NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/news/misc/2087

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-30 | 34.2 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!news.mentorg.com!sdl!not-for-mail
From: [e-mail] (Tom Limoncelli)
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: Re: inn faq
Date: 30 Dec 1992 00:33:58 -0500
Organization: Mentor Graphics -- IC Group
Lines: 816
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: titantic.warren.mentorg.com

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Rich Salz) writes:

>In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Doug Acker) writes:
>>Does one exist?
>The best place to ask INN questions is
>news.software.nntp,news.software.b.

>Tom Limoncelli <[e-mail]> has an excellent faq/tutorial on
>configuring an INN system.  Someone else (name withheld) is starting a
>news.software.b faq, which includes various INN Q&A.

>I have a handful of INN Q&A that I've posted once or twice.  I will email
>it to you.  I have sent it to both Tom and "the other person" requesting
>that one of them take over my list.
>    /r$

The best suggestion that I have gotten so far is that the "tutorial"
section should be packaged with the distribution and the "added
questions" parts should be extracted and put into the FAQ that someone
else is maintaining.

The rationale for this is that you need the tutorial when you're
installing the system (since you won't have INN running to get the
FAQ!).  The FAQ should be stuff that you might need to know later.

In the past Rich has been reluctant to include the tutorial with the
INN distribution.  Rich, have you changed your mind?

Tom

P.S.  This is the latest draft.  I have yet to integrated some
suggested changes from Rich.

------------------------------


Subject: The Unofficial INN CONFIGURATION FAQ
From: [e-mail] (Tom Limoncelli)

The Unofficial INN CONFIGURATION FAQ
------------------------------------
by Tom Limoncelli, with additions by many, many others.

(Copyright 1992 Tom Limoncelli, this may be redistributed in whole and
only on electronic networks.  Otherwise, contact the author.
Publishers and movie agents should contact me as soon as possible.  I'd
prefer it if Tom Cruise plays me in the movie, but if he isn't
available we can negotiate.)


Table Of Contents:

                       GENERAL OVERVIEW OF INN
Subject:  Should I read the install.ms file in it's entirety before
Subject:  How does it all fit together?
Subject:  Terminology used in the rest of this document.
Subject:  What should I monitor as I debug INN problems.
                    CONFIGURATION DEBUGGING GUIDE
Subject:  Connecting to a TCP/IP server.
Subject:  My innd won't start!
Subject:  Make sure that "feeders" can connect.
Subject:  Make sure that "readers" can connect.
Subject:  Make sure that clients can post.
Subject:  "client" doesn't have the software needed to post.
Subject:  Debugging the "newsfeeds" file.
Subject:  The ME line in the newsfeeds file.
Subject:  Cookbook example of an outgoing NNTP feed:
Subject:  Cookbook example of an outgoing UUCP feed:
Subject:  Testing a "newsfeeds" configuration.
                             MISC ISSUES
Subject:  Can I edit my configuration files where they are, or do
Subject:  What does this mean:  ME cant nonblock 15 Operation not supported.
Subject:  Suddenly my active and history files are owned by root!
Subject:  What can I do if I can't purchase the O'Reiley And Associates book
Subject:  Getting an active file.
Subject:  How do I use nntplink?
Subject:  Other cron jobs.
Subject:  After a crash.
Subject:  Debugging someone that is feeding you.

NOTE:  Read this document through from beginning to end after
you first install INN.  Later, use it for reference if problems
come up.

======================================================================
                       GENERAL OVERVIEW OF INN
======================================================================

Subject:  Should I read the install.ms file in it's entirety before
reading this document?

YES!  Install.ms tells you how to compile and install the software.
This document walks you through debugging the *configuration* of the
software once it is installed.

This document takes you from where install.ms leaves off, gives you a
quick overview of how all the pieces fit together, and then takes you
through specific debugging tasks.

Debugging INN problems is often difficult because one needs to be an
experienced netnews person to do it well.  You can only get experience
by having a properly running system.  This is a catch-22.  This
tutorial attempts to take you through the basics.  The rest you'll
figure out.

This document also takes you through the process of verifying that your
system is properly configured.  When you are done, you should:

1.  be sure that when feeders connect they are treated as feeders.

2.  be sure that when clients connect they are treated as clients.

3.  be sure that posting works.

4.  be sure that your out-bound feeds are properly configured.

