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   The official
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        | | | | | | | |_| |_) | (_| (_| | (__| | | |  __/
        |_| |_|_| |_|\__| .__/ \___\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|
                        |_|
                          __
                         / _| __ _  __ _
                        | |_ / _` |/ _` |
                        |  _| (_| | (_| |
                        |_|  \__,_|\__, |
                                      |_|

              NNTPCACHE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
                                      
                    Peter Tonoli <anarchie@suburbia.net>
                                      
     This is the list of frequently asked questions, and the answers to
       those questions for nntpcache, the caching NNRP server daemon.
   ______________________________________________________________________
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                   Index
                                      
   Section 1.  Introduction and General Information
       Q1.1 What is nntpcache?
       Q1.2 What operating systems does nntpcache support?
       Q1.3 Where can I find nntpcache? / Where is the latest version?
       Q1.4 Can I use nntpcache freely or do I have to license it?
   
   Section 2. Frequently encountered problems and solutions
       Q2.1 My system chokes on all that damned mmap()ing?!. What can I
   do?
       Q2.2 Netscape-news kills itself when reading news from
   nntpcache-0.88.3!
       Q2.3 Expiring with nntpcached -e doesn't work
       Q2.4 Help! The size of our cache keeps growing! What should I do
   about expiration?
       Q2.5 nntpcache spits out : 'post failed From: address not in
   Internet syntax'. What does that mean?
       Q2.6 Why does nntpcache-update take so long to load at
   initialisation?
   
   Section 3. Support and Resources
       Q3.1 Is there a nntpcache mailinglist?
       Q3.2 How do I unsubscribe from the mailinglist?
       Q3.3 Is there an archive of the nntpcache mailinglist?
       Q3.4 Is there an official nntpcache home page?
       Q3.5 Who should I contact if I can't get nntpcache to work / I've
   found a bug in nntpcache, what should I do?
   
   Section 4. Configuration of nntpcache
       Q4.1 What are all those entries in the servers configuration file?
       Q4.2 How do I specify the "Xref:full" part in the "overviewFmt"
   line in the config file?
       Q4.3 I've entered a server but nntpcache doesn't seem to want to
   know about it.
       Q4.4 I want to set the nntpcache-virtual-server-size record, what
   are some public news-servers I can add to my servers file?
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 1.1. What is nntpcache?
   
   Nntpcache (efficiently) executes on the localhost pretending to be an
       NNRP news reading server. In fact, what it does is pass certain
       NNTP commands through to real (remote and possibly local)
       news-servers based on various pattern matching rules. nntpcache
       then takes the output from those servers and caches & indexes it
       in funky ways (much specific case magic goes into this). The next
       time such information is asked for, or other information which can
       be logically inferred from the previously collated information, it
       is sent directly from the cache, without consulting the remote
       servers. It provides multi-server group merging, and sophisticated
       weighted content-filtering, access control and a chrooted
       environment. It makes heavy use of shared memory, copy-on-write,
       fd caches, mmaping and more for efficiency capable of serving
       thousands of simultaneous users.
       
   To sum that up in layman's terms : nntpcache is a cache, similar to
       the Squid object-cache, but nntpcache works on newsgroups. By
       acting as a cache, nntpcache transparently and efficiently saves
       bandwidth enough to feed a small nation. It can also merge dozens
       of news servers into one large "virtual" news server, and provide
       content filtering (censoring! censoring!). It's a miserly beast
       with cpu and memory due to some gee-whizz trickery.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 1.2. What operating systems does nntpcache support?
   
   nntpcache has been known to compile under these systems :
       * BSD
           FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT + GCC2.6.3
           BSDI [something]
       
   
       
   * LINUX
       Linux 1.3.77 + GCC 2.7.2 + libc5.2.18
   
       
   * SOLARIS 2.4 + Native CC
   
   * HP-UX
       HP-UX 9.05 + HP ANSI C
   
       
   * OSF/1
   
   If you find a OS/compiler/library tuple that nntpcache appears to
   compile and run under, then don't keep it to yourself, please let tell
   the devteam at nntpcache@nntpcache.org! (this list is.. err dated -
   nntpcache works on nearly all modern unixes)
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 1.3. Where can I find nntpcache? / Where is the latest
   version?
   
