Copyright: ® FTP Software, Inc. 1997. All rights reserved.
Citation: ® Copyright FTP Software, Inc. 1997. All rights reserved.


Retriever Help Contents

Overview

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


Introducing Retriever

Using Retriever

What is Retriever?

Related Topics

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


Step-by-Step Instructions

Using Retriever

Create the Retriever Report File

Enter Information at the Retriever Window

Send the Retriever Report File to FTP Technical Support

Preserve an Existing Retriever Report File

Related Topics

Introduction

Concepts


Concepts

Using Retriever

What Files Does Retriever Gather into the Report File?

What Happens When I Run Retriever Again?

How Is the Retriever Report File Received by FTP Technical Support?

Related Topics

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Getting Technical Assistance


What is Retriever?

Retriever gathers configuration, installation, and system information and saves the information to a single file, called the Retriever report file.

The Retriever report file assists in troubleshooting by providing technical support staff with information about your PC setup. It can also help you troubleshoot your own PC setup.

After you use Retriever to create the report file, you can e-mail or fax the report file to the appropriate technical support organization.

Depending upon your product purchase, the technical support organization appropriate might be

•	FTP Software Technical Support

•	Another supplier of FTP Software products

•	Your own internal help desk

Note: If you purchased your software from a source other than FTP Software, Inc., please contact that source for your support and sales issues.

Related Topics

Create the Retriever Report File

How Is the Retriever Report File Received by FTP Technical Support?

Preserve an Existing Retriever Report File

Send the Retriever Report File to FTP Technical Support

What Files Does Retriever Gather into the Report File?

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


Create the Retriever Report File

1.	From the Windows program group, choose the Retriever icon.

The Retriever window appears.

2.	Enter information in the Retriever window.

3.	Choose OK.

Retriever gathers information from several files and, when done, displays a message to notify you it has successfully created the Retriever report file.

4.	Choose OK in the File Search box to close the Retriever application.

Note:  If you have more than one technical support issue, create a separate report file for each issue.

Related Topics

How Is the Report File Received by FTP Technical Support?

Preserve an Existing Retriever Report File

Send the Retriever Report File to FTP Technical Support

What Files Does Retriever Gather into the Report File?

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


Send the Retriever Report File to Technical Support
Send the Retriever Report File to FTP Technical Support

•	Fax the file to 508-794-4484.

--or--

•	Send the file via e-mail to retriever@ftp.com.

Important:  If you send the file via e-mail, send the file as text. Do not send the file as an attachment to a mail message. For more information, see How Is the Retriever Report File Received by FTP Technical Support?

For information about FTP Technical Support, visit the Technical Support Home Page on the WWW server (http://www.ftp.com/techsup).

Note: If you purchased your software from a source other than FTP Software, Inc., please contact that source for your support and sales issues.

Related Topics

What Files Does Retriever Gather into the Report File?

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


How Is the Retriever Report File Received by FTP Technical Support?

When you e-mail a Retriever report file to retriever@ftp.com (FTP Software Technical Support), the report file is automatically sent to a special database that is monitored by FTP Software technical support personnel.

Note:  Be sure to send the report file as text so that the system can properly enter the report file in the database. Do not mail the report file as an attachment to a standard mail message. If you have multiple issues for which you need technical assistance, create and send a separate report file for each issue.

Each report file is stored in the database and is referenced by a unique case number.

The case number enables technical support personnel to quickly locate your report file to address the problem.

Note: If you purchased your software from a source other than FTP Software, Inc., please contact that source (or your own internal help desk, if appropriate) for your support and sales issues.

Related Topics

Enter Information at the Retriever Window

Send the Retriever Report File to FTP Technical Support

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


What Files Does Retriever Gather into the Report File?

Retriever gathers and saves information from the following files into the Retriever report file:

•	CONFIG.SYS

•	AUTOEXEC.BAT

•	PCTCP.INI

•	SYSTEM.INI

•	WIN.INI

•	INSTALL.LOG

•	SESSION.INI

•	PROTOCOL.INI

•	NET.CFG

•	NETSTART.BAT

In addition, Retriever gathers information about current resource and system configuration (such as kernel statistics), and about currently running TSRs and Windows modules.

At the top of the file, Retriever inserts all of the information that you enter in the Retriever window dialog box.

The Retriever report file is named RETRIEVE.TXT, or any other name that you specified by using the Save As command.

