slattach Command

Purpose

Attaches serial lines as network interfaces.

Syntax

/usr/sbin/slattach TTYName [ BaudRate DialString [ DebugLevel ] ]

Description

The /usr/sbin/slattach command assigns a TTY line to a network interface.

The slattach command is run by the /etc/rc.net file during system startup to automatically configure any Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) network interfaces defined by the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT). SLIP interfaces can also be configured manually as shown in the examples section.

For a directly connected SLIP interface, broken connections are retried automatically without manual intervention. For a SLIP interface connected by modem, broken connections must be manually redialed. If a user supplies a dial string in the slattach command line, the user must re-enter the command and dial string to restore a broken connection.

To detach the interface, run the ifconfig Interface down command after terminating the slattach command. The Interface parameter is the name shown by the netstat command.

If configuring a slip interface from the command line, the /usr/sbin/ifconfig command must be invoked for the slip interface with the appropriate parameters and the slip tty line discipline must also be available in order for this command to succeed. To check if the slip tty line discipline is already loaded, run the command strinfo -m | grep slip. If no output is shown, the module has not yet been loaded. Load the module by issuing the command strload -m /usr/lib/drivers/slip.

Note:
  1. After the SLIP interface has been configured with ifconfig, any user who has permission on the TTY may issue the slattach command.
  2. You must configure the tty devices used by the slattach command before establishing a connection. You may also need to make an entry for the tty device in the BNU /usr/lib/uucp/Devices file.
  3. Sample shell script, /usr/sbin/slipcall, provides a simplified interface for invoking slattach and connecting to remote systems. slipcall is useful for connecting to dial-in SLIP networks that require a user to login before activating the SLIP tty line discipline. The basic configuration of slipcall will connect to other operating systems with sliplogin configurations and derive the local and remote internet addresses and network mask assigned by the called system. It then configures the local interface with the remote system's specified values.

Parameters

Item Description
BaudRate Sets the speed of the connection. The default speed is 9600.
DebugLevel Sets the level of debug information desired. A number from 0 through 9 may be specified. A value of 0 specifies no debug information; a value of 9 specifies the most debug information. The default value is 0.
DialString Specifies a string of expect/respond sequences using the Basic Networking Utility (BNU)/AIX® to AIX Copy Program (UUCP) chat syntax.
TTYName Specifies a TTY line. This string is in the form ttyxx or /dev/ttyxx.

Examples

  1. To attach the SLIP network interface to the tty1 port with a direct connection, issue the following command: 
    slattach /dev/tty1
    This command attaches tty1 to a network interface to be used by the SLIP.
  2. To attach the SLIP network interface to tty1 using a modem connection, issue the following command: 
    slattach /dev/tty1 9600 '""AT OK \pATF1 OK \pATDT34335 CONNECT""'

Files

Item Description
/etc/uucp/Devices Lists definitions of devices used for remote connections.