use of /dev/ether or /dev/lan0

[Shariq Ehsan]

hi,
could anyone tell me how a user application make use of /dev/ether1 or /dev/lan0 to establish network connection b/w two machines.

thanks

[Matti_Kurkela]

These device files are related to LLA. It's a technology that was used in old versions of HP-UX and was scheduled to be discontinued after HP-UX 10.00. The current technology for doing the same thing is apparently called DLPI.

Normal applications should not be using those devices at all: they should use the standard socket system calls instead. These devices are for sending and receiving "raw" data packets in either Ethernet or IEEE 802.3 formats.

If an application is accessing /dev/ether* or /dev/lan* directly, it means the application is either:
a) connecting to a device that does not understand TCP/IP, using some other protocol that can be transported over Ethernet or IEEE 802.3, or
b) wanting to analyze the incoming packets in their "raw" form (network traffic analysis, diagnostics or debugging)

Please read the LLA Programming and Migration Guide:
http://docs.hp.com/en/98194-90053/index.html

If you are porting a program that uses LLA to some currently-supported version of HP-UX, see also the DLPI Programmer's Guide:
http://docs.hp.com/en/5992-0554/index.html

MK