Surveying the COSMOS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by The Fire Monger

COSMOS is Bell's computer for handling information on customer lines, special
services on lines, and orders to change line equipment, disconnect lines, etc.
COSMOS stands for Computerized System for Mainframe Operations.  It is based on
the UNIX operating system and, depending upon the COSMOS and upon your access,
has some, many, or no UNIX standard commands.  COSMOS is powerful, but there is
no reason to be afraid of it.  This article will give some of the basic,
pertinent info on how users get in, account format, and a few other goodies.

Password/Identification
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To get onto COSMOS you need a dial-up, account, password, and wire center (WC).
Wire centers are two letter codes that tell what section of the COSMOS you are
in.  There are different WC's for different areas and groups of exchanges.
Examples are PB, SR, LK, etc.  Sometimes there are accounts that have no
password; obviously such accounts are the easiest to hack.

Checking It Out
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let's suppose you have a COSMOS number which you obtained one way or another.
The first thing to do would be to make sure it is really a COSMOS system, not
some other Bell or AT&T computer.  To do this, you would call it can connect
your modem, then hit some returns until you got a response.  It should say: 
';LOGIN:' or 'NAME:' If you enter some garbage here it should say: 'PASSWORD:'.
If you hit a return and it says 'WC?', it is a COSMOS system.  If it says
something like 'TA%' then you're in business.  If it doesn't do any of the
above, then it is either some other kind of system, or, if you're not getting
anything at all, the dial-up has probably gone bad.

Getting In
~~~~~~~~~~
COSMOS has certain accounts that are usually on the system, one of which might
not have a password.  They consist of ROOT (most powerful and almost always on
the system), SYS (second most powerful, still many privileges), BIN (a little
less power), PREOP (a little less), and COSMOS (hardly any privileges, like a
normal user).  The way to tell if they have passwords is by entering the
accounts at the ';LOGIN:' or 'NAME:' prompt, and if it jumps straight to a
'WC?', all you need is a WC to get in.  But suppose all of the accounts have
passwords?  You have two choices.  You can try to hack the password and WC to
one of the above accounts.  I won't deal with this method, as it is self
explanatory.  Or you can do something I find much easier - call the COSMOS
during business hours and hope that someone forgot to log off.  Keep calling
until when you connect and hit return until you get a 'WC%' prompt.  'WC' is
the WC that the account you found is currently in.  You are now in!

What to Do While Online
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing you want to do is write down the WC you are in.  The command
'WCFLDS'(!) should list all WC's.  On your first login it is a good idea to
print everything or dump everything to a buffer:

* 'WHO' should print everyone currently logged on the system, giving some
  accounts

* 'TTY' tells what terminal port you are on.

* 'WHERE' should tell the location of the COSMOS installation.

* 'WHAT' tells what version of COSNIX, COSMOS' operating system it is.

* 'LS *' prints all the files you have access to.

* 'CD /dir' connects you to director 'dir.'

* 'Cat / filename' prints the file 'filename.'  Typing the name of the file
  runs it

* 'ED filename' edits file 'filename.'  'Q' quits the editor.

If you've got privileges, you can try to print the password file.  To do this,
type 'CAT /ETC/PASSWD.'  If you have access, it will print the password file
out.  The passwords are almost always encrypted, but you get a list of all the
accounts.  If you are lucky, one of the lines will have two colons after the
account name.  This means there is no prompt from the ';LOGIN:' or 'NAME:'
prompts when you enter that account.  If you can't print out the password file,
you're going to have to hack a password for an account or call again until you
get in the way described above.  To logoff, type CTRL-Y.  'TAT' sometimes
prints a little help file.  To do a check on some telephone line, type 'ISH' at
the COSMOS 'WC%' prompt.  The type 'H TN XXX-XXXX' (Hunt Telephone Number) to
tell you about the local number you are interested in.  When the system gives
you a '-' you type a '.', and it will type all kinds of info on the phone
number you entered (in Bell abbreviations, of course).  If it is not a good
exchange, it will say something to that effect.  You type a period to end the
ISH.

If you wish to learn more information about COSMOS, find yourself a COSMOS
manual or look at future issues of 2600.  A UNIX manual would also be helpful
for standard UNIX commands.