INEWS(1)INEWS(1)NAME
inews - send a Usenet article to the local news server for distribution
SYNOPSIS
inews [ -h ] [ -D ] [ -O ] [ -R ] [ -S ] [ header_flags ] [ input ]
DESCRIPTION
Inews reads a Usenet news article (perhaps with headers) from the named
file or standard input if no file is given. It adds some headers and
performs some consistency checks. If the article does not meet these
checks (for example, too much quoting of old articles, or posting to
non-existent newsgroups) then the article is rejected. If it passes
the checks, inews sends the article to the local news server as speci‐
fied in the inn.conf(5) file for distribution.
In the standard mode of operation, the input consists of the article
headers, a blank line, and the message body. For compatibility with
older software, the ``-h'' flag must be used. If there are no headers
in the message, then this flag may be omitted.
Several headers may be specified on the command line, shown in the syn‐
opsis above as header_flags. Each of these flags takes a single param‐
eter; if the value is more than one word (for example, almost all Sub‐
ject lines) then quotes must be used to prevent the shell from split‐
ting it into multiple words. The options, and their equivalent header,
are as follows:
a Approved
c Control
d Distribution
e Expires
f From
w Followup-To
n Newsgroups
r Reply-To
t Subject
F References
o Organization
x Path prefix
The Path header is built according to the following rules. If the
``-x'' flag is used, then its value will be the start of the header.
Any other host will see the site in the header, and therefore not offer
the article to that site. If the ``pathhost'' configuration parameter
is specified in the inn.conf(5) file, then it will be added to the
Path. Otherwise, if the ``server'' configuration parameter is speci‐
fied, then the full domain name of the local host will be added to the
Path. The Path will always end not-for-mail.
The default Organization header will be provided if none is present in
the article or if the ``-o'' flag is not used. To prevent adding the
default, use the ``-O'' flag.
As a debugging aide, if the ``-D'' flag is used, the consistency checks
will be performed, and the article will be sent to the standard output,
rather then sent to the server.
For compatibility with C News, inews accepts, but ignores, the ``-A'',
``-V'' and ``-W'' flags. The C News ``-N'' flag is treated as the
``-D'' flag.
If a file named .signature exists in the user's home directory, inews
will try to append it to the end of the article. If the file cannot be
read, or if it is too long (for example, more than four lines or one
standard I/O buffer), or if some other problem occurs, then the article
will not be posted. To suppress this action use the ``-S'' flag.
If the ``-R'' flag is used then inews will reject any attempts to post
control messages.
If an unapproved posting is made to a moderated newsgroup, inews will
try to mail the article to the moderator for posting. It uses the mod‐
erators(5) file to determine the mailing address. If no address is
found, it will use the inn.conf file to determine a ``last-chance''
host to try.
If the NNTP server needs to authenticate the client, inews will use the
NNTPsendpassword(3) routine to authenticate itself. In order to do
this, the program will need read access to the passwd.nntp(5) file.
This is typically done by having the file group-readable and making
inews run setgid to that group.
Inews exits with a zero status if the article was succesfully posted or
mailed, or with a non-zero status if the article could not be deliv‐
ered.
Since inews will spool its input if the server is unavailable, it is
usually necessary to run rnews(1) with the ``-U'' flag on a regular
basis, usually out of cron(8).
HISTORY
Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is
revision 1.25, dated 1993/03/18.
SEE ALSOmoderators(5), inn.conf(5). rnews(1).
INEWS(1)
