JPNIC offers services with the help of the resources (JPNIC database, other open documents/files) that JPNIC has through the network. It is also planning to arrange and prepare network information, information related to Japan, and provide pointers for achieving information from other organizations.

In order to achieve the target, JPNIC has formed the Information Service Working Group (IS-WG) from this year. Although there are plans for increasing information, strengthening operations, there are still several factors that depend on volunteers. JPNIC will full-heartedly welcome comments on how to enrich its services. So if there is anyone who would like to help JPNIC with data or other services, then the person is requested to send an e-mail to is-wg@nic.ad.jp.

Information offered by JPNIC at present

5.1 Information category

5.1.1 Data managed by DB-WG (Database management working group)

(whois.nic.ad.jp is experimentally offering data through mail-server, www and x.500) Personal information related to network administration (not the same as searching a general person) Domain information (domain name), Network information (IP address) Host information (name server), Project information (network project) NOC information (Network Operation Center) etc.

5.1.2 JPNIC open documents

(documents under ftp.nic.ad.jp:/pub can be retrieved with the help of mail-server, ftp, gopher, www)

5.1.2.1 Documents related to JPNIC (ftp:/pub/jpnic, jpnic-pub)

(rules of JPNIC, application form, minutes of steering committee meeting, Q&A, list of JP domain names) The list containing the domain names is regularly updated.

5.1.2.2 JPNIC members (network project) information

(ftp:/pub/member's directory) This information contains documents given by each of the network projects.

5.1.2.3 Others

(jcrn, jepg-ip etc.) (ftp:/pub/jcrn, jepg-ip)

5.1.3

Information related to Internet that are copied/mirrored from other sites (can be availed by using ftp,gopher,www) InterNIC/RIPE NCC/ISOC/IETF etc. ( ftp:/pub/internet)

5.1.4 Pointer information (can be availed by using gopher/www)

5.1.5 Others, access-log etc.

5.2 Usage

5.2.1 Usage via e-mail (mail-server)

(the contents of ftp:/pub/HELP will be transferred)

At present file transfer (anonymous ftp) and information retrieval (whois) service are offered as pilot projects. The same services are offered through e-mail. By using these services, documents offered and maintained by JPNIC could be searched and retrieved even if there is no IP connection.

If an e-mail with the following command is send to mail-server@nic.ad.jp then the requested file or search status will be returned to the sender (defined by From: or Reply-to: field) of the e-mail. In case of a large file (more than 50k bytes) the file will be send part by part.

        Commands

           send help       This document will be send
           send index      List of files
           send filename   Send the file defined by filename
           whois keyword   Search with the term keyword and send the result
           end             End
            

Commands should be written from the first line of the body of the e-mail. There should be one command on each line and the command end should be written in the last line to mean that there are no more commands. For example, this document and the list of files can be retrieved by executing the following.

           % mail mail-server@nic.ad.jp
           Subject:
           send help
           send index
           end
           .
           %
            

In case of PC networks, as the number of e-mails, amount of data that can be stored in the mailbox depends on the network system, please check the details before using this service.

5.2.2

Service that can be availed through the machines that have direct Internet connectivity.

5.2.2.1 Use of whois:

This service can be used to retrieve information about a person who is involved in network projects. The related information about the key-word can be retrieved by executing the following command.

          whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp key-word
            

The help regarding how to use whois can be obtained in Japanese by executing whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp help. The English version can be obtained by executing the command in the following way.

          whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp key-word/e
            

Note: There should not be any space between the key-word and the /. In case of using * or other symbols, the key-word should be double couted.

5.2.2.2 Use of anonymous ftp:

Files stored in ftp.nic.ad.jp can be obtained by using this service.

If the command ftp ftp.nic.ad.jp is executed, the user will be asked for user id and password. In that case files can be accessed, by specifying anonymous for user id and e-mail address for password. An example for anonymous ftp is given below. IP address (192.41.192.1) can also be used. Care should be taken, for this IP address may be changed in future.

         % ftp ftp.nic.ad.jp
         Connected to ns.nic.ad.jp.
         Name (ftp.nic.ad.jp:tatsumi): anonymous  <- specify user id as
                                                     anonymous
         331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
         Password:                                <- key-in complete
                                                     e-mail address
         230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
         ftp>                                     <- ftp commands can be used.
                                                     The list of commands can
                                                     be found by executing ?.
            

The necessary files can be accessed with the help of the commands "ls" and "get". List of files/directories can be displayed by executing "ls". As the file ls-lR contains the list of files under the directory pub, it may be convenient to get this file first. An example is given below.

          ftp> ls
          bin
          dev
          etc
          lost+found
          ls-lR
          pub
          src
          usr
          ftp> get ls-lR
            

The contents of ftp:/pub is shown below.

        HELP              inetclub/         jpnic-pub/        star-internet/
        INDEX             infoweb/          junet/            tisn/
        bitnet/           internet/         karrn/            tohoku-inet/
        bitnetjp/         internet-drafts@  north-net/        topic/
        csi/              jain/             orions/           train/
        gdbnetjp/         jcrn/             rfc@              trendy/
        ietf@             jepg-ip/          ric-tsukuba/      wide/
        iij/              join/             sinet/            winc/
        iikk/             jpnic/            spin/
            

5.2.2.3 Use of gopher: (whois and ftp functions are included)

The gopher service menu can be displayed by executing the command gopher gopher.nic.ad.jp. The directions for using gopher can be displayed by executing ?. The ? command can be used by preparing a help file in the local machine. Required information can be obtained either by inputting the number given in the menu or by moving the cursor to the proper position and keying-in return. Key-in u,m and,q for returning to the previous menu, main menu and quitting the program. For retrieving the present information, execute m and then key-in the e-mail address. Normally, a simple help menu is always displayed at the bottom.

5.2.2.4 Use of www (World Wide Web): (whois, ftp and gopher are included)

For using www, the client program (mosaic,chimera etc.) should be installed on the local machine, the machine must be IP connected, and capable of using window systems. The www server can be accessed by specifying http://www.nic.ad.jp through Open URL. More detailed information can be obtained or a menu containing ftp, gopher, search etc. can be displayed by cliquing the mouse on the underlined/colored places of the menu. Graphic data can also be displayed, but in that case, the local machine must have the necessary viewers previously installed. Although lynx can display only text data, it can also be used on vt100 terminals.

5.3 e-mail address

        mail-server     :mail-server@nic.ad.jp
        whois           :whois.nic.ad.jp
        ftp             :ftp.nic.ad.jp
        gopher          :gopher.nic.ad.jp
        www             :www.nic.ad.jp