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.
Welcome to patch number 10 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first nine patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar send public nntp.patch.5.shar send public nntp.patch.6.shar send public nntp.patch.7.shar send public nntp.patch.8.pt1.shar send public nntp.patch.8.pt2.shar send public nntp.patch.9.pt1.shar send public nntp.patch.9.pt2.shar send public nntp.patch.9.pt3.shar If you have all nine patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. To install, just type patch < CHANGES.diff README.diff -- This will patch the README file in the root of the nntp distrbution to make it more accurate. To install, just type patch < README.diff AUTHORIZE.diff -- This will patch the AUTHORIZE file in the root of the nntp distrbution to make it more accurate. To install, just type patch < AUTHORIZE.diff Makefile.diff -- This will patch the Makefile file in the root of the nntp distrbution to make it more useful. To install, just type patch < Makefile.diff server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common subdirectory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff xfer.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxfer.c in the xfer directory. To install, change directory to the xfer directory and type patch < xfer.diff. xmit.diff -- This is a patch for the files in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber nntp@tmc.edu P.S. This patched version of NNTP has been compiled on the following systems: Vax 3600 running Ultrix 3.1 (BNEWS 2.11.19) Solbourne Series 5/601 with OS/MP 4.0C (SunOS 4.0.3c compatible) (Same BNEWS) HP 9000/825 running HP-UX A.B3.00.5B P.P.S. The fully patched version is available via anonymous ftp from lib.tmc.edu [129.106.5.1] and gazette.bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.2]. Look in the public directory for nntp.1.5.9.tar. A compressed version is also on line. P.P.P.S. This is the FINAL release of NNTP 1.5. The next release will be 1.6. There will be no patch kit. NNTP 1.6 will be a full release and will only be distributed in full source. P.P.P.P.S. Much thanks to all our beta testers: wisner@hayes.fai.alaska.edu (Bill Wisner) leres@ftp.ee.lbl.gov (Craig Leres) scs@hela.iti.org (Steve Simmons) vixie@decwrl.dec.com (Paul Vixie) sandra@csri.utoronto.exu (Sandra Smith)
Welcome to patch number 11 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first ten patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar send public nntp.patch.5.shar send public nntp.patch.6.shar send public nntp.patch.7.shar send public nntp.patch.8.pt1.shar send public nntp.patch.8.pt2.shar send public nntp.patch.9.pt1.shar send public nntp.patch.9.pt2.shar send public nntp.patch.9.pt3.shar send public nntp.patch.10.pt1.shar send public nntp.patch.10.pt2.shar If you have all ten patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as four shell archives. Be sure to unpack the shars in the root of your nntp distribution. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. To install, just type patch < CHANGES.diffs server.pt1.diff -- This patch is the first of two diffs to be applied to the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.pt1.diff. server.pt2.diff -- This patch is the first of two diffs to be applied to the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.pt2.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common subdirectory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff xfer.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxfer.c in the xfer directory. To install, change directory to the xfer directory and type patch < xfer.diff. xmit.diff -- This is a patch for the files in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. SPECIAL NOTE: Two new files (timer.c and timer.h) will be created in the server subdirectory. New versions of README and conf.h.dist will be created in the common subdirectory. A new version of access_file will be created in the support subdirectory. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber nntp@tmc.edu P.S. This patched version of NNTP has been compiled on the following systems: Vax 3600 running Ultrix 3.1 (BNEWS 2.11.19) Solbourne Series 5/601 with OS/MP 4.0D (SunOS 4.0.3c compatible) (Same BNEWS) HP 9000/825 running HP-UX A.B3.00.5B P.P.S. The fully patched version is available via anonymous ftp from lib.tmc.edu [129.106.5.1] and gazette.bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.2]. Look in the public directory for nntp.1.5.11.tar. A compressed version is also on line. P.P.P.S. This is the really FINAL release of NNTP 1.5. The next release will be 1.6. There will be no patch kit. NNTP 1.6 will be a full release and will only be distributed in full source. P.P.P.P.S. Much thanks to all our beta testers: molenda@s1.msi.umn.edu,tale@cs.rpi.edu,anselmo-ed@cs.yale.edu, leres@helios.ee.lbl.gov,vixie@decwrl.dec.com,scs@hela.iti.org, wisner@ims.alaska.edu,nash@parc.xerox.com
Welcome to patch number 4 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first three patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 If you have all three patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common sub- directory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff doc.diff -- This patch is for the files in the doc subdirectory. To install, change directory to the doc directory and type patch < doc.diff. xmit.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxmit.c in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. support.diff -- This patch is for the files in the support sub- directory. To install, change directory to the support directory and type patch < support.diff. Now, look at common/conf.h and common/README for the new functions you may want to use (DOMAINMATCH, HIDDENNET, etc.). If you don't need HIDDENNET, you only need to rebuild nntpxmit and nntpd. If you need HIDDENNET, you will have to rebuild inews and reinstall it on all the nntp clients (NOT the server!). Please read the CHANGES file (following application of the patch) for a list of new features. Some specific comments: TMNN support: The LIST command has been extended to provide some initial support to TMNN (someday to be News 3.0). These extensions are: LIST ACTIVE --- Lists the news active file. Just like LIST with no arguements. LIST DISTRIBUTIONS -- List the news distributions file. LIST NEWSGROUPS -- List the news group discriptions file. out-of-space support: BSD, SunOS, Ultrix, and System V are supported. If NNTP knows that there is no space when an xfer-only system connects it will greet that client with a 503 message. Clients listed in nntp_access with read enabled will be greeted normally. If the server runs out of space following a transfer, when the client enters the next IHAVE, the server will respond with 436 and close the connection. nntpxmit will requeue when this happens. Posting will be rejected similiarly unless you have some value greater than zero set for the POST_BUFFER. See post.c for the nitty gritty. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber sob@bcm.tmc.edu P.S. I expect Phil will take the reins back following this patch.
Welcome to patch number 5 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first four patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar If you have all four patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common sub- directory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff xmit.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxmit.c in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. support.diff -- This patch is for the files in the support sub- directory. To install, change directory to the support directory and type patch < support.diff. Please read the CHANGES file (following application of the patch) for a list of new features. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber sob@bcm.tmc.edu
Welcome to patch number 6 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first five patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar send public nntp.patch.5.shar If you have all five patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common sub- directory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff xmit.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxmit.c in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. Now, look at common/conf.h.dist and common/README for the new functions you may want to use (BATCHED_INPUT,CNEWS). You may want to use the new conf.h.dist file as your conf.h file and make changes to it based on your old conf.h file. NOTE: You need to look this over for the following items: SIGRET, LOAD, and all the stuff that relates to CNEWS if you run it. Please read the CHANGES file (following application of the patch) for a list of new features. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber sob@bcm.tmc.edu P.S. I am now the caretaker of NNTP. Phil passed the baton to me recently. P.P.S. This patched version of NNTP has been compiled on the following systems: Sun 3/180 running SunOS 4.0.3 Vax 11/780 running BSD 4.3 Vax 3600 running Ultrix 2.2 Unisys 5000/40 running System V release 2
Welcome to patch number 7 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first six patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar send public nntp.patch.5.shar send public nntp.patch.6.shar If you have all six patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. To install, just type patch < CHANGES.diff server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common subdirectory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff support.diff -- This is a patch for nntp_awk in the support directory. To install, change directory to the support directory and type patch < support.diff. xfer.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxfer.c in the xfer directory. To install, change directory to the xfer directory and type patch < xfer.diff. xmit.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxmit.h and nntpxmit.c in the xfer directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. Please read the CHANGES file (following application of the patch) for a list of new features/bug fixes. This is mostly a bug fix release. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber sob@bcm.tmc.edu P.S. This patched version of NNTP has been compiled on the following systems: Vax 3600 running Ultrix 2.2 (BNEWS 2.11.19) Unisys 5000/40 running System V release 2 (BNEWS 2.11.17) It has also been tested by the fine folks at the University of Toronto to test compatibility with CNEWS. Special thanks to Sandra Smith. P.P.S. 1.5.8 will be out sometime around Christmas/New Year's. It will have some new features that came in too late for me to test them for this patch. Look for an announcement about 1.5.8 in news.software.nntp around Thanksgiving. Those include patches to nntpxmit to use Message-IDs in the batch file versus filenames, inode checking in addition to space checking, and better heuristics for rejecting news articles that have already been seen and expired. P.P.P.S. Brian Kantor has already started a discussion on new protocol features for NNTP. Please drop me a line so I can track the ideas. Hopefully we can start some prototype testing in the Spring. P.P.P.P.S. [getting ridiculous, eh?] I will be posting a revised collection of patches for RN that will replace the ones in the 1.5 distibution. These patches will allow RN and RRN to be built from the same sources. I am in the process of working with Larry Wall to determine if these will be offical or not.
