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/sn.  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/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/sn/.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/sn/.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/sn/.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/sn/.nopost
              See POSTING PERMISSIONS above.

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

       /var/spool/sn/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/sbin/SNPOST.

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

       /var/spool/sn/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/sn/{.fifo,.noservice,.nopost} (see below) are checked
       again, as they are during startup.  Other signals have default behaviour.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       See also /usr/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/sbin, /usr/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/sn,  the
              default news spool directory.

SEE ALSO

       snsend(8), /usr/sbin/SNPOST

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