======================================================================

Subject:  How does it all fit together?

Here is a fantastic overview of the workings of INN.

From: Ken Hornstein <[e-mail]>

I discovered that the biggest problem I had with INN was understanding how
everything fits together (since I had no experience with B or C news).
Here's a (hopefully) simple description of how everything fits
together:

After running rc.news, you should have the "innd" daemon running.  This
is the Master Daemon.  It handles incoming connections, stores the
articles on your disk, but does _not_ send any articles out itself.  It
directs other programs to do that.  Exactly where articles are sent and
how they are sent is determined by the "newsfeeds" file.  Setting up
your newsfeeds file will be the hardest part of configuring INN.  Here
are some example entries from my newsfeeds file:

ra/ra.nrl.navy.mil\
        :*,!psu.*/!psu\
        :Tf,Wnm:

Looks complicated?  It isn't.  Here's what it means:

"ra" is the name of the feed.  "/ra.nrl.navy.mil" is an alias for ra.
This is important because INN uses the "Path" header to insure the
articles are not sent to sites where they have already been.  Thus, any
article that has "ra" or "ra.nrl.navy.mil" in the Path header will NOT
be sent to this site.

The second line tells what articles will be sent to this site.
"*,!psu.*" means that all articles that are not in psu.* will be sent
to ra.  The details of the pattern matching is found in the wildmat(3)
man page.  The "/!psu" means that articles with a "Distribution" header
of psu will also not be sent to ra.

The last field specifies exactly what _kind_ of feeds.  "Tf" means this
is a file feed.  Unless you have unusual requirements, all of your
feeds will be file feeds.  "Wnm" means that the relative path name and
the Message-ID of the article will be written to this file.  By
default, this file is called the same name as your feed file, and is in
your out.going directory.  So on my system, every article destined to
ra will have it's filename and Message-ID written to the file
"/var/spool/news/out.going/ra".

So how do the articles actually GET to ra?  You run a program that
reads the feeds file and transmits the article.  Two such programs are
included with INN -- "send-nntp" and "nntpsend".  My personal
preference is for nntpsend.  If you are going to use nntpsend, you will
need to add a similar line to your nntpsend.ctl file:

ra:ra.nrl.navy.mil

This tells nntpsend that articles in the feed file "ra" should be sent
to the site "ra.nrl.navy.mil".  I run nntpsend out of cron every 10
minutes with this line (in /usr/lib/crontab):

0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * * /bin/su news -c '/usr/local/news/bin/nntpsend'

This is under Ultrix.  A sane cron would let you specify the userid to
run programs under.

UUCP feeds work similarly and are described in a different section.

As each article comes in (note that hosts feeding you _must_ be listed
in the hosts.nntp file), innd will examine it and distribute to your
listed feeds based on the above-described selection criteria.

One last important thing to do is to make sure your articles get
expired.  This is done from the "news.daily" script.  The "expire.ctl"
file describes how long you want each article to last.  Here are some
sample lines from my expire.ctl:

/remember/:14

This line tells expire to keep history entries for articles 14 days
after they have been deleted.

*:A:1:7:21

This is the default line.  This says that by default, an article is
kept a minimum of one day, the default expiration time is 7 days (this
applies if there is no "Expires" header), and the very maximum that the
article is kept is 21 days.

psu.*:A:1:14:28

This line applies to groups only in Penn State.  By default, those
articles will last 14 days, 28 days at the most.

Note that lines in expire.ctl should have the most general entries
first, with the most specific entries last.

======================================================================

Subject:  Terminology used in the rest of this document.

We will pretend that your machine is named "nntphost" or
"nntphost.do.main" and that there is a client named "client" or
"client.do.main".

Some machines connect to you to try to feed you new articles.  We'll
call these machines "feeders".  Some machines try to connect to you to
read and/or post articles.  We'll call these machines "readers".

======================================================================

Subject:  What should I monitor as I debug INN problems.

1.  run "tail -f /var/adm/messages" to see if any syslog messages are
being generated.

2.  run "tail -f /var/log/news/inn.err" to see if any fatal errors
happen.

3.  Check for incoming email constantly (especially when trying to post
from "nn").

======================================================================
                    CONFIGURATION DEBUGGING GUIDE
======================================================================

Subject:  Connecting to a TCP/IP server.

