This is the README for nntp.1.5.11.s.tar.gz [Download] [Browse] [Up]
NNTP README July 4, 1990 (NNTP 1.5.10)
[See the file CHANGES to see differences between this version and
older versions.]
INTRODUCTION
This package contains everything (well, most of it, I hope) that
you'll need to implement a remote news server running the NNTP protocol.
A brief tour of the directories and their programs:
server Source for the NNTP news server daemon.
inews A "mini-inews" written by Steven Grady
<grady@postgres.berkeley.edu> which allows
remote posting without changing much else.
xmit An active transmission client for transferring
news, written by Erik Fair; see note below.
common Common stuff (response codes, configuration info,
and some client library routines) for the
the news server and the clients. The "conf.h"
file here needs to be edited to reflect
the peculiarities of your system.
support Some support files and scripts.
doc Documentation on the server, including manual
pages.
xfer A passive reception client which uses the
NEWNEWS command to retrieve news from a remote
server. Written by Brian Kantor, this software
works more or less. Bug reports are welcome.
Each directory has associated with it a README file.
This file will try to give enough information for you to get things
running and installed, but the README in each directory has more
details for each subset of the NNTP package. You may also want to print
a copy of doc/rfc977, which describes the NNTP protocol.
INTRODUCTION TO NNTP INSTALLATION
First, figure out what you are trying to do (this is good
advice under most circumstances, and it is especially apropos here).
NNTP can be used for two things: (1) Remote news reading, where news
is stored on one machine and read from remote machines across a
high-speed local area network such as Ethernet, and (2) News transfer,
where news is transmitted to NNTP servers on remote machines over
either local or long-haul networks.
NNTP "server" machines are machines that have a full installation
of USENET news on them. An NNTP process, the "server", allows remote
sites to connect to the server machine and read or transfer news.
The server machine DOES NOT NEED "reader client" software such as
"rrn". It MAY NEED "transmission client" software such as "nntpxmit"
if you want to use NNTP to transfer news.
NNTP "client" machines do not have a full installation of USENET
news on them. They get their news from an NNTP server machine across
the network. They DO have NNTP "reader clients" such as "rrn" installed
on them.
In summary,
>>> A full client installation of NNTP may require the following
files (suitable for rdist, assuming standard directories):
NEWS = ( /usr/local/bin/{Pnews,Rnmail,inews,rn,rrn,newsetup,newsgroups}
/usr/local/lib/rn
/usr/man/catl/{Pnews,Rnmail,rn,newsetup,newsgroups}.1 )
You DO NOT need any of the normal news junk (e.g.,
/usr/lib/news, /usr/spool/news, /usr/spool/batch) on CLIENT
systems.
You DO need these on SERVER systems.
An important note:
The NNTP server assumes that the history file format
is 2.11.19 BNEWS or CNEWS; therefore you need 2.11.19 BNEWS or CNEWS
on your server machine.
>>>>> Get 2.11.19 BNEWS or CNEWS if you don't have it.
GENERAL INSTALLATION
Time for a general and cohesive Plan:
Regardless of whether you are making a server or a client NNTP
setup, you will have to edit common/conf.h to reflect your system's
setup. So,
1. Look at common/README. This will explain the stuff
needs to be tailored for your system in common/conf.h.
Make the necessary changes to reflect your system.
There are special READMEs for certain types of systems.
Look them over and see if they apply to you.
Now, at this point, what you do depends on whether you are
installing a server system or a client system.
SERVER INSTALLATION
2. Type "make server" in this directory.
3. Type "make install_server" in this directory.
CLIENT INSTALLATION
2. Type "make client" in this directory.
3. Type "make install_client" in this directory.
4. Get some client newsreaders (like rrn or the NNTP version of vnews)
and install them on your client systems.
IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS
You can get to me via electronic mail at the following addresses:
Internet: nntp@tmc.edu
UUCP: ...!bcm!nntp
Telephone (work): (713) 798-6042
I'm very interested in learning what hacks need to be made to
nntpd to get it to work on various systems, and certainly, if there are
outright bugs, please let me know. Bug reports and fixes for nntp are
posted to the newsgroup "news.software.nntp". Announcements of new
versions of nntp software are posted there, too.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Netfuture.ch.