Ubuntu Manpage: ctlinnd - control the InterNetNews daemon

NAME

       ctlinnd - control the InterNetNews daemon

SYNOPSIS

       ctlinnd [ -h ] [ -s ] [ -t timeout ] command [ argument...  ]

DESCRIPTION

       Ctlinnd sends a message to the control channel of innd(8), the InterNetNews server.

       In  the  normal  mode  of  behavior, the message is sent to the server, which then performs the requested
       action and sends back a reply with a text  message  and  the  exit  code  for  ctlinnd.   If  the  server
       successfully  performed  the  command,  ctlinnd  will  exit  with a status of zero and print the reply on
       standard output.  If the server could not perform the command (for example,  it  was  told  to  remove  a
       newsgroup  that  does not exist), it will direct ctlinnd to exit with a status of one.  The ``shutdown,''
       ``xabort,'' and ``xexec'' commands do not generate a reply; ctlinnd will  always  exit  silently  with  a
       status of zero.

OPTIONS

-s If the ``-s'' flag is used, then no message will be printed if the command was successful.

-t The ``-t'' flag can be used to specify how long to wait for the reply from the server. The
timeout value specifies the number of seconds to wait. A value of zero waits forever, and a value
less than zero indicates that no reply is needed. When waiting for a reply, ctlinnd will try
every two minutes to see if the server is still running, so it is unlikely that ``-t0'' will hang.
The default is ``-t0.''

-h To see a command summary, use the ``-h'' flag. If a command is included when ctlinnd is invoked
with the ``-h'' flag, then only the usage for that command will be given.

If a large number of groups are going to be created or deleted at once, it may be more efficient to
``pause'' or ``throttle'' the server and edit the active file directly.

The complete list of commands follows. Note that all commands have a fixed number of arguments. If a
parameter can be an empty string, then it is necessary to specify it as two adjacent quotes, like "".

addhist <Message-ID> arr exp post paths
Add an entry to the history database. This directs the server to create a history line for
Message-ID. The angle brackets are optional. Arr, exp, and post specify when the article
arrived, what its expiration date is, and when it was posted. All three values are a number
indicating the number of seconds since the epoch. If the article does not have an Expires header,
then exp should be zero. Paths is the pathname within the news spool directory where the article
is filed. If the article is cross-posted, then the names should be separated by whitespace and
the paths argument should be inside double quotes. If the server is paused or throttled, this
command causes it to briefly open the history database.

allow reason
Remote connections are allowed. The reason must be the same text given with an earlier ``reject''
command, or an empty string.

begin site
Begin feeding site. This will cause the server to rescan the newsfeeds(5) file to find the
specified site and set up a newsfeed for it. If the site already exists, a ``drop'' is done
first. This command is forwarded; see below.

cancel <Message-ID>
Remove the article with the specified Message-ID from the local system. This does not generate a
cancel message. The angle brackets are optional. If the server is paused or throttled, this
command causes it to briefly open the history database.

changegroup group rest
The newsgroup group is changed so that its fourth field in the active file becomes the value
specified by the rest parameter. This may be used to make an existing group moderated or
unmoderated, for example.

checkfile
Check the syntax of the newsfeeds file, and display a message if any errors are found. The
details of the errors are reported to syslog(3).

drop site
Flush and drop site from the server's list of active feeds. This command is forwarded; see below.

feedinfo site
Print detailed information about the state of the feed to site or more brief status of all feeds
if site is an empty string.

perl flag
Enable or disable perl news filtering. If flag starts with the letter ``y'' then filtering is
enabled. If it starts with ``n'', then filtering is disabled.

feedinfo site
Print detailed information about the state of the feed to site or more brief status of all feeds
if site is an empty string.

flush site
Flush the buffer for the specified site. The actions taken depend on the type of feed the site
receives; see newsfeeds(5). This is useful when the site is fed by a file and batching is going
to start. If site is an empty string, then all sites are flushed and the active file and history
databases are also written out. This command is forwarded; see below.

flushlogs
Close the log and error log files and rename them to have a .old extension. The history database
and active file are also written out.