You know that "telnet"'ing to a machine lets you log into it.  Many
TCP/IP services allow you to "telnet" into their port and talk directly
to them.  Try "telnet nntphost 21".  This means log into port #21 (the
"ftp" port) instead of the usual remote login port.

Once you are in, you'll get no prompt.  Type "help" and press RETURN.
You should get a list of commands.  If you know what the commands are,
you can talk to this server.  Type "quit" and press RETURN to get out.

After every command you should get some kind of status message.  Each
line will begin with a number.  Each message has a unique number.
Errors are defined as anything that starts with a number >= 400.

SMTP (mail) and NNTP (netnews) work the same way.  Telnet into their
port and issue commands and data.  "quit" always gets you out.

We'll use this to debug INN configurations by "telnet"'ing into the
innd server and seeing the raw error messages it gives us.

Try "telnet"'ing into the NNTP port (#119) of a working NNTP server to
see what it's like.

======================================================================

Subject:  My innd won't start!

Keep a "tail -f /var/adm/messages" running.  INN reports most errors
via syslog.  Chances are, INN is starting, finding a misconfigured
"ME" line in the newsfeeds file, and exiting.  You might want to
read the section on configuring your "newsfeeds" file first.

======================================================================

Subject:  Make sure that "feeders" can connect.

"feeders" are listed in hosts.nntp.  "readers" are listed in
nnrp.access.  This section deals with "feeders" and hosts.nntp.

When a machine connects to the NNTP port of nntphost, it connects to
the innd process.  innd knows the internet address of the machine that
is making this connection, and sees if it matches the internet
addresses many of the machines listed in the hosts.nntp file.

If the machine is not listed in hosts.nntp, it is assumed that this
machine is not a "feeder" and forks off a nnrpd to handle this
connection as a "reader".  If you didn't know that, you didn't read
enough of the INN installation documentation.  Go back and read it
now.

Read the man page hosts.nntp to get a complete understanding of what's
going on.  nnrpd uses it's own authentication scheme, which is
described in the next section.

Since I know you didn't read that man page, I'll give you one more
chance to read them now.

Let's configure hosts.nntp.  Just enter the names of all the machines
that feed you:

feeder1.do.main:
feeder2.do.main:

I don't use passwords yet.  If you do, add them after the ":".

Now let's test to see if the feeder can connect properly.

Log into to the feeder and "telnet nntphost 119".

If you can't log into a feeder, configure your own machine as a feeder
(i.e. feeder to itself) for testing purposes.  Once you can see that
INN is treating that machine as a feeder you can replace the machine's
name with the name of a real feed.

If you are given an error message and booted out, check the error
message to see what's wrong.  Maybe the machine is running maintenance
at the time and you have to try again later.  Maybe the machine doesn't
recognize you at all and you have to edit "hosts.nntp" (and don't
forget the "ctlinnd reload" command!).

If your "history" file or other files have the wrong ownership or
protections INN will mention the offending file in the error message.
Another common mistake is that people try to use wildcards in
hosts.nntp (which is not supported).  Remember, there are very few
machines that you consider to be "feeders", so you don't want to use a
wildcard.

To test a "feeder":  If "feeder1" can send an "ihave" command and get a
"335" as a response, you know that "nntphost" is permitting "feeder1"
to transfer news as a "feeder".  "ihave" requires an operand.  I
usually type "ihave <1@test>" ("<1@test>" is a Message-ID that I know
doesn't exist) and press RETURN.  If I get "500 What?" I know that innd
assumed that I'm a "reader" (so I have to edit my "hosts.nntp" file and
add this client).  If I get "335" and then a blank prompt, then INN is
expecting to be fed an article.  I usually just "^]" (control-]) and
"quit" out; I know that it was willing to accept the article.  If I get
some other error message, it usually gives me enough information to
debug the problem.

======================================================================

Subject:  Make sure that "readers" can connect.

As I wrote before, if a connection comes from a machine that isn't
listed in the hosts.nntp file, it is assumed to be a "reader".  A
"feeder" can also issue the "mode reader" command to become a
"reader".  If you have "telnet"'ed in as a "feeder", try issuing this
command.

Note: If a site is going to feed *and* read, you'll have to link
readers with innd's client library. The reason for this is that the
clients must tell innd that they want to read using the "mode reader"
command.  The library does that automagically.  It is rare that you
have a machine that is a reader and a feeder (since people will want to
read on their local machine, not yours.)  News readers are now
being packaged as "INN ready" so this will be less and less of a
problem.

Once the connection has been handed off to nnrpd, nnrpd checks to make
sure you are authorized.  It does that by reading the nnrp.access
file.

There is a problem with what you enter in that file.  Namely, I might
call the client machine "client", but that doesn't matter.  What
matters is what "nntphost" thinks "client" is called.  Maybe "nntphost"
thinks its name is "client.do.main" or even "137.202.177.3".  It
doesn't matter what *you* call "client", permissions in the nnrp.access
file have to be specified based on what "nntphost" calls "client".
Technically, nntpd uses gethostbyaddr() to reverse-lookup the name.
gethostbyaddr() uses DNS or, if you are on a brain-dead Sun running
Sun's brain-dead NIS/DNS hack, it uses NIS, or DNS, or whatever the
hell Sun was thinking when they created that cruft.

To find out what "nntphost" thinks your machine is called, do the
following:  log into "client".  From "client" telnet to "nntphost" and
log in.  On "nntphost" give the "finger" command with no arguments.
The last column is what "nntphost" thinks your machine is called.  If
you don't have an account on both machines things are more difficult,
consult your NIS or DNS expert to tell you what the answer should be.

So, with this knowledge and a copy of the man page, edit nnrp.access
and add "nntphost"'s name for "client" to the file.  Only nntp.access
can have wildcards (for example, "*.sjc.mentorg.com").  You'll want to
include wildcards for all the domains that should be allowed to
read/post.

Here are some decent examples from my nnrp.access file:

-------------------------------------- Tom's nnrp.access file START
## Default is no access, no way to authentication, and no groups.
*:: -no- : -no- :!*
*.mentorg.com:Read:::*
*.mentor.com:Read:::*
*.warren.mentorg.com:Read Post:::*
# local (NIS) machines should match this:
*[^.]*:Read Post:::*
-------------------------------------- Tom's nnrp.access file END

The second field of "nntp.access" is case sensitive.  "read post" does
not mean the same as "Read Post".  If you know this already it's
because you read the man page.

It is difficult to write a wildcard for "all machine in your NIS/YP
domain" since they aren't FQDN's.  A wildmat expression for "all
clients without FQDN's" is "*[^.]*".  In other words, "all hosts
without periods in their name."  (See above example.)

After you change either file you you have to inform innd about the
change.  "ctlinnd reload '' ynot" will re-read in all configuration
files.  I always re-read all files rather than just what has changed
because it's shorter to type.

Now "nntphost" should be letting "client" read.  Let's test this out:

Log into to the reader and "telnet nntphost 119".

To test a "reader":  Give the "mode reader" command and see how it
likes it.  If it doesn't give an error, then nnrp.access is letting you
through.  To read an article (or just get the header) type "head
<2@test>" and press RETURN.  Again, "<2@test>" is a message-id that I
know doesn't exist.  If you are allowed to read at all, it will tell
you that it can't find that article.  You might try the command with an
message-id that you know exists.

You are done with that phase.  Now you should test to see if posting is
permitted.  Skip ahead to the next section.

If "mode reader" gives an error (and rudely disconnects you) then you
have a typo in nnrp.access OR you didn't issue the "ctlinnd reload"
command correctly (or at all) OR nntphost thinks that "client" is
called yet something else OR innd can't exec nnrpd for one reason or
another -- see the syslog output or the innd.err log file.  Go to the
beginning of this section and start over.

Note: Some telnet implementations are Real Stupid and disconnect you
before showing the error message.

======================================================================

Subject:  Make sure that clients can post.

The "inews" command (usually in /usr/local/bin) takes a post from a
user, adds any missing headers, appends the first 4 lines of
~/.signature (if it exists), and possibly replaces any headers that are
seriously forged.  "inews" will also reject a message if you really
botch it.  "inews -h" expects a post on stdin beginning with headers,
then a blank line, then the body.  "inews -h -D" doesn't post the
message, but outputs what it would have posted.  The minimum headers
one can feed is "Newsgroups:" (which is plural) and "Subject:" (which
is singular).

