GATEWAYS(5,F) AIX TCP/IP User's Guide GATEWAYS(5,F) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- gateways PURPOSE Defines and maintains routing information. SYNOPSIS /etc/gateways DESCRIPTION The /etc/gateways file identifies gateways for the routed command. Ordinarily, the routed command queries the network, building routing tables from routing information transmitted by other hosts that are directly connected to the network. However, there may be gateways that the routed command cannot identify through its queries (distant gateways). Such gateways should be identified in /etc/gateways, which routed reads when it starts. The general format of an entry in /etc/gateways is: destination name1 gateway name2 metric value type Following is a brief description of each element in a /etc/gateways file entry: destination A keyword that indicates whether the route is to a network or to a specific host. The two possible keywords are net and host. name1 The name associated with destination, name1, can be either a symbolic name (as used in /etc/hosts or /etc/networks) or an Internet address specified in dotted decimal format. gateway Indicator that the following string identifies the gateway host. name2 Name or address of the gateway host to which messages should be forwarded. metric Indicator that the next string represents the hop count to the destination host or network. value The hop count. type A keyword that indicates whether the gateway should be treated as active or passive. The two possible keywords are active and passive. An active gateway is treated like a network interface (that is, it is expected to exchange routing information and if it does not do so for a period of time, the route associated with it is deleted). A passive gateway is not expected to exchange routing information. Information about it is maintained in the routing Processed October 29, 1990 GATEWAYS(5,F) 1 GATEWAYS(5,F) AIX TCP/IP User's Guide GATEWAYS(5,F) tables indefinitely and is included in any routing information that is transmitted. Processed October 29, 1990 GATEWAYS(5,F) 2 GATEWAYS(5,F) AIX TCP/IP User's Guide GATEWAYS(5,F) EXAMPLES Following are four sample /etc/gateways entries: 1. A route to a network, "net2", through the gateway, "host4". The hop count metric to "net2" is "4" and the gateway is treated as "passive". net net2 gateway host4 metric 4 passive 2. A route like the one in the previous example except that it is to a specific host (rather than to a network): host host2 gateway host4 metric 4 passive 3. A route to a specific host, "host10", through the gateway, "192.9.201.5". The hop count metric to "host10" is "9" and the gateway is treated as "active". host host10 gateway 192.9.201.5 metric 9 active 4. A route like the one in the previous example except that the gateway is treated as "passive" (rather than "active"): host host10 gateway 192.9.201.5 metric 9 passive FILES /usr/lpp/tcpip/samples/gateways RELATED INFORMATION In this book: "routed" Processed October 29, 1990 GATEWAYS(5,F) 3