2000/01/19

			ComOS 4.2b9 Open Beta Release Note

 
_______________ Introduction

The Lucent Technologies ComOS(R) 4.2b9 software release is now
available for open beta for the PortMaster(R) 4 Integrated Access
Concentrator. This release note applies only to the PortMaster 4.

This open beta release is provided at no charge to all Lucent
customers, but is recommended only for customers who wish to test the
new functionality before the general availability (GA) release of ComOS
4.2. Command syntax for new commands might change between this open
beta release and the GA release of ComOS 4.2.

This release note documents commands and features added between ComOS
4.1 and ComOS 4.2b9 on the PortMaster 4.  This release contains the
same modem code as ComOS 4.1c1 for the PortMaster 4.

Before upgrading, thoroughly read "Upgrade Instructions."

NOTE: If you downgrade from ComOS 4.2b9 to ComOS 4.0.3c2 or earlier,
you must perform the downgrade process twice because of changes in the
nonvolatile memory layout in ComOS 4.2b9.

_______________ Contents

Introduction
Bugs Fixed in ComOS 4.2b9
New Features in ComOS 4.2b9
	L2TP Improvements
	Redundant System Manager Module (RSMM)
	Additional New and Modified Commands
	SNMP Enhancements
	SNMP Alarms Added
	RADIUS Authentication Failover
	RADIUS Accounting Timers 
Upgrade Instructions
Technical Support

_______________ Bugs Fixed in ComOS 4.2b9

The following bugs are fixed in ComOS 4.2b9:

* The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) counters are now always reset when
a port is initialized. Previously, incorrectly set counters sometimes
caused the second link of a PPP multilink connection to fail.

* The default temperatures for the "set shutdown-temp" command
have been raised. Boards and modules are turned off at 65 instead 
of 55 degrees C (149 instead of 131 degrees F). A Simple Network 
Management Protocol (SNMP) alarm is issued at 60 instead of 
50 degrees C (140 instead of 122 degrees F).

* Multilink PPP (MLPPP) fragmentation has been disabled.

* The "set maximum pmconsole" command now takes effect immediately.
Previously, active connections on port 1643 had to be reset before
changes would take effect.

* The "show session" command no longer returns garbage characters at
the end of a 12-character location name.

* PMVision now properly backs up passwords of 16 characters.

* A secondary RADIUS accounting server, if enabled, now receives all
Start and Stop accounting records.

* ISDN lines that become available are now quickly identified.

* Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) disconnects are no longer lost.

* IP pool operation has been improved.

* TCP connections now start with a random sequence number.

* The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol now treats local IP
addresses as internal rather than external addresses.

* The Ether1 interface no longer sends Proxy Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP) requests to itself.

* The PortMaster 4 now supports alternate redundant Signaling System 7
(SS7) gateways.

The following bugs are fixed in ComOS 4.1c1 and ComOS 4.2b9:

* For an ISDN Primary Rate Interface (PRI) with a Net5 switch type, the
PortMaster 4 now attempts to activate Layer 2 if it is inactive during
a dial-out attempt or when an inbound call arrives, so as not to miss
the first call.

* A "show isdn" command directed at a Tri E1 board no longer crashes
the system.

* Communication between a PortMaster 4 L2TP access 
concentrator (LAC) and L2TP network server (LNS) is
improved because new sessions can no longer be created while 
an existing tunnel is being torn down. This former behavior 
caused the sessions to be stuck in a CLOSING state.

* This release improves non-facility associated signaling (NFAS)
performance.

* Modem performance under high loads is improved through enhancements
to the modem driver software. This release improves modem support by
fixing the following modem problems:

  - 3Com modem connections are now more reliable.

  - U.S. Robotics (USR) Telepath V.34 modems can now establish 
  Link Access Procedure for Modems (LAPM) error correction. 
  Previously under certain conditions, the modem was choosing 
  too high a connection rate and was unable to establish LAPM 
  error correction. The modem code now detects these conditions 
  and forces the connection speed down by one rate to allow LAPM 
  to be negotiated.

