SMFS Login and Logout
Two Simple-Minded File System commands for user identification and accounting
Krilanovich, M., "SMFS Login and Logout", RFC 399, DOI 10.17487/RFC0399, September 1972, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc399>.
@misc{rfc399,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 399,
howpublished = {RFC 399},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0399},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc399},
author = {M. Krilanovich},
title = {{SMFS Login and Logout}},
pagetotal = 2,
year = 1972,
month = sep,
} RFC text
RFC #399 Mark Krilanovich
NIC #11917 UCSB
Updates: 122 Sept. 26, 1972
SMFS Login and Logout
Two new commands have been added to UCSB's Simple Minded
File System (SMFS). They are described below.
Login (LGI)
The login command is the means whereby the user
identifies himself and specifies the account number to which his
use of SMFS is to be billed. The user should issue a LGI command
directly after completing the ICP and before any command
referencing a file. The user name and account number specified
remain in effect until another LGI command is issued, a LGO
command is issued, or the connection is closed.
At present, the use of SMFS is not billed, and therefore
use of the accounting commands is optional. It is requested,
however, that users and user processes begin to use this command
as soon as possible, since we would like to collect statistics on
SMFS utilization before implementing billing. Therefore, at
present the user name can be any name that identfies the user,
and the account number is completely arbitrary.
The format of the LGI command is given below. Note that
the lengths of the fixed-length fields are given in bits. The op
code for LGI is decimal 13.
8
<op code><user name><account number>
The <user name> and <account number> fields are further divided
as follows:
8 8*length
<length><user name>
where <length> gives the length in 8-bit characters of the <user
name> or <account number> subfield. The maximum length of <user
name> is eight characters and of <account number> is four
NWG/RFC# 399 MCK 26-SEP-72 15:15 11917
SMFS Login and Logout
characters. The <user name> and <account number> fields must
consist of characters chosen from the same character set as
filenames.
Logout (LGO)
The logout command terminates the association between the
user and the accounting information specified in the last LGI
command issued, if any; it does not cause SMFS to close the
connection. The user should then issue another LGI command
before attempting any operation referencing a file. It is not
necessary to issue a LGO command before issuing another LGI
command, or before closing the connection.
Again, at the present time the LGO command is optional,
and does not affect the user's ability to reference files.
The format of the LGO command is as follows:
8
<op code>
The op code for LGO is decimal 14.
[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
[ into the online RFC archives by BBN Corp. under the ]
[ direction of Alex McKenzie. 1/97 ]
ISO Plain Language
On this page
§1Why Add Login and Logout
RFC 399 describes two commands added to UCSB's Simple-Minded File System (SMFS). Login identifies the user and names the account to which SMFS use is to be billed; Logout ends the association between the user and that accounting information.
At the time of the RFC, SMFS use was not billed and these commands were optional. The document asks users to begin using Login so the system can collect usage statistics before billing is implemented.
The commands let SMFS record who is using it and which account is associated with the use. They were optional at the time because the system was not billing users.
§2Login and Logout Behavior
A user should issue Login after completing the Initial Connection Protocol and before any command that refers to a file. The user name and account number remain in effect until another Login, a Logout, or connection closure. At the time, the user name could be any name that identified the user and the account number was arbitrary.
Logout ends the accounting association but does not close the connection. After Logout, a user should issue Login before another file operation. The RFC says Logout was optional and did not affect the ability to reference files at that time.
Login sets the user and account for file activity on the connection. Logout clears that association but leaves the connection open.
§3Command Formats
Login uses opcode 13, followed by a user name and account number. Each field begins with an 8-bit length and contains that many 8-bit characters. The user name can contain at most 8 characters, and the account number at most 4; both use the character set used for file names.
Logout consists of opcode 14 and has no arguments.
The Login command carries a name and account number, each preceded by its length. Logout is a single opcode with no extra fields.