   The original archive is at :
       ftp://ftp.nntpcache.org/pub/nntpcache/nntpcache.tar.gz
       The UK, Europe and US mirror of nntpcache can be accessed at:
       ftp://planete.theplanet.net/pub/nntpcache/nntpcache.tar.gz
       The Norwegian and European mirror is at :
       ftp://ftp.nethelp.no/pub/news/nntpcache-1.0.7.1.tar.gz
       FreeBSD 2.2.x and above has a port/package available in the ports
       system in news/nntpcache
       Rumors on the wire suggest a Debian package also, but don't oink
       on it.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 1.4. Can I use nntpcache freely or do I have to license?
   
   Probably. It depends on who you are. See the LICENSING file for full
       details, but in a nutshell, individuals, non-military, non-profit
       research groups, non-profit organisations (including educational
       institutions) and medical or educational government departments
       may use nntpcache freely. Everyone else (that is commercial
       organisations and government) are required to license in order to
       fund on-going development and support.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 2.1. My system chokes on all that damned mmap()ing?!. What
   can I do?
   a) upgrade your OS. For instance, linux 1.2.13's mmap() does not work
       correctly in shared mode. Linux 2.0 rectified this.
       b) get a decent OS. Ultrix mmap is totally broken!
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 2.2. Netscape-news kills itself when reading news from
   nntpcache-0.88.3!
   
   We know. Didn't get a bugs-bounty either. Geesh. nntpcache-0.90+
       formats its data in a way that makes netscape happier. But it IS
       netscape's fault for expecting nnrpd style response messages.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 2.3. Expiring with nntpcached -e doesn't work
   
   Running nntpcached -e on a system that is already running nntpcache
       doesn't work. To expire on a system that is already running
       nntpcache, send the nntpcache process the USR2 signal.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 2.4. Help! The size of our cache keeps growing! What should I
   do about expiration?
   
   Expiration should be automatic, it is controlled by the following in
       the config file:
       
# expire if there are under this number of blocks in the cache
# partition
minBlocksFree 1000
# run expire if there are under this number of inodes in the cache
# partition
minFilesFree 1000
# don't let the history file grow larger than this (bytes) hisHighWater 60M
# when it does, trim it back to this (bytes)
hisLowWater 40M
# When we do an expire, kill articles older than this
maxArtAge 2w
# check disk space, etc for automatic expiry this often
# (but only after a client connects or disconnects)
expireCheckPeriod 5m
       The important point that isn't made clear here is that expire runs
       only occur when minBlocksFree or minFilesFree are not satisfied.
       i.e the cache will happily grow until the disk starts filling up.
       Cache expiration isn't incredibly intelligent, although it is very
       fast and tries to track the actual state of affairs on the remote
       server.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 2.5. nntpcache spits out : 'post failed From: address not in
   Internet syntax'. What does that mean?
   
   That error message translated into normal English means: Your attempt
       to post failed because the address in the "From:" field was not in
       the format user@host. To solve the problem, ensure you have a
       correct reply-to address configured in the newsreader.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 2.6. Why does nntpcache-update take so long to load at
   initialisation?
   nntpcache update takes a while on master startup since it loads
       overview.fmt, active, newsgroups and active.times lists from the
       providing server(s). these lists typically run into several
       mega-bytes, and nntpcache isn't able to serve clients till it has
       its hot little hands on this vital information.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 3.1. Is there a nntpcache mailinglist?
   
   Sure is! To join the thrills and spills of the mailinglist! Poke fun
       at Julian's coding style! Find bugs in Herbert Xu's bug fixes!
       Submit nntpcache filters to filter out all messages posted by the
       Kook of the Month and more! Send a message with the subject of
       'subscribe' to the address 'nntpcache-users-request@nntpcache.org'
       (without the single quotes).
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 3.2. How do I unsubscribe from the mailinglist?
   
   Unsubscribing from the mailinglist is as simple as subscribing. To
       unsubscribe, send a message with the subject of 'unsubscribe' to
       the address 'nntpcache-users-request@nntpcache.org' (without the
       single quotes).
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 3.3. Is there an archive of the nntpcache mailinglist?
   
   Yes! There are actually two archives of the nntpcache mailinglist. The
       first archive is at :
       ftp://ftp.nntpcache.org/pub/nntpcache/mailinglist
       A HTML version of the mailinglist archive is available at:
       http://www.support.nl/online/nntpquery.html
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 3.4. Is there an official nntpcache home page?
   
   Is the pope catholic? The official nntpcache home-page is accessible
       at http://www.nntpcache.org/
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 3.5. Who should I contact if I can't get nntpcache to work /
   I've found a bug in nntpcache, what should I do?
   
