the databases is controlled by client software run on the user's workstation. Thus the user interface is different for each type of client and is natural to the user. In this class, we are using a "dumb" terminal or VT100 client. These services would display text in a variety of fonts and colors with buttons for you to click on if you were using more sophisticated client software. These particular services are very new. Expect to hear a lot more about them. 1. Menued information systems a. INFO (UNC-CH) Telnet info.oit.unc.edu login as info 1 (About INFO) b (backup) 6 (Human Resources) 4 (TOP) 2 (Permanent full-time positions available) Return m (main menu) 7 (Publications) 1 (Newsletters and journals) 6 (IAT briefings 3 (Winter 1992) 11 (Delivering Multimedia in the classroom) b (backup)--three times 12 Postmodern Culture Return m (main) 13 (other systems) q (quit) b. University of Nebraska telnet CRCVMS.UNL.EDU login as info press return 7 (University Press) 1 (online catalog) 23 (Best selling reprints) 7 (Sandoz) E E 30 (children's list) N (next) or return N (next) or return (again) 35 (Ruth) Q (quit) c. Cleveland Free-Net This one is often very busy. You may need to ALT-X to cancel connection. Telnet freenet-in-a.cwru.edu (or freenet-in-b.cwru.edu or freenet-in-c.cwru.edu) 2 (a visitor) 2 (explore the system) press the space bar a couple of times return return again 8 (The Schoolhouse (Academy One)) 1 (About...) Q (quit display) Return (get back to Academy One menu) 9 (The Academy One Library) 4 (The Congressional Memory project) 1 (About...) q (quit) p (previous menu) 5 (Project Hermes) 1 (about...) q (quit) 7 (You Be The Judge) 250 (Lee v. Weisman) return s (read next message on the same subject) return q (quit) x (exit) Y (yes) d. TriState Online (Cincinnati Free-Net) telnet tso.uc.edu login as visitor You will be asked to enter your name, then your city and then your state. Press return if the entry looks OK. Type Y to agree to the statement displayed. You should see the main menu. 5 (Learning Center) 2 (Open Forums on Education) 2 (Public Forum) Note the +2 next to message 103, which means 103 has 2 replies. 103 Return 5 (next page of messages) Note that 117 is a reply to 103 t (top menu) 4 (Government) 4 (The Congressional Memory Project) 3 (Senate Bills) 101 To end the display, type P (Previous menu) x (exit) y (yes) e. Princeton News Network TN3270 pucc.princeton.edu (NOTE: TN3270 not telnet) login as pnn press return tab to Dial-a-Fortune and press return. Press return a few more times. tab to Index to Information in PNN and press return a couple of times M (main menu) tab to Safety Information and press return You're on Latest Police blotter -- press return Exit 2. Libraries a. Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (CARL) TELNET PAC.CARL.ORG 5 (VT100) 3 (Info databases) 60 (Choice Book Reviews) w (word search) chemistry (gives 235 hits). Refine by adding as New Words organic. Get 39 hits. d (display) 6 (to see item #6) Return (for next screen) q (quit) s (start new search) 65 (Internet Resource Guide) w (word search) CONCERT 1 //EXIT b. Dartmouth College TELNET LIB.DARTMOUTH.EDU select file world factbook find country united states (cntl-c for Break) BYE c. Stanford University TELNET FORSYTHETN.STANFORD.EDU Login with the account socrates find tp martin luther king END 3. Special services a. ARCHIE Archie was developed at the McGill School of Computer Science. Archie fetches directory listings from ftp sites and puts them in a database you can search. Thus, you can use Archie to find files you can retrieve by ftp, but be forewarned that there are a lot of files in the database and it is not always easy to find exactly what you are looking for. telnet archie.sura.net or archie.rutgers.edu login as archie help press return to exit from help Whatis kermit prog cwis-l (Will list the sites that have the file cwis-l -- a list of Campus-Wide Information Systems--available for anonymous FTP) quit b. Gopher Telnet consultant.micro.umn.edu (University of Minnesota) login as gopher return (VT100) 9 and press return (cursor should go to line 9 -- other gopher and information servers) press return 4 (North America) 4 (Concert) 1 (about Concert)--the information about Concert is coming from North Carolina q (quit) and return 3 (about this gopher) return u (no return) u (no return) u (no return) -- get back to Gopher's main menu 5 (Libraries) 1 (Electronic