By the way, after a header there is exactly one colon then exactly one
space.  The space is a space, not a tab.  Also, the list of newsgroups
on the "Newsgroups:" line is a comma separated list, with no spaces.
There are no spaces before the colon.  If there is nothing after the
colon or if there is only whitespace after the colon then that header
will be removed by "inews".  Sites that don't remove such "empty"
headers have broken software.  Get it?  Got it?  Good.

Here's the test message I constantly use:
------------------------ cut here 8<
inews -h -D
Newsgroups: foo.test
Subject: test of inn posting

this is a test
------------------------ cut here 8<

Exciting huh?

If inews was able to get to the /usr/lib/news/inn.conf file (for
defaults) you should get a nice post on your screen.  If you don't,
here are my suggestions:

1 -- You have an old inews from C news or B news laying around
2 -- inews will give you an error message saying what's wrong.

You might want to look around the usual places to make sure that there
are no old versions of "relaynews" or "inews".  People trying to use
the "inews" from C news will get a message about "can't open
redirection" or similar.  Make sure they are running the programs
included with INN.  There is something called "mini-inews" which should
just take a post and send it to the nntp server.  Delete that and
replace it with INN's inews.  INN's inews is mini-inews and regular
inews, it is the ying and then yang of inewses.  It is the one inews to
end all inewses and all others are false idols.

Other problems are usually the result of not being able to find the
"inn.conf" file (copy it to the client or make it available via NFS) or
you are using Sun's brain-dead NIS/DNS stuff which doesn't do reverse
name lookups well.  If inews tells you that it can't generate a
Message-ID, this is because it can't figure out your domain.  Force it
to know your domain by adding a "domain:" line in "inn.conf".

Once you get "inews -h -D" working, do the same test without the "-D" option
and let it actually post the message.  If it can't post, it will tell
you why.  If the answer isn't clear enough, "telnet nntphost 119", give
the "mode reader" command, then the "post" command.  Enter lines of
text like you would to "inews -h" and then type "." on a line by itself
(and press RETURN).  If innd accepts the post but "inews" doesn't, you
have a seriously wrong "inews" program.

By the way, posting to misc.test is pretty useless considering that the
entire world doesn't need to see your message.  Post to a local
newsgroup or even a state-wide newsgroup like "nj.test" (assuming you
are in New Jersey).  There are lots of people that reply to every test
message they see, so expect to get tons of stupid email.  (though, if
you don't get any email consider yourself lucky).  Also, there is no
newsgroup called "news.test" so don't post there.  Many do, many fail.
By the way, if you are one of those people that reply to every test
message they see, get a real hobby.

Do *NOT* post your test message to a non-test newsgroup.  You will get
many angry replies from all over the world.

Look at the posted message in the news spool (if you post a message to
nj.test, "cd /var/spool/news/nj/test" and cat the highest numbered file
you see).  If your site name is listed multiple times in the "Path:"
header, put your server's name on the "pathhost:" line of
"inn.conf" and recompile INN with "INEWS_PATH" set to
"DONT".  (I don't know why that isn't the default!)

If "inews -h" posts a message, smile because most of the battle is over.

======================================================================

Subject:  "client" doesn't have the software needed to post.

If the client doesn't have "inews" at all, check the INN installation
manual to find out how to compile it.  There is a special gimick
included with INN to compile inews for the various other OS's and
versions of Unix without having to compile the entire INN package.

Since nnpost, Pnews, postnews, and all other news posting software
shouldn't do anything but ask for header information, let you add a
body, and then pipe the whole thing to "inews -h", you can be pretty
certain that if "inews -h" works, your news posting programs will
work.  Think again!  Post from each of them and make sure they all get
posted.  You might find that they access a copy of "inews" that was
part of C news, mini-inews, or heavens knows what.

I highly recommend that people use "find" or "gnufind" to seek
out and replace any old versions of "inews".

gnufind / /usr /usr/local /usr/lib -xdev -name inews\* -print

For every one that you find, do the following:

mv inews inews.cnews
ln -s /usr/local/bin/inews inews

Now you only have to update /usr/local/bin/inews, rather than
chasing may copies.

"nn" and "nnpost" create a file called "~/.nn/params" right before you
post with tons of useful information.  While posting you can shell out
of the editor and view the file.  The file is deleted after the message
is posted.  I had to view this file while shelled out of my editor to
find which "inews" was being used by "nnpost".

