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1.1     ! root        1: .\"
        !             2: .\" @(#)nntpd.dst      1.3     (Berkeley) 10/15/87
        !             3: .\"
        !             4: .TH NNTPD 8C "8 July 1987"
        !             5: .UC 4
        !             6: .SH NAME
        !             7: nntpd \- Network News Transfer Protocol server
        !             8: .SH SYNOPSIS
        !             9: .B LNNTPD
        !            10: .br
        !            11: .I (with INETD, see below)
        !            12: .SH DESCRIPTION
        !            13: .I Nntpd
        !            14: is a server that supports the proposed standard
        !            15: for the stream based transmission of network
        !            16: news articles.
        !            17: It can be used both by ``reader/poster'' clients that
        !            18: present news to users, and by
        !            19: ``transfer'' clients that transport news between machines.
        !            20: When used with Internet TCP,
        !            21: .I nntpd
        !            22: operates at the port indicated in the ``nntp'' service
        !            23: entry in
        !            24: .IR SERVICES ;
        !            25: the port number assigned by the Network Information Center
        !            26: for this service is 119.
        !            27: For use with DECNET,
        !            28: xxx.
        !            29: This manual page describes
        !            30: .I nntpd
        !            31: from version 1.4 of the NNTP package.
        !            32: .PP
        !            33: .I Nntpd
        !            34: can operate either as a stand-alone server, or as a
        !            35: server under
        !            36: .IR inetd (1).
        !            37: For stand-alone use,
        !            38: .I nntpd
        !            39: must be compiled with the -DALONE option, and is
        !            40: invoked as mentioned in the synopsis above.
        !            41: Under
        !            42: .IR inetd (1),
        !            43: the appropriate entry must be made in
        !            44: .IR INETDCONFIG ,
        !            45: and the server must be compiled without the
        !            46: -DALONE flag.
        !            47: .PP
        !            48: The server handles clients on a one to one basis,
        !            49: forking to take care of clients as they request
        !            50: connections.
        !            51: Each server changes its current
        !            52: directory to the news spool directory
        !            53: (
        !            54: .IR NEWSSPOOL )
        !            55: and then executes commands from its client.
        !            56: These commands are described in ARPA Internet
        !            57: RFC 977, ``Network News Transfer Protocol;
        !            58: A Proposed Standard for the Stream Based Transmission
        !            59: of News Articles.''
        !            60: .SH "CLIENT ACCESS"
        !            61: .PP
        !            62: Sites may choose to limit
        !            63: the hosts that can query the server for news.
        !            64: Further, some sites may not wish to allow
        !            65: certain hosts to post news.
        !            66: Finally, some sites may wish to restrict the newsgroups
        !            67: that can be accessed from remote hosts.
        !            68: Such limiting can be accomplished through an
        !            69: access file,
        !            70: .IR NEWSLIB/nntp_access .
        !            71: This file consists of three or four fields in the following form:
        !            72: .sp
        !            73: .nf
        !            74: host/net               read/xfer/no    post/no         newsgroups
        !            75: .fi
        !            76: .sp
        !            77: where
        !            78: .f
        !            79: .I host
        !            80: is a valid host name as found in
        !            81: .I HOSTFILE,
        !            82: .I net
        !            83: is a valid network name as found in
        !            84: .I NETWORKFILE,
        !            85: and
        !            86: .I ``read'',
        !            87: .I ``xfer'',
        !            88: .I ``post'',
        !            89: and
        !            90: .I ``no''
        !            91: are the corresponding string constants.
        !            92: .I Newsgroups
        !            93: is an optional list of comma separated newsgroup names.
        !            94: Anything to the right of a `#' character
        !            95: is taken to be a comment and is ignored.
        !            96: .PP
        !            97: The presence of an entry in this file
        !            98: implies that specific host, or
        !            99: hosts on the named network, are
        !           100: allowed to read news, but not to post news.
