Copyright: Microsoft NNTP Service Help © 1997 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.  Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Citation: Microsoft NNTP Service Help © 1997 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.  Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.


Property Sheets

Microsoft NNTP Service supports the standard Internet protocol Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) and is fully compatible with other NNTP servers and clients. It offers scalability, reliability, security, and excellent performance. A single-server configuration can support a few users in a department or thousands of concurrent users throughout an organization or around the world.

Use the following property sheets to configure Microsoft NNTP Service:

  DirectorySecurity

  Expiration Policy

  Groups

  HomeDirectory

  News Site

  NNTP Settings

  Security Accounts

  VirtualDirectory


News Site

Use the News Site property sheet to specify the IP address and the TCP port used by your news site. You can also use this property sheet to limit the number of simultaneous client connections and enable logging of access data to the Microsoft Internet Information Server logs for tracking users of your news site.

  Description

  Path Header

  IP Address

  Advanced

  TCP Port

  SSL Port

  Connections

  Connection timeout

  Enable Logging

  Active log format


Active log format

Use this option to select the access data log format and specify log properties. Choose Properties to specify the log properties.


Description

Enter the name for Microsoft NNTP Service. The name you choose is displayed in the Internet Service Manager and Internet Service Manager (HTML) tools.


Advanced

Choose this option to assign multiple IP addresses for this news site.


IP Address

Select an IP address that is defined on the computer running Microsoft Windows NT Server where Microsoft NNTP Service is located. You can configure multiple IP addresses from the Network Control Panel application.


Path Header

Type the string that is used for the Path line in each news posting.


IP Port
TCP Port

Type the TCP port number on which Microsoft NNTP Service is running. The default port is 119. You can enter any unique TCP port number. For a new port number to take effect, you must restart your computer.


SSL Port

Type the TCP port number that clients use to connect to Microsoft NNTP Service when you are using SSL. You can enter any unique TCP port number. The default port is 563. For a new port number to take effect, you must restart your computer.


Connections

You can use this option to set a limit on the number of simultaneous news client connections to the news site or no limit. You also can set a limit on the amount of time an inactive news client can remain connected to Microsoft NNTP Service.


Enable logging

Use this option to enable logging of transaction data so that you can track news site activity. Microsoft NNTP Service writes a log record each time each time a user connects to the service, retrieves an article, posts an article, or disconnects. The default location of the log files is C:\WINNT\System32\LogFiles\Nntpsvc1.

To enable logging, you must also select the Log access check box in the Home Directory property sheet and in the Virtual Directory property sheet.


Advanced Multiple News Site Configuration

Use this option to can add, remove, or edit IP addresses and TCP port numbers for this news site.

You can define additional IP addresses to which this news site responds. Users can connect to the news site using any of the defined IP addresses. (Each IP address normally has its own DNS name.)

  Add

  Remove

  Edit


Advanced Web Site Identification
Advanced News Site Identification

Enter the new IP address and TCP port numbers for this news site.

  IP Address

  TCP Port

  SSLPort


Edit

Choose Edit to modify the port numbers of the IP address you have selected.


Remove

Choose Remove to delete the IP address you have selected.


Add

Choose Add to add a new IP address to this news site.


IP Address

Lists the IP addresses that are used by this news site.


TCP Port

Lists the TCP port that is used by clients to connect to this news site when SSL encryption is not used. The default port is 119.


SSL Port

Lists the TCP port that is used by clients to connect to this news site when SSL encryption is used. The default port is 563.


Connection Timeout

Use this option to limit the connection time to the news site for an inactive client. Type a value for the number of seconds an inactive news client can remain connected. The default is 600 seconds


Virtual Server Administrator
News Site Operators

Use this option to assign one or more operators to Microsoft NNTP Service.


Anonymous User

Use this option to select the Microsoft Windows NT account used for anonymous access to Microsoft NNTP Service. The permissions granted to this account determine which newsgroups are available to anonymous users. The default account is IUSR_computer_name. Choose Browse to select a Windows NT account.

Select the Enable automatic password synchronization checkbox to automatically update the password in Microsoft NNTP Service when the password in Microsoft Windows NT Server is changed.


Security Accounts

Use this option to specify the Microsoft Windows NT Server account used for all anonymous users and to specify operators of Microsoft NNTP Service.

  Anonymous User

  News Site Operators


NNTP Settings

Use the NNTP Settings property sheet to configure a maximum limit for the size of news articles and to specify the SMTP server to which moderated messages are sent.

