Cowboy is currently for use by Team Warped (OS/2) members
only.
If you want to join our DNET key cracking team, then visit
Distributed.Net's web page and sign up there. We are team
#112. Once you are on-board, or it if you are already a member,
then just follow the directions below. If you don't understand how to
edit INI files, then click here and follow
the instructions. I will do it for you!
Later on, I may decide to expand the server to allow its use by
individuals that are not on our team. I might also distribute the
source code / compiled EXE for Cowboy if there is enough
interest.
So, now that you are all signed up with Team Warped, here is how you
configure your cows to send their stats to Cowboy for publication:
"Cow" is an acronym for "Cluster Of Workstations". An individual Cow is
just a computer running the DNET client. Cowboy "wrangles" your cows
for you by analyzing logs that are emailed to it. Your client software
must be configured to automatically email log files directly to Cowboy
(NOT ME!). Cowboy automatically updates this web site using the
contents of your log files, keeping you informed of any problems your
computers are having cracking keys.
All
your cows need unique host names. Cowboy uses host names/email
addresses to track individual cow stats. If all 37 of your cows have
the host name "joesmachine" then Cowboy will think you have one very
fast cow named "joesmachine". Host names should not be confused
with
Netbios machine names. While the TCP/IP host name does not have to match
the Netbios name, it doesn't alway happen that way.... It should.
Edit
each of your
DNETC.INI files and add the text found in bold below. You may set the
non-bold parameters as needed on your system. These settings will NOT
affect who gets credit for your keys! Your stats will still update
correctly on Distributed.Net. The setting changes affect the email
destination for mailed DNET client logs only. The checkpoint settings
are optional, but will let you know when your cow(s) have crash
problems.
Note: change "yourname@yourdomain.com" to your actual email
address.
Insure all your cows use identical settings marked in bold below!
DNETC.INI
File lines
|
Notes
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[parameters]
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id=kgmccoy@idkinc.com
|
This is
the email address
that will get the credit for submitted blocks. Put your own email
address here.
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|
|
[logging]
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mail-log-via=idk.serveftp.net:250
|
You may
also use your own
email server or ISP's email server if port 250 is not accessible
through your firewall
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mail-log-max=16324
|
Keep
this set to about 16K,
unless you have a *very fast* cow. Setting it larger will result in
false "sick" or "dead" cows. If your cow produces more than 25
Meganodes/Sec,
then you probably want to set this to 32768 or higher. The idea
is to send logs to Cowboy at no less than 2 hour intervals - 4 to 8
hours is best.
|
mail-log-dest=rc5@idk-inc.com
|
This is
very important! Don't send correspondence to this address - it WILL get
tossed.
|
| log-file-limit=100 |
This
limits the log file
size on the client machine to 100KB. I don't recommend changing it
|
| log-file=rc5.log |
This can
be any file name
you like
|
| log-file-type=fifo |
IMPORTANT!
Rotating log
files won't work, and you don't need them with Cowboy!
|
mail-log-from=yourname@yourdomain.com
|
Make
sure all your cows
use the same email address here! Use your own email address!
|
|
|
| [rc5] |
Set
these as needed...
|
| core=-1 |
|
fetch-time-threshold=1
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[ogr_p2]
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| fetch-workunit-threshold=12 |
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|
|
| [triggers] |
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restart-on-config-file-change=yes
|
|
|
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| [processor-usage] |
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| priority=0 |
|
|
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| [checkpoint-filename] |
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| chkpoint.bin |
|
|
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| [misc] |
|
project-priority=OGR-P2,RC5-72=0
|
|
|
|
| [buffers] |
This is
optional. I use
checkpoint files on all my cows, so that I know when a machine is
crashing a lot or someone is powering it off incorrectly. Using a
checkpoint file saves your cracked keys from being trashed if they have
not been sent to the key server prior to a crash. Crashes can be caused
by DNET client related CPU overheating or "I/O Error" (Idiot Operator)
:-)
|
| checkpoint-filename=chkpnt.bin |
|
|
|
| [display] |
set as
needed...
