HOWTO Make INN Simple

Martin Rodgers

Revision History
Revision 0.002003-04-02Revised by: mcr
Created the first draft. Very basic.
Revision 0.012003-04-02Revised by: mcr
Added the installing (fetch and build), basics (networking and the news user), setup (inn.conf, incoming.conf, database), and running (start, stop) sections. Still basic, but enough to get the server to the point where you can run it and connect to it.
Revision 0.022003-04-03Revised by: mcr
Added a subsection for storage.conf to the setup section. Added a status checking subsection to the running section. Added a newgroup subsection to the running section.
Revision 0.032003-04-03Revised by: mcr
Added subsection for nntpsend.ctl to the setup section.
Revision 0.042003-04-05Revised by: mcr
Added pre-install subsection to the installing section. Mainly service shutdown advice.
Revision 0.052003-04-06Revised by: mcr
Changed the newsfeeds section; no feeds. Removed the nntpsend.ctl, newsfeed, and incoming.conf sections. Moved the basics section to 2nd position, right after the introduction section. Amended the basics section to make goals clearer. (No talking to other news servers, that's beyond the scope of this document.)
Revision 0.062003-04-06Revised by: mcr
Added a references appendix. Added links to INN, suck and the mail2news HOWTO. Changed the link in the fetching subsection to refer to the link in the references appendix. Added link to the Open Directory page for UseNet software.
Revision 0.072003-04-07Revised by: mcr
Added a clients subsection to the running section. Added a few more settings to the inn.conf subsection.
Revision 0.082003-04-07Revised by: mcr
I got pullnews working! Silly me, I'd fluffed the config. Restored news feed stuff. Added a pullnews subsection.
Revision 0.092003-04-08Revised by: mcr
Added more detail to the pullnews subsection.
Revision 0.102003-04-09Revised by: mcr
Added a caution to the adminuser subsection of the basics section, concerning the ownership and permissions. Added a troubleshooting section, with a subsection for permissions and ownership.
Revision 0.112003-07-05Revised by: mcr
Added a section for innfeed.conf. Updated other config details to allow posting to a remote server.
Revision 0.122003-09-08Revised by: mcr
Added 'demon*' to section for innfeed.conf. This allows posts to demon.test, which is useful.
Revision 0.132006-05-25Revised by: mcr
Section 4.7. Preparing the database: expanded. Section 2.1. Networking: updated (host name examples clarified).

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Copyright Information
1.2. Disclaimer
1.3. New Versions
1.4. Credits
1.5. Feedback
1.6. Translations
2. Basics
2.1. Networking
2.2. Always administer INN as news
3. Installing INN
3.1. Pre-install preparation
3.2. Fetching
3.3. Building
4. Setup
4.1. Configuring inn.conf
4.2. Configuring incoming.conf
4.3. Configuring newsfeeds
4.4. Configuring innfeed.conf
4.5. Configuring nntpsend.ctl
4.6. Configuring storage.conf
4.7. Preparing the database
5. Running
5.1. Starting
5.2. Stopping
5.3. Checking the server status
5.4. Creating a newsgroup
5.5. Using clients
5.6. Using pullnews
6. Troubleshooting
6.1. Operation not permitted
7. Concluding Remarks
A. References: links

1. Introduction

1.1. Copyright Information

This document is Copyright (c) 2003 by Martin Rodgers. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

1.2. Disclaimer

No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use the concepts, examples and other content at your own risk. As this is a new edition of this document, there may be errors and inaccuracies, that may of course be damaging to your system. Proceed with caution, and although this is highly unlikely, the author(s) do not take any responsibility for that.

All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.

You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before major installation and backups at regular intervals.

1.3. New Versions

This is an early draft. Very basic.

The latest version number of this document can be found in the HOWTO section of my homepage.

The newest version of this HOWTO will always be made available on my website, in a variety of formats:

1.4. Credits

In this version I have the pleasure of acknowledging: nobody (yet).

1.5. Feedback

Feedback is most certainly welcome for this document. Without your submissions and input, this document wouldn't exist. Please send your additions, comments and criticisms to the following email address : .

1.6. Translations

No translations exist at this point in time.