You can moderate newsgroups from a news client. When it is configured for moderated articles, Microsoft NNTP Service sends articles automatically to a specified SMTP server for delivery to the moderator. If an article cannot be delivered to the moderator, a non-delivery report (NDR) is returned to the Administrator Email account address. For these messages to be processed by SMTP, an account must exist on the SMTP server.

You can specify a default domain where moderated messages are sent when newsgroups are defined without a specified moderator. Configure a default domain when you have more than one moderated newsgroup.

  Allow client posting

  Limit post size

  Limit connection size

  Allow servers to pull news articles from this server

  Allow control messages

  SMTP server for moderated groups

  Default moderator domain

  Administrator Email Account


Administrator Email Account

Use this option to specify an e-mail address for the receipt of non-delivery reports (NDRs) for moderated newsgroup articles that cannot be delivered to the designated moderator.

To enable sending NDRs, create a new DWORD value named MailFromHeader with a value of 1 in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NntpSvc\Parameters\


Allow client posting

Select this option to allow news clients to post articles to this news site.


Limit post size

Use this option to define the maximum size for an article that a news client can post to this news site.


Limit connection size

Use this option to define the maximum size for all articles that a news client can post to this news site during a single connection.


Allow control messages

Select this option if you want control messages to be processed automatically and then logged in the transaction log. Clear this box if you want to log but not process control messages.


Allow server to pull news articles from this server
Allow servers to pull news articles from this server

Select this option to allow other news servers to pull news articles from this news site.


SMTP server for moderated groups

Specifies the SMTP mail server where all postings to moderated groups are forwarded. This value must be either a valid computer name registered with DNS with a valid IP address or a directory path. (A directory path is used only for moderated messages that are sent to a designated directory location.)


Default moderator domain

Use this option to specify the default domain for all moderated postings. The domain must be a qualified domain name. Articles posted to moderated newsgroup that do not have a specified moderator are sent to:

news_group_name@default_moderator_domain

where news_group_name is the name of the newsgroup to which the article is sent, and default_moderator_domain is the value you specify for this option.


Groups

Use the Groups property sheet to create, modify, and remove newsgroups from Microsoft NNTP Service.

  Create new newsgroup

  Newsgroup name

  Limit results to

  Matching newsgroups


Create new newsgroup

Choose this option to create a new newsgroup. You can specify whether a newsgroup is to be moderated. When a newsgroup is moderated, articles are sent to the newsgroup moderator for review before they are posted to the newsgroup.


Newsgroup name

Type the name of the newsgroup you want to find. Rather than type the whole name, you can type the first few characters and choose Find.


Limit results to

Limits the number of newsgroups that are displayed by the find option.


Matching newsgroups
Matching newsgroup

Displays the newsgroups that match the name you entered for the find option.


Home Directory

Use the Home Directory property sheet to change the location of the home directory. The home directory can be located on either a local disk drive or a disk drive on a computer on your LAN that is running Microsoft Windows NT Server. The default location for the home directory is C:\InetPub\NntpRoot.

You can create virtual directories to store news articles, which increases the capacity of files that can be stored. Use the Directories folder in Internet Service Manager or Internet Service Manager (HTML) to configure virtual directories for specific newsgroups. Microsoft NNTP Service overhead requires approximately 540 bytes per stored article, plus 1K for every 128 articles, in addition to the space required for the articles themselves. Choose an NNTP home directory location with enough space to accommodate these requirements.

Note  The home directory must reside on a Microsoft Windows NT Server disk partition formatted as Windows NT file system (NTFS).

  A directory located on this computer

  A share located on another computer

  Local Path

  Network directory

  Allow posting

  Log access

  Restrict newsgroup visibility

  Index news content

  Secure Communications


Path Type

Specify the type of directory path you are using. A directory path is either a directory on your local disk drive or a directory to a mapped disk drive. A network directory is a UNC path to a disk drive that is located on a LAN.


Path

Specify the location of a home directory on either a disk drive (for example, E:\InetPub\NntpRoot) or on a disk drive located on your network (for example, \\Server_Name\Server_Share).


Allow Posting

Select this option to allow news clients to post articles to newsgroups located in this directory.


Log access to this virtual directory
Log access

Select this option to log news client access to newsgroups located in this directory in the Microsoft Internet Information Server access log. To enable logging, you must also select the Enable logging check box in the News Site property sheet.


Secure Communications

This feature ensures that outgoing data is encrypted by requiring the client to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for connections to Microsoft NNTP Service.


