Chapter 63

Permanent Assignments

Introduction ................................................................................................. 63-2

Overview of Permanent Assignments ........................................................... 63-2
Configuring a Permanent Assignment .......................................................... 63-3
Command Reference ................................................................................... 63-5
add perm .............................................................................................. 63-5
delete perm ........................................................................................... 63-6
reset perm ............................................................................................. 63-6
set perm ................................................................................................ 63-7
show perm ............................................................................................ 63-8
63-2 AlliedWare OS Software Reference

Introduction
This chapter describes the permanent assignment service provided by the
router, and how to set up and use permanent assignments on the router.

The permanent assignment service is a proprietary TCP-based mechanism for

creating a permanent data pipe between any two asynchronous ports. The two
ports may be on the same or different routers.

The permanent assignment service is only available on AR725 and AR745

routers.

Overview of Permanent Assignments

Permanent assignments provide a method for creating permanent links
between asynchronous ports on routers. Any two asynchronous ports on a
single router or on routers that can communicate with each other via TCP/IP
can be set up to have a permanent assignment between them. Asynchronous
traffic coming into each port is sent via TCP to the other port and then sent out
that port.

The most common use of permanent assignments is to provide access to

network printers. However, permanent assignments can connect any
asynchronous devices together. Other examples include connecting an
asynchronous port to a host computer asynchronous port and connecting an
asynchronous port on a data logger to a computer for capturing the results of
experiments.

To set up a permanent assignment, the port numbers of the ports and the IP
addresses of the routers at each end of the link must be specified. Each
permanent assignment is also given a name. The name is used for management
convenience and for identification purposes when the permanent assignment’s
TCP connection is made at router boot or when the permanent assignment is
created or reset. A short dialogue takes place between the two routers involved
in the permanent assignment when the assignment is set up, to verify that the
correct ports are being connected. This dialogue uses the permanent
assignment name for verification. The name is case sensitive and must be
identical for both ends of the permanent assignment.

A given permanent assignment has a different view looking from each end of
the assignment. The terms local and remote are used to denote the ends of the
assignment from one point of view. Thus there is a local and remote port and a
local and remote router for each permanent assignment. Note that the local
router is the router that the command is being entered on.

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Configuring a Permanent Assignment

This section describes the procedure and gives an example for configuring a
permanent assignment.

Each end of the permanent assignment must be set up for the assignment to
work correctly. A common cause of problems for permanent assignments is
one end of the assignment being set up incorrectly.

Procedure To set up one end of a permanent assignment use the command:

add perm=perm-name LPORT=local-port RPORT=remote-port
IP=ipadd

The name of the permanent assignment, the local and remote ports and the IP
address of the remote router must all be specified in this command.

If the two ports of the permanent assignment are on different routers, the add
perm command must be entered on each router. If both ports are on the same
router, the command only needs to be entered once. The IP address specified
may be any one of the IP addresses configured on the router.

To display the configuration of the permanent assignment (Figure 63-1), use

the command:
show perm[=perm-name]

Figure 63-1: Example output from the show perm command

Port
Name Local Remote IP address
-----------------------------------------------
laser-print 01 04 172.16.8.37
-----------------------------------------------

To remove a permanent assignment, use the command:

delete perm=perm-name

This command removes the permanent assignment from the local router. If the
other port of the permanent assignment is on a remote router, the permanent
assignment should also be removed from the remote router.

To reset a permanent assignment, use the command:

reset perm=perm-name

This command breaks the current TCP connection being used for the
permanent assignment and attempts a new connection. The asynchronous port
being used for the permanent assignment is also reset.

To modify an existing permanent assignment, use the command:

set perm=perm-name [LPORT=local-port] [RPORT=remote-port]
[IP=ipadd]

To display the configuration of a permanent assignment, use the command:

show perm[=perm-name]

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Example This example illustrates the process of setting up a permanent assignment. The
assignment is to be established between asynchronous port 0 on a router with
IP address 172.26.4.1 and asynchronous port 0 on a router with IP address
172.20.34.9, and is to be named “main office”. Since the name of the permanent
assignment in this example contains embedded spaces, the whole name must
be enclosed in double quotes when entered in a command. The commands to
be executed on the router with address 172.26.4.1 are:
add perm=”main office” lport=0 rport=0 ip=172.20.34.9
show perm
which produces the output shown in Figure 63-2.

Figure 63-2: Example output from the show perm command for router 172.26.4.1

Port
Name Local Remote IP address
-----------------------------------------------
main office 00 00 172.20.34.9
-----------------------------------------------

The commands to be executed on the router with address 172.20.34.9 are:

add perm=”main office” lport=0 rport=0 ip=172.26.4.1
show perm
which produces the output shown in Figure 63-3.