Related Topics

Create the Retriever Report File

Enter Information at the Retriever Window

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


Preserve an Existing Retriever Report File

In the File Manager window, from the File menu, choose Rename, and assign a new name to the existing Retriever report file (for example, assign the name RETRIEVE.SAV to RETRIEVE.TXT).

--or--

Open the existing Retriever report file. Then, from the File menu, choose Save As and save the existing file with a new name.

--or--

In the Retriever window, from the File menu, choose Save As and assign a new name to the Retriever report file that you are about to create. (Fill out the Retriever window dialog box and choose OK to create the report file with the new name.)

Related Topics

Create the Retriever Report File

What Happens When I Run Retriever Again?

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


What Happens When I Run Retriever Again?

Each time you run Retriever, you create a new report file. The new file overwrites any Retriever report file with the same name.

The default name for the report file is RETRIEVE.TXT. Use Save As in the File menu of the Retriever window to assign a new name to the report file before you click on OK. Each time you exit and restart the Retriever application, the file resumes the default filename RETRIEVE.TXT.

Related Topics

Create the Retriever Report File

Preserve an Existing Retriever Report File

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


User information
Retriever Window

In the Retriever window, you enter your name, address, and company information, as well as information about the specific problem you encountered.

Retriever inserts all information that you enter at the top of the Retriever report file. Although all entries are optional, you can assist technical support personnel by entering as much information as possible. After you complete the information, choose OK to run Retriever and create the Retriever report file.

Note:  If you have more than one technical support issue, create a separate report file for each issue.

Dialog Box Items

FTP Case no

Product serial no

First name

Last name

Company

Phone no

Fax no

Email addr

Brief problem description

Remote host information (O/S and version)

Steps required to reproduce problem

Related Topics

How Is the Retriever Report File Received by FTP Technical Support?

Send the Retriever Report File to FTP Technical Support

What Files Does Retriever Gather into the Report File?

Introduction

Step-by-Step Instructions

Concepts


Last name: Your last name or the last name of a person to contact about the problem.


First name: Your first name or the first name of a person to contact about the problem.


Product serial number: The serial number printed on your Product Registration Card (and/or listed in your PCTCP.INI file) in the form nnnn-nnnn-nnnn. If you have an unprotected kernel and the serial number is not listed in PCTCP.INI, obtain the serial number from your site license administrator.


Steps required to reproduce problem: A list of each step necessary to reproduce the problem.


Brief problem description: A brief description or summary of the problem you encountered.


Remote host information (OS/ and version): The operating system on the remote host (for example, UNIX or OS/2) and the version number, if known.


Email addr: Your e-mail address or the e-mail address of a person to contact about the problem.


Fax no: Your fax number or the fax number of a person to contact about the problem.


Phone no: Your phone number or the phone number of a person to contact about the problem.


Company: The name of your company.


Case no: The case number for the problem, if a number has been assigned to you by FTP Technical Support. If you e-mail the Retriever report file to FTP Software, Inc. without a case number, the database system will automatically assign a case number to the report when the system receives the file.

If you are submitting the report to a support organization other than FTP Software, Inc., you can use this field for any type of data or number that might be required by that source.


Before you choose OK, you can use the Save As command on the File menu to specify a different name for the Retriever report file.


TSRs: Terminate-and-Stay-Resident programs that run under MS-DOS and remain loaded in memory.


Enter the operating system used by the remote host (for example, UNIX or OS/2) and the version number if known.


List each step necessary to reproduce the problem.


Enter a brief description of the problem you encountered.

Be sure to specify only one problem per report file.


Enter the case number for the problem if a number has been assigned to you by FTP Technical Support. If you e-mail the Retriever report file to FTP Software, Inc. without a case number, the database system will automatically assign a case number to the report when the system receives the file.

If you are submitting the report to a support organization other than FTP Software, Inc., you can use this field for any type of data that might be required by that source.


Enter the e-mail address of the primary contact.


Enter the fax number of the primary contact.


Enter the phone number of the primary contact.


Enter the company name for the primary contact.


Enter the last name of the primary contact.


Enter the first name of the primary contact.


If not already entered for you, enter the serial number printed on your Product Registration Card (and/or listed in your PCTCP.INI file) in the form nnnn-nnnn-nnnn. If you have an unprotected kernel and the serial number is not listed in PCTCP.INI, obtain the serial number from your site license administrator.


Creates the Retriever report file.


Closes the Retriever window without taking any action.


Closes the File Search message box and exits the Retriever application.


account name: The name or word that identifes who is billed for this session on a computer system.


case sensitivity: The ability of a program to evalutate the difference between the capitalized and non-capitalized versions of a character. Case sensitive programs treat for example, cat and Cat, as distinct items.

