INN FAQ Part 8/9


From: INN FAQ Maintainers
Newsgroups: news.software.nntp,news.software.b
Subject: INN FAQ Part 8/9: Appendix A: Norman's install guide
Followup-To: news.software.nntp
Summary: This article is part 8 of a multi-part FAQ: Part 8: Norman's quick guide to getting started (assumes SunOS and other things), and misc. other things.
Posted-By: post_faq 2.10
Archive-name: usenet/software/inn-faq/part8
Last Changed: $Date: 1997/12/18 21:42:26 $ $Revision: 1.6 $


INN FAQ Part 1: General and questions from people that don't (yet) run INN
INN FAQ Part 2: Specific notes for specific operating systems
INN FAQ Part 3: Reasons why INN isn't starting
INN FAQ Part 4: The debugging tutorial (setup of feeds etc.)
INN FAQ Part 5: Other error messages and what they mean
INN FAQ Part 6: Day-to-day operation and changes to the system
INN FAQ Part 7: Problems with INN already running
INN FAQ Part 8: Appendix A: Norman's install guide
INN FAQ Part 9: Appendix B: Configurations for certain systems

This is a separate guide for installing INN addressed to UNIX and System Administration novices. It is written for installation of INN 1.4 on a Sun SPARCstation running SunOS 4.1.x with some additional comments for Solaris 2.x. This guide is maintained by Norman J. Pieniazek (norman@giardia.pdb.cdc.gov). Please send updates and corrections to him.

This guide is composed of following parts:

I. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
II. INSTALLATION OF INN 1.4
III. UPGRADING FROM INN 1.3 TO INN 1.4
IV. MAINTENANCE OF INN
V. INSTALLATION OF XVNEWS, A SUN OPENWINDOWS
NEWSREADER

I. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

  1. INN will not install nor run on Sun SPARCstation under
     plain Solaris 1.1  or 2.x unless you install some
     additional software packages and utilities
     (fortunately, they are free).  Also, your machine's IP
     number (of the news server) has to be entered in a
     Domain Name Service database (DNS) to be resolvable.
Ask your Network Administrator about DNS or read the O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. book: "DNS and BIND" by Paul Albitz & Cricket Liu, ISBN 1-56592-010-4.

     Further, test the resolver on your machine by
     pinging a hostname not entered in your /etc/hosts file.
For example, type: "ping ftp.uu.net" The response should be: "ftp.uu.net is alive".

     If you get: "unknown host ftp.uu.net", consult the
     O'Reilly's book.

     (Solaris 2.x - the most common problem with DNS 
     results from not switching on DNS support.  Check
     the line "hosts:" in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file.
It should read: "hosts: files dns").

  2. Be sure to su to root before performing tasks
     outlined below.  Next, check if you have a directory
     /usr/local and about 90 Mb of space in the partition
     where this directory is located.  Create directories:
     /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/lib and /usr/local/man if
     you do not have them.  Add /usr/local/bin to your path
     and /usr/local/man to your MANPATH.  On Solaris 2.x,
     create /opt/local tree and make a symbolic link
     from /usr ("ln -s /opt/local /usr/local").

  3. INN uses gnu versions of grep, awk and sed.  Moreover,
     it is  recommended to compile INN with the gnu
     versions of make and the gnu gcc compiler instead of
     the Sun's Solaris 1.x unbundled cc compiler. (C
     compiler is not included with Solaris 2.x.  The cc in
     /usr/ucb is bad.  Be sure to remove it from path.)  If you
     don't have the gnu software package, create a directory
     /usr/local/gnu, cd to this directory and ftp to
     prep.ai.mit.edu (18.71.0.38). Go to directory /pub/gnu
     and get the newest version of the following programs:

      bison      bison-x.x.tar.gz    
      flex       flex-x.x.x.tar.gz 
      gawk       gawk-x.x.x.tar.gz
      gcc        gcc-x.x.x.tar.gz
      grep       grep-x.x.tar.gz
      gzip       gzip-x.x.x.tar (Note: no .gz)
      make       make-x.x.tar.gz
      patch	 patch-x.x.tar.gz
      perl	 perl-x.x.tar.gz
      sed        sed-x.x.tar.gz
      tar        tar-x.x.x.tar.gz
      texinfo    texinfo-x.x.tar.gz

     Installation of these programs is not complicated,
     and is really beneficial both for Solaris 1.x and
     Solaris 2.x users.  After you complete the
     installation, check if older versions of these programs
     are not present somewhere in your path.  Delete or
     rename these old versions.

