14Dec1996 PSC Initial version. 16Jul1997 PSC Added notes for security patches. 16Aug1997 PSC Added configuration notes.
The following is a quick overview of the main procedure for building INN, it's not a substitute for the manual, tutorial and FAQ.
There are various versions of INN available, ranging from the standard 1.4 to 1.4secN and the 1.4unoffN releases.
As of release 1.5, INN is maintained by the ISC (Internet Software Consortium).
The 1.4 and 1.4secN releases have a number of bugs and security problems, so it's advisable to run one of the latest releases, 1.4unoff3, 1.4unoff4 or 1.5.1, see the ISC INN web page for the latest release and patch information.
SECURITY WARNING: all INN versions up to and including 1.5.1 require security patches to deal with an exploit that fixes a problem in parsecontrol which allows commands to be executed (typing mailing out a copy of /etc/passwd) on the local machine sent via usenet control posts (this can be exploited even if you aren't taking the control groups). See the CERT web site and the advisories for more information.
Compiling INN for the first time can be difficult, but providing the installation notes are followed, along with use of sample configs and pointers in the FAQ, it shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
The instructions for building and configuring INN are in a specially formatted manual, which can be made into an easily readable as follows:
My preference is to adjust the config.data so that the locations of all the config and data files come under one central location for ease of administration, for example:
/news [base of the news system]
/bin [INN maintenance scripts and binaries]
/etc [INN daemons]
/lib [INN configuration files]
/local [non-INN files, custom scripts and binaries]
/bin [custom scripts binaries]
/lib [configuration for custom scripts and binaries]
/logs [log files]
/spool [news spool]
See news.software.nntp
Before INN can be started for the first time it requires a number of configuration files changing, and a few files populating with data.
control 0000000000 0000000000 y junk 0000000000 0000000000 y
/news/lib/history.n.dir -> /news/lib/history.dir /news/lib/history.n.pag -> /news/lib/history.pag
control.ctl distrib.pats expire.ctl hosts.nntp inn.conf innwatch.ctl moderators newsfeeds nnrp.access nntpsend.ctl overview.fmt passwd.nntp
# Daily expiry of old articles 0 23 * * * /news/bin/news.daily delayrm expireover # Monthly pruning of overview data files 10 23 * * 1 /news/bin/expireover -s
0,15,30,45 * * * * /news/bin/nntpsend >/dev/null 2>&1 5,20,35,50 * * * * /news/local/bin/getnews >/dev/null 2>&1
Resources: