NetFS -- network file system for AmiTCP
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                           by Timo Rossi


                      Version 0.56 (19-Mar-94)


   NetFS is a network filesystem for Amigas running the AmiTCP protocol stack.
   NOTE: NetFS is NOT SUN NFS compatible. It is to be used between Amigas
         only.


Usage instructions:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 · Make sure that you have AmiTCP configured properly and it can communicate
   between the machines you want to use with NetFS (you can use
   the ping-command for checking this)

   You have the following line in AmiTCP:db/services by default:

amiganetfs	2500/tcp

   You may select another port number if the default 2500 conflicts with
   something (port 2500 is not officially registered for NetFS). Remember
   to change this in ALL machines that will use NetFS (both client and
   server):

   (You can also use the AmiTCP AREXX port to add the service entry without
    editing the netdb file. See AmiTCP manual for details)

 · Use the netmount-command to mount the partitions you want.
   The command syntax is:

netmount hostname remotedev localdev

  For example, if you want to mount drive dh0: on a machine called Amiga1
  and you want to call the local device rh0:, you can use the following:

netmount Amiga1 dh0 rh0

  The full command template for netmount is:

SERVER=HOST/A,REMOTEDEV/A,LOCALDEV/A,HANDLER/K,NOACT/S:

  If you have put netfs-handler in some other directory than L: or renamed
  it, you can specify its filename with the HANDLER keyword.

  Normally netmount automatically activates the mounted device (the same
  way as 'Mount=1' keyword in mountlist). If you don't want that to
  happen, you can use the NOACT-switch. In that case the device process
  starts when the device is first referenced.

MountLists (optional):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Alternatively you can make the mountlist entries and use the normal mount-
  command. You can put these in the normal DEVS:MountList file or a separate
  file and use the Mount FROM-option. If you have AmigaDOS 2.1 or newer,
  you can also use the new style mountfiles instead of mountlists.

  Here is an example mountlist entry:

RH0:
	Handler = L:netfs-handler
	Priority = 5
	StackSize = 5000
	GlobVec = -1
	Mount = 1
	Startup = Server-machine.name.domain/Device-DH0:
#

   The only parameters that you need to change are the server machine name
   and the device name (The syntax is a little strange for compatibility with
   different versions of the Mount-command. Most of them don't like '='-signs
   on the startup-line)

   If you use the 2.1+ mountfiles, you don't need the device name in the 
   beginning or the '#' in the end.

   (But it is so much easier to use the netmount-command, that you probably
   don't want to use mountlists)


Security (or the lack of it):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Netfs has a couple of primitive security features.

    · You can prevent mounting a partition by putting a file called '.nomount'
      in the root directory of that partition.

    · You can cause a partition to be mounted in read-only mode by putting
      a file called '.readonly' in the root directory of that partition.

    · You can use the access control features presented in AmiTCP. Read the
      documentation from AmiTCP manual and from the file 
      AmiTCP:db/inet.access. Especially if you are connecting your amiga
      to the Global Internet you must definitely use access control to
      prevent access from everywhere.


Volume names:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Netfs normally automatically uses the remote volume name in the mounted
   device, but if there is a name collision (another volume/device/assign
   of the same name already exists), it modifies the name by adding
   an underscore and a number to it.

   You can relabel the mounted volume, but this does not affect the actual
   disk on the server machine.


Workbench:
~~~~~~~~~~
   Netfs does not allow access (or Open(), anyway) to a file called 
   '.backdrop',  so left out icons do not work over the network. This is a 
   feature, not a bug.


Reconnect:
~~~~~~~~~~
   If the server machine is rebooted, NetFS will automatically reconnect
   to it when it is running again. However, there may be long timeouts
   after a connection failure before NetFS gives up. This is a normal
   for the TCP protocol that NetFS uses for its connections.

   Sometimes NetFS may lose the connection to the server machine so that
   it doesn't automatically try to reconnect. In that case, you can
   try to reconnect by using the DiskChange-command.

   You can also force NetFS to close the connection by sending ACTION_DIE
   packet to it (for example with the 'die'-command that comes with MSH).


Known problems:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   - speed/performance is not the best possible

   - does not support all 2.0 packet types
     (does not support notification or file locking, but does support links)

   - because netfs uses one TCP connection and separate server/client 
     processes for each mounted device, memory usage is probably more than
     actually  necessary if netfs was implemented in some other, smarter 
     way...

Copyright and distribution:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   NetFS is Copyright © 1993-1994 by Timo Rossi. It can be freely distributed
   for non-commercial purposes. It can be included on disk collections such
   as Fred Fish's AmigaLibDisks or CD-ROMs such as the AmiNET CD-ROM.

   It may not be used for military purposes or life-critical purposes such
   as controlling nuclear reactors or guidance system for a manned spacecraft.

   If you want to include netfs in a commercial product, you should contact
   me first (my address is in the next section).

   NetFS is NOT under the GNU General Public Licence.
            ~~~
   Source code is not currently available, but it may be in the future...


Contact information:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Timo Rossi
   Mattilankatu 40 A 4
   40600 Jyväskylä
   FINLAND

   E-Mail:  trossi@jyu.fi