  - For modems with Rockwell Semiconductor Systems (RSS) K56flex
  chipsets, fast rate changes now work properly. Previously, a retrain
  was forced after a rate change. (RSS is now Conexant Systems Inc.)

  - For all modems, retrain detection has been improved to prevent some
  client disconnections.

  - In the presence of LAPM retransmission errors, the modem code
  retrains to allow the link to adjust to a lower speed and improve
  throughput.

  - The modem code now suspends LAPM transactions during any rate
  changes or retrains and thereby eliminates some connection failures,
  connections without error control, and some disconnections.

  - Changes in ComOS 4.2b9 modem and controller code have improved 
  modem handling.

______________ New Features in ComOS 4.2b9

The following commands and features have been added in ComOS 4.2b9.

_______ L2TP Improvements

ComOS 4.2b9 adds a new L2TP command and a new L2TP attribute, 
and supports RADIUS enhancements for authorization, authentication, 
and accounting of L2TP users.

____ "set l2tp id-for-host" Command

This command sets a LAC to report itself using the RADIUS 
Tunnel-Assignment-ID value instead of its IP address or hostname 
during tunnel negotiations.

  set l2tp id-for-host  on | off 

on	Sets a LAC host to identify itself by its RADIUS 
	Tunnel-Assignment-ID during tunnel negotiations.

off 	Sets a LAC host to use its hostname or IP address 
	during tunnel negotiations. This is the default.

Example:

command> set view 3
view set to 3
command 3> set l2tp id-for-host on 
OK

Bearer Type Attribute

The bearer type L2TP attribute identifies the type of calling device, analog
or digital, being used in an L2TP connection. The LAC sends this information
to its L2TP peer (the LNS). The LNS then passes the information to the 
RADIUS accounting server in the NAS-Port-Type attribute.

____  New RADIUS Attributes for L2TP

ComOS 4.2b9 supports the following RADIUS tunnel attributes and value
for L2TP:

* Tunnel-Client-Endpoint (66). This attribute contains the address of
the initiator end of the L2TP tunnel (the LAC) to identify the tunnel
uniquely for accounting and auditing uses.

* Tunnel-Password (69). This attribute supports an encrypted password
between a RADIUS server and a LAC.

* Tunnel-Assignment-ID (82). This attribute enables RADIUS to inform
the tunnel initiator (the LAC) about how to assign the session---to a
multiplexed tunnel or to a separate tunnel.

* Tunnel-Preference (83). This attribute indicates the relative
preference assigned to each tunnel if more than one set of tunneling
attributes is returned by the RADIUS server. For example, if two
different tunnel endpoints are included in the RADIUS attributes, then
the tunnel endpoint with the lowest value specified in the value field
is given highest preference.

For RADIUS to support these attributes, you must be running Lucent
RADIUS 2.1 or a RADIUS server with equivalent functionality.  If the
attributes are not already in your data dictionary, add them as
follows:

ATTRIBUTE	Tunnel-Client-Endpoint	66	string
ATTRIBUTE	Tunnel-Password		69	string
ATTRIBUTE	Tunnel-Assignment-ID	82	string
ATTRIBUTE	Tunnel-Preference	83	integer

____  RADIUS Tunnel Attribute Tags

In versions of RADIUS that support this feature, you can now tag all
RADIUS tunnel attributes so that ComOS can manage redundant tunnels
more easily. The tag field can assign the same ID to each attribute for
a particular tunnel server end point to group the attributes and
identify the tunnel more clearly.

NOTE: Lucent RADIUS 2.1 does not support the tagging feature.

_______ Redundant System Manager Module (RSMM)

WARNING! To use the redundant system manager module (RSMM) feature,
your PortMaster 4 chassis must be Revision C. Locate the revision
letter behind slot 2. In addition, you must be running ComOS 4.2b9 or
later on the PortMaster 4. Use of an earlier ComOS version can damage
PortMaster 4 hardware.