     Solaris 2.x: First, after connecting through ftp
     to prep.ai.mit.edu, cd to directory:
       /pub/gnu/sparc-sun-solaris2
     and get the file INSTALL.gcc.  Follow the instructions
     for installing binaries for gcc and gzip (installed
     in /opt/gnu).  Next, follow the instructions for
     Solaris 1.1, but read the doc file for gcc-x.x.x.
To avoid problems, rename /usr/ucb/cc to something else, or remove it from path. Make a symbolic link in the /opt/gnu/bin directory from gcc to cc. When you finish the installation, the new utilities will be installed in the /usr/local tree. Delete and remove from path the /opt/gnu tree. As the binaries you downloaded are pretty old, it is advisable to start with the new gcc and to compile all the gnu utilities with this new gcc. NOTE: it makes no difference, if you install gnu stuff in /opt/gnu or in /usr/local. The installation scripts for gnu utilities default to the /usr/local directory tree, so I find it simple to use this path. Whatever you do, be sure to have the gnu utilities in your path before /usr/bin and /usr/ccs/bin.

     Solaris 2.x: be sure to include /usr/ccs/bin
     and /usr/ccs/lib in your path.  Important
     utilities (e.g. - ar, cpp) are located there.
Please note, that the /usr/ccs stuff is only installed, when you do a full install of Solaris.
If you do not have e.g. - /usr/ccs/bin/ar, re-install Solaris 2.x!

   a. Start with gzip.  In /usr/local/gnu type:
      "tar xvf gzip-x.x.x.tar".  A directory gzip-x.x.x will
      be created.  Change to this directory and type:
      "sh ./configure".  Next, edit the Makefile
      with the vi editor and change the line starting with
      "CC" to read: "CC = cc". Then, type: "make".
Compilation should complete without errors. Finally, type: "make install" to complete installation of gzip, gunzip, and other utilities in /usr/local/bin.

   b. Compile and install texinfo - info, makeinfo, the GNU
      hypertext system.  Makeinfo is needed for error-free
      installation of many GNU programs and utilities.
In /usr/local/gnu type: "gunzip texinfo-x.x.tar.gz".
Next, type: "tar xvf texinfo-x.x.tar". A directory texinfo-x.x will be created. Cd to this directory and type: "sh ./configure". Next, edit the Makefile as described above for gzip. Now, type: "make" and ignore any non-fatal errors. Finally, type: "make install". With newer versions of texinfo, you will get a lot of messages about "emacs", "*.elc", and "*.el" files. Just ignore these messages.

   c. Installation of the gnu version of tar is
      beneficial.  You will be able to use
      "tar -Zxvf <file name>.tar.Z" or
      "tar -zxvf <file name>.tar.gz" to uncompress
      and untar files in one step.  Uncompress, compile
      and install tar as above.  Be sure that /usr/local/bin
      is the first directory in your path.

   d. Uncompress, compile and install gnu make.  Follow the
      steps described for texinfo.  Gnu make will install in
      /usr/local/bin.  To disable Sun's make, cd to /usr/bin
      (/usr/ccs/bin for Solaris 2.x) and type:

       "mv make make.sun".

   e. Compile and install bison following the procedure
      described for texinfo.