Directory Security

Use the Directory Security property sheet to configure client access to the news site. You can configure Microsoft NNTP Service to allow anonymous access or to prompt users for a user name and password by using anonymous, Basic (clear-text), or Windows NT Challenge/Response authentication. Microsoft NNTP Service verifies the user's identity and grants access to the requested content as determined by your Windows NT access control list (ACL) settings.

Windows NT Challenge/Response authentication uses a cryptographic technique for authenticating users. It does not require the user to transmit actual passwords across the network. For more information, see the Microsoft Internet Information Server documentation.

Note Using Windows NT Challenge/Response authentication requires a news client that supports this authentication method. Microsoft Internet Mail and News supports Windows NT Challenge/Response authentication.

  Password Authentication Method

  IP Address and Domain Name Restrictions


Password Authentication Method

You can choose one or more authentication methods. Choose Edit to view the authentication options.


IP Address and Domain Name Restrictions

You have several options for restricting access to newsgroups. Choose Edit to view restriction options.

By default, the news site is accessible from all IP addresses. However, you can grant or deny access to specific IP addresses, while allowing or denying access for a larger group. You can do this by specifying a single IP address, a group of addresses using a subnet mask, or a domain name.


Expiration Policy

Use the Expiration Policies property sheet to create an expiration policy for any number of newsgroups on Microsoft NNTP Service. You can define an expiration policy to delete all news articles older than a specified number of days, or to delete the oldest articles when newsgroups reach a specified size, or both.

  Policy name

  Newsgroup

  Articles older than

  Combined group size

  Both


Policy name

Assign a name to the expiration policy that is stored in the Expiration Policies folder. You can create and store any number of expiration policies in the Expiration Policies folder.


Newsgroup

Type the name of the newsgroup or newsgroup hierarchy that is being added to the expiration policy.


Articles older than

Use this option to remove news articles that are older than a specified number of days. The default limit is 7 days.


Combined group size

Use this option to restrict the total size of all newsgroups that are assigned to the expiration policy. When the combined size of the newsgroups exceeds the specified limit, articles are removed from the oldest to the newest until the size falls below the limit. The default is 500 MB.


Both

Use this option to enable both the Articles older than and Combined group size options.


Virtual Directory

Use the Directories folder to create virtual directories for storing newsgroup articles. For example, you can create a virtual directory for storing all newsgroups related to corporate recreational activities on one disk drive and a virtual directory for storing all business related newsgroups on another.

Virtual directories have two components: a virtual directory path and a virtual directory alias. The alias makes it possible for you to change the physical location of the newsgroups without having to change the location that clients use to access the newsgroups. The alias appears in the news service URL, and can remain the same no matter where the files are actually stored.

  Newsgroup Subtree

  A directory located on this computer

  A share located on another computer

  Local path

  Network directory

  Allow posting

  Log access

  Restrict newsgroup visibility

  Index news content

  Secure Communications


Index news content

Use this option to index newsgroups in this directory with Microsoft Index Server, which allows users to search for specific text.


Restrict newsgroup visibility

Use this option to restrict viewing newsgroup lists in this directory to users who have access permission for the newsgroups. (This option adds processing overhead and should not be used for newsgroups that allow anonymous access.)


A directory located on this computer

Use this option to specify a directory path on your local disk drive.


A share located on another computer

Use this option to specify a directory that is located on your network (for example, \\Server_Name\Server_Share). A network directory is a UNC path to a disk drive located on a LAN.


Newsgroup Subtree

Use this option to specify the name of the virtual directory. The virtual directory name should contain the name of one or more levels in the newsgroup hierarchy (for example, rec.sports). Do not use wildcard (*) characters in this name.


Local path

Specify the physical path where the directory is located on this computer (for example, E:\Nntp\Rec\Sports).


Network directory

Specify the UNC name of the network directory where the directory is located (for example, \\Ntsrv1\Nntp\Rec\Sports).


Allow Posting

Select this option to allow news clients to post articles to newsgroups in this directory.


Log access to this virtual directory
Log access

Generates a log of news client access to this directory in the Microsoft Internet Information Server access log. To enable logging, you must also select the Enable logging check box in the News Site property sheet.


Secure Communications

Use this option to require clients to use SSL for connections to Microsoft NNTP Service. This ensures that outgoing data is encrypted.


Secure Communications

You can ensure that outgoing data is encrypted by requiring the client to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for connections to Microsoft NNTP Service.

To use SSL, create key pairs and configure key certificates using Key Manager. Clients can then use SSL to submit encrypted articles to Microsoft NNTP Service and Microsoft NNTP Service can also use SSL to encrypt articles sent to clients.