The redundant system manager module feature prevents or limits downtime
of a PortMaster 4 due to a system manager module failure.  Two manager
modules are installed in the PortMaster 4 chassis---one in slot 4 and
one in slot 5. One is the primary manager module, and the other is the
secondary. If the primary manager module fails, the secondary manager
module takes over.

Any failures are reported as SNMP alarms.

PMVision(TM) 1.8 supports the redundant system manager module feature.
See the PMVision 1.8 release note for more information.

____ Primary Manager Module Selection and Failover

The PortMaster 4 uses the following criteria to determine which manager
module is primary:

1. A manager module is primary if it does not encounter another manager
module for 4 seconds during the boot-up process.

2. If two manager modules are booting at the same time, the manager in
slot 4 is primary and the manager in slot 5 is secondary.

3. After boot-up and once the manager modules have determined which is
primary and which is secondary, the secondary manager sends a hello
message to the primary manager every second, and the primary manager
responds to those hellos. If the primary manager module does not
respond to five consecutive hellos, the secondary manager module takes
over and becomes primary.

The failover process affects PortMaster operation. After failover, the
new primary manager module reboots all other modules and boards in the
PortMaster 4 chassis. As a result, all callers and network connections
to the PortMaster are dropped, and all dynamic routing information is
lost. The rebooting process occurs as it normally does on your
PortMaster 4, typically in approximately 90 seconds. After
reinitialization, the PortMaster 4 begins to take calls and accept
routing updates normally.

____ New Commands for the Redundant System Manager Module

The following commands have been modified or added so that you
can use and test the redundant manager feature.

"reboot" Command

The "reboot" command has been modified for redundant system manager
module support. In addition, three new keywords have been added to
enable selective rebooting.

 reboot [me | system | secondary]

* reboot me

This command reboots only the system manager module receiving  
the command.

* reboot system

This command reboots the entire PortMaster 4 when used on either
manager module.

* reboot secondary

This command reboots only the secondary system manager 
module when used on either manager module.

* reboot

When the "reboot" command is used without an argument on the primary
manager module, the entire PortMaster 4 reboots. When "reboot" is used
on the secondary manager module, only the secondary manager module
reboots.

"show smm-backup" Command

This command shows information about primary and secondary 
manager modules.

  show smm-backup

Example:

Command> show smm-backup
System Manager Module Backup Information for slot 4
.My state:   Primary    My protocol version: 1.0
Non-manager card currently in slot 5.

_______ Additional New and Modified Commands

ComOS 4.2b9 also includes the following new and modified commands.

____ "set imt-reject-cause" Command

This command sets the cause code to be used when incoming calls 
are rejected by RADIUS if the call-check feature is enabled.

  set imt-reject-cause Cause_code

Cause_code	Value of the reject code, an integer between 
		1 and 63. The default is 1.

____ "set chapname" Commmand

This command sets the challenge name that the PortMaster 4 uses to
identify itself during Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
(CHAP) negotiations. Previously, the system name was used. This new
command enables multiple PortMaster 4 units to act like one system for
CHAP purposes if the same CHAP name is set on all of them.

  set chapname Name

Name	Name of up to 39 characters.

____ "show bootlog" Command

The "show bootlog" command has been modified to include register and
version information in the output.

Example:

  show bootlog
  000:00:01:21:65 Slot0 - Crash Boot @ 0:19 pm4qt1OS: 4.2b9
  Crash type 3 - Last Proc 0x0 - IP 0x167768
  Regs: 00167760 001E7120 00245488 00000000 00210D68 001E7154 00000000
00210D4C
  1c4aa7 (8 216 1e7154 0 0 31 206 0)
  167768 (245488 210d94 1e7120 1e7154 0 210dac 15b90b 2)
  15b4a2 (245488 12df8 ffff000 0 0 0 0 0)
  15b8dc (2 1fff28 800 210ddc 210dd8 12df8 ffff000 1)
  11ea15 (1bee 14e574 202498 0 0 0 0 0)
  11ed5d (1022b9 1bee 0 40 ffff000 ff540 ffff000 a)
  10272f (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)
  -- Press Return for More -- 
  10f0f4 (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)
  ff1e1 (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)
  0 (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)  }}}

_______ SNMP Enhancements

SNMP has been enhanced to better support the PortMaster 4.

