Description Paper English (Issue 10/07/2012)

FarLinX X.25 Gateway Configuration for Conversion

from TCP/IP-RFC1006 to X.25

Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3
2 FarLinX X.25 Gateway configuration ................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Adding a TCP to X.25 route ......................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Adding a X.25 to TCP route ......................................................................................................... 9
3 Settings for openFT............................................................................................................................ 11
3.1 Transport Protocol Data Unit (TPDU) size ................................................................................ 11
3.2 HOSTS file.................................................................................................................................. 12

1 Introduction
The configuration of the FarLinX X.25 Gateway for connecting a system with TCP/IP-RFC1006 and a system
with X.25-ISO Class 0 via openFT will be described in this document with the aid of an example.
A connection between two openFT FTAM entities is set up in the following example. System A can be any
Windows, Linux or Unix System (Solaris, HP-UX, IBM-AIX, etc.), as openFT supports the TCP/IP-RFC1006
protocol as default on all these platforms. For system B we will assume another Windows system, Solaris or
BS2000/OSD.
Figure 1:

openFT FTAM
IP

openFT FTAM

FarLinX X.25
Gateway
LAN

System A
IP: 20.10.20.10
Port: 4800

IP

X.25

IP: 20.10.20.197
Port: 14000
X.25 DTE: 666666

System B
X.25 DTE: 654321

It is useful for the gateway configuration to visualize the different perspectives of the two partner systems with
regard to the respective other system.
Seen from the system A perspective, system B is a TCP/IP partner with IP address 20.10.20.197 and port
number 14000 (see figure 2).
Figure 2:

TCP/IP

System B
IP: 20.10.20.197
Port: 14000

System A
IP: 20.10.20.10
Port: 4800

Seen from the system B perspective, system A is an X.25 partner with the DTE address 666666 (see figure 3).
Figure 3:

X.25

System B
X.25 DTE: 654321

System A
X.25 DTE: 666666

2 FarLinX X.25 Gateway configuration

The FarLinX X.25 Gateway configuration can be made directly with a web browser. After login to the gateway
using default username admin and default password farlinx the following web site is displayed (see figure
4):
Figure 4:

From the menu on the left under Configuration select X.25 & Gateway. The Gateway configuration page will be
displayed (see figure 5).

Figure 5:

The branch under FLIC(s) displays all the FarLinX adapters that have been detected in the Gateway. Details for
each adapter are displayed in the right-hand pane as you select adapters and their associated ports in the left-hand
pane. An X.25 line definition can be added for any port by selecting the port in the left-hand pane and clicking the
Create button which is then displayed in the right-hand pane (see figure 6).

Figure 6:

After the X.25 line definition has been configured correctly the changes must be saved by pressing the Save
button. Because the correct values for the X.25 configuration differ from customer to customer the X.25 set-up
cannot be explained in detail in this document.
Start the X.25 line afterwards by right-clicking the X.25 line in the left pane and choosing Start from the context
menu.

2.1 Adding a TCP to X.25 route

To set-up a connection from the system A to system B a TCP to X.25 route must be defined. A TCP to X.25
route definition can be added by selecting TCP-to-X.25 Routes in the left-hand pane and clicking the Add button
which is then displayed in the right-hand pane (see figure 7).

Figure 7:

After pressing the Add button the dialog for the TCP-to-X.25 Route definition is displayed (see figure 8).

Figure 8:

As described in chapter 1, seen from the system A perspective, system B is using the IP address 20.10.20.197
and port 14000 (see chapter 1, figure 2).

For Name enter a name to be associated with this route for identification purposes. Here A2B is used for
the name for the direction from system A to system B. For Message Type select RFC-1006. The RFC-1006
protocol is the transport protocol used on transport layer on TCP/IP side.
Under Local Settings specify the port number 14000 which is used by the FarLinX X.25 gateway for incoming
connections from system A. The FarLinX X.25 gateway will listen on this port for incoming TCP/IP connections
from system A. You can choose any TCP port you want. For Local X.25 NUA specify the DTE address which is
used as the calling DTE address (the DTE address of the FarLinX gateway) in a X.25 Call Request to system B.
In the sample the DTE address of the FarLinX X.25 gateway is 666666 (see chapter 1, figure 1).
Under Remote Settings select the type of Virtual Circuit (SVC or PVC) to be used when forwarding the
connection set-up received from the TCP/IP network to the X.25 network. For Destination X.25 NUA specify the
DTE address used as the called DTE address (the DTE address of system B) in a X.25 Call Request to system B.
In the sample the DTE address of system B is 654321 (see chapter 1, figure 1). For X.25 Line select the port of
the FarLinX X.25 adapter that is used for outgoing connections to system B.
Afterwards press the Ok button.

