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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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