Ebook: Managing UUCP and Usenet

"Managing UUCP and Usenet" is meant for system administrators who want to install and manage a UUCP network or to connect to Usenet.

This handbook follows the Nutshell philosophy of presenting the concepts in an easy-to-read and logical manner. It is divided into the following sections;

Chapter 1: "How UUCP Works", gives a conceptual overview of how UUCP file transfers work, with emphasis on how the UUCP program make use of the various configuration files that you, as the administrator, need to set up.

Chapter 2: "The Physical Connection", describes RS-232 cabling, the theory of serial communications, and the UNIX system files that control serial communications parameters.

Chapter 3: "Setting up a UUCP Link", describes the UUCP configuration files and the procedure for establishing communication with other systems. This chapter assumes that you have already set upa physical link, as described in Chapter 2.

Chapter 4: "Making Sure the Link Works", describes in more detail the part of setting up a UUCP link that is as much art as science: figuring out the "chat script" used to log in to another system.

Chapter 5: "Access and Security Considerations", describes the mechanisms that you can use to increase or decrease the level of security for your system.

Chapter 6: "UUCP Administration", describes the UUCP administrative shell scripts that perform routine maintenance. It also covers tasks that the system administrator must carry out periodically to keep the system running smoothly.

Chapter 7: "Introduction to Usenet", gives an introduction to Usenet and the Netnews software.

Chapter 8: "Installing Netnews", describes how to install the Netnews software and how to get set up as a Usenet site.

Chapter 9: "Administering Netnews", describes routine tasks you will need to perform as Netnews administrator for your site.

Chapter 10: "NNTP: Transferring News over the Network", describes how to obtain, configure, compile, and administer the UNIX implementation of the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), which is used for transferring news over TCP/IP and other high-speed networks.

Appendix A: "Working Files", describes the files used by UUCP in the process of transferring files.

Appendix B: "Talking to Modems", describes how to write UUCP support for modems, particularly Hayes-compatible modems such as the Tele­bit Trailblazer.

Appendix C: "More on RS-232", gives additional detail on the RS-232 standard.

Appendix D: "Useful Programs and Shell Scripts", contains several useful scripts that are mentioned in the course of the book. It also gives pointers to the location of other UUCP-related programs available in public domain source archives on the net.

Appendix E: "UUCP for MS-DOS and Macintosh Systems", describes several pub­lic-domain or low-cost UUCP implementations for non-UNIX systems, and also describes how one of these systems has been successfully configured to turn a DOS-based laptop computer into a travelling UUCP node.

Appendix F: Frequently Asked Questions, answers some frequently-asked questions about UUCP and related networking topics, including how domain addressing works, how to find e-mail addresses for individuals on the net, how to use anonymous ftp, and how to get access to the Internet.

Appendix G: The UUCP G Protocol, describes the inner workings of UUCP's native g protocol. This appendix will help you to understand bet­ter how UUCP works, and why it sometimes doesn't.

After reading this handbook, you should be able to:

- Set up a link to the UUCP network using either direct RS-232 or phone con­nections.
- Add links to an established UUCP network.
- Vary the level of security for your UUCP system.
- Perform routine maintenance to ensure that the UUCP system is working prop­erly.
- Install the Netnews software and set up a link to Usenet.

This handbook assumes that you are at least superficially familiar with UNIX system administration and that you have superuser (root) privileges.