distributed.net - Q/A - Client Documentation

distributed.net's RC5DES client
Copyright distributed.net 1997-1998 - All Rights Reserved. For use in distributed.net projects only. Any other distribution violates copyright.
Use of the distributed.net client implies agreement with the prize terms listed on http://www.distributed.net/rc5/ and http://www.distributed.net/des/
Index ---------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 Introduction
2.0 General system requirements
(refer to platform specific readmes for details)
3.0 Getting and starting the client
(refer to platform specific readmes for details)
4.0 Upgrading from a client older than the 2.7xxx
5.0 Fetching and flushing blocks

5.1 through a firewall

5.2 via e-mail
6.0 Help!
This document's revision history ------------------------------------

Dec 20. 1997
The original (v2.6401) version of this document was created by Daniel "dbaker" Baker, assisted by Alex "kiddo" Wong
Feb 13. 1998
Mike "Silby" Silbersack updated and expanded this document. Paul Gentle converted this document to a Windows help file.
May 13. 1998
Mike "Silby" Silbersack updated this document and added information about specific platforms.
Jun 26. 1998
Mike "Silby" Silbersack slightly updated this document for 2.7100
Nov 08. 1998
Mike "Silby" Silbersack gutted the options sections for 2.7102
Nov 13. 1998
Cyrus Patel moved platform specific information to separate readmes, replaced a great deal with references to documentation available online or built-in to the client, cleaned up and reorganized the file.
1.0 Introduction ---------------------------------------------------
Congratulations! This distributed.net client will make your computer a part of the world's largest computer, distributed.net. The client you have downloaded is capable of working on two of Distributed.Net's ongoing projects: The brute-force decryption of a RC5-64 message, and the brute force decryption of a DES message. The RC5-64 contest is a long-term contest, which may take a couple of years to solve. The DES contests, run twice a year, are short, and should take less than a month to solve. As a result, this client will work on DES during DES contests, and switch back to RC5-64 when no DES contest is going on. No user intervention is required for this switchover.
If you'd like more information on our current project status, you should visit the RC5-64 and DES homepages. RC5-64 may be found at http://www.distributed.net/rc5/ , and DES may be found at http://www.distributed.net/des/ . In the next few months, distributed.net will begin working on other (non-encryption related) projects. For information on other projects, please look at http://www.distributed.net/projects.html .
2.0 General system requirements ------------------------------------
The system requirements for the client vary from platform to platform and are detailed in the readme.* you should have received when you downloaded the client.
In general, all that is required is:

a 32-bit processor
one megabyte of free memory
a TCP/IP internet connection or another method of sharing files with another computer that is also running the client.
less than a megabyte of disk space (optional if TCP/IP is available)
The most important requirement for running the distributed.net client, of course, is authorization to run the client on the computer that it is installed on. This is not an issue with your home computer, but many companies and schools have policies against running outside programs on their computers. In cases where such a policy exists, ask your system administrator BEFORE attempting to install the client. It is very possible that he/she will like the idea, and choose to install the client on all computers at that site. However, if the answer is a 'no', do not push the issue. RSA's contest rules stipulate that all clients must be run on authorized systems. The only support we will give to unauthorized installations is help in uninstalling them.
Although there are a number of platforms that meet these requirements, distributed.net cannot create or maintain clients for them all. The prerequisites for creating a client for a platform are:

a C++ compiler is available for that platform
the compiler 'understands' 64bit quanta ('long long', 'wide' etc)
distributed.net must have access to such a machine
If you know of a platform that fulfills these requirements, and would like to have a client for the platform, you can request it at http://www.distributed.net/porting/
3.0 Getting and starting the client --------------------------------
Clients are available from http://www.distributed.net/clients.html or from ftp servers linked from that page and occasionally directly from distributed.net coders in the #distributed channel on EFNet IRC. If you have downloaded the client from any other site, *delete* it at once - only clients obtained from distributed.net are authentic.
Once you have downloaded the client, it is a simple matter of getting going. Simply unpack/unzip/unarc the archive you downloaded and fire it up.
If you have never run the client before, it will initiate the menu-driven configuration. Save and quit when done, the configuration file will be saved in the same directory as the client. Then, simply restart the client. From that point on it will use the saved configuration.
Each configuration option is accompanied by a description that will assist you in making the right decisions. Most default values can be accepted as-is. Refer to the Help! section at the end of this document for sources of assistance.
A "Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Running Your First Client" is available from http://www.distributed.net/FAQ/
The client's configuration may be adjusted at any time by starting the client with the -config switch. A list of other command line options can be obtained by starting the client with -help.
4.0 Upgrading from a client older than the 2.7xxx ------------------
If you are upgrading from a version of the client older than the 2.7xxx series, please stop the existing client, flush its buffers, delete all of its files before installing the new client. Buffer files formats have changed, and this will help prevent compatibility problems. If you are sharing buffer files between multiple clients, please make sure that the clients have compatible buffer formats.
5.0 Fetching and flushing blocks -----------------------------------
For network communications, the distributed.net RC5DES client uses a proprietary communications method to talk to a network of keyservers using TCP/IP protocols.
5.1 Connecting through a firewall -------
If you are connected through a strict firewall, port 2064 will probably be blocked by default. There are four primary methods to communicating through a firewall:

Run a personal proxy on the machine that runs the firewall. A personal proxy will receive connections from the client, buffer them, and then communicate with the main proxy network to send/ receive blocks. The setup of this is simple and reliable; all you must do is download a personal proxy available at http://www.distributed.net/proxies.html and set it up to run on the machine that functions as the firewall. Then set up all clients behind the firewall to connect to that machine to receive blocks. (The name/address of the proxy may be entered in the configuration in the "keyserver" field under "Network options") Naturally, you need to be authorized to run the personal proxy on that machine...

