PreviousIBM Communications Server v5.01 for Windows NT Microsoft SNA Server v3.0Next"

Appendix D: IBM Personal Communications v4.2 for Windows 95 and Windows NT


Note: Screen snapshots are copyright IBM Corporation


This document provides sample views of an 802.2 DLC connection for IBM Personal Communications for Windows 95 and Windows NT. We have validated the CCIAPPC component against IBM Personal Communications version 4.2. This document is arranged in a logical sequence for a new installation of the Personal Communications product.

D.1 Installing IBM Personal Communications

This documentation assumes that you have already installed IBM Personal Communications. During the installation of IBM Personal Communications you must opt to install the Communications APIs component. In addition the IBM IEEE 802.2 LAN Interface must have been installed.

D.2 Installing IBM IEEE 802.2 LAN Interface

IBM Personal Communications requires the IBM IEEE 802.2 Lan Interface to provide support for a connection over 802.2. Towards the end of the installation of IBM Personal Communications you will be prompted to choose whether to automatically install the IBM IEEE 802.2 Lan Interface for use with IBM Personal Communications over a LAN. Unless you have installed this interface previously you must opt to install the IBM IEEE 802.2 LAN Interface if you intend to configure connections over 802.2.

D.3 Configuring IBM Personal Communications

After successfully installing the Personal Communications product, you can start to configure your APPC connection. You should have a VTAM definition of the connection you are attempting to configure available to you during the configuration.

From the IBM Personal Communications program folder, start the SNA Node Configuration program.

D.4 Configuring the Node

In the File menu select New to create a new Node configuration.

D.5 Step 1: Node Setup

From the Configuration options listbox select Configure Node and then select New.

D.5.1 Basic Settings

  1. In the Fully Qualified CP name enter the Network Name for this SNA network in the first box. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system. In the second box following the period enter the Control Point (CP) name assigned to this machine. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system. The CP Name should match the Physical Unit (PU) name assigned to this machine as specified in the PU definition in VTAM for this machine.
  2. Duplicate the CP Name in CP alias.
  3. Enter the 8 digit hexadecimal Local Node ID which is used to identify this local system on the SNA network. The first 3 digits is the Block ID (IDBLK) number followed by the last 5 digits of the Physical Unit ID (IDNUM) (also known as the Node number). These numbers must correspond with the IDBLK and IDNUM fields of the PU definition for this machine as defined in VTAM on the host system.

D.5.2 Advanced Settings

These can be left to their default settings

D.5.3 DLU Requester Settings

These can be left to their default settings

Select OK to complete the Node configuration.

D.6 Step 2: Device Configuration

From the Configuration options list box select Configure Devices. Then from the DLCs list box select LAN and then select New.

D.6.1 Basic Settings

  1. Specify LAN adapter.

IBM Personal Communications will detect which LAN adapters are available for use (i.e. are not dialup adapters, etc.) and list them by number in the Adapter number pulldown list box. If you only have one LAN adapter installed you can select the Use first available LAN adapter checkbox. If you have more than one LAN adapter do not select this checkbox but select the appropriate LAN adapter number from the Adapter number pulldown listbox. The following information will help you to determine the adapter number of the LAN adapter.

In Windows 95 and Windows NT LAN adapters are assigned an Adapter number in a range which starts with 0. However, you cannot assume that just because you have only one LAN adapter defined it will be assigned adapter number 0, for example a dial-up adapter will also be assigned a LAN adapter number and, in addition, removing adapters from the configuration does not cause the adapter numbers to be reassigned.

  1. On Windows NT

Select the adapter number assigned to the required LAN adapter listed in the Adapters panel of the network settings in Control Panel.

NOTE: On Windows NT the adapter numbers displayed in the Adapter number pulldown list box of the Personal Communications Device configuration are inconsistent with the numbers assigned by Windows NT the Adapters panel of the Network settings in Control Panel. When only one LAN adapter is installed Windows NT assigns it number 1 in the Network settings whereas IBM Personal Communications displays it as 0 in the Adapter number pulldown list box of the Basic Settings of the Device configuration.

Start the Windows 95 Registry Editor (regedit). Select the key item HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net. This key will contain a numbered key entry for each adapter. Select each numbered key (simply select with the mouse, do not double-click) and use the DriverDesc field to determine which adapter this describes. When you have found the required LAN adapter its adapter number is its numbered key value.

D.6.2 Advanced Settings

These can be left to their default settings

D.6.3 Performance Settings

These can be left to their default settings

Select OK to complete the Device configuration.

D.7 Step 3: Connection Configuration

From the Configuration options list box select Configure connections and then select New.

D.7.1 Basic Settings

  1. Enter a name for the connection in the Link station name. This must be up to 8 characters long and will describe the connection, e.g. the destination of the connection.
  2. From the Device name pulldown select the LAN Device name configured previously in step 2.
  3. Enter the 12 digit hexadecimal Destination address of the network controller attached to the remote host system. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system.
  4. Unless directed otherwise, leave the Remote SAP to default to 04.
  5. Select the LAN adapter type of the network controller attached to the host system. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system.

