Other Basic UUCP Configuration Files

You can use files in this section in addition to the Systems, Devices, and Dialers file when doing basic UUCP configuration.

UUCP /etc/uucp/Dialcodes File

The /etc/uucp/Dialcodes file enables you to define dial-code abbreviations that can be used in the Phone field in the /etc/uucp/Systems file. You can use the Dialcodes files to provide additional information about a basic phone number that is used by several systems at the same site.

Each entry has the following format:

abbreviation dial-sequence

abbreviation represents the abbreviation that is used in the Phone field of the Systems file and dial-sequence represents the dial sequence that is passed to the dialer when that particular Systems file entry is accessed. The following table shows the correspondences between the two files.

The following table contains sample entries in a Dialcodes file.

In the first row, NY is the abbreviation to appear in the Phone field of the Systems file. For example, the Systems file might have the following entry:

NY5551212

When uucico reads NY in the Systems file, it searches the Dialcodes file for NY and obtains the dialing sequence 1=212. This is the dialing sequence needed for any phone call to New York City. This sequence includes the number 1, an "equal sign" (=) meaning pause and wait for a secondary dial tone, and the area code 212. uucico sends this information to the dialer, then returns to the Systems file for the remainder of the phone number, 5551212.

The entry jt 9=847- would work with a Phone field such as jt7867 in the Systems file . When uucico reads the entry that contains jt7867 in the Systems file, it sends the sequence 9=847-7867 to the dialer, if the token in the dialer-token pair is \T.

UUCP /etc/uucp/Sysfiles File

The /etc/uucp/Sysfiles file lets you assign different files to be used by uucp and cu as Systems, Devices, and Dialers files. For more information on cu, see the cu(1C) man page. You can use Sysfiles for the following:

• Different Systems files so that requests for login services can be made to different addresses than uucp services.

• Different Dialers files so that you can assign different handshaking for cu and uucp.

• Multiple Systems, Dialers, and Devices files. The Systems file in particular can become large, making it more convenient to split it into several smaller files.

The format of the Sysfiles file is as follows:

service=w systems=x:x dialers=y:y devices=z:z 

w represents uucico, cu, or both commands separated by a colon. x represents one or more files to be used as the Systems file, with each file name separated by a colon and read in the order that is presented. y represents one or more files to be used as the Dialers file. z is one or more files to be used as the Devices file.

Each file name is assumed to be relative to the /etc/uucp directory, unless a full path is given.

The following sample, /etc/uucp/Sysfiles, defines a local Systems file (Local_Systems) in addition to the standard /etc/uucp/Systems file:

service=uucico:cu systems=Systems :Local_Systems 

When this entry is in /etc/uucp/Sysfiles, both uucico and cu first check in the standard /etc/uucp/Systems. If the system they are trying to call doesn't have an entry in that file, or if the entries in the file fail, then both commands check /etc/uucp/Local_Systems.

As specified in the previous entry, cu and uucico share the Dialers and Devices files.

When different Systems files are defined for uucico and cu services, your machine stores two different lists of Systems. You can print the uucico list by using the uuname command or the cu list by using the uuname -C command. The following is another example of the file, which shows that the alternate files are consulted first and the default files are consulted if necessary:

service=uucico systems=Systems.cico:Systems   
  dialers=Dialers.cico:Dialers \ 
devices=Devices.cico:Devices   
  service=cu systems=Systems.cu:Systems \ 
dialers=Dialers.cu:Dialers \   
  devices=Devices.cu:Devices

UUCP /etc/uucp/Sysname File

Every machine that uses UUCP must have an identifying name, often referred to as the node name. This is the name that appears in the remote machine's /etc/uucp/Systems file, along with the chat-script and other identifying information. Normally, UUCP uses the same node name as is returned by the uname -n command, which is also used by TCP/IP.

You can specify a UUCP node name independent of the TCP/IP host name by creating the /etc/uucp/Sysname file. The file has a one-line entry that contains the UUCP node name for your system.