The Livingston MIB now has additional fields to indicate the slot
number of each component so that SNMP information can be easily mapped
to physical boards and modules within the system.

The MIB also has new tables to provide statistics and error counts for
each board. These improvements will help to trace any problems detected
through SNMP to the corresponding hardware component within the
system.

_______ SNMP Alarms Added

The following new SNMP alarms have been added to ComOS 4.2b9:

* Address conflict: "<Ethernet address> is using <IP address>." The
PortMaster 4 has detected some other node on the Ethernet using an IP
address assigned to the PortMaster 4.

* External T1 clock source state change for a MUX card:  "Slot <n>: {
Primary | Secondary } T1 clock { Up | Down }" The alarm tells which
slot is providing the external clock signal, whether the clock in
question is being used as the primary or secondary clock source, and
the new status of the clock, up or down.

The following  alarms have been added for events related to the
redundant system manager module feature. In these alarm descriptions,
"slot <n>" can mean either slot 4 or slot 5. Typically, the primary
manager is in slot 4 and the secondary manager is in slot 5.

* Primary reporting: "Slot <n> becoming primary manager." This alarm is
generated when a system manager module recognizes itself as the primary
manager module. This event can take place after the boot-up decision
process or after a failover has occurred.

* Secondary reporting: " Slot <n> becoming secondary manager." This
alarm is generated when a system manager module recognizes itself as
the secondary manager module.

* Secondary reporting: "Primary manager in slot <n> failed." This 
alarm is generated by the secondary manager module after it fails to 
get a response to its hello messages for 5 seconds---five hello 
messages are ignored by the primary manager module.

* Primary reporting: "Secondary manager in slot <n> failed." This 
alarm is generated when the primary manager does not receive hello 
messages from the secondary for 30 seconds.

* Primary reporting: "Secondary manager detected in slot <n>." 
This alarm is generated by the primary manager module when it 
detects a secondary manager module in slot n. This alarm 
conveys the same information as "I'm the Secondary," but it 
comes from the primary module.

* Either manager module reporting: "Can't hear manager in slot<n>." 
This alarm is generated when the communication between managers 
has failed. The manager module in slot n determines that the 
manager in the other manager slot (slot 4 or 5) is still running 
because it can still detect a heartbeat.

_______ RADIUS Authentication Failover

Authentication failover allows the PortMaster 4 to dynamically switch
primary and alternate RADIUS authentication servers according to their
response. Use the following commands:

    set authentication interval Seconds

    set authentication failover on | off

The first command sets the response interval. The PortMaster 4 sends a
RADIUS access-request packet every "interval" number of seconds. If no
response is received from the primary RADIUS server, the PortMaster
switches or "fails over" to the secondary authentication server. The
secondary RADIUS server then is treated as the primary, and is marked
with an asterisk (*) in "show global"output.

    set authentication interval Seconds

Seconds 	A value between 1 and 255. The number of seconds 
		must elapse between RADIUS access-request
		retransmissions if the PortMaster receives no 
		response. If the primary server does not respond,
		failover occurs after two times the Seconds value. 
		For example, if "set authentication interval 6" is used,
		failover occurs in 12 seconds.
		
		The default is 3 seconds, and 0 resets the value to the
		default.

The second command enables the failover feature on the PortMaster 4.

    set authentication failover on | off

on	If the primary server fails to respond three times in a row,
	the PortMaster sends the packet to both the primary and
	secondary servers for the next seven retransmissions. If the
	secondary server replies before the primary server, the
	PortMaster switches the primary and secondary servers. 
	Then on the next login attempt, the PortMaster tries the 
	secondary server first. If the secondary server fails to 
	respond three times in a row, the PortMaster sends the 
	packet to both servers and designates the server that 
	replies first as the new primary server.

off	The PortMaster 4 always tries the primary server first. 
	This is the default.