   f. Uncompress gcc.  Cd to /usr/local/gnu/gcc-x.x.x and
      type:

         sh ./configure

      Next type:
        make
      This step will take about 17 minutes to complete.
Ignore warnings reported for insn-emit.c. Next, type: make stage1 Ignore reported non-fatal errors. Next, type: make CC="stage1/xgcc -Bstage1/" CFLAGS="-g -O" This step will take about 19 minutes to complete.
Next, type: make stage2 Ignore reported non-fatal errors. Next, type: make CC="stage2/xgcc -Bstage2/" CFLAGS="-g -O" In this step, which lasts about 13 minutes, you will make the final stage 3 compiler. Now type: "make compare". No errors should be reported here. Finally, type: make install CC="stage2/xgcc -Bstage2/" CFLAGS="-g\ -O" (NOTE: backslash "\" is used in this FAQ to break the line for formatting purposes. You can use the backslash for the same purpose in a command line.
Please read Sun documentation, if you need more information.) to install the gcc compiler. It is advisable to recompile patch, gzip, texinfo, make and bison with gcc. It will be a good test for proper gcc functionality.

   g. Uncompress gawk. Cd to directory gawk-x.x.x and type:
       sh ./configure sunos41
        (for Solaris 2.x: sh ./configure solaris2.cc)     
	Next type: "make".  When gawk will compile, type:
        make install
      Finally, disable Sun's awk by typing:
        mv /usr/bin/awk /usr/bin/awk_sun
      and create a link to gawk for awk by typing:
        ln -s /usr/local/bin/gawk /usr/bin/awk

   h. Uncompress grep.  Cd to directory grep-x.x and type:
        ./configure
      Next type: "make" and "make install".  Grep will
      also be installed in /usr/local/bin as fgrep
      and egrep.  Finally, as some programs expect to find
      grep, egrep and fgrep in /usr/bin, disable Sun's grep
      and create appropriate links, just like described
      for awk.  INN expects to find a program "egnugrep" in
      /usr/local/bin.  Create it by typing:
         cp /usr/local/bin/egrep /usr/local/bin/egnugrep

   i. Uncompress sed and patch.  Compile and install these
      utilities following the instructions for grep.

   j. INN comes with some scripts written in the perl
      language.  Uncompress perl, cd to directory perl-x.xxx
      and type:
       sh ./Configure
      and hit Return for default answers to all questions.
Next, type: "make depend", then "make". Now type: make test to check, if perl works without errors. Finally, type: make install to complete installation of perl.

      Solaris 2.x: answer "none" for -I/usr/ucbinclude
      and add libraries: -lm -lnsl -lsocket

II. INSTALLATION OF INN 1.4

  1. As root, create directories: /usr/local/inn1.4 (this
     will be your $inn directory) and /usr/local/news.
(Solaris 2.x, you have to create a user "news", good choice is UID=6, GID=13, home directory=/var/spool/news, shell /bin/csh, no password - account is locked, * in password field in /etc/shadow.
Be sure, to create a new group in /etc/group "news" with GID=13.)

  2. Cd to $inn. Get the newest version of inn from:
     ftp.uu.net (192.48.96.9).  This file is in the
     directory: /networking/news/nntp/inn.   As for all
     binary files, please remember to set the file type in
     ftp to binary.

  3. From the same source and directory get the Frequently
     Asked Questions (FAQ) files:
       faq-inn-1.Z
       faq-inn-2.Z
       faq-inn-3.Z
       faq-inn-4.Z (this file)
       faq-nov.Z
     and any other files that may contain patches or 
     information.

  4. To uncompress the FAQ files type: "uncompress faq-*.Z.
Print the FAQs and read them before proceeding further.

  6. In $inn type (with gnu tar):
     "tar -Zxvf innx.x.tar.Z
     This will extract inn files for compilation.

  7. Change directory to $inn/config, and type:
       cp config.dist config.data
       chmod 644 config.data
     Now use the vi editor to edit config.data.  You should
     select gcc as the compiler by changing the line that
     starts with "CC" to read "CC   gcc".  Many lines in
     config.data define the location of various files
     and directories.  It's OK to leave defaults, but
     check if you have ample space in the directory
     where the articles will be stored (/var/spool).  More
     information on where INN expects to find certain files
     is in: $inn/samples/innshellvars.  If necessary, edit
     the config.data and innshellvars to reflect your
     configuration.  Please make sure that specified
     directories and utilities exist on your system.