Welcome to patch number 8 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first seven patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar send public nntp.patch.5.shar send public nntp.patch.6.shar send public nntp.patch.7.shar If you have all seven patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. To install, just type patch < CHANGES.diff Makefile.diff -- This will patch the Makefile file in the root of the nntp distrbution to make it more useful. To install, just type patch < Makefile.diff server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common subdirectory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff xfer.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxfer.c in the xfer directory. To install, change directory to the xfer directory and type patch < xfer.diff. xmit.diff -- This is a patch for the files in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. doc.diff -- This is a patch for nntpd.dst in the doc directory. To install, change directory to the doc directory and type patch < xmit.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. Please read the CHANGES file (following application of the patch) for a list of new features/bug fixes. This is mostly a bug fix release. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber nntp@lib.tmc.edu P.S. This patched version of NNTP has been compiled on the following systems: Vax 3600 running Ultrix 3.1 (BNEWS 2.11.19) Solbourne Series 5/601 with OS/MP 4.0C (SunOS 4.0.3c compatible) (Same BNEWS) HP 9000/825 running HP-UX A.B3.00.5B Wyse-386 running SCO XENIX 2.3 with TCP/IP 1.0 VAX 11/780 running BSD 4.3-tahoe Silicon Graphics IRIS-4D running IRIX 3.2.1 P.P.S. The fully patched version is available via anonymous ftp from lib.tmc.edu [129.106.5.1]. Look in the public directory for nntp.1.5.8.tar. A compressed version is also on line. P.P.P.S. The next version of nntp is supposed to be 1.6. This version will have a new way of configuring everything based on Larry Wall's meta-configure. It may have bug fixes and enhancements as well. There has been alot of chatter about authentication. I am going to look into that, but no promises at this time.
Welcome to patch number 9 for NNTP 1.5. If you have not installed the first eight patches, you must do so before proceeding. You can get those patches (and this one) from anoymous ftp on bcm.tmc.edu [128.249.2.1] or by sending a message to the archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu with the following text: send public nntp.patch.1 send public nntp.patch.2 send public nntp.patch.3 send public nntp.patch.4.shar send public nntp.patch.5.shar send public nntp.patch.6.shar send public nntp.patch.7.shar send public nntp.patch.8.pt1.shar send public nntp.patch.8.pt2.shar If you have all eight patches installed, you are ready to install this set of patches. These patches are packaged as a shell archive. They are as follows: CHANGES.diff -- This will patch the CHANGES file in the root of the nntp distrbution to reflect changes since the release of 1.5. To install, just type patch < CHANGES.diff README.diff -- This will patch the README file in the root of the nntp distrbution to make it more accurate. To install, just type patch < README.diff server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. Makefile.diff -- This will patch the Makefile file in the root of the nntp distrbution to make it more useful. To install, just type patch < Makefile.diff server.diff -- This patch is for the files in the server subdirectory. To install, change directory to the server directory and type patch < server.diff. common.diff -- This patch is for the files in the common subdirectory. To install, change directory to the common directory and type patch < common.diff xfer.diff -- This is a patch for nntpxfer.c in the xfer directory. To install, change directory to the xfer directory and type patch < xfer.diff. xmit.diff -- This is a patch for the files in the xmit directory. To install, change directory to the xmit directory and type patch < xmit.diff. doc.diff -- This is a patch for nntpd.dst in the doc directory. To install, change directory to the doc directory and type patch < doc.diff. inews.diff -- This patch is for the files in the inews subdirectory. To install, change directory to the inews directory and type patch < inews.diff. The following are new files included with NNTP for the first time: AUTHORIZE server/auth.c xmit/xmitauth.c inews/postauth.c doc/nntpxmit.dst Please read the CHANGES file (following application of the patch) for a list of new features/bug fixes. This release contains the initial version of the proposed NNTP V2 authentication feature. Please be sure that your read the file AUTHORIZE if you want to use it. The meaning of the verbs in the nntp access file have been altered slightly. Be sure to read the revised nntpd man page for more information. Bug reports and enhancements welcome, Stan Barber nntp@lib.tmc.edu P.S. This patched version of NNTP has been compiled on the following systems: Vax 3600 running Ultrix 3.1 (BNEWS 2.11.19) Solbourne Series 5/601 with OS/MP 4.0C (SunOS 4.0.3c compatible) (Same BNEWS) HP 9000/825 running HP-UX A.B3.00.5B P.P.S. The fully patched version is available via anonymous ftp from lib.tmc.edu [129.106.5.1]. Look in the public directory for nntp.1.5.9.tar. A compressed version is also on line. P.P.P.S. There will most likely be a release 1.5.10 before we get to 1.6.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Netfuture.ch.