Subject: Re: Transport Mappings

From: Randy Presuhn <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 16:51:01 -0700 (PDT)

Hi  -

> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 15:59:45
> To: [email-masked]
> From: Ashish Hanwadikar <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Transport Mappings
...
> 1) The Transport Mappings TCP and UNIX Domain Socket are compulsory or
> optional?
>    The AgentX RFC just mentions the two transport Domains. However, it does
> not say whether the Master Agent or Sub Agents should always implement TCP
> or UNIX Domain Sockets.
> 
> My guess is that the Transport Mappings are purely optional. 
...

That'd be my reading of the current words.  I'd prefer it if support for
the TCP mapping were mandatory, but I can live with the current language.

> If implementation of Transport Mapping are purely optional, then detection
> of whether master agent is running or not is difficult to be detected by
> the subagent library or subagent implementation.
...

It's not THAT hard.  One can use getservbyname() as well as the old "just
try it" approach.  One can even do this to support multiple subagent
protocols over multiple transports.

...
>      e) One more alternative here is to include the master agent code as a
> separate module alongwith subagent api or code. Thus, if no master agent is
> available then subagent implementation can take over that responsibility.
> This behavior can be tailored through some parameter in the config files or
> whatever mechanism available.
...

Deja vu.  The access rights needed within a system for a master agent
(for privacy/authentication keys and access control information) should
not be within reach of a typical subagent.  It's one thing to trigger
the activation of a master agent if none is found; it's quite another
to BECOME the master agent if no one else is doing the job.

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