RFC 1739 (rfc1739) - Page 2 of 46
A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1739 Primer on Internet & TCP/IP Tools December 1994 1. Introduction This memo is an introductory guide to some of the TCP/IP and Internet tools and utilities that allow users to access the wide variety of information on the network, from determining if a particular host is up to viewing a multimedia thesis on foreign policy. It also describes discussion lists accessible from the Internet, ways to obtain Internet documents, and resources that help users weave their way through the Internet. This memo may be used as a tutorial for individual self-learning, a step-by-step laboratory manual for a course, or as the basis for a site's users manual. It is intended as a basic guide only and will refer to other sources for more detailed information. 2. A Beginner's Guide to TCP/IP-based Utilities and Applications This section provides descriptions and detailed examples of several TCP/IP utilities and applications, including actual sessions using these utilities (with some extraneous information removed). Each section below describes a single TCP/IP-based tool, it's application, and, in some cases, how it works. The text description is followed by an actual sample session. The sample dialogues shown below were made using the Multinet TCP/IP software for VAX/VMS or DOS versions of FTP Software's PC/TCP. While the examples below can be used as a guide to using and learning about the capabilities of these tools, the reader should understand that not all of these utilities may be found at all TCP/IP hosts nor in all commercial software packages. Furthermore, the user interface for different packages will be different and the actual command line may appear differently than shown here; this will be particularly true for graphical user interfaces running over Windows, X-Windows, OS/2, or Macintosh systems. The Internet has many exciting things to offer but standardized interfaces to the protocols is not yet one of them! This guide will not provide any detail or motivation about the Internet Protocol Suite; more information about the TCP/IP protocols and related issues may be found in RFC 1180 [18], Comer [22], Feit [23], and Kessler [30]. In the commands shown in the descriptions below, any item appearing in square brackets ([]) is optional and the vertical-bar (|) means "or"; parameters appearing with no brackets or within curly brackets ({}) are mandatory. In the sample dialogues, most user input is in capital letters (only where allowed) and lines containing user input are designated with a "**" in the far-left margin. AUTHOR'S NOTE: The sample dialogues are easier to read in the secondary, Postscript version of this RFC. Kessler & Shepard
