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NNTPCACHE 3.0.2(8) DragonFly System Manager's Manual NNTPCACHE 3.0.2(8)
NAME
nntpcache - nntp multi-server caching daemon
SYNOPSIS
nntpcached [-ienrs] [-c config_file] [-b address:port]
DESCRIPTION
nntpcache caches and intelligently merges NNTP traffic. It is designed
to run as a stand-alone daemon that listens to requests on port 119
(nntp).
OPTIONS
-c config_file
Specify an alternative configuration file (normally
/usr/local/etc/nntpcache/config). You must specify the FULL
PATH.
-e Perform an expire then exit.
-i Interface directly to stdin/stdout (interactive). Once specified
for inetd compatible operation, this option is now primarily
used for debugging and may not behave as expected.
-b address:port
Listen for connection on address:port rather than the one in the
config file (usually DEFAULT:119, the IANA NNTP port).
-n Do not automatically detach from tty on startup.
-r Remove history and cache.mmap database files before running (use
with care!).
-s Swap parent with child. Only useful for debugging.
OPERATION
nntpcache holds a number of files in the cache hierarachy (usually
/var/spool/nntpcache). A directory hierarchy containing articles,
identical to a standard news-spool under per-server directories, with
several additions; ".listgoup", "nnnnn_xover" and "nnnnn_head" files in
each group directory a list of valid article numbers (the output of the
"listgroup" command), parts of the groups xover cache (at 1-512 entries
per file) and cached article headers respectively; a large hash
database (cache.history*) which contains Message-Id's to
group.subgroup/article translations; a large memory mapped cache
structure which contains collated lists, including active, active.times
and newsgroup lists, and other peices of information about each group;
a raw statistics variables file (nntpcache.stats) (saved when
nntpcached is shutdown, and subsequently reloaded when nntpcache starts
up again).
STATISTICS
If statistics collation is activated nntpcache gathers a wide-variety
of traffic statistics. These may be accessed using nntpcache's built in
HTTP server e.g http://localhost:9119/ SH SIGNALS nntpcache responds to
various signals, which can be sent with the kill command.
For example:
kill -SIGUSR1 `cat /var/spool/nntpcache/nntpcache.119.pid`.
As used above, such signals to nntpcache are easily incorporated into
crontabs.
SIGHUP Reread the nntpcache.access & nntpcache.server configuration
files This doesn't affect existing connections, only future
connections. If nntpcache is configured to drop its privilages
after invokation (default) then then the reconfiguration will
probably fail.
SIGUSR1
Force the master server to do a currency check of the active,
active.times & newsgroups lists for all configured servers.
Normally the list cache is only checked for currency immediately
after startup or after each incoming client connection. This can
cause the first client to connecting after a period of
inactivity greater than the list cache life to receive expired
(that is older than it would otherwise be configured to be)
data. This behavior is considered optimal, as it is inefficient
to have the list cache refresh itself when usage is very low
(e.g over the weekend at some sites). It is usually advisable to
hand a client slightly out of date data immediately rather than
forcing it to wait for a rebuild.
SIGUSR2
Force the master server to perform an expire.
SIGTERM
Safely shutdown the master server. It is important to shut the
server down safely or the various databases managed by
nntpcached maybe corrupted (all processes normally receive this
signal when a unix box is instructed to shutdown/reboot/halt).
SIGINT Toggle full debugging. All nntpcache.config log* variables are
set to TRUE.
EXAMPLE
nntpcached -c nntcache.myconfig -b localhost:119
AUTHORS
Julian Assange (proff@nntpcache.com).
Luke Bowker (puke@nntpcache.com).
FILES
/usr/local/etc/nntpcache{config,servers,access,*.filter}.
ARCHIVE
The latest version of this program can be obtained from the
ftp.nntpcache.com archives via ftp as /pub/nntpcache/nntpcache.tar.gz.
BUGS AND SUGGESTIONS
You can contact the development team via nntpcache@nntpcache.com. When
reporting bugs, include as much detail as possible, including program
version, OS version, library version, syslog output and step by step
details how to reproduce the bug under consideration.
Please send bug reports, suggestions, words of encouragement or
supercilious wit to the development team.
MAILINGLIST
There is a nntpcache mailing list nntpcache-users@nntpcache.com. To
subscribe send email with the subject subscribe to
nntpcache-users-request@nntpcache.com. Archives are available at
http://www.nntpcache.com/.
LICENSING
Please refer to the LICENSING file in the source distribution for
details, or send email to nntpcache-license@nntpcache.com.
COPYRIGHT AND WARRANTY INFO
Copyright (c) Julian Assange & Luke Bowker 1996, All rights reserved.
This software is a copyrighted product and may not be used by
commercial organisations, or by individuals acting in a commercial or
profit making manner, or by government departments, institutions or
bodies (with the exception of those primarily involved in non-military
scientific research, medical treatment or education) including for-
profit educational institutions, without an appropriate site license
from the copyright holders. Violation of the aforementioned copyright
notice is subject to civil and criminal penalties.
This software maybe distributed only freely, in full and without
modification. It may not be bundled with any sort of hardware or
software if a fee is charged, directly or indirectly, for that hardware
or software. If you would like to include this software in such an
otherwise prohibited distribution then please contact the copyright
holders to negotiate reasonable (possibly free) terms.
The copyright holders shall not under any circumstances accept any
liability for this software, for its use, misuse, or any failings it
may or may not have. You're on your own.
The copyright holders reserve the right to alter the aforementioned
conditions from time to time as they see appropriate. The copyright
holders' most recent copyright notice and conditions for this software
shall always supersede any issued previously.
Use and or distribution of this software implies acceptance of the
above.
SEE ALSO
newshound(8), dbz(3), innd(8), nnrpd(8), tin(1), nn(1), trn(1).
NNTPCACHE 3.0.2(8)