It's also a good idea to check your mail now and then while you are
doing this.  Some newsreaders (like "nn" notify you of a posting
problem via mail.

On non-INN systems, "inews" returns pretty quickly.  Actually they fork
a process to do the actual posting in the background.  When those
"inews" return, you don't know if the post was successful or not.
These "inews"'s have a "-W" option which turns off this forking feature
(i.e. Wait for the post to complete).

INN's "inews" never forks because the wait is never that long.  When
"inews" returns you know if the post was successful or not.  INN's
"inews" accepts the "-W" option for compatibility.

This may seem obvious, but when posting a test message, consider
including the machine you are posting from and the program you are
using.  Even though you may check to see if the message got posted
after every test, this will help you later when you go back to see what
you have done.

======================================================================

Subject:  Debugging the "newsfeeds" file.

Outgoing news is controlled by the "newsfeeds" file.  The INN 1.2 man
page for this file is a bit complex.  The man page in 1.3 (and beyond)
gives better examples.  Here's a "cookbook" of examples that should
cover most of your needs.  Debugging tips are also included.

======================================================================

Subject:  The ME line in the newsfeeds file.

The "ME" entry is a bit confusing.  Be careful when you
read the man page.

Here is the "ME" line that I use in my "newsfeeds" file.  I find
it works quite well, but you might want to remove the distributions
that you don't need (i.e. New Jersey).  Since my site has clients
reading from all over the world I try to have every distribution I
can find.  However, I hear of a new distribution almost daily so this
list is always changing.

ME:!*/\
news,gnu,comp,biz,alt,rec,misc,sci,soc,talk,inet,world,worldwide,all,\
aus,su,uk,york,eunet,na,can,qc,tor,us,usa,mn,oh,chi,ca,ba,tx,pnw,il,ne,\
ny,nyc,phl,bl,nj,warren::

If you want to blindly accept all distributions, try this:

ME:!*::

======================================================================

Subject:  Cookbook example of an outgoing NNTP feed:

This example involves a machine named oddball.mentorg.com, that has an
alias of oddball.sjc.mentorg.com, which should receive all posts (but
control & junk should never be passed on) and not certain
distributions.  Add the following line to newsfeeds:

oddball.mentorg.com/oddball.sjc.mentorg.com:*,!control*,!junk/!local,!warren:Tf,Wnm:

Have the user "news" run the following via cron:

3,23,43 * * * *  /usr/lib/news/bin/nntpsend >/dev/null 2>&1

(this only needs to be added once.  nntpsend refers to a file
called nntpsend.ctl to find out what to do).

Add the following to nntpsend.ctl:

oddball.mentorg.com:oddball.mentorg.com::

Done!

======================================================================

Subject:  Cookbook example of an outgoing UUCP feed:

Example:  A site named "plts" that can not get the "clari" newsgroups
or distribution "warren".

Add the following to the newsfeeds file:

plts:*,!clari.*,!junk*,!control*/!warren:Tf,Wnb:

Add the following to the cron tab (as user "news"):

0 0-5,16-23 * * 1-5       /usr/lib/news/bin/sendbatch -c plts >/dev/null 2>&1
======================================================================

Subject:  Testing a "newsfeeds" configuration.

Here is a decent game-plan for testing your newsfeeds configuration:

Suppose your site is in New Jersey and you have a distribution called
"mentorg" which should be used by people that want to make sure that
their post will not leave their company (Mentor Graphics).  You should
do a test post to "nj.test" with no "Distribution:" header, and with
"Distribution: nj" and "Distribution: mentorg".  After posting, do a
"ctlinnd flush ''" and make sure that the /var/spool/news/out.going
files for all your sites did/didn't queue up those three messages as
appropriate.

IMPORTANT:  Remember to do a "ctlinnd reload '' x" command every time
you update your "newsfeeds" file!

======================================================================
                             MISC ISSUES
======================================================================

Subject:  Can I edit my configuration files where they are, or do
I have to edit them in $INN/site ?

Technically, you should edit those files in the $INN/site directory, but
then typing "make" all the time becomes a grind.  I found that I was
constantly forgetting to type "make" and then I couldn't figure out why
my changes weren't doing anything.  The alternative is to edit things
in place and let the install procedure complain.  It will error out on
the file, and you can copy that file to $INN/site then "make" again.