  8. Change directory to $inn.  Type: "make world".  Now
     type:
       cat */lint
     (Solaris 2.x - there is not lint included with
     Solaris 2.x.  One way to get Solaris 2.x version
     of lint suggested to me, is to get a 30 day trial
     package of the SunPro C compiler from Sun.  However,
     lint is not really needed, except for testing new
     code.  You can make a symbolic link from /bin/echo
     to lint.)
     lint will give you a list of compiler warnings and
     errors.  In addition, "make" creates in this step
     a file:  "$inn/Install.ms".  Print it by typing:
       nroff -ms Install.ms | lpr
     Install.ms is a manual for installation of INN written
     by Rich Salz, the author of INN.  There is a lot of
     important and interesting information in his manual.

  9. If you got no fatal errors from make, go to the
     $inn/site directory
     and type: "make all".

 10. There are some scripts and control files listed in
     inn-faqs and Install.ms that may be modified at this
     point.  For most installations, the default settings
     are OK.

 11. Now cd to $inn and type: "make install" to complete
     basic installation of INN.

 12. To finish installation of INN, run the BUILD script
     in the $inn directory by typing "sh BUILD".  This
     script will ask a series of configuration questions
     that are easy to answer.  Please note that if your have
     "history.*" files in your /usr/local/news directory
     from a previous or failed installation of INN, the
     BUILD script will not complete.  Rename them to
     "old.history.*" and re-run the BUILD script.

 13. You need a site that will feed news to you.
This will depend on your geographic location and organization. Ask a System Administrator of a site close to you for hints.

 14. Ftp to your newsfeeding site and get the "active" file
     from there.  Place this file in your /usr/local/news
     directory and edit it to your taste.  Remember to
     include the "control" and "junk" newsgroups.  Also, you
     have to edit the following files in /usr/local/news:
     newsfeeds, hosts.nntp, nnrp.access, inn.conf.
Be careful with editing the "active" file with vi or textedit. A common error is to leave a blank line at the top. This error causes INN to crash with the message: "ME bad_active". Depending on your setup, you will get this message in the syslog or on the console.

 15. To check for syntax errors in INN control files,
     file ownership, permissions and other things type:
       /usr/local/bin/perl /usr/local/news/bin/inncheck
     and correct any errors reported by inncheck.
If your paths are set, it is sufficient to change to the /usr/local/news/bin directory and type: "perl ./inncheck" or "./inncheck".

 16. Look at the file "rc.news" in /usr/local/etc.
It's advisable to enable the innwatch utility.
Innwatch will throttle the newsserver when your disk will get full and prevent crashes. Change the line starting with "DOINNWATCH" to read "DOINNWATCH=true".
(Solaris 2.x: edit the innwatch.ctl file and replace df with /usr/ucb/df. Default Solaris 2.x /usr/sbin/df doesn't understand the -i option.) Now type: "sh /usr/local/etc/rc.news" and look in /var/log/syslog for errors. Also, type: ps -aux| grep news and check, if the innd process owner is news.

     On Solaris 2.x, the syntax is a bit different:
       ps -fu news

 17. In /etc/aliases create an entry: "usenet: <you, or
     root>".  Next type: "/usr/ucb/newaliases" to inform the
     sendmail program that the aliases file has changed.
If you are running YP (NIS) on your network, you may optionally add the "usenet" alias to your YP aliases file. If the machine you are installing INN on is the YP master and the file "/etc/aliases" is the source of the YP aliases map, you should type: "cd /var/yp" followed by "make". Reboot and restart innd (see #16).

