mTCP NetDrive Docker Container

A minimal Docker container for running the mTCP NetDrive server, which allows DOS machines to mount remote disk images over a network.

About mTCP NetDrive

NetDrive is part of the mTCP suite of TCP/IP applications for DOS. The server component runs on modern systems (Linux, Windows, Mac) and serves disk images to DOS clients over UDP.

• Project Homepage: https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/
• NetDrive Documentation: https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/mTCP_NetDrive.html
• License: GPLv3

Quick Start

Using Pre-built Image from Docker Hub (Easiest)

# Create directory for disk images
mkdir -p images

# Run the container
docker run -d \
  --name mtcp-netdrive \
  -p 2002:2002/udp \
  -v $(pwd)/images:/data/images \
  er0080/mtcp-netdrive:latest

Using Docker Compose (Recommended for local development)

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/er0080/netdrive-docker.git
   cd netdrive-docker

2. Create a directory for your disk images:

   mkdir -p images

3. Place your disk images (.dsk files) in the images/ directory

4. Start the container:

   docker-compose up -d

5. View logs:

   docker-compose logs -f

Building from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/er0080/netdrive-docker.git
   cd netdrive-docker

2. Build the image:

   docker build -t mtcp-netdrive .

3. Run the container:

   docker run -d \
     --name mtcp-netdrive \
     -p 2002:2002/udp \
     -v $(pwd)/images:/data/images \
     -e NETDRIVE_PORT=2002 \
     mtcp-netdrive

Environment Variables

Configure the NetDrive server using these environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
NETDRIVE_PORT	2002	UDP port the server listens on
NETDRIVE_IMAGES_DIR	/data/images	Directory containing disk images

Connecting from DOS

On your DOS client with mTCP configured:

netdrive connect <server-ip>:2002 <image-name>.dsk <drive-letter>:

Example:

netdrive connect 192.168.1.100:2002 dos622.dsk d:

Volume Mounts

• /data/images - Directory containing your disk images (.dsk files)

Mount your local directory containing disk images to this path.

Creating Disk Images

You can create disk images using various tools:

• On Linux: Use dd or disk imaging tools
• On Windows: Use WinImage or similar tools
• Existing DOS installations: Use disk imaging utilities

Example using dd to create a 100MB image:

dd if=/dev/zero of=images/mydisk.dsk bs=1M count=100

Ports

• 2002/udp - NetDrive server port (configurable via NETDRIVE_PORT)

Note: NetDrive uses UDP protocol, not TCP.

Security Considerations

• NetDrive is designed for trusted networks
• Consider firewall rules if exposing to the internet
• Use VPN for remote access over untrusted networks
• The server requires no special permissions

Troubleshooting

Check server logs

docker-compose logs -f

List running containers

docker ps

Test UDP connectivity

From another machine:

nc -u <server-ip> 2002

Enable verbose logging

The server runs in headless mode by default in Docker. Check container logs with docker-compose logs -f to monitor server activity.

Building from Source

The NetDrive server is written in Go. To build from source instead of using the binary:

1. Download source from https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/
2. Modify Dockerfile to build from source instead of downloading binary

License

This Docker container configuration is provided as-is. The mTCP NetDrive software is licensed under GPLv3 by Michael Brutman.

References

• mTCP Homepage: https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/
• NetDrive Documentation: https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/mTCP_NetDrive.html
• mTCP GitHub discussions and community support