======================================================================

Subject:  What does this mean:  ME cant nonblock 15 Operation not supported.

I get the following "syslog" message in /var/adm/messages:

Dec  2 20:40:04 venus innd: ME cant nonblock 15 Operation not supported

Answer: (from [e-mail] (Paul Riddle))

It turns out that this is happening because /usr/spool/news on the
machine running innd is an NFS-mounted filesystem, and innd is trying
to do an FIONBIO on my feed file, which is under /usr/spool/news/out.going.

([e-mail] adds:)
All news transports (INN, C news, B news) want the spool partition to
be local.  Newsreader can read from an NFS mounted partition without
any problems but innd should only see local partitions.  NFS has a
blatant disregard for many of the file semantics that are needed for a
good news implementation.  If you don't agree, please feel free to
prove the authors of B news, C news, and INN wrong.  Include source
code. :-)

There is one other thing that can cause a "nonblock" message, but I
don't remember what it is.

======================================================================

Subject:  Suddenly my active and history files are owned by root!

rc.news runs from root.  After that, everything else should
run as news.  More specifically, it sounds like you've run news.daily
as root.  Make sure all your cron jobs run as news and you'll be fine.

If you have an old "cron" system, you might consider replacing yours
with one of the many public domain replacements.  If you can't create
a different "crontab" for each user, the idiom is something like:

0 * * * * * su news -c '/do/this/as/news'

======================================================================

Subject:  What can I do if I can't purchase the O'Reiley And Associates book
on Managing Usenet?

Hold a fundraiser?

Seriously, this document will help you some.  HOWEVER many people have
thought that the install.ms doc was incomplete but then re-read the
"First Time Installation" portion and were amazed how good it was.
Personally, I've been a newsadmin for too long to be able to know if it
would be good for beginners.

======================================================================

Subject:  Getting an active file.

>     In appendix IV, the reader is told that "the easiest way to
> [find out which groups to create] is usually to ask [your newsfeed
> site] for a copy of their active file, and for you to add the entries
> of the groups that you're interested in." It would have been nice to
> get instructions on where this active file lives, and how to create
> the new groups, without digging through manpages (I still haven't
> found out what the proper path and incantations are. How are these
> commands issued? As shell commands? As news articles?).

If your neighbor doesn't know where his/her active file is, you should
look for another neighbor.  "man active" will tell you on the first
line.  Different sites put it in different places.  The man page should
tell you where it is.

Here is how you zap someone else's active file to make it ready
for re-use:

sed <active.old >active.new \
       -e 's/^\([^ ]*\) [0-9]* [0-9]* \([^ ]*\)$/\1 0000000001 000000000 \2/'


======================================================================

Subject:  How do I use nntplink?

First of all, I don't personally recommend using this program.  I feel
that it is a gimick.  I suggest that sites run the feed using a
traditional method for a month so that you make sure you are used to
INN and make sure that the feed is properly functioning.  Once you're
ready, here's a cookbook example of an newsfeeds entry using nntplink.

netcomsv.netcom.com\
    :!junk/!ParcPlace\
    :Tc,Wmf:/usr/local/news/bin/nntplink -i stdin netcomsv.netcom.com

======================================================================

Subject:  Other cron jobs.

Once a night you should run the "news.daily" script which will
expire old articles, run the daily reports, etc.  It should run
as "news" and look something like this:

40 23 * * *               /usr/lib/news/bin/news.daily delayrm

If you get news feeds via UUCP, you might want to add this cron
job (also as "news") which checks to see if any batches arrived
while innd was down and processes them.

20 * * * *                /bin/rnews -U

======================================================================

Subject:  After a crash.

"What do I do after a system crash?"

INN handles crashes pretty well.  If there are any problems they
get cleaned up by the nightly expire.  About once a month you
might want to run "makehistory -bu" to look for "lost" articles.
Check the man page for "makehistory" for more information.

======================================================================

Subject:  Debugging someone that is feeding you.

David Myers <[e-mail]> suggests that if a neighbor complains
that their feed to you doesn't work: (1) make sure they've read the man
pages, and (2) have them send a copy of their newsfeeds file.

- * The End * -
--
Tom Limoncelli -- [e-mail] (work) -- [e-mail] (play)

Unix is a trademark of, WHATT????