SIP Server

Table of Contents

About the SIP Protocol
Installing the SIP Server
SIP Communication
Patron privacy and the SIP protocol
- SIP server configuration
- SSH tunnels on SIP clients

About the SIP Protocol

SIP, standing for Standard Interchange Protocol, was developed by the 3M corporation to be a common protocol for data transfer between ILS' (referred to in SIP as an ACS, or Automated Circulation System) and a third party device. Originally, the protocol was developed for use with 3M SelfCheck (often abbreviated SC, not to be confused with Staff Client) systems, but has since expanded to other companies and devices. It is now common to find SIP in use in several other vendors' SelfCheck systems, as well as other non-SelfCheck devices. Some examples include:

Patron Authentication (computer access, subscription databases)
Automated Material Handling (AMH)
- The automated sorting of items, often to bins or book carts, based on shelving location or other programmable criteria

Installing the SIP Server

This is a rough intro to installing the SIP server for Evergreen.

Getting the code

Current SIP server code lives at in the Evergreen git repository:

cd /opt
git clone git://git.evergreen-ils.org/SIPServer.git SIPServer

Configuring the Server

Type the following commands from the command prompt:

$ sudo su opensrf
$ cd /openils/conf
$ cp oils_sip.xml.example oils_sip.xml

Edit oils_sip.xml. Change the commented out <server-params> section to this:

<server-params
  min_spare_servers='1'
  max_spare_servers='2'
  min_servers='3'
  max_servers='25'
/>

max_servers will directly correspond to the number of allowed SIP clients. Set the number accordingly, but bear in mind that too many connections can exhaust memory. On a 4G RAM/4 CPU server (that is also running evergreen), it is not recommended to exceed 100 SIP client connections.

Setting the encoding

SIPServer looks for the encoding in the following places:

An encoding attribute on the account element for the currently active SIP account.
The encoding element that is a child of the institution element of the currently active SIP account.
The encoding element that is a child of the implementation_config element that is itself a child of the institution element of the currently active SIP account.
If none of the above exist, then the default encoding (ASCII) is used.

Option 3 is a legacy option. It is recommended that you alter your configuration to move this element out of the implementation_config element and into its parent institution element. Ideally, SIPServer should not look into the implementation config, and this check may be removed at some time in the future.

Datatypes

The msg64_hold_datatype setting is similar to msg64_summary_datatype, but affects holds instead of circulations. When set to barcode, holds information will be delivered as a set of copy barcodes instead of title strings for patron info requests. With barcodes, SIP clients can both find the title strings for display (via item info requests) and make subsequent hold-related action requests, like holds cancellation.

Adding SIP Users

Type the following commands from the command prompt:
```
$ sudo su opensrf
$ cd /openils/conf
```
In the <accounts> section, add SIP client login information. Make sure that all <logins> use the same institution attribute, and make sure the institution is listed in <institutions>. All attributes in the <login> section will be used by the SIP client.

In Evergreen, create a new profile group called SIP. This group should be a sub-group of Users (not Staff or Patrons). Set Editing Permission as group_application.user.sip_client and give the group the following permissions:

COPY_CHECKIN
COPY_CHECKOUT
CREATE_PAYMENT
RENEW_CIRC
VIEW_CIRCULATIONS
VIEW_COPY_CHECKOUT_HISTORY
VIEW_PERMIT_CHECKOUT
VIEW_USER
VIEW_USER_FINES_SUMMARY
VIEW_USER_TRANSACTIONS
CANCEL_HOLDS

OR use SQL like:

INSERT INTO permission.grp_tree (name,parent,description,application_perm)
VALUES ('SIP', 1, 'SIP2 Client Systems', 'group_application.user.sip_client');

INSERT INTO
  permission.grp_perm_map (grp, perm, depth, grantable)
SELECT
  g.id, p.id, 0, FALSE
FROM
  permission.grp_tree g,
  permission.perm_list p
WHERE
  g.name = 'SIP' AND
  p.code IN (
    'COPY_CHECKIN',
    'COPY_CHECKOUT',
    'RENEW_CIRC',
    'VIEW_CIRCULATIONS',
    'VIEW_COPY_CHECKOUT_HISTORY',
    'VIEW_PERMIT_CHECKOUT',
    'VIEW_USER',
    'VIEW_USER_FINES_SUMMARY',
    'VIEW_USER_TRANSACTIONS',
    'CANCEL_HOLDS'
  );

Verify:

SELECT *
FROM permission.grp_perm_map pgpm
  INNER JOIN permission.perm_list ppl ON pgpm.perm = ppl.id
  INNER JOIN permission.grp_tree pgt ON pgt.id = pgpm.grp
WHERE pgt.name = 'SIP';

For each account created in the <login> section of oils_sip.xml, create a user (via the staff client user editor) that has the same username and password and put that user into the SIP group.

The expiration date will affect the SIP users' connection so you might want to make a note of this somewhere.

Running the server

To start the SIP server type the following commands from the command prompt:

$ sudo su opensrf
$ oils_ctl.sh -a [start|stop|restart]_sip

Logging-SIP

Syslog

It is useful to log SIP requests to a separate file especially during initial setup by modifying your syslog config file.