   If you're not subscribed to the mailinglist, send your report to
       'nntpcache@nntpcache.org', otherwise send your report to the
       mailinglist. Along with your report, send your servers and access
       files and syslog output if appropiate to expedite a fix to your
       problem. ok. ok. expedite is a euphemism :)
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 4.1. What are all those entries in the servers configuration
   file?
   
   They signify how long nntpcache should keep the following
       * Active
       the active file
       * Act.tim
       active.times
       * Newsgrp
       newsgroups
       * Group
       What you get if you / a client types 'group some.newsgroup'
       * Xover
       What you get if you / a client types 'xover low-high'
       * Arts
       What you get if you / a client types 'head/body/article no'
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 4.2. How do I specify the "Xref:full" part in the
   "overviewFmt" line in the config file?
   
   You shouldn't have to specify the overviewFmt thing if the remote
       server supports 'LIST overview.fmt'. But if you insist, just
       'Xref' will do.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 4.3. I've entered a server but nntpcache doesn't seem to want
   to know about it.
   
   Have you made sure there's a period ('.') after the domain name of
       your server?
       For example:
       
news.mynet.net DEFAULT 4h 2d 2d 30m 60d 60d
       is probably wrong, but:
news.mynet.net. DEFAULT 4h 2d 2d 30m 60d 60d
       is likely correct.
       
       
       
   It isn't essential to use a period after the domain name ('.'), but it
   is essential that you use do so *consistently*. The period is used to
   anchor the domain to speed domain lookups, and nntpcache will treat
   references to a server without a period as an entirely different
   server to one with a period. If the server in questions is in
   /etc/hosts and you /etc/resolv.conf (or equivalent) tells your DNS
   resolver library routines to search /etc/hosts before NIS/DNS then you
   probably DON'T want the period appended (unless you have a
   corresponding period in the /etc/hosts entry)
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Question 4.4. I want to set the nntpcache-virtual-server-size record,
   what are some public news-servers I can add to my servers file?
   
   >Does anyone have a list of corporate newsservers (ie:
       msnews.microsoft.com >for microsoft.*, news.3dfx.com for 3dfx.*,
       etc.)?
       If anyone can add to or has corrections for this list, please let
       me know. Some entries are commented because I haven't had time to
       specifically add all groups they carry or because they weren't
       responding.
       
newsgroups.intel.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
msnews.microsoft.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.3dfx.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
miriam.fuller.edu. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
adesknews.autodesk.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
forums.borland.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
hope.harvard.net. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
cnews.corel.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.avault.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.linkexchange.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
#forums.macromedia.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
#news.activeie.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
#news.interaktiv-media.se. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
publicnews.msn.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.netobjects.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
secnews.netscape.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
beetle.privatei.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
massena.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
cor.newman.upenn.edu. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
forums.powersoft.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.sff.net. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
nntp.net-link.net. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
service.symantec.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
#jazz.trumpet.com.au. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.turbopower.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.ksc.nasa.gov. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
news.glbs.com. DEFAULT 24h 4d 4d 30m 60d 60d
%BeginGroups
# Group pattern Host
* your.main.server.here
alt.oui.support* beetle.privatei.com.
asp.* news.glbs.com.
audioweb.* news.glbs.com.
3dfx.* news.3dfx.com.
autodesk.* adesknews.autodesk.com.
avault.* news.avault.com.
borland.* forums.borland.com.
cakewalk.* hope.harvard.net.
corel.* cnews.corel.com.
crescent.* news.glbs.com.
db.* news.glbs.com.
forum.* news.avault.com.
glbs.* news.glbs.com.
intel.* newsgroups.intel.com.
le.* news.linkexchange.com.
linux.* miriam.fuller.edu.
microsoft.* msnews.microsoft.com.
msn.* publicnews.msn.com.
net-link.* nntp.net-link.net.
netobjects.* news.netobjects.com.
netscape.* secnews.netscape.com.
ntworthy* news.glbs.com.
people.* secnews.netscape.com.
pilot.* massena.com.
powerbasic.* news.glbs.com.
powersoft.* forums.powersoft.com.
sff.* news.sff.net.
sybase.* forums.powersoft.com.
symantec.* service.symantec.com.
#trumpet.* jazz.trumpet.com.au.
turbopower.* news.turbopower.com.
woll2woll* news.glbs.com.
mail.winvn news.ksc.nasa.gov.
perl.porters-gw cor.newman.upenn.edu.
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Acknowledgements:
   Alan Brown <alan@manawatu.gen.nz>
       Herbert Xu <herbert@greathan.apana.org.au>
       Julian Assange <proff@nntpcache.org>
       Ken Eves  <cyberw4@cyberworldcafe.com>