_______ RADIUS Accounting Timers

The PortMaster 4 attempts to send each RADIUS accounting packet every
"interval" seconds, and sends it the "count" number of times before
giving up. If an acknowledgement is received from the RADIUS accounting
server, the PortMaster no longer tries to resend the accounting
packet.  If no acknowledgment is sent from the primary server in
response to the last retry packet, the PortMaster sends the packet to
both the primary and secondary RADIUS accounting servers.

    set accounting count Number

    set accounting interval Seconds

Number		A decimal number between 1 and 99. The number of 
		times the PortMaster sends a RADIUS accounting 
		packet without acknowledgement from a RADIUS 
		server. The default is 5.

Seconds		A decimal number between 1 and 255. The number of
		seconds that must elapse between RADIUS accounting
		packet retransmissions if not acknowledged by the
		accounting server. The default is 30 seconds.

Use the "show global" command to view the Accounting Count and the
Accounting Interval settings.

Examples:

Command> set accounting count 45
Accounting retry count changed from 23 to 45

Command> set accounting interval 60
Accounting retry interval changed from 30 to 60 sec

_______________ Upgrade Instructions

You can upgrade your PortMaster 4 using PMVision 1.8 or later, or
pmupgrade 4.3 from PMTools. Alternatively, you can upgrade using the
older programs pminstall 3.5.3, PMconsole 3.5.3, or PMconsole for
Windows 3.5.1.4. You can also upgrade using TFTP with the "tftp get"
command from the PortMaster command line interface.

See ftp://ftp.livingston.com/pub/le/software/java/pmvision18.txt for
installation instructions for PMVision 1.8.

*** CAUTION! If the upgrade fails, do NOT reboot! Contact
*** Lucent technical support without rebooting.

The upgrade process on the PortMaster 4 erases the configuration area
from nonvolatile memory and saves the current configuration into
nonvolatile memory. Never interrupt the upgrade process, or loss of
configuration information can result. This upgrade does not otherwise
affect your stored configuration in the PortMaster 4.

The installation software can be retrieved by FTP from
ftp://ftp.livingston.com/pub/le/software/, and the upgrade image can be
found at ftp://ftp.livingston.com/pub/le/upgrades/:

ComOS		Upgrade Image  	Product
_________  	_____________  _____________________________________ 
4.2b9		pm4_4.2b9      PortMaster 4

________________________________________________________________________

	Copyright and Trademarks

Copyright 2000 Lucent Technologies. All rights reserved.

PortMaster, ComOS, ChoiceNet, and NetCare are registered trademarks 
of Lucent Technologies. PMVision, IRX, and PortAuthority are 
trademarks of Lucent Technologies. PolicyFlow is a service mark of 
Lucent Technologies. All other marks are the property of their respective
owners.

	Notices

Lucent Technologies makes no representations or warranties with respect
to the contents or use of this publication, and specifically disclaims
any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
particular purpose. Further, Lucent Technologies reserves the right to
revise this publication and to make changes to its content, any time,
without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or
changes.

	Contacting Lucent NetCare Technical Support

Lucent NetCare(R) Professional Services provides PortMaster technical
support via voice or electronic mail, or through the World Wide Web at
http://www.livingston.com/. Specify that you are running ComOS 4.2b9
when reporting problems with this release.

Internet service providers (ISPs) and other end users in Europe, the
Middle East, Africa, India, and Pakistan should contact their
authorized Lucent sales channel partner for technical support; see
http://www.livingston.com/International/EMEA/distributors.html. 

For North America, the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA), and 
Asia Pacific customers, technical support is available Monday 
through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time (GMT -8). 
Dial 1-800-458-9966 within the United States (including Alaska 
and Hawaii), Canada, and CALA, or 1-925-737-2100 from elsewhere, 
for voice support. Otherwise, send email to support@livingston.com 
(asia-support@livingston.com for Asia Pacific customers).