Books) 3 (By title) 10 (Historical Documents) down arrow to 21 (Magna Carta) q return u (no return) 3 (1990 USA Census Information) > (next page) 35 (North Carolina) q return q (quit gopher) y (yes) c. World-Wide Web (Geneva, Switerland) telnet info.cern.ch 5 (other subjects) return (for next screen) 19 (Project Gutenburg, in literature) 8 (Freenet) Note the top line: uiuc is the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana 17 (I have a dream) quit d. Lunar & Planetary Institute telnet lpi.jsc.nasa.gov with username LPI Tab to Lunar & Planetary Information Bulletin and press return You will be connected to another computer service which will ask for your name (last name first) and your institution. Select item 1, Browse latest issue of the Bulletin Press return to see more q (quit) q (quit) again Y Tab to Exit & logout and press return e. netfind (Note: it is best to call someone to get their e-mail address and make sure they actually use e-mail). Also, netfind doesn't have bitnet addresses. telnet bruno.cs.colorado.edu login as netfind s (search) hallman unc edu (for person and keys) 17 (oit) n (don't continue) return (to get back to earlier prompt) d (seedDB lookup) s (DB search) unc edu (keys) (You'll see all the internet addresses for unc.edu) return (to get back to earlier prompt) q (quit) q (Quit, exit system) f. FEDIX information on agency research opportunities, program contacts, scholarships, research equipment, procurement notices, and minority opportunities. You have to provide information about yourself. telnet fedix.fie.com login as fedix new (new user) Fill in information about yourself. It will ask if you are accessing via Internet; type Y (yes). It will ask for your Internet address; type your email address. 10 (what is fedix) s (stop) 3 (search) scholarship (for the keyword) 23 1 (select the first item) 2 (gives program description) q, q, q (back to the main menu) 0 (zero, logoff) 4. BBS and LIBTEL The Bulletin Board System called BBS (running on an OIT UNIX workstation) and LIBTEL (on the OIT DEC VAX computer) both give access to libraries, campus-wide information systems, Freenets, gopher, simple WAIS, World-Wide Web, and many other resources. You don't need to know the Internet address of the service you want to use or select the proper terminal emulation, and you don't need a userid to use these services. You can also use these services from the campus Sytek network. These systems are particularly useful for exploring the Internet. However, you if are interested in using only one particular service and you know the Internet address, it is better to connect directly than to take up a connection on the BBS or the VAX. To connect to the BBS from the Sytek network, at the # prompt, type inet (in lowercase). Select item 3. Type bbs for username. Enter your first and list name, as directed. (You may need to use a nickname or initial if your name is not unique). Enter a password of your choice, as directed. Remember how you entered your name and your password. For more information on the BBS, see OIT document H-011. To connect to LIBTEL from the Sytek network, at the # prompt, type inet (in lowercase). Select item 5. For username, type libtel. If you are logged onto the VAX on your own userid, you can type either libtel at the $ prompt. If you need more information on connecting to these services, see Overview of Communications at UNC-CH, OIT document G-001, available from Room 37 of Phillpis Hall. You can also telnet to these services. The following two exercises are essentially the same -- one using LIBTEL and the other using the BBS. a. LIBTEL telnet UNCVX1.OIT.UNC.EDU at the username prompt type libtel 4 (miscellaneous databases) 7 (other services) 2 (ham radio callsign) y (connect) help name huntress quit return (from other services) 6 (Wide-area Information Access Tools) 2 (wide area information server, WAIS) y (connect) login as wais type your userid or name return (vt100) Type J about six times. Capital J brings up the next page; you should see Eric-digests. Use the arrow keys to move to that one. press the space bar and note the * next to the item we selected. type w (no return) -- cursor moves to bottom left next to keywords. Type health and press return (Note you can select several databases to search, and you don't need to know their Internet addresses) You should get a list of hits. Note the score, valuing your hits based on word