The most reliable option for sending/receiving blocks through the firewall if you are unable to directly modify the firewall's configuration is to use SOCKS support (if your firewall supports it, of course.) To configure SOCKS, enter the "Network Options" menu and select "Firewall Communications Mode". If you are using a SOCKS4 proxy, choose "SOCKS4", or choose "SOCKS5" if you know the firewall supports SOCKS5. If you are unsure as to which version of SOCKS you are using, select SOCKS4. Now, edit the Proxy address and port and ensuring that they point to the SOCKS proxy you will be communicating through. If you must use a SOCKS userid/password, enter it in the appropriate field as well.

The next most reliable option is to set the firewall to allow connections through to port 2064 (the port the client uses for communication to the keyservers) either directly, through a "datapipe" or if you are using WinGate or Internet Gate, via "direct port mapping". All of these are require administrative access to the firewall host.

The most compatible firewall communications method is to use the http proxy support of the client. Enter "Network Options", select "Firewall Communications Mode" and set "HTTP encoding". Next, enter the name/address of the HTTP proxy in the "HTTP/SOCKS proxy address" field and the port number of the HTTP proxy in the "HTTP/SOCKS proxy port" field. If you have problems with "HTTP encoding", you may wish to try "HTTP+UUE encoding" instead.
Firewall software known to work with the distributed.net client:

Wingate 2.x (Win32): HTTP proxy, Direct port mapping, SOCKS 4 & 5. http://www.wingate.com
Internet Gate (OS/2): Direct port mapping
Microsoft Proxy Server (WinNT): HTTP proxy
Novell BorderManager (NetWare): HTTP proxy
Squid (Unix): HTTP proxy
AltaVista 97 (Unix/Win32): HTTP proxy
Gauntlet Firewall: HTTP proxy
5.2 Flushing and fetching via e-mail ----
If you can not get your client to flush/fetch directly (due to a very stringent firewall), or are running a networkless client, such as the MS-DOS client, there is one last way for you two receive blocks to process: e-mail.

Send a message to fetch@distributed.net; an auto-responder will reply with information on the proper options to use.
Once you know the correct format, send a correctly formatted message in. You should quickly receive a message back with the specified number/size of blocks attached as "buff-in.rc5".
Stop the client.
Save the file to the directory from which you are running the client.
Restart the client.
Once your client has completed the blocks provided to it, you may send in the completed blocks via e-mail as follows:

Create a message to flush@distributed.net with the file "buff-out.rc5" attached as a MIME64 encoded file. You will be send a "receipt" of the proper flushing within a few minutes.
Delete the buff-out.rc5 file so that you do not accidently send part of its contents twice.

6.0 Help! ----------------------------------------------------------
If you've having a problem with the client, the first place you should visit is http://www.distributed.net/clients.html to see if a newer version is available. It is likely that a given bug you have been experiencing will be fixed by the new version.
If you are still having problems, here are a few places you can find help (in order of responsiveness).

The quickest way to get question(s) answered about the operation and setup of the client is to connect to an EFNet IRC server and join the channel #distributed. Although there are dozens of EFNet servers world-wide, the following should give you a starting point: In the U.S: irc.cs.cmu.edu:6667, irc.idle.net:6667, irc.frontiernet.net:6667. In Europe: irc.nijenrode.nl:6667, or efnet.demon.co.uk:6667

If you need further assistance with client use or operation, refer to the the list of "Frequently asked Questions" (FAQs) available online at http://www.distributed.net/FAQ/ Documents cover every aspect of running a client including "The Complete Step by Step Guide to Running Your First Client", "How To Join A Team", and the popular "Statistics Server FAQ".

If you don't mind your mailbox receiving a few messages a day, you may consider subscribing to the general RC5DES mailing list at rc5@lists.distributed.net (To subscribe to the mailing list, send a message to majordomo@lists.distributed.net with "subscribe rc5" as the message text).

More user support is available from rc5help@distributed.net as well as from our regional support representatives listed at http://www.distributed.net/regional/

If you believe you have found a bug in the client or would like to make a suggestion, please send a message to the coders at coders@lists.distributed.net. Don't forget to specify which platform you are running the client on.

If you believe you have found a bug specific to this port, or would like to make a suggestion specific to this port, send a message to the port maintainer as listed at http://www.distributed.net/credits.html Don't fret if you don't get a response right away - porters are usually very busy and it may take weeks before they get around to answering your message.

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Last modified: Mar 10, 1999