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C News/NNTPD notes for ClariNet Subscribers

If you run C news, together with one of the version of the independent "NNTPD" daemon for NNTP, here are some things you should consider. Note that these days it seems that INN has become the most common news software for internet oriented sites, but if your site does not have multiple incoming feeds, or very large feeds, you may find C news more efficient and easier to administer.

If your C news is old, be sure to get the latest patches to support the NOV database, and get newsreaders with this feature as well. It's a huge win.

Incoming NNTP feed (if you have a direct feed from ClariNet)

If you get a direct NNTP feed from ClariNet, or a delayed backup feed, you will need to give us the ability to connect and transfer news to your news server.

Tell us the name of the news server or servers you will be receiving feeds on.
Enable it so that ClariNet's machines can transfer news to your servers, and ideally also read our news from your servers. We encourage use to enable read access, since it lets us check that you are getting your feed properly and that you have the right newsgroup list, as well as debug many other problems. You need not let us read non-ClariNet news.
With care, feed only the unmoderated group clari.net.talk back to news.clari.net, but don't use nntplink.

For all these steps, the control files are usually in the "news library" directory, often /usr/lib/news on most systems.

nntp.allow (Feed-only nntpd)

There are two common NNTP servers out there. One supports incoming feeds and reading. A simpler one, also supplied with C news, is not used for newsreading and only takes incoming feeds. If you use this simpler one, the only file to configure is the file "nntp.allow", which is simply a list of sites. Include the following entries:

.clari.net
clari.net

nntp_access (Read/Feed nntpd)

If you use the full-featured NNTPD, access is controlled through the file "nntp_access" where you must give us incoming feed access and must bar read access to outsiders. However, we encourage you to allow read access by ClariNet to Clarinet groups.

	# ignore everyone, unless specified further below 
	default		no	no 
	# This site receives a ClariNet newsfeed with copyrighted information.
	# In editing this file, take care not to feed the "clari" newsgroups
	# to any outside sites or sites not covered by the licence.
	# Take care not to send "all" newsgroups to such sites without a
	# "!clari" modifier.
	*.clari.net	both	no	clari

If you don't wish to allow us to read, change "both" to "xfer" above. Note that you must not have an open NNTP server, so the default must be to bar access. You can then list internal sites covered by your site licence and give them read access to ClariNet -- or other groups.

MsgIDD

If you use NNTPD, we recommend the use of "msgidd", which comes with C news, to support the immediate sharing of incoming message-ids. Since our two servers will feed you in fairly close sync, if you don't do this the feed will be inefficient. If you can't do this, we may arrange to have one of your feeds be on a slight delay.

Be sure to get the latest NNTPD.

Incoming NNTP feed from hub or other feed

Even if you don't get your feed directly from us, it makes sense to enable us for reading, and possibly even for feeding, as described above. It can't hurt.

"sys" file

The "sys" file controls outgoing feeds and has some effects on incoming feeds as well via the "ME:" line.

Make sure that your "sys" file is not feeding ClariNet news to any sites not covered by your site licence. Double check for any feeds that feed "all" to make sure they block out ClariNet groups with a "!clari" entry.

Be sure your "sys" file has a comment like the one below, since other people may maintain it now or after you switch duties.

	# This site receives a ClariNet newsfeed with copyrighted information.
	# In editing this file, take care not to feed the "clari" newsgroups
	# to any outside sites or sites not covered by the licence.
	# Take care not to enable "all" newsgroups to such sites without a
	# "!clari" modifier.

ME line

Be sure the "ME:" entry in your "sys" file -- generally the first entry, allows "clari" newsgroups. If you don't, you will discard our articles. Many people have this line allow all groups, which is OK, but if you list hierarchies explicitly here, be sure to list ours.

The "active" file

The active file contains the list of newsgroups at your site, and their type. ClariNet newsgroups are added to this file when you run the creation script described in the master ClariNet installation guide.

You should make sure the ClariNet groups are there, and that you don't mark them as "excluded" with an "x" tag. If you get articles in which no newsgroup is found on your machine, the articles appear in the "junk" newsgroup.

C News Checklist

Feed from ClariNet allowed in - nntp.allow or nntp_access (if applicable)
clari.net.talk fed back to feed site, but not rest of hierarchy
ME: line configured to allow clari (or all)
"sys" checked to assure no outgoing ClariNet feeds
nntp_access checked to bar access to non-covered sites or outsiders
Read access granted to ClariNet in nntp_access (optional)
Comments in sys, nntp_access for future admins

For more details

See:

If you are a hub...

If you are one of our officially contracted hubs, contact us for special details on feeding constraints. In particular, in order for us to be able to add distributions, it is vital that all ClariNet feeds be configured with an inclusive distribution list, not an excluding one.