        !           101: The absence of a entry corresponding
        !           102: to a client's host or network implies that the client
        !           103: is not allowed to read or post news.
        !           104: Default permissions can be set by having the
        !           105: first entry in the file be a host/net name of
        !           106: ``default''.
        !           107: If this is used, ``default'' must be the
        !           108: first entry.
        !           109: .PP
        !           110: The first field to the right of the host/net entry
        !           111: specifies the read access of the host/net in
        !           112: question.
        !           113: If the entry is ``read,'' matching
        !           114: hosts can both read and transfer news.
        !           115: If the entry is ``xfer,'' however,
        !           116: matching hosts can only execute commands
        !           117: used for transferring news, such as
        !           118: NEWNEWS, NEWGROUPS, IHAVE, and ARTICLE with message-id parameters.
        !           119: The string ``no'' denies read permission
        !           120: of any kind to a matching host.
        !           121: .PP
        !           122: The next field to the right defines
        !           123: whether a matching host has post
        !           124: permission: if the field is ``post''
        !           125: then the POST command is permitted; if
        !           126: the field is ``no,'' then matching clients
        !           127: are not allowed to post news.
        !           128: .PP
        !           129: The next field is optional, and, if present,
        !           130: is a comma separated list of newsgroup names
        !           131: that restrict the client's reading ability.
        !           132: Clients are not allowed to read or transfer
        !           133: articles in newsgroup names preceded by an exclamation
        !           134: point.
        !           135: By default, clients are allowed to read all newsgroups.
        !           136: .PP
        !           137: .I Nntpd
        !           138: is selective and searches for a ``best match''
        !           139: when searching this file to check its client's
        !           140: permissions.  That is, a specific host name
        !           141: match is used over a
        !           142: client being a member of a specified net.
        !           143: .SH EXAMPLE ACCESS FILE
        !           144: .PP
        !           145: .sp
        !           146: .nf
        !           147: #
        !           148: # Example access file
        !           149: #
        !           150: default                xfer    no
        !           151: ucb-ether      read    post
        !           152: shadow         no      no
        !           153: ic             read    post    !ucb.postgres
        !           154: .fi
        !           155: .sp
        !           156: .PP
        !           157: The above file allows only transfer of news (i.e., no reading or posting)
        !           158: by default.
        !           159: Hosts on the network ``ucb-ether'' would be able to
        !           160: read and post news.
        !           161: The host ``shadow'' would not be allowed
        !           162: to read or post news.
        !           163: Finally, the host ``ic'' is allowed to read and post
        !           164: news, but cannot access articles in the newsgroup
        !           165: ``ucb.postgres'' or any of its child newsgroups
        !           166: (e.g., ``ucb.postgres.core'').
        !           167: .SH "INFORMING USERS OF NEW NEWSGROUPS"
        !           168: .PP
        !           169: The NEWGROUPS command has never worked very well because
        !           170: newsgroup creation dates are not stored under
        !           171: the USENET news system.
        !           172: As a result, it is left to client programs to determine
        !           173: by difference in active file size whether new groups exist,
        !           174: and if so, whether to inform the user of their existence.
        !           175: .PP
        !           176: Older versions of
        !           177: .I nntpd
        !           178: relied on the program
        !           179: .I mkgrdates
        !           180: to prepare newsgroup creation information.
        !           181: .I Mkgrdates
        !           182: was fallible and could present a hefty load
        !           183: on the serving system.
        !           184: Consequently, it is no longer supported, and its use is discouraged.
        !           185: .SH AUTHOR
        !           186: Phil Lapsley (Internet: [email protected]; UUCP: ...!ucbvax!phil)
        !           187: .SH SEE ALSO
        !           188: services(5),
        !           189: inetd(8C)
        !           190: .PP
        !           191: RFC 977, ``Network News Transfer Protocol:
        !           192: A Proposed Standard for the Stream Based Transmission
        !           193: of News Articles.''

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