Problem: To receive incoming connections and to attempt outgoing connection with InterBase for Windows95, or to attempt outgoing connections with Local InterBase using TCP/IP, the TCP/IP protocol must be configured on the Windows95 system. Solution: To install and configure the TCP/IP protocol on a Windows95 system, do the following steps: - Go to Start | Settings |Control Panel and open the "Control Panel" group. - Double-click on the "Network" icon to open up the Network applet. - Click on the [Add] button. - In the "Select Network Type" dialog box click on protocol, then click on the [Add] button. - In the "Select Network Protocol" dialog box click on Microsoft, then click on TCP/IP and click on the [OK] button. - Scroll through the list of network objects and click on TCP/IP when it becomes visible, then click on the [Properties] button. - In the "TCP/IP Properties" dialog click on the IP Address page. - Choose "Specify an IP address' and type in an IP address. If the system is not connecting to the InterNet then any IP address can be specified as long as there is a one to three digit number in each of the four slots (octets). The system administrator may wish to assign specific addresses to each system, check with the administrator. If the systems on the network can connect to the InterNet, check with the administrator to obtain a valid IP address. - For the Subnet Mask type in the value "255.255.255.0". To configure the setting on the Gateway: - Consult the System Administrator on whether there is a gateway, and if so what the IP address of the gateway is. On smaller networks, it is likely that there is no gateway. If in doubt, the IP address of the gateway can be left blank and can be filled in later. The following steps are recommended: - If a DNS server is available on the network click on the DNS Configuration page. - Click on the "enable DNS" choice and type in the domain and host name of this machine. The host name is the name typed in as the computer name entry on the Identification page of the Network applet. - Type in the IP address of the DNS server in the "DNS Server Search Order" edit control and click on the Add button. If there is more than one DNS server repeat this step until all of the DNS servers are entered. When configuring TCP/IP parameters is completed do the following steps: - When ready click on the OK button in the "TCP/IP Properties" dialog. - The click on "OK" in the Network applet. - Upon closing the Network applet a message box prompt will inquire if you want to reboot to bring the changes into effect. Click on "Yes". If another application requires being shutdown before rebooting then click on "No" and shutdown the application and then shutdown and restart the Windows95 system. After the system has rebooted perform the following steps: - Use Wordpad and open the file named "services" (the file has no extension) in the c:windows directory. - Search for the line: "gds_db 3050/tcp" (without the quotes). This line is normally added by the InterBase installation program, if this line is not present, then add it at bottom of the file. - Save the file called "services". - Open the file named "hosts" (the file has no extension) in the c:windows directory. If this file is not present, then open the file named Hosts.sam and later save it as Hosts. - Go to the bottom of the file and add in a new line. On this new line, add in the IP address and the name of the server where InterBase is installed. For example, if the server has an IP address of 180.180.45.45 and is named Mondo then the entry on the line would look like: 180.180.45.45 Mondo If multiple InterBase servers will be accessed, add in a line for each server. Also note that since TCP/IP is being used, the InterBase server could be on Windows95, WindowsNT, or on a UNIX machine. - When finished adding entries save the hosts file. Changes made to the Services and Hosts files take place immediately, there is no need to reboot the system. This completes the configuration of the TCP/IP protocol. The Communication Diagnostics utility can now be used to test Winsock connections, and DB Connections using TCP/IP.
Last Modified: 27-OCT-00