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snntpd,v0.3.8(8)       DragonFly System Manager's Manual      snntpd,v0.3.8(8)

NAME
       snntpd - small news server

SYNOPSIS
       snntpd [-t timeout] [-P] [-S] [logger...]

DESCRIPTION
       snntpd is a small news server.  It needs to be run under inetd or
       tcpserver, as root or as the owner of /var/spool/news.  snntpd does not
       fork into the background.  It expects to read and write from and to the
       network on descriptors 0 and 1.

ARGUMENTS
       logger...  (usually /usr/bin/logger) is taken to be a logging program,
       and all log output is piped to it.  If logger...  is not specified, log
       messages are directed to descriptor 2.

OPTIONS
       -t timeout
              specifies how long snntpd should wait for input before it gives
              up and exits.  timeout is in seconds and defaults to 600.

       -P     snntpd includes it's pid in log output.

       -S     Suppress NNTP greeting on startup.  This is useful if you want
              to perform authentication before running snntpd, or want to
              provide your own greeting, from a wrapper.

POSTING AND POSTING PERMISSIONS
       Posts are usually handled externally by the /usr/local/sbin/SNPOST
       script, which is responsible for fine-grain posting control; handling
       of control messages; and the ultimate distribution of the posted
       article.

       snntpd permits or denies posting in a very simple manner:

       If /var/spool/news/.nopost exists, posting is not allowed.

       Otherwise, if the environment variable POSTING_OK is not set, posting
       is not allowed.

       Otherwise if POSTING_OK is set (to the empty string), posting is
       generally allowed, and all POSTed articles are piped to the SNPOST
       script, which has the final say in the matter.  The value of
       $POSTING_OK is not currently used, but is reserved.

FILES
       /var/spool/news/.fifo
              If this file exists, and is a fifo, snntpd will write the name
              of a newsgroup into it as that newsgroup becomes the current
              one.  If the fifo does not exist snntpd will not create it.

       /var/spool/news/.noservice
              If this file exists, snntpd will display its first line and
              exit.  If the file can't be read or is empty, a default message
              is displayed.  This is useful for temporarily disabling the news
              server while you perform any maintenance.

       /var/spool/news/.nopost
              See POSTING PERMISSIONS above.

       /var/spool/news/.SNPOST
              If this script or program exists, it is invoked instead of
              SNPOST to accept a posted article.

       /var/spool/news/news.group.name/.nopost
              These files really belong to SNPOST, and it is unfortunate that
              snntpd has to check for their existence to determine the posting
              flag for the LIST command.  See /usr/local/sbin/SNPOST.

       /var/spool/news/news.group.name/.info
              If this file exists, its first line is taken as the description
              of that group for use with the LIST NEWSGROUPS command.

       /var/spool/news/news.group.name/.times
              is a binary file containing entry times, to support the NEWNEWS
              command.

       /var/spool/news/news.group.name/.created
              is an empty file retained for it's timestamp, to support the
              NEWGROUPS command.

SIGNALS
       If snntpd catches SIGHUP, the files
       /var/spool/news/{.fifo,.noservice,.nopost} (see below) are checked
       again, as they are during startup.  Other signals have default
       behaviour.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       See also /usr/local/sbin/SNPOST for a list of environment variables
       exported by snntpd.

       PATH   The PATH must be set such that snntpd can find SNPOST in order
              to accept postings.  If PATH does not include /usr/local/sbin,
              /usr/local/sbin will be appended to it.

       POSTING_OK
              This variable helps determine the site-wide posting policy.  See
              POSTING PERMISSIONS above.

       TCPREMOTEIP
              If this value is set, it is taken to be the dotted-quad IP
              address of the connecting client.  If it is not set, snntpd
              attempts to derive it for itself, and then set its value.

       TCPLOCALIP
              as above, but for the server's dotted-quad IP.

       SNROOT If this is set and is not empty, the value is used everywhere in
              place of /var/spool/news, the default news spool directory.

SEE ALSO
       snsend(8), /usr/local/sbin/SNPOST

N.B.                              Harold Tay                  snntpd,v0.3.8(8)