It matters how you enter file and variable names on a case sensitive operating system (such as the UNIX operating system). If you want to view a file named Cat, and you enter the characters cat,  the system displays the file named cat if one exists, or gives you an error message. It does not display a file named Cat. Case sensitivity also effects the way that files are listed when sorted in alphabetical order.

.


filename conventions: A TCP/IP network usually contains computers that run different operating systems. Each operating system has different conventions for naming files. For example, both the number and kinds of characters that can be used in a name are often subject to limits.

When you use some TCP/IP supported services such as telnet and ftp, use the filenaming conventions in effect on the host system to work with files that are on the host.


hostname: The name of a networked computer.

The hostname is one form of the computers TCP/IP network address; the other is its complete numeric network address.You can access a computer by its hostname or its numeric network address.


toolbar: A group of buttons that appears below the menu bar. These buttons let you gain access quickly to the application's features.


IP address: A number (in the form n.n.n.n  where each n is a value in the range 0 to 255) that uniquely identifies a networked computer that uses the TCP/IP communication protocol. (The Internet Protocol is defined in RFC 791.)


MIB-II: The Management Information Base (MIB) database used by an SNMP MIB agent to store information about the network operations of your PC. MIB-II (or MIB version 2) is the second version of the Internet-standard MIB. RFC 1213 defines the format of MIB-II.


packet: A single network message with its associated header, addressing information, data, and optional trailer. Also known as a "frame" or "datagram".


password: A word or string of characters that you supply in order to login to another system on a network. Systems that accept the username "anonymous" often require you to provide your e-mail address as the password.


permissions: On UNIX systems, settings that control who has access to a file and what rights (read, write, or execute) are given. NFS uses UNIX-style permissions to control access to network files.


protocol window: Some OnNet applications support a window dedicated to displaying the interactions between your PC and the remote host (the protocol). You can display the window usually from a View, Settings, or Options menu.


remote host: A networked computer that makes a service available to other computers on the network. Typical host services include transferring files, printing files, and managing logins from remote users.


SNMP community: A relationship between an SNMP agent and one or more SNMP management stations.


SNMP community name: A unique name shared by the members of an SNMP community.


SNMP message: A packet of data, consisting of an SNMP community name and SNMP commands and operands.


status bar: A message area, typically at the bottom of the application window, that provides information about the component that is currently selected, or the state of the application.


session: A session comprises the interactions between your PC and a remote host  beginning with the initial connection and ending when you or the host explicitly disconnect.

Some OnNet applications allow you to configure sessions, that is, automatically send parameters such as your username and password to the remote host..


session definition: The configuration settings for a particular session or host connection. A session definition might include such settings as the hostname of a computer on the network and your login name for that computer, as well as other values that you specify. The set of session parameters you can specify differs with each program.


TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): A Transport layer, connection-oriented, end-to-end protocol that provides reliable, sequenced, and nonduplicated delivery of bytes to a remote or a local user. TCP provides reliable byte stream communication between pairs of processes in hosts attached to interconnected networks.


time out: A period of time when a connection between a PC and a  host computer is allowed to be idle or unused, or when a PC can attempt to make a connection to a networked host..

When the time period elapses, the host closes the idle connection, or the PC reports that it failed to connect to a host.


UDP (User Datagram Protocol): A Transport layer, connection-less mode protocol providing a (potentially unreliable, unsequenced, and/or duplicated) datagram communication for delivery of packets to a remote or a local user. UDP provides a procedure for a process to send messages to other processes with a minimum of protocol mechanism.


username: A name required for login to a remote system.


wildcard:  A character such as * or ? that represents one or more characters in a filename. In a network, each operating system supports its own wildcard characters and syntax. When you use wildcards on a remote host, follow the conventions that apply to that host.


Technical assistance

Users in the U.S. and Canada, and worldwide resellers  Contact FTP Software®:

Telephone:	(800) 382-4387

(508) 685-3600

E-mail:	support@ftp.com

Fax:	(508) 794-4484

 or

Users outside of the U.S. and Canada  Contact your local reseller.

Tip

For FREE online technical services, see:

World Wide Web:	http://www.ftp.com

Anonymous Ftp Server:	ftp.ftp.com

Bulletin Board System:	(508) 684-6240 ( settings  8,N,1)

CompuServe:	GO FTPSOFT (PCVENJ Section 8)