---
name: "multinet"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "dnet-progs"
version: "2.65+b1"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/multinet"
---

# multinet(8)

Connect to a Multinet\* DECnet over IP server

## NAME

multinet - Connect to a Multinet\* DECnet over IP server

## SYNOPSIS

**multinet** \[options\] \<local-decnet-addr\> \<remote-host\>\

## DESCRIPTION

This utility creates a tapX device and copies all the DECnet packets from that over IP to a remote Multinet\* server. It provides a way to connect a Linux box to a remote VMS machine over an IP-only network. Using Linux routing it should be possible to connect DECnet networks over the internet using this technique.\
 **local-decnet-addr** DECnet node address of the tapX interface. This need not be the same as the address used on other interfaces but it might be less confusing if it is.\
 **remote-host** IP address or host name of the remote Multinet server. If you send a HUP signal to the process it will lookup this name again, so you don't need to restart the server if the remote node changes its IP address.\
\
\

- \*Multinet is a product, and probably a trademark, of Process Software.

  http://www.process.com and is available free for hobbyist use.\
   The protocol used here was reverse engineered by Mark Berryman and Christine Caulfield.

## OPTIONS

- *-v*

  Be verbose and dump packet contents to stderr

- *-1*

  Advertise as a level 1 router

- *-2*

  Advertise as a level 2 router (default)

- *-D*

  Make the tapX device into the default DECnet device. This will force all traffic to non-local nodes down the Multinet link. IMPORTANT: Due to a kernel bug you should not use this option unless you are using a Linux kernel version 2.6.17 or later.

- *-p priority*

  Router priority. Default is 64

- *-P port*

  Port to talk to Multinet on (default is 700). Ony change this if you know the Multinet server is listening on a different port

- *-m MTU*

  Maximum size of packets. (default 576)

- *-t secs*

  Timeout for IP connections. If no traffic is seen on the IP connection after this time then the daemon will attempt to restart it.

- *-H hello timer*

  How often HELLO messages are sent (default 60) in seconds.

## EXAMPLES

  multinet -1 -D 3.2 zarqon.tykepenguin.com

## SEE ALSO

[**dnroute**(8)](/dnroute/8.md), [**ip**(8)](/ip/8.md)