Key pairs consist of a number of bits that indicate the key’s security level, or strength. You can strengthen security by increasing the encryption level from a 40-bit to a 128-bit default key strength. The greater the number of bits, the more difficult the item is to decode. Users who are attempting to secure access must use the same encryption level that you set.

  Require Secure Channel

  Require 128-bit Encryption

  Key Manager


Require Secure Channel

You can ensure that outgoing data is encrypted by requiring the client to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for connections to Microsoft NNTP Service.


Key Manager

Use Key Manager to create new key requests and manage installed key certificates for the news site.


Require 128-bit Encryption

You can limit access to the virtual directory to clients using the 128-bit key strength encryption in SSL. Clients attempting to connect using the 40-bit key strength encryption in SSL are refused.

Because of export restrictions, the 128-bit key strength encryption feature is available only in the United States and Canada.


Newsgroup Properties

Use these options to describe the newsgroup you are creating or modifying.

  Newsgroup

  Description

  Newsgroup prettyname

  Read only

  Not moderated

  Moderated by default newsgroup moderator

  Moderated by


Moderated by default newsgroup moderator

Use this option to specify that articles are sent to the following e-mail address before they are posted:

newsgroup@default_domain

where newsgroup is the name of this newsgroup, and default_domain is the domain you have specified in the Default moderator domain box in the NNTP Settings property sheet.


Not moderated

Select this option if newsgroup articles are posted without being sent to a moderator for approval; this is the default setting for a newsgroup.


Localizable description
Newsgroup prettyname

If you want a client display name for your newsgroup, enter a name for the newsgroup that is returned by the NNTP command LIST PRETTYNAMES; this name is displayed by some clients. This option accepts Unicode characters, which means that you can specify a newsgroup name using the character set of another language.


Newsgroup

Type the name of the newsgroup.


Description

Enter a description for the newsgroup. With this description, you can further define a newsgroup function that is not evident from the newgroup title. This description is optional.


Read only

Select this option to specify that only the designated moderator can post articles to this newsgroup.


Moderated
Moderated by

Enter the e-mail address of the moderator you have designated for this newsgroup.


Authentication Methods

Select one or more authentication methods.

  Allow Anonymous

  Basic Authentication

  Windows NT Challenge/Response

  Enable SSL Client Authentication (requires server certificate)

  Require SSL Client Authentication

  Enable Client Certificate Mappings to Windows NT User Accounts


Enable Client Certificate Mappings to Windows NT User Accounts

If the client software has an SSL client certificate installed, use the Microsoft Windows NT account that is mapped to that certificate to authenticate users. Choose Client Mappings to enter certificates and the Windows NT account names.


Require SSL Client Authentication

Use this option to require that clients provide SSL encrypted user names and passwords.


Enable SSL Client Authentication (requires server certificate
Enable SSL Client Authentication (requires server certificate)

This option enables secure client authentication using SSL encryption and certificates. An SSL certificate is required for the computer running Microsoft NNTP Service.


Allow Anonymous

Select this option to allow any client access to the contents of this directory. No user name or password is required.


Basic Authentication

Select this option to enable Basic password authentication. NNTP defines an authorization protocol, called AUTHINFO, that is based on clear-text passwords. Microsoft NNTP Service supports this clear-text password authorization protocol as Basic password authentication. It also extends the protocol to support delivery of confidential data between Microsoft NNTP Service and an NNTP client. Microsoft NNTP Service provides these features as extensions to the NNTP AUTHINFO protocol.


Windows NT Challenge/Response

Select this option to enable the standard challenge/response security mechanism that is provided with Microsoft Windows NT Server. This security feature makes it possible for businesses to provide secure logon services for their customers. Sites that already use Windows NT Challenge/Response in an internal system can benefit by using a single, common security mechanism.


Deny access on

  Type

  IP Address

  DNS Lookup


Type

Choose the type of address for which you want to set access or that you want to block from connecting.

Note  Restricting access by domain name adds significant processing overhead and can reduce Microsoft NNTP Service performance.


IP Address

Type the IP address of the computer for which you want to set access or that you want to block from connecting.


DNS Lookup

Type the DNS name for the computer for which you want to set access or that you want to block from connecting.


Allow server to pull news articles from this server

Select this feature if you want to allow other NNTP servers to pull news articles from Microsoft NNTP Service.


IP Address and Domain Name Restrictions

Use these options to limit access to the news site by client IP address or domain name . By default, all IP addresses have access to the news site.

Even if you grant access to all computers, you can make exceptions to this rule by denying access to specific computers. Likewise, if you deny access to all computers, you still can grant access to specific computers.

