Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!gatech!seismo!munnari!kre
From: kre@munnari.OZ (Robert Elz)
Newsgroups: net.news.adm,net.news.sa
Subject: Re: Beware of blindly installing pathalias output
Message-ID: <1130@munnari.OZ>
Date: Sun, 8-Jun-86 03:26:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: munnari.1130
Posted: Sun Jun  8 03:26:45 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Jun-86 06:45:54 EDT
References: <1239@lsuc.UUCP>
Organization: Comp Sci, Melbourne Uni, Australia
Lines: 38
Xref: watmath net.news.adm:779 net.news.sa:337
Summary: This is the same problem that Brian Reid pointed out a couple of weeks ago.

In article <1239@lsuc.UUCP>, dave@lsuc.UUCP (David Sherman) writes:
> Due presumably to reliable X.25 links, the claimed preferred path
> from here to seismo is
> 
> utcs!utai!ubc-vision!munnari!prlb2!enea!seismo
> 
> that is,
>   Toronto -> Vancouver -> Australia -> Belgium -> Sweden -> Arlington, VA

There's a bug in the distributed maps for Australia.  (In fact,
there are many bugs).  The one that matters is that the link
from munnari to prlb2 is marked as HOURLY or something, when it
should be marked DEAD.

Fix this, and those absurd global loops should go away.

However, it might be worth pointing out, that apart from cost,
and that it won't work anyway, this is likely to actually be
a very good path.  It might have even been the 'best' way...
(Well not quite, munnari!seismo would be better.)

The reason that it won't work is that munnari refuses to forward
incoming uucp mail to an outgoing uucp link.  We will forward
from uucp to acsnet, and acsnet to uucp, and we pass through
acsnet traffic (internal Australian) but you cannot send something
to prlb2 from ubc-vision via munnari.

That's why all of munnari's outgoing uucp links should be listed as
DEAD in the pathalias data.

I have sent entirely new maps for Australia to uucpmap@cbosgd
I sincerely hope that they are used in this month's map postings.

Actually, I'm not yet sure that they arrived - I asked for an ack
but have heard nothing - does anyone at or beyond cbosgd know
if they arrived?

Robert Elz		munnari!kre