Edit syslog.conf.

$ sudo vi /etc/syslog.conf  # maybe /etc/rsyslog.conf

Add this:

local6.*                -/var/log/SIP_evergreen.log

Syslog expects the logfile to exist so create the file.
```
$ sudo touch /var/log/SIP_evergreen.log
```
Restart sysklogd.
```
$ sudo /etc/init.d/sysklogd restart
```

Syslog-NG

Edit logging config.
```
sudo vi /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf
```

Add:

# +SIP2+ for Evergreen
filter    f_eg_sip { level(warn, err, crit) and facility(local6); };
destination eg_sip { file("var/log/SIP_evergreen.log"); };
log { source(s_all); filter(f_eg_sip); destination(eg_sip); };

Syslog-ng expects the logfile to exist so create the file.
```
$ sudo touch /var/log/SIP_evergreen.log
```
Restart syslog-ng
```
$ sudo /etc/init.d/syslog-ng restart
```

Testing Your SIP Connection

In the root directory of the SIPServer code:
```
$ cd SIPServer/t
```
Edit SIPtest.pm, change the $instid, $server, $username, and $password variables. This will be enough to test connectivity. To run all tests, you’ll need to change all the variables in the Configuration section.

$ PERL5LIB=../ perl 00sc_status.t

This should produce something like:

1..4
ok 1 - Invalid username
ok 2 - Invalid username
ok 3 - login
ok 4 - SC status

Don’t be dismayed at Invalid Username. That’s just one of the many tests that are run.

More Testing

Once you have opened up either the SIP OR SIP2 ports to be accessible from outside you can do some testing via telnet. In the following tests:

Replace $server with your server hostname (or localhost if you want to skip testing external access for now);
Replace $username, $password, and $instid with the corresponding values in the <accounts> section of your SIP configuration file;
Replace the $user_barcode and $user_password variables with the values for a valid user.
Replace the $item_barcode variable with the values for a valid item.

Start by testing your ability to log into the SIP server:
```
$ telnet $server 6001
```
If successful, the SIP server returns a 941 result. A result of 940, however, indicates an unsuccessful login attempt. Check the <accounts> section of your SIP configuration and try again.
Once you have logged in successfully, replace the variables in the following line and paste it into the telnet session:
```
2300120080623    172148AO$instid|AA$user_barcode|AC$password|AD$user_password
```
If successful, the SIP server returns the patron information for $user_barcode, similar to the following:
```
24  Y           00120100113    170738AEFirstName MiddleName LastName|AA$user_barcode|BLY|CQY
|BHUSD|BV0.00|AFOK|AO$instid|
```
The response declares it is a valid patron BLY with a valid password CQY and shows the user’s $name.
To test the SIP server’s item information response, issue the following request:
```
1700120080623    172148AO$instid|AB$item_barcode|AC$password
```
If successful, the SIP server returns the item information for $item_barcode, similar to the following:
```
1803020120160923    190132AB30007003601852|AJRégion de Kamouraska|CK001|AQOSUL|APOSUL|BHCAD
|BV0.00|BGOSUL|CSCA2 PQ NR46 73R
```
The response declares it is a valid item, with the title, owning library, permanent and current locations, and call number.

SIP Communication

For full protocol details and all message types, see: SIP Communication and Message Types Reference.

Patron privacy and the SIP protocol

SIP traffic includes a lot of patron information, and is not encrypted by default. It is strongly recommended that you encrypt any SIP traffic.

SIP server configuration

On the SIP server, use iptables or etc/hosts to allow SSH connections on port 22 from the SIP client machine. You will probably want to have very restrictive rules on which IP addresses can connect to this server.

SSH tunnels on SIP clients

SSH tunnels are a good fit for use cases like self-check machines, because it is relatively easy to automatically open the connection. Using a VPN is another option, but many VPN clients require manual steps to open the VPN connection.

If the SIP client will be on a Windows machine, install cygwin on the SIP client.
On the SIP client, use ssh-keygen to generate an SSH key.
Add the public key to /home/my_sip_user/.ssh/authorized_keys on your SIP server to enable logins without using the UNIX password.
Configure an SSH tunnel to open before every connection. You can do this in several ways:
1. If the SIP client software allows you to run an arbitrary command before each SIP connection, use something like this:
  ssh -f -L 6001:localhost:6001 my_sip_user@my_sip_server.com sleep 10
2. If you feel confident that the connection won’t get interrupted, you can have something like this run at startup:
  ssh -f -N -L 6001:localhost:6001 my_sip_user@my_sip_server.com
3. If you want to constantly poll to make sure that the connection is still running, you can do something like this as a cron job or scheduled task on the SIP client machine:
  #!/bin/bash instances=`/bin/ps -ef | /bin/grep ssh | /bin/grep -v grep | /bin/wc -l` if [ $instances -eq 0 ]; then echo "Restarting ssh tunnel" /usr/bin/ssh -L 6001:localhost:6001 my_sip_user@my_sip_server.com -f -N fi

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