  Granted Access

  Denied Access

  Except those listed below

  Add

  Remove

  Edit


Granted Access

Select the Granted Access option to grant access to all IP addresses except the specific addresses you list.


Denied Access

Select the Denied Access option to deny access to all IP addresses except the specific addresses you list.


Except those listed below

Displays the IP addresses or the domain names that you have granted or denied access to the news site.


Add

Choose Add to grant or deny access to a specific IP address or domain name.


Remove

Choose Remove to remove the IP address or domain name that you have selected from the list.


Edit

Choose Edit to view or change the IP address or domain name that you have selected in the list.


Grant/Deny Access On

Select the type of address for which you are granting or denying access, and then enter the required information.

  Type

  IP Address

  DNS Lookup

  Network ID

  Subnet Mask

  Domain Name


Type

Select the type of address (IP address or domain name) for which you want to deny or grant access. Depending on the type of address you select, different options appear.

Use Single Computer to select a single computer by IP address. Choose DNS Lookup to look up an IP address.

Use Group of Computers to select a group of computers within a subnet.

Use Domain Name to select all of the computers in a domain by domain name. (This option adds processing overhead and might reduce Microsoft NNTP Service performance.)


Domain Name

The domain name of a group of computers that is being denied or granted access.


Subnet Mask

The subnet mask that specifies the range of IP addresses for a group of computers that is being denied or granted access. See Microsoft Windows NT Server Networking Guide for more information on subnet masks.


Network ID

The base IP address for a group of computers that is being denied or granted access. A subnet mask is required.


DNS Lookup

Use this option to look up the IP address of a computer by its DNS name.


IP Address

The IP address of a single computer that is being denied or granted access. Choose DNS Lookup to look up an IP address.


Advanced SMTP Site Identification
Advanced NNTP Site Identification

Use these options to specify additional IP addresses for this news site. The IP addresses must already be defined to Microsoft Windows NT Server.

  IP Address

  TCP Port

  SSL Port


TCP Port

Use this option to enter the TCP port number for Microsoft NNTP Service at this IP address; you can use any unique TCP port number that is available for this IP address. For a new port number to take effect, you must restart your computer.


SSL Port

Use this option to enter the TCP port number for Microsoft NNTP Service when you are using SSL at this IP address; you can use any unique TCP port number that is available for this IP address. For a new port number to take effect, you must restart your computer.


IP Address

Use this option to select an IP address to use for access to Microsoft NNTP Service. Select the IP address from the list that is displayed.


Select Administrator Account

Use these options to add Microsoft Windows NT accounts and groups to the list of news site operators.

  List Names From

  Names

  Add

  Members

  Search

  Add Names


Add Names

The display lists the user names and group names that you have specified you want to add as operators. You can add still other names to this list by selecting the name from the Names box and then choosing Add.


Search

Use this option to display the Find Account dialog box, which is used to locate the user name or group name that you want add.


Members

Use this option to display the Local Group Membership dialog box, which lists the members of the group you selected in the Names dialog box.


Add

Use this option to copy the name you selected in the Names box to the Add Names box.


Names

Use this option to select the user or group you want to add as an operator. The display is a list the names in the domain you selected in the List Names From box. If you select a group name, you can then select Members to view the members of the group.


List Names From

Use this option to select the domain for which you want to view the user and group account names. Choose the down arrow to display a list of available domains.


Network Directory Security Credentials

Type the user name and the password of a Microsoft Windows NT account that is on the remote computer and has Full Control permission for the network share being defined for the virtual directory.


Global Group Membership

Use this option to add a member of a global group as an operator. Select a member, and then choose Add to add the member as an operator.


Find Account

This option helps you locate a Microsoft Windows NT account. You can search all domains or specific domains.

  Find User or Group

  Search All

  Search Only In

  Search Results


Find User or Group

Type the user name or group name you want to locate, and then choose Search. The Search Results box displays the user names or group names that match your entry.


Search

Use this option to start the search for the entry you typed in the Find User or Group box. The Search Results box displays the names that match your entry.


Search All

Choose this option to search all of the organization's domains for the user name or group name that you specified in the Find User or Group box.


Search Only In

Choose this option to search only the domains you select for the user name or group name that you specified in the Find User or Group box. To select more than one domain, press and hold CTRL while choosing the appropriate domains.


Search Results

This box displays the user names or group names that match your entry in the Find User or Group box.


Add

Use this option to adds the user name or group name that you selected in the Search Results dialog box to the Add Names box in the Select Administrator Account dialog box.