 18. To get daily reports on the newsserver activity from
     the "news.daily" script and to enable the "expire"
     utility type: "/bin/crontab -e news" and insert the
     following line:
       40 23 * * * /usr/local/news/bin/news.daily delayrm
     or, if you are using overchan (in newsfeeds):
       40 23 * * * /usr/local/news/bin/news.daily delayrm\
       expireover

 19. To set-up complete logging of the server activities
     and have them ready for a report by the "news.daily"
     script, you have to edit your /etc/syslog.conf file.
Insert at the end of this file the content of the syslog.conf file written by Rich Salz. This file is in: $inn/syslog. Please check, if you have the directories and files mentioned in Rich's syslog.conf.

 20. Run tests from your machine to the server (to your
     machine at telnet port 119).  See inn-faqs for details.

 21. After completing these test, be sure to delete the
     entry for your machine from the hosts.nntp file.  If
     you will not do it, your machine will be treated as a
     "feeder" and not as a "reader".

 22. Set posting. 

      a. Edit the /usr/local/news/newsfeeds file and add:
           <alias for your feed>/<full address of feed>\
           :*\ (for all local postings)
           :Tf,Wnm: (standard entry)

      b. Edit /usr/local/news/nntpsend.ctl file and add:
           <alias for your feed>:<full address of feed>::\

-T1800 -t300

      c. Type: "/bin/crontab -e news" and insert a line:
           0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * *\
            /usr/local/news/bin/nntpsend

      d. Run inncheck (see #15).

      e. Post to misc.test and include "reply" in the
         Subject line, automatic responses will be mailed to
         usenet (see #17) within a few minutes.

 23. To start innd automatically at bootup, include at the
     end of your rc.local the following lines:

      #
      # Start INN news service - Internet News Daemon (innd)
      #
      if [ -f /usr/local/etc/rc.news ]; then
         /usr/local/etc/rc.news; echo "Starting INN news
				 service"
      fi

	(In Solaris 2.x there is no rc.local.  If you want
     to start INN automatically, you should create a
     script in /etc/rc2.d).

     NOTE: Please send me your solutions for boot time
     starting and shutdown closing of INN on Solaris!

 24. Watch the news.daily reports in your mail for any
     additional errors.  To run the news.daily script
     at any time manually, first su from root to "news"
     and type: "/usr/local/news/news.daily".  A mail to
     "usenet" should arrive within a couple of minutes
     and may report important configuration problems.

III. UPGRADING FROM INN 1.3 TO INN 1.4

  1. Stop the server.  Type:
       ctlinnd shutdown "upgrade"

  2. Create a directory /usr/local/inn1.4, this will be
     your $inn directory.  cd to $inn.  Next, ftp to
     ftp.uu.net, cd to directory: /networking/news/nntp/inn
     and get the following files:

        inn1.4sec.tar.Z
        faq-inn-1.Z
        faq-inn-2.Z
        faq-inn-3.Z
        faq-inn-4.Z (this file)
        faq-nov.Z
     Uncompress and print the FAQs.  Next, type
     (with gnu tar):
        tar -Zxvf inn1.4sec.tar.Z

     Print the README file.  To print the Install file,
     type: "make Install.ms" followed by:
        nroff -ms Install.ms | lpr

  3. Now, cd to $inn/config and type the following commands:
        make subst
        cp config.dist config.data
        ./subst -f {OLDFILE} config.data
     where {OLDFILE} is the location of config.data in your
     INN 1.3 directory.  Be sure to check, if in your old
     config.data the "CC" line reads "CC  gcc".
Ignore warnings about new lines. Next, type: make sedtest No errors should be reported here. Now, cd to $inn and type this series of commands: make quiet cd ../lib make libinn.a lint cd ../frontends make all cd ../innd make all cd ../nnrpd make all cd ../backends make all cd ../expire make all cd ../site make all cd ..
make update

  4. Restart innd.

IV. MAINTENANCE OF INN

  • 1. Adding new groups - see also Part IV, Section 3.b,:

         a. Type: "ctlinnd pause 'edit active'"
    

         b. Edit the active file.  The format is:
              groupname himark lomark flag.
    Set himark to 0000000000 and lomark to 0000000001.
    For detailed description of flags, read the man page for active. Editing the active file by hand is easy, but will not update the information in that file active.times that some newsreaders require to trace new newsgroups. Using ctlinnd command "newgroup" takes care of this problem (see below). Editing the active file with an editor has one drawback - the file active.times is not automatically updated. This creates problems for some newsreader (Trumpet being one of them) that use this file to alert users to new groups.
    Using ctlinnd command "newgroup" (see Part IV.3.b) corrects this problem.

        c. Run inncheck (see #11) to check the new active file
           for errors. 
    

        d. Type: "ctlinnd reload active 'new active'".

        e. Type: "ctlinnd go 'edit active'".

