OS/2 Warp and TCP/IP

In <37hff5$9e@netline-fddi.jpl.nasa.gov>, vsnyder@math.jpl.nasa.gov (Van Snyder) writes: >I went to a Warp extravaganza yesterday. One of the handouts was entitled >"OS/2 Warp: Now it's easier to do more" (G236-0475-00). In the back, there's >a table "IBM OS/2 Warp operating system selection guide." It seems to imply >that one needs to get OS/2 Warp LAN Client (with or without WIN-OS2) to get >TCP/IP. It left me with more questions than answers, concerning TCP/IP:

>Can one get TCP/IP without getting OS/2 LAN Client?

TCP/IP version 2.0 for OS/2 can be installed on OS/2 Warp. There are no known incompatibilities with OS/2 v. 3, and although this combination has not been fully tested, no problems have been observed.

>Does OS/2 LAN Client provide...

The formal announcement of OS/2 LAN Client hasn't occurred yet -- you'll have to wait on this information.

As for compatibility and support for OS/2 2.1 users:

Web Explorer will be available via anonymous FTP on October 21. It can be run on TCP/IP 2.0 and OS/2 2.1.

PPP support will also be available, roughly in the same time period.

Gopher is already available via anonymous FTP. The version on software.watson.ibm.com in /pub/os2/ews is the same as shipped in WARP.

It is possible to install the Warp Internet Connection kit on top of TCP/IP 2.0, although this is not formally supported. You must be running OS/2 3.0, you must have the latest CSD for TCP/IP 2.0, and you must install the Internet Connection kit after TCP/IP 2.0. The compatibility issues are:

(1) The Ultimail package in the Internet Connection kit is currently configured only for Internet mail, and not for use on a LAN.

(2) While you are connected to the internet, your default route, domain, and name server are all on the Internet. If you are accessing LAN resident TCP/IP resources simultaneously, this can create problems. You can get around these problems in one of two ways:

(a) You can end your internet connection when you want to access TCP/IP hosts on your local network, or

(b) You can add subnet and host routes for TCP/IP hosts you access through your LAN gateway, and you can add entries in a hosts file for TCP/IP hosts on your LAN, so that their names can be resolved. Once this is done, you can simultaneously access LAN TCP/IP hosts and Internet TCP/IP hosts. (You probably want to set ipgate off to disable routing through your own machine.)

Knowledgeable users will figure this stuff out, but OS/2 version 3 will be used by many less experienced folks. For this reason, and because this combination has not been formally tested, the official position is that TCP/IP 2.0 and the Warp Internet Connection are incompatible -- which is not true. The problems listed above will be addressed for OS/2 LAN Client.

BTW, the Warp Internet Connection kit should not be installed on OS/2 2.1. Ultimail and IBM Dialer have some dependencies on OS/2 3.0.

// John McGarvey