D.7.2 Advanced Settings

  1. Select Activate link at start to automatically activate the connection when the Node is started.
  2. Select APPN support.
  3. Leave the HPR support, Auto-activate support, Link to preferred NN server and Solicit SSCP sessions options checkboxes unselected.
  4. Leave the Maximum PIU size to default to 32767.
  5. Enter the 8 digit hexadecimal Local Node ID which is used to identify this local system on the SNA network. This should be the same as the Local Node ID specified when configuring the Node in step 1 previously.

D.7.3 Security Settings

  1. Enter the fully qualified Control Point name of the Host system in the Adjacent CP name. Enter the Network Name for this SNA network in the first box. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system. In the second box following the period enter the Control Point (CP) name assigned to the remote Host machine. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system.
  2. From the Adjacent CP type pulldown select APPN Node.
  3. Leave the TG number to default to 0.

Select OK to complete the Connection configuration.

Before attempting to communicate using CCIAPPC you must define the local and remote LUs which will be used to communicate over the SNA connection you have configured. In this section we will describe the configuration of Independent LUs to be used to communicate over the host connection. When communicating with Host systems running VTAM (or NCP) the Remote LU is known as the APPLID (pronounced 'apple-eye-dee').

D.8 Step 4: Local LU Configuration

From the Configuration options listbox select Configure Local LU 6.2 and then select New.

  1. For the Local LU name specify the LU name as defined in the list of LUs defined for this PU in VTAM on the host system.
  2. Leave Dependent LU unselected.
  3. For the Local LU alias enter the same Local LU name.
  4. Leave the LU session limit to default to 0.

Select OK to complete the Local LU configuration.

D.9 Step 5: Partner LU 6.2 Configuration

From the Configuration options list box select Configure Partner LU 6.2 and then select New.

Unlike Local LUs, Remote LUs are assigned to a connection which will be used to communicate with it.

D.9.1 Basic Settings

  1. Enter the fully qualified Partner LU Name.

This LU Name should match the definition of the LU as it exists on the remote system, in this case in the form of a VTAM APPL definition on the host system.

Enter the Network Name for this SNA network in the first box. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system. In the second box following the period enter the name of the APPL on the remote Host machine. This should be obtained from the network administrator of the host system.

This is the same as the fully qualified CP name entered in the Security settings of the Connection configured previously in step 3.

Setting this correctly will enable the Server to determine which connection to use to locate a partner LU when establishing a session with a Local LU.

D.9.2 Advanced Settings

  1. Leave the Maximum LL record size to default to 32767.
  2. Selecting Conversation security support will have no effect since this is not supported by CCIAPPC.
  3. Ensure that the Parallel session support is selected.

Select OK to complete the Partner LU configuration.

D.10 Configuring Session Limits: Defining a Mode

A Mode is used to define the attributes of sessions used between a Local LU and a Remote LU.

If the default mode #INTER is not appropriate (because its settings are incompatible with the modes defined on the host system for the Remote LU, or perhaps because a larger number of sessions is required) then a new mode can be defined.

CCIAPPC uses a single APPC session for each CCI session between the client and the server (e.g. between the MFA client and Fileshare running on a mainframe). When CCIAPPC establishes a connection between the client and server the attributes of the Mode determine, amongst other things, the number of CCI sessions available between the Local LU and the Remote LU (APPLID in VTAM). Hence the Mode determines how many client sessions can be established using the same Local LU - Remote LU pairing.

The PLU mode session limit and the Minimum contention winner sessions together determine how many sessions can be established by the Local LU (see below).

For example: if 10 client sessions are required, all using the same Local LU then the Mode session attributes might be:

PLU mode session limit = 20
Minimum contention winner sessions = 15

Alternatively the same number of client sessions could be attained by using multiple Local LUs with the client sessions divided between these LUs.


IMPORTANT NOTE: When a connection is established between a Local LU and a Remote LU the Mode characteristics are negotiated. This means that it is possible that the partner system (e.g. mainframe) will reduce the session limits to values which it can support. This may mean that fewer client sessions than expected will be supported. Hence it is important that the Mode characteristics, as defined for both the Local and Remote LUs, are compatible.


D.10.1 Step 6: Configuring Modes (Optional)

From the Configuration options list box select Configure Modes and then select New.

D.10.2 Basic Settings

  1. Enter Mode Name, this should match the Mode Name as defined on the Host system in VTAM. This can be the default log mode specified by the DLOGMOD parameter of the VTAM Applid (APPL) definition.
  2. Enter the PLU mode session limit. This is the maximum number of sessions that can be established between the two LUs.
  3. Enter the number of Minimum contention winner sessions. This is the number of sessions that the Local LU can establish without needing the permission of the Remote LU.

This value cannot be greater than the PLU mode session limit.

D.10.3 Advanced Settings

  1. Leave the Maximum negotiable session limit to default to 128.
  2. Leave the Receive pacing window size to default to 1.
  3. From the Class of service name pulldown select #INTER. This is the default APPC class of service.
  4. Leave Use cryptography unselected.
  5. Leave Use compression unselected.
  6. Leave Use default RIU size selected.

