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1.1 root 1: .TH NNTPD 8C "5 March 1986"
2: .UC 4
3: .SH NAME
4: nntpd \- Network News Transfer Protocol server
5: .SH SYNOPSIS
6: .B /etc/nntpd
7: .br
8: .I (with /etc/inetd, see below)
9: .SH DESCRIPTION
10: .I Nntpd
11: is a TCP based server which supports the proposed standard
12: for the stream based transmission of network
13: news articles.
14: It can be used both by ``end user'' clients, and by
15: ``system'' clients which transport news between machines.
16: .I Nntpd
17: operates at the port indicated in the ``nntp'' service
18: entry in
19: .I /etc/services.
20: The port number assigned by the Network Information Center
21: for this service is 119.
22: .PP
23: .I Nntpd
24: can operate either as a stand-alone server, or as a
25: server under
26: .IR inetd (1).
27: For stand-alone use,
28: .I nntpd
29: must be compiled with the -DALONE option, and is
30: invoked as mentioned in the synopsis above.
31: Under
32: .IR inetd (1),
33: the appropriate entry must be made in
34: .I /etc/inetd.conf,
35: and the server must be compiled without the
36: -ALONE flag.
37: .PP
38: The server handles clients on a one to one basis,
39: forking to take care of clients as they request
40: connections. Each server changes its current
41: directory to the news spool directory (usually
42: .I /usr/spool/news)
43: and then executes commands from its client.
44: These commands are described in ARPA Internet
45: RFC 977, ``Network News Transfer Protocol;
46: A Proposed Standard for the Stream Based Transmission
47: of News Articles.''
48: .PP
49: Since the server forks once for
50: every client connection, sites may choose to limit
51: the hosts which can query the server for news.
52: Further, some sites may not wish to allow
53: certain hosts to post news.
54: Such limiting can be accomplished through an
55: access file, usually
56: .I /usr/spool/news/lib/nntp_access.
57: This file consists of three fields in the following form:
58: .sp
59: .nf
60: host/net read/xfer/no post/no
61: .fi
62: .sp
63: where
64: .f
65: .I host
66: is a valid host name as found in
67: .I /etc/services,
68: .I net
69: is a valid network name as found in
70: .I /etc/networks,
71: .I ``read'',
72: .I ``xfer'',
73: .I ``post'',
74: and
75: .I ``no''
76: are the corresponding string constants.
77: Anything to the right of a `#' character
78: is taken to be a comment and is ignored.
79: .PP
80: The presence of an entry in this file
81: implies that specific host, or
82: hosts on the named network, are
83: allowed to read news, but not to post news.
84: The absence of a entry corresponding
85: to a client's host or network implies that the client
86: is not allowed to read or post news.
87: However, default permissions can be set by having the
88: first entry in the file be a host/net name of
89: ``default''.
90: If this is used, ``default'' must be the
91: first entry.
92: .PP
93: The field to the right of the host/net entry
94: specifies the read access of the host/net in
95: question.
96: If the entry is ``read,'' matching
97: hosts can both read and transfer news.
98: If the entry is ``xfer,'' however,
99: matching hosts can only execute transfer
100: commands (such as NEWNEWS, NEWGROUPS, IHAVE,
101: and ARTICLE with message-id parameters).
102: The string ``no'' denies read permission
103: of any kind to a matching host.
104: .PP
105: The next field to the right defines
106: whether a matching host has post
107: permission: if the field is ``post''
108: then the POST command is permitted; if
109: the field is ``no,'' then matching clients
110: are not allowed to post news.
111: .PP
112: .I Nntpd
113: is selective and searches for a ``best match''
114: when searching this file to check its client's
115: permissions. That is, a specific host name
116: match is used over a
117: client being a member of a specified net.
118: .I Nntpd
119: does not know about subnets.
120: .SH EXAMPLE ACCESS FILE
121: .PP
122: .sp
123: .nf
124: #
125: # Example access file
126: #
127: default xfer no
128: ucb-ether read post
129: shadow no no
130: .fi
131: .sp
132: .PP
133: The above file would set a default condition allowing
134: transfer of news, but no reading or posting.
135: Hosts on the network ``ucb-ether'' would be able to
136: read and post news.
137: Finally, the host ``shadow'' would not be allowed
138: to read or post news.
139: .SH
140: NEWGROUPS
141: .PP
142: In order to efficiently implement the NEWGROUPS command, the
143: server expects to find a file, typically
144: .I /usr/spool/news/lib/groupdates,
145: which has a list of active newsgroups and when they
146: were created.
147: .PP
148: This file is created and updated a certain number of times a day
149: by the program
150: .IR mkgrdates (8C),
151: which scans the active file and decides whether or not
152: to update the ``groupdates'' file. This program
153: is not spawned by
154: .I nntpd,
155: and must be run by
156: .IR cron (1).
157: .SH AUTHOR
158: Phil Lapsley (ARPA: [email protected]; UUCP: ...!ucbvax!phil)
159: .SH SEE ALSO
160: cron(1),
161: inetd(8C),
162: mkgrdates(8C),
163: mkhistdates(8C)
164: .PP
165: RFC 977, ``Network News Transfer Protocol:
166: A Proposed Standard for the Stream Based Transmission
167: of News Articles.''
168: .SH BUGS
169: Should understand subnetworks in the access file.
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