  • 2. New groups are sometimes added automatically through
        a control message.  A mail message to usenet will alert
        to such an automatic change to the active file.  If you
        do not want to subscribe to a particular news group,
        change directory to /usr/local/news and type:
          ctlinnd rmgroup <group name>
    

  • 3. Sometimes, a mail message will arrive for usenet with
        a checkgroups file.  Remove header, save the body of
        the message in:
          /usr/local/news/bin/control/news_control/news_control_
    					todaysdate
        cd to that directory and type:
          ../docheckgroups <news_control_todaysdate
    			 >todaysdate_pre
        Read the output file (todaysdate_pre) and carry out all 
        the instructions that you think pertain to your
        situation.  Read the man pages for "active" and
        "ctlinnd" for more info.  To implement the changes, you
        will have to change to the directory: /usr/local/news
        and:  
    

         a. remove a discontinued group:
              type: "ctlinnd rmgroup <group name>"
    

         b. add a group:
            type: "ctlinnd newgroup <group name> flag <creator
                                               name>"
    

         c. mark a group correctly:
            type: "ctlinnd changegroup <group name> flag"
    

        Run inncheck and repeat the docheckgroups command from
        the /usr/local/bin/control/news_control directory
        by typing:
          ../docheckgroups <news_control_todaysdate
                                    >todaysdate_after
        Correct any reported problems.  Also, you may have to
        edit the /usr/local/news/newsgroups file to reflect
        any changes you introduced.

  • 4. Read the reports mailed to usenet (you) by the
        news.daily script.  Most errors are reported here and
        should be easy to fix.

  • 5. Subscribe to and read the following newsgroups:
          news.software.nntp
          news.software.readers
    

  • 6. IMPORTANT!!! Never run fsck on the drive where the
        /spool/news files are located while running INN.  Innd
        has a lot of active disk I/O going on and you could
        corrupt your drive. Use ctlinnd to throttle, pause, or
        shutdown innd first - see the manual page for ctlinnd.

    V. INSTALLATION OF XVNEWS, A SUN OPENWINDOWS
    NEWSREADER

       1. Create a directory /usr/local/xvnews and cd to this
          directory.

       2. Ftp to ftp.twi.tudelft.nl and get the file
          xvnews.tar.gz from directory /pub/news.

       3. Ungzip and untar xvnews.  With gnu tar type:
            tar -zxvf xvnews.tar.gz
    

       4. Use your vi editor and edit the file xvnews.h
          You will need to enter your settings for:
            DOMAIN         (on my machine: "pdb.cdc.gov")
            ORGANIZATION   (on my machine: "Centers for Disease
                              Control Atlanta, GA, USA")
            NNTPSERVER     (on my machine:
                                   "giardia.pdb.cdc.gov")
          Preferred method is to override these defaults
          by specifying environment variables DOMAIN, ORGANIZATION,
          and NNTPSERVER in your .cshrc or .profile files
          (see the xvnews man page).  In this way, you will be able
          to change default settings quickly.

       5. Compile xvnews by typing:
          "make -f Makefile.dist"
          This command will show you, how to enter defaults
          for your operating system (e.g. - "sunos5" for Solaris 2.x,
          "sunos4" for SunOS 4.1.x).  I get some compilations
          warnings on my system, but the program runs OK.  Copy xvnews
          to /usr/local/bin and xvnews.man to directory:
          /usr/local/man/man1 as xvnews.1.  
    


    Continue with Part 9...