If you are in doubt over these values check with the network administrator of the host system.

Select OK to complete the Mode configuration.

Select OK to complete the Mode configuration.

D.11 Enabling CCIAPPC to Find the Local LU

It is very important that the CCIAPPC module be able to determine the Local LU to use for communication with the Host application. You may have configured everything else correctly and all of your other APPC applications may work, but if you miss this final step you will fail to establish a CCI session with the host application. If the CCI-INITCLIENT call returns CCI error 9 and CCI_GETERROR returns the message "CCIAPPC failed to allocate an APPC session, ensure that Local LU is defined" it is likely that you have failed to complete this final step. When CCIAPPC attempts to allocate an LU 6.2 session with the remote system it must specify the Remote LU name which it requires a session with. This is the Remote LU name specified in the CCI Servername parameter (e.g. the /S parameter in FHREDIR.CFG). However, APPC needs to know the Local LU name as well as the Remote LU name when attempting to establish a session between the LUs.

To enable APPC to retrieve the Local LU name to use when attempting to allocate APPC sessions set the APPCLLU environment variable to the Local LU Name prior to starting the CCIAPPC client.

For Example:

SET APPCLLU=CCILLU01 

D.11.1 To Set the APPCLLU in the Windows NT Environment

  1. In the Start menu, select Settings and then Control Panel.
  2. Start the System program.
  3. Select the Environment settings.
  4. To set the Local LU for all users select any variable setting in the System Variables listbox. Now overtype the Variable name with APPCLLU and overtype the Value with the Local LU name. Alternatively, to just set the Local LU for the current user enter APPCLLU in the Variable edit box and the Local LU name in the Value edit box.
  5. Select Set to define the variable.
  6. Select OK to complete the setting.

This setting will be enabled the next time an application is started.

D.11.2 To Set the APPCLLU in the Windows 95 Environment

This must be done in the Windows 95 AUTOEXEC.BAT file found in the root directory of the Windows 95 System drive, e.g. C:\.

  1. Edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT and add the following to the end of the file:
SET APPCLLU=<Local LU name>
E.g. SET APPCLLU=CCILLU01 

D.12 Verifying the Configuration

To save and verify the configuration:

  1. In the File menu select Save to save the configuration. If prompted, opt to make configuration the default configuration. Exit the SNA Node Configuration program.
  2. In the Administrative and PD Aids folder of the IBM Personal Communications program folder start the SNA Node Configuration Verification program.
  3. In the File menu select Open and select the configuration file. The file will be loaded and the configuration displayed.
  4. In the File menu select Verify. If the configuration is correct the Verify will complete with no errors. If there are errors correct these using the SNA Node Configuration program, save the configuration and run Verify again.

D.13 Activating the Configuration

Once the configuration has been verified as correct the Node can be started.

  1. In Administrative and PD Aids folder of the IBM Personal Communications program folder start the SNA Node Operations program.
  2. In the Operations menu select Start Node... or select the green Start Node icon in the task bar.
  3. Select the configuration to open and select Open.

Once the service is active the underlying connections will activate if Activate link at start was defined for the connections.

D.14 Testing the Configuration

Once you have an active connection use the CNOS Initialize option in the Operations menu of the SNA Node Operations program to test the configuration. This will test the configuration by attempting to bind an LU 6.2 session between the Local LU and the Remote LU over the configured LAN connection.

  1. In the View menu of the SNA Node Operations program select LU 6.2 Sessions.
  2. In the Operations menu of the Node Operations program select CNOS Initialize...
  3. Select the Local LU to be used from the Local LU 6.2 pulldown.
  4. Enter the fully qualified Partner LU name (as defined in step 6 previously). This is of the format <Network Name>.<Partner LU Name>.
  5. Select the Mode to use. This may be a custom Mode you have defined or can be left to default to #INTER.
  6. Specify the characteristics of the Mode.

In Sessions specify the maximum number of sessions allowed by the Mode, this is PLU mode session limit defined for the Mode.

In Winners specify the number of Minimum Contention winners as defined for the mode.

Specify 0 in Losers for the number of Contention Losers.

Specify 1 in Activate to activate a single session as a test.

If the test is successful the session bound between the Local LU and Partner LU will appear in the LU 6.2 Sessions window of the Node Operations program (in the View menu select Refresh to refresh the window). Sessions bound in this way can safely be terminated by selecting the Session Id, clicking the right mouse button and selecting Stop Abnormally.

If the test fails an error will be reported in a dialog box. Use the IBM Personal Communications Log Viewer to help you diagnose the cause of failure (see the section Error Reporting and Diagnostics below).

Now you have tested the active connection it is ready for use with CCIAPPC.

D.15 Error Reporting and Diagnostics

D.16 Known Problems

None.


Copyright © 1999 MERANT International Limited. All rights reserved.
This document and the proprietary marks and names used herein are protected by international law.

PreviousIBM Communications Server v5.01 for Windows NT Microsoft SNA Server v3.0Next"