Figure 63-3: Example output from the show perm command for router 172.20.34.9

Port
Name Local Remote IP address
-----------------------------------------------
main office 00 00 172.26.4.1
-----------------------------------------------

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Command Reference
This section describes commands available on the router to configure and
manage permanent assignments. The permanent assignment service is only
available on AR725 and AR745 routers.

The permanent assignment service requires IP to be enabled and configured

correctly. See Chapter 21, Internet Protocol (IP) for detailed descriptions of the
commands required to enable and configure IP.

See “Conventions” on page lxiv of About this Software Reference in the front
of this manual for details of the conventions used to describe command syntax.
Note that the = sign is required in the command syntax. See Appendix A,
Messages for a complete list of messages and their meanings.

add perm

Syntax ADD PERM=perm-name Lport=lport Rport=rport IP=ipadd

Description This command adds a permanent assignment on the local router. If the remote
end of the permanent assignment is on another router you must also configure
the permanent assignment on the remote router.

Parameter Description
PERM Name for the permanent assignment you want to add. You must
configure both ends of the permanent assignment with the same name,
but each permanent assignment on a given router must have a unique
name. The perm-name is case sensitive and consists of:
• a string 1 to 15 characters long
• any printable characters
If perm-name contains spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes.
Default: no default
Lport Asynchronous port for the local end of the permanent assignment. The
lport is the asynchronous port number. Ports are numbered sequentially
starting with 0.
Default: no default
Rport Asynchronous port for the remote end of the permanent assignment.
The rport is the asynchronous port number. Ports are numbered
sequentially starting with 0.
Default: no default
IP IP address of the remote router, in dotted decimal notation.
Default: no default

Examples To add a permanent assignment called DataLogger between asynchronous port

0 on the local router and asynchronous port 0 on a remote router with the IP
address 172.16.38.5, use the command:
add perm=DataLogger lport=0 rport=0 ip=172.16.38.5

Related Commands delete perm

reset perm
set perm
show perm
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delete perm

Syntax DELete PERM=perm-name

Description This command removes a permanent assignment from the local router. If the
remote end of the permanent assignment is on another router you must also
delete the permanent assignment from the remote router.

The perm parameter specifies the name of the existing permanent assignment
you want to delete.

Examples To delete the permanent assignment called DataLogger, use the command:
del perm=DataLogger

Related Commands add perm

reset perm
set perm
show perm

reset perm

Syntax RESET PERM=perm-name

Description This command resets a permanent assignment. The TCP connection used by
the permanent assignment is closed and new TCP connection is established,
and the asynchronous port is reset.

The perm parameter specifies the name of the existing permanent assignment
you want to reset.

Examples To reset the permanent assignment called DataLogger, use the command:
reset perm=DataLogger

Related Commands add perm

delete perm
set perm
show perm

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set perm

Syntax SET PERM=perm-name [LPORT=lport] [RPORT=rport] [IP=ipadd]

Description This command modifies the parameters of a permanent assignment on the

local router. If the remote end of the permanent assignment is on another
router you must also modify the permanent assignment on the remote router.

Parameter Description
PERM Name for the permanent assignment you want to modify. You must
configure both ends of the permanent assignment with the same name,
but each permanent assignment on a given router must have a unique
name. The perm-name is case sensitive and consists of:
• a string 1 to 15 characters long
• any printable characters
If perm-name contains spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes.
Default: no default
Lport Asynchronous port for the local end of the permanent assignment. The
lport is the asynchronous port number. Ports are numbered sequentially
starting with 0.
Default: no default
Rport Asynchronous port for the remote end of the permanent assignment.
The rport is the asynchronous port number. Ports are numbered
sequentially starting with 0.
Default: no default
IP IP address of the remote router, in dotted decimal notation.
Default: no default

Examples To change the local and remote asynchronous ports used by the permanent
assignment called DataLogger to asynchronous port 0, use the command:
set perm=DataLogger lport=0 rport=0

Related Commands add perm

delete perm
reset perm
show perm

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show perm

Syntax SHOW PERM[=perm-name]

where perm-name is the name of a permanent assignment

Description This command displays information about permanent assignments

(Figure 63-4, Table 63-1).

If you specify a value for the perm parameter, only information about the
specified permanent assignment is displayed.

If you do not specify a value for the perm parameter, information about all
permanent assignments is displayed.

Figure 63-4: Example output from the show perm command

Port
Name Local Remote IP address
-----------------------------------------------
laser-print 00 04 172.16.8.37
-----------------------------------------------

Table 63-1: Parameters in output of the show perm command

Parameter Meaning
Name Name of the permanent assignment.
Local Local port for the permanent assignment.
Remote Remote port for the permanent assignment.
IP address IP address of the remote router.

Examples To display all the permanent assignments configured on the local router, use
the command:
show perm

Related Commands add perm

delete perm
reset perm
set perm

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