Route Strings

A route string describes the stations of a connection required between two hosts. A route string has the syntax

Syntax

1. (/H/host/S/service/W/pass)*

End of the code.

It consists of any number of “substrings” in the form /H/host/S/service/W/pass.

Caution

H, S, and W must be uppercase!

End of the caution.

Structure

A route string contains a substring for each SAProuter and for the target server.

Each substring contains the information required by SAProuter to set up a connection in the route: the host name, the port name, and the password, if one was given.

Syntax for substrings

• /H/ indicates the host name

  Caution

  Note that the host name must be at least two characters long.

  End of the caution.

• /S/ is used for specifying the service (port); it is an optional entry, the default value is 3299

• /W/ indicates the password for the connection between the predecessor and successor on the route and is also optional (default is "", no password)

  Caution

  In earlier Releases (<4.0a),>

  New /H/saprouter/W/pass/H/targetserver

  Old: /H/saprouter/H/targetserver/P/pass

  (Here pass is the password which is checked by the SAProuter on host saprouter to set up or prohibit the connection from the source host to the target host.)

  Due to downward compatibility, the old password entry form is still possible.

Entering Route Strings

A route string describes a connection required between two hosts using one or more SAProuters. Each of these SAProuters then checks its Route Permission Table to see whether the connection between its predecessor and successor is allowed, and if it is, sets it up.

Procedure

The entry of route strings is best illustrated by an example.

The following graphic shows an example of a connection between SAP and a customer system. In this example, an SAP service employee working on sappc wants to log on to a customer application server yourapp that provides or uses the service sapsrv.

The SAP service employee logs on to the SAP system, and sets up a connection between sappc and yourapp using the SAProuter on sap_rout and the customer's SAProuter your_rout.

your_rout requires password pass_to_app for connections with yourapp.

The route string appears as follows:

/H/sap_rout/H/your_rout/W/pass_to_app/H/yourapp/S/sapsrv

This route string is interpreted by the SAProuters involved in the route as follows:

	Host/address	Service/port	Password
Substring 1	/H/sap_rout	/S/
Substring 2	/H/your_rout	/S/	/W/pass_to_app
Substring 3	/H/yourapp	/S/sapsrv

The connection from sappc to the application server is set up in the following steps:

sappc (front end)	Sets up the connection to SAProuter sap_rout according to substring 1 and relays the route information.
sap_rout (SAProuter on SAP side)	Uses the route permission table to check whether route sappc zu your_rout 3299 is allowed, sets up the connection to the customer SAProuter on host your_rout, and passes substring 2 and 3.
your_rout (SAProuter on customer side)	Checks whether route sap_rout to yourapp, sapsrv is permitted. Password pass_to_app is also checked. SAProuter then sets up the connection to the application server.

A SAProuter always checks only the previous host name or the previous IP address and the next substring (/H/.../S/.../W/..) for host name or IP address, service and password. The last substring does not contain a password, since there is no successor in the route.

If the /S/ section is missing, the default port number of the SAProuter is used. If the /W/ section is missing, a password is not used.

With the old password entry, the above route string would appear as follows:

/H/sap_rout/H/your_rout/H/yourapp/S/sapsrv/P/pass_to_app

Note that the host name (which follows the /H/ in the route string) must be at least two characters long.

Procedure documentationTesting Basic Functions

Prerequisites

Before using SAProuter, you should test whether there are any network problems.

To test the basic functions of the SAProuter, you require the programs saprouter and niping as well as three open windows (shells) on one or more hosts.

Procedure

The following table shows the test scenario when using niping:

SAProuter runs in window 1, the server in window 2, and the client in window 3.

UNIX/Windows

	Window 2 (host2)	Window 1 (host1)	Window 3 (host3)
Without SAProuter	niping -s		niping -c -H host2
With SAProuter	niping -s	saprouter -r	niping -c -H /H/host1/H/host2

IBM i

	Window 2 (host2)	Window 1 (host1)	Window 3 (host3)
Without SAProuter	call niping '-s'		call niping '-c' '-H' 'host2'
With SAProuter	call niping '-s'	saprouter '-r'	call niping '-c' '-H' '/H/host1/H/host2'

Follow the procedure below:

1. Start SAProuter in window 1 (on host1). To do this, enter the following command:

   UNIX/Windows: saprouter -r (IBM i: saprouter '-r'

   This command calls SAProuter without any parameters.

   For a complete list of the SAProuter commands, refer to the chapter SAProuter Options or the online help. To call the online help, enter saprouter.

2. In window 2 (host2), start the test program niping to simulate a test server. Enter the command

   UNIX/Windows: niping -s

   IBM i call niping '-s'

   For a complete list of the niping commands, see the online help. To call the online help, enter niping.

3. In window 3 (host3), start the test program niping to simulate a client. Enter the command

   UNIX/Windows: niping -c -H host2

   IBM i call niping '-c' '-H' 'host2'

   This command tests the connection without the SAProuter, that is directly between host2 and host3.

4. In window 3, start the test program niping again with the following command:

   UNIX/Windows: niping -c -H /H/host1/H/host2

   IBM i call niping '-c' '-H' '/H/host1/H/host2'

   This command tests the connection with SAProuter. A host name is interpreted as a route (over one or more SAProuters to the server) if /H/ is added as a prefix to the host name.

   For more information, see Route Strings

In steps 3 and 4, data packages are sent to the server, and the server sends the data packages back. In step 3, the data packages should be sent to the server more frequently, since more process changes take place.

To perform a self test for the local host:

Enter the command niping -t (IBM i: call niping '-t').

A list with function names, parameters, and return codes is displayed. If the self test is successful, the following message appears:

*** SELFTEST O.K. ***

Note

To get an idea of the options provided by niping, enter niping without any parameters.

SAP Note 500235 contains comprehensive documentation about the nipingtool.