Configuration: supersparrow on the POP X Router

• Network Diagram
• Building the Configuration File
• Testing
• Configuration File
• Notes on Commands

Building the Configuration File

supersparrow is a standalone application that uses libsupersparrow to determine the POP closest to a given IP address. supersparrow accepts command line options and can be configured using a configuration file. The supplied /etc/supersparrow.conf configures supersparrow so that it can be run as a map from Apache's mod_rewrite. As this file contains potentially sensitive information, including the password to the route server, you should ensure that only the super user can read this file.

$ chmod 600 /etc/supersparrow.conf

The following directives in this file are of special note:

peer 64700=www.x.apache-test.supersparrow,64702=www.y.apache-test.supersparrow

This sets two peers with AS numbers 64700 and 64702. The hostname associated with each peer is www.x.apache-test.supersparrow and www.y.apache-test.supersparrow respectively. Note that hostnames are associated with peers as this will form part of the URL that apache redirects a client to.

batch

This sets supersparrow to read queries from stdin. Results will be printed to stdout. In this mode supersparrow will continue to run and wait for queries to be input to stdin both on startup and after each query is answered.

password frub

This sets the password that will be used to access the route server.

route_server zebra

This is used to tell supersparrow that the route server it will be contacting will run GNU Zebra.

self www.x.apache-test.supersparrow

This sets the default result, of no valid peer can be found, to www.x.apache-test.supersparrow.

Testing

$ supersparrow 
192.168.192.10
www.x.apache-test.supersparrow
192.168.193.13
www.y.apache-test.supersparrow

To end the test use control-D. Any logs generated should be logged to syslog, see notes on logging for more details. To show information on supersparrow's communication with the route server use the -v command line option.

$ supersparrow -v
supersparrow version 0.0.0pre0 Copyright Horms
Logs sent to syslog


Hello, this is zebra (version 0.90.pre.horms.1)
Copyright 1996-2000 Kunihiro Ishiguro


User Access Verification

ÿûÿûÿþ"ÿýPassword: 
jasmine> 192.168.193.13
sh ip bgp  192.168.193.13
BGP routing table entry for 192.168.193.0/24
Paths: (2 available, best #1, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)
  64702
    192.168.193.11 from 192.168.193.11 (192.168.193.11)
      Origin IGP, metric 1, localpref 100, valid, external, best
      Last update: Tue Oct 10 23:28:23 2000

  64600 64601 64602
    192.168.192.12 from 192.168.192.12 (192.168.192.12)
      Origin IGP, metric 1, localpref 100, valid, external
      Last update: Tue Oct 10 23:28:07 2000

jasmine>
PEERS: 64700=www.x.apache-test.supersparrow 64702=www.y.apache-test.supersparrow
ASPATH: 64702
www.y.apache-test.supersparrow

Again, to end the test hit control-D. The output shows that there are two prefixes covering 192.168.193.13, and the prefix with AS path 64702 is preferred. The PEERS: line shows that 64702 has been configured as a peer and is associated with the hostname www.y.apache-test.supersparrow, this is returned.

As supersparrow will be executed internally by Apache it does not need to be configured to start at system boot.

Configuration File

POP X Router: /etc/supersparrow.conf.

A complete set of configuration files for this network setup can be found here.

Notes on Commands

$ echo flim
flim