2.2 Adding a X.25 to TCP route

To set-up a connection from system B to system A a X.25 to TCP route must be defined. A X.25 to TCP route
definition can be added by selecting X.25-to-TCP Routes in the left-hand pane and clicking the Add button
which is then displayed in the right-hand pane (see figure 9).
Figure 9:

After pressing the Add button the dialog for the X.25-to-TCP Route definition is displayed (see figure 10).

Figure 10:

As described in chapter 1, seen from the system B perspective, system A is using the DTE address 666666 (see
chapter 1, figure 3).

For Name enter a name to be associated with this route for identification purposes. Here B2A is used for
the name for the direction from system B to system A. For Message Type select RFC-1006. The RFC-1006
protocol is the transport protocol used on transport layer on TCP/IP side. On X.25 side a transport protocol
according to ISO 8073 transport Class 0 must be used. The FarLinX X.25 gateway will convert the ISO 8073
Class 0 transport protocol to RFC-1006 and vice versa.
Under Local Settings select the type of Virtual Circuit (SVC or PVC) to be used for connections received from
the X.25 network. For Local X.25 NUA specify the DTE address of the FarLinX X.25 gateway. This DTE
address is the called DTE address in an incoming X.25 Call Request received from system B. In the sample the
DTE address of the FarLinX X.25 gateway is 666666 (see chapter 1, figure 1).
Under Remote Settings for Destination IP specify the IP address 20.10.20.10 of system A (see chapter 1, figure
1). For the Destination TCP Port Number specify the port number 4800. This is the default port used by openFT
FTAM on system A for incoming connections.
Afterwards press the Ok button.

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3 Settings for openFT

3.1 Transport Protocol Data Unit (TPDU) size
If no suggestion is made in an RFC-1006 connection set-up for the TPDU size to be used, then a TPDU size of
65531 bytes in the transport layer is used as default. In contrast to this, the ITU-T Norm X.224 (ISO 8073) defines
a maximum TPDU size of 2048 bytes in the transport layer for the transport class 0.
For a maximum throughput in the LAN openFT/PCMX uses a TPDU size of 65531 bytes as standard. A value for
the Preferred TPDU size is therefore not suggested in the RFC1006 connection set-up.
With conversion of the RFC-1006 protocol to the ISO transport protocol the Preferred TPDU size parameter is
not included in the FarLinX X.25 gateway if none is given in the RFC-1006 connection set-up. The result can be
that in both end systems different values for the TPDU size are used or a very small TPDU size of 128 bytes is
selected by the end system, which has a negative effect on the throughput.
To prevent these problems it is useful to always suggest a Preferred TPDU size of 2048 bytes in the RFC-1006
connection set-up.
When using openFT with CMX under Windows create the value CMXINIT of type REG_SZ in the registry
under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SNI\PCMX-32\CurrentVersion and set it to the value -t 2048.
The openFT service must be restarted (net stop openft/net start openft) after the value has been created.

When using openFT without CMX (as of openFT V12) create the value VMINIT of type REG_SZ in the
registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Fujitsu Technology Solutions\openFT\CurrentVersion
and set it to the value -t 2048.
The asynchronous openFT server must be restarted (ftstop/ftstart) after the value has been created.
Under Linux and other Unix systems the environment variable CMXINIT must be set in a shell and exported for
the PCMX configuration when openFT with CMX is used. In a shell enter the following:
ftstop
CMXINIT="-t 2048"
export CMXINIT
ftstart

#
#
#
#

terminate asynchronous openFT

set CMXINIT variable
export CMXINIT variable
start asynchronous openFT

For synchronous commands set and export the environment variable CMXINIT in the shell before the ncopy
command is started for transferring a file.
When using openFT without CMX (as of openFT V12) use the environment variable OPENFTVMINIT instead
of CMXINIT.

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3.2 HOSTS file

With incoming connections openFT tries to convert the IP address of the initiator system into a host name. This
procedure can take a long time and cause delays if name resolution is improperly configured, a DNS server can
only be reached via a slow network or if the FarLinX X.25 gateway is unknown to the DNS server. In these cases
add the address of the FarLinX X.25 gateway to the local host file (/etc/hosts for Unix systems;
%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts for Windows).

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