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progress-indicator=auto-sense
|
|
|
|
[rc5-72]
|
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| fetch-time-threshold=1 |
|
What the settings do
The goal of the settings above is to have each cow send
out relatively short log files to the Cowboy server several times a
day. This is not always possible with slow machines running OGR. If a
cow goes for too long a period without sending a log message, it will
be flagged as "sick" or "dead", so its important that Cowboy sees
frequent messages from each one. If you have very fast machines that
get too "chatty" with email, you can reduce traffic by increasing the mail-log-max parameter until the
traffic drops off.
If you use idk.serveftp.net:250, your DNET clients will communicate
directly with this server. If port 250 is problematic with your
firewall, then use your normal Email server. Cowboy scans the
RC5@idk-inc.com mailbox for new log messages every few minutes. Cowboy
automatically deletes any messages that are not DNET log mail, so
don't send any other messages here. In any event, log messages must be
sent to "RC5", or they will be rejected (and deleted!) by both the
standard email server and the internal Cowboy server on port 250.
You may also wish to set the fetch thresholds fairly low. A low
threshold setting generates lines of text in your log files more
quickly, causing logs to be emailed more frequently. The downside is
that this trick will create more LAN traffic. My experience with a herd
of 85 cows at a large company (where I was the MIS Manager) was that
the email and DNET key server traffic on the LAN was minimal using the
settings found above. Your MIS manager may disagree, so its up to you
to figure out optimal settings.
Cowboy combines all logs coming from a given mail-log-from into a single herd.
It looks at each incoming log file for a host name to further sort the
stats into individual cow records.
The settings above were taken from a 3.6 GHz hyper-threaded P-IV
machine, running OGR exclusively. On slower machines I typically set
the OGR fetch threshold to 1, since slow machines can only do a block
or two a day.
What the settings don't do
The settings above do not address any personal proxy or
key server tricks, since I don't use them. You can continue using a
proxy if you like. As long as your id parameter is set correctly, you
will continue to receive credit for your DNET keys. You can still look
at your log files on each of your cows using an editor or other log
file analysis tool. If there is enough interest, I may add a feature
where log files can be sent back out to a designated email address of
your choice, so that you have a backup solution for log monitoring.
A
word or two about Host Names
Cowboy expects each of your cows to have a unique hostname. That being
said, its OK to use the same hostname as a cow in someone else's herd.
<rant> If a machine is under my control or ownership, I like to
give the machine a distinctive name. I favor cartoon character names
(because I am an vintage animation buff) and famous/fictional
computer names from SciFi books and the high tech press. Such names are
easy to remember and can be given to machines/people that resemble the
character in question. Lousy hostnames include random or seemingly
random names that you need a spreadsheet to keep track of. Also, its a
bad idea to name corporate machines after the name of the user. What if
you have a hostname of "BobsPentium" and Bob quits? What if you upgrade
the machine to some other processor? </rant> Anyway, make the
hostnames unique and Cowboy will be happy, lame hostname or not. On a
windoze box, you can change the computer's hostname using the
Settings|System icon. Other operating systems have similar methods.
Ok, I changed the INI file on some
of my cows, so now what?
Write me an email
and let me know your full name and the email address you will be using
on Distributed.Net for identification. In a week or so, your stats
should appear on this web site. We can track multiple computers if you
have more than one machine working on the challenge.
I don't understand any of this but
I still want to help!
Write me an email - Just click
here and your email program should start, but don't forget to
remove the SOMEWHEREAT from the address and replace it with an @ (at
sign). In the email, let me know the email address you want to
use on distributed.net to receive credit for work completed. This is
usually your normal email address. Let me know the CPU type and
speed (MHz or GHz) of each computer. I also need to know the type of
internet access you use - dialup, DSL, Cablemodem, LAN, or other.
I will send you some client setup files that you can just copy into
your distributed.net client directory. Reboot and you are good to go!
Last update: 19 October, 2006
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