frequency, location in document, etc. The top item is highlighted. Press return and the document should be delivered to your screen. Press the space bar to see more q (quit display) s (select source) press the space bar to turn off selection of Eric- digests Type J until you get down to supreme-court Use arrow keys to move to that one and press the space bar to select it. type w (no return) backspace over health and type hate protected speech press return to see the Wisconsin case. (Supreme court decisions are available via WAIS the day after they are announced) q (quit display of the case) q (quit SWAIS and go back to the Wide-area Information Access Tools menu. Note that you can access Gopher and World-wide Web from here.) Return twice to get back to the initial menu. 3 (campus-wide information systems) 20 (Ohio--You can access some of the the FreeNets from here; Heartland Freenet is in Peoria, Illinois) Return a couple of times to leave LIBTEL. b. BBS telnet bbs.oit.unc.edu at the user prompt type bbs press space bar to move through text Enter your name. (If prompted for a password, try a variation of your name.) You will be asked to enter the city and state and to select a password. Remember how you typed your name and your password for future connections. You will see some welcome screens and bulletins. q (quit bulletin section and go to the main menu) 4 (simple WAIS) Type J about six times. Capital J brings up the next page; you should see Eric-digests. Use the arrow keys to move to that one. press the space bar and note the * next to the item we selected. type w (no return) -- cursor moves to bottom left next to keywords. Type health and press return (Note you can select several databases to search, and you don't need to know their Internet addresses) You should get a list of hits. Note the score, valuing your hits based on word frequency, location in document, etc. The top item is highlighted. Press return and the document should be delivered to your screen. Press the space bar to see more q (quit display) s (select source) press the space bar to turn off selection of Eric- digests Type J until you get down to supreme-court Use arrow keys to move to that one and press the space bar to select it. type w (no return) backspace over health and type hate protected speech press return to see the Wisconsin case. (Supreme court decisions are available via WAIS the day after they are announced) q (quit display of the case) q (quit SWAIS) 9 (Libraries and Campus-Wide Information Systems) bbs (You can try out the FreeNets from here) Return (back to the menu) misc (you can use Gopher and World-wide Web from here) 2 (ham radio callsign) y (connect) help name huntress quit return (from misc) EXIT (back to the main menu) 8 (goodbye) 5. FTP Note that most anonymous ftp sites run UNIX and so the file names are case sensitive. To see the files you brought over, after you exit ftp use the command: type filename|more a. World-Wide Web: The Information Universe (A PostScript file) ftp info.cern.ch login as anonymous enter your e-mail address or name as the password cd /pub/www/doc get ENRAP_9202.ps quit b. Review of Zen and the Art of the Internet, by Billie Barron ftp infolib.murdoch.edu.au login as anonymous cd /pub/jnl get barron.jnl quit c. What is Archie? ftp infolib.murdoch.edu.au login as anonymous cd /pub/soft/archie get archie.doc quit d. GPO Gateway to Government Act of 1992 (the House version of this bill, H.R.2772, is sponsored by Rep. Rose (D-NC). ftp ftp.sura.net login as anonymous cd /pub/nic/NREN get GPO.bill.6-92 gpo.bil quit e. High Performance Computing Act of 1991 (NREN) ftp nis.nsf.net login as anonymous cd /internet/legislative.actions/nren.bill get nrenbill.txt quit f. Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992 (also known as the Gore Bill), would authorize a total of $1.15 billion over the next five years to ensure that the technology developed by the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 is applied widely in K-12 education, libraries, health care, and industry. ftp nic.merit.edu login as anonymous cd /nren/iita.1992 get gorebill.1992.txt gorebill.txt quit FreeNets Cleveland: telnet freenet-in-a.cwru.edu (or freenet-in-b.cwru or freenet-in-c.cwru.edu). Heartland (Peoria): telnet heartland.bradley.edu, login as bbguest. TriState Online (Cincinnati): telnet tso.uc.edu, login as visitor. Youngstown: telnet yfn.ysu.edu, login as visitor.