CIT’s AppleTalk Troubleshooting

## Copyright © 1999 Boson Software

Written by kevin@boson.com

APPLETALK DISCOVERY

In discovery mode, an interface learns its zone from an existing seed router on its segment. Either the APPLETALK CABLE-RANGE 0-0 or the APPLETALK DISCOVERY interface command will put the interface into discovery mode. If you decide to hardcode the AppleTalk zone name on an interface, that has an existing seed router on the segment, be careful to type in the zone name EXACTLY as it appears on the existing seed router. AppleTalk zone names are case-sensitive.

## APPLETALK ZONES & CABLE RANGES

With AppleTalk Phase II, you can have multiple cable ranges associated with a single zone, and you can have multiple zones associated with a single cable range. However, a single host can only belong to a single zone. The SHOW APPLE ZONE command displays a zone list and each zone's corresponding network number(s).

## APPLETALK ADDRESSING

An AppleTalk address has a maximum of a 16-bit network number, followed by a maximum of an 8-bit node number, for a total maximum length of 24 bits. An AppleTalk address is typically written in this format: network_ number.node_number, (e.g., 12.7 where 12 is the network number, and 7 is the node number).

## APPLETALK ACCESS CONTROL

- Distribute Lists can hide cable ranges.

- NBP Filters can hide AppleTalk services.

- ZIP Reply Filters can hide zones from routers.

- GetZone Lists (GZL) Filters can hide zones from hosts.

## APPLETALK ROUTING

By default, AppleTalk uses RTMP (Router Table Maintenance Protocol) as its routing protocol. However, EIGRP (Enhanced IGRP) can be used as a routing protocol for multiple routed protocols, including AppleTalk.