rmgroup:group-admin@isc.org:comp.*|misc.*|news.*:verify-news.announce.newgroups
rmgroup:group-admin@isc.org:rec.*|sci.*|soc.*:verify-news.announce.newgroups
rmgroup:group-admin@isc.org:talk.*|humanities.*:verify-news.announce.newgroups
## GNU (Free Software Foundation)
newgroup:gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu:gnu.*:doit
newgroup:news@*ai.mit.edu:gnu.*:doit
rmgroup:gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu:gnu.*:doit
rmgroup:news@*ai.mit.edu:gnu.*:doit
## LINUX (Newsfeed from news.lameter.com)
checkgroups:christoph@lameter.com:linux.*:doit
newgroup:christoph@lameter.com:linux.*:doit
rmgroup:christoph@lameter.com:linux.*:doit
Running INN
The inn source package provides a script suitable for starting inn at boot time. The script is usually called /usr/lib/news/bin/rc.news. The script reads arguments from another script, usually called /usr/lib/news/innshellvars, which contains definitions of the filenames and filepaths that inn will use to locate components it needs. It is generally considered a good idea to execute inn with the permissions of a non-root user, such as news.
To ensure that inn is started at boot time, you should check that /usr/lib/news/innshellvars is configured correctly and then call the /usr/lib/news/bin/rc.news script from a script executed at boot time.
Additionally, there are administrative tasks that must be performed periodically. These tasks are usually configured to be executed by the cron command. The best way to do this is to add the appropriate commands to your /etc/crontab file, or even better, create a file suitable for the /etc/cron.d directory, if your distribution provides one. An example of such a file might look like:
# Example /etc/cron.d/inn file, as used in the Debian distribution.
#
SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/lib/news/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
# Expire old news and overview entries nightly, generate reports.
15 0 * * * news news.daily expireover lowmark delayrm
# Every hour, run an rnews -U. This is not only for UUCP sites, but
# also to process queued up articles put there by in.nnrpd in case
# innd wasn't accepting any articles.
10 * * * * news rnews -U
These commands will ensure that old news is automatically expired each day, and that any queued articles are processed each hour. Note also that they are executed with the permissions of the news user.
Managing INN: The ctlinnd Command
The INN news server comes with a command to manage its day-to-day operation. The ctlinnd command can be used to manipulate newsgroups and newsgroup feeds, to obtain the status, of the server, and to reload, stop, and start the server.
You'd normally get a summary of the ctlinnd command syntax using:
# ctlinnd -h
We'll cover some of the more important uses of ctlinnd here; please consult the ctlinnd manual page for more detail.
Add a New Group
Use the following syntax to add a new group:
ctlinnd newgroup group rest creator
The arguments are defined as follows:
group
The name of the group to create.
rest
This argument should be coded in the same way as the flags field of the active file. It defaults to y if not supplied.
creator
The name of the person creating the group. Enclose it in quotes if there are any spaces in the name.
Change a Group
Use the following syntax to change a group:
ctlinnd changegroup group rest
The arguments are defined as follows:
group
The name of the group to change.
rest
This argument should be coded in the same way as the flags field of the active file.
This command is useful to change the moderation status of a group.
Remove a Group
Use the following syntax to remove a group:
ctlinnd rmgroup group
The argument is defined as follows:
group
The name of the group to remove.
This command removes the specified newsgroup from the active file. It has no effect on the news spool. All articles in the spool for the specified group will be expired in the usual fashion, but no new articles will be accepted.
Renumber a Group
Use the following syntax to renumber a group:
ctlinnd renumber group
The argument is defined as follows:
group
The name of the group to renumber. If a group is an empty string, all groups are renumbered.
This command updates the low-water mark for the specified group.
Allow/Disallow Newsreaders
Use the following syntax to allow or disallow newsreaders:
ctlinnd readers flag text
The arguments are defined as follows:
flag
Specifying n causes all newsreader connections to be disallowed. Specifying y allows newsreader connections.
text
The text supplied will be given to newsreaders who attempt to connect, and usually describes the reason for disabling newsreader access. When reenabling newsreader access, this field must be either an empty string or a copy of the text supplied when the newsreader was disabled.
This command does not affect incoming newsfeeds. It only controls connections from newsreaders.
Reject Newsfeed Connections
Use the following syntax to reject newsfeed connections:
ctlinnd reject reason
The argument is defined as follows:
reason
The text supplied should explain why incoming connections to innd are rejected.
This command does not affect connections that are handed off to nnrpd (i.e., newsreaders); it only affects connections that would be handled by innd directly, such as remote newsfeeds.
Allow Newsfeed Connections
Use the following syntax to allow newsfeed connections:
ctlinnd allow reason
The argument is defined as follows:
reason
The supplied text must be the same as that supplied to the preceding reject command or an empty string.
This command reverses the effect of a reject command.