go reason
Re-open the history database and start accepting articles after a ``pause'' or ``throttle''
command. The reason must either be an empty string or match the text that was given in the
earlier ``pause'' or ``throttle'' command. If a ``reject'' command was done, this will also do an
``allow'' command if the reason matches the text that was given in the ``reject.'' If a
``reserve'' command was done, this will also clear the reservation if the reason matches the text
that was given in the ``reserve.'' Note that if only the history database has changed while the
server is paused or throttled, it is not necessary to send it a ``reload'' command before sending
it a ``go'' command. If the server throttled itself because it accumulated too many I/O errors,
this command will reset the error count. If the server was not started with the ``-ny'' flag,
then this command also does a ``readers'' command with ``yes'' as the flag and reason as the text.

hangup channel
Close the socket on the specified incoming channel. This is useful when an incoming connection
appears to be hung.

help [command]
Print a command summary for all commands, or just command if specified.

logmode
Cause the server to log its current operating mode to syslog.

mode Print the server's operating mode as a multi-line summary of the parameters and operating state.

name nnn
Print the name of channel number nnn or of all channels if it is an empty string.

newgroup group rest creator
Create the specified newsgroup. The rest parameter should be the fourth field as described in
active(5); if it is not an equal sign, only the first letter is used. The creator should be the
name of the person creating the group. If the newsgroup already exists, this is equivalent to the
``changegroup'' command. This is the only command that has defaults. The creator can be omitted
and will default to the empty string, and the rest parameter can be omitted and will default to
``y''. This command can be done while the server is paused or throttled; it will update its
internal state when a ``go'' command is sent. This command updates the active.times (see
active(5)) file.

param letter value
Change the command-line parameters of the server. The combination of defaults make it possible to
use the text of the Control header directly. Letter is the innd command-line option to set, and
value is the new value. For example, ``i 5'' directs the server to allow only five incoming
connections. To enable or disable the action of the ``-n'' flag, use the letter ``y'' or ``n'',
respectively, for the value.

pause reason
Pause the server so that no incoming articles are accepted. No existing connections are closed,
but the history database is closed. This command should be used for short-term locks, such as
when replacing the history files. If the server was not started with the ``-ny'' flag, then this
command also does a ``readers'' command with ``no'' as the flag and reason as the text.

readers flag text
Allow or disallow newsreaders. If flag starts with the letter ``n'' then newsreading is
disallowed, by causing the server to pass the text as the value of the nnrpd(8) ``-r'' flag. If
flag starts with the letter ``y'' and text is either an empty string, or the same string that was
used when newsreading was disallowed, then newsreading will be allowed.

reject reason
Remote connections (those that would not be handed off to nnrpd) are rejected, with reason given
as the explanation.

reload what reason
The server updates its in-memory copies of various configuration files. What identifies what
should be reloaded. If it is an empty string or the word ``all'' then everything is reloaded; if
it is the word ``history'' then the history database is closed and opened, if it is the word
``hosts.nntp'' then the hosts.nntp(5) file is reloaded; if it is the word ``active'' or
``newsfeeds'' then both the active and newsfeeds files are reloaded; if it is the word
``overview.fmt'' then the overview.fmt(5) file is reloaded. If it is the word ``filter.perl''
then the filter_innd.pl file is reloaded. If a Perl procedure named ``filter_before_reload''
exists, it will be called prior to rereading filter.tcl. If a Perl procedure named
``filter_after_reload'' exists, it will be called after filter.pl has been reloaded. Reloading
the Perl filter does not enable filtering if it is disabled; use filter to do this. The reason is
reported to syslog. There is no way to reload the data inn.conf(5) file; the server currently
only uses the ``pathhost'' parameter, so this restriction should not be a problem.

renumber group
Scan the spool directory for the specified newsgroup and update the low-water mark in the active
file. If group is an empty string then all newsgroups are scanned.

reserve reason
The next ``pause'' or ``throttle'' command must use reason as its text. This ``reservation'' is
cleared by giving an empty string for the reason. This command is used by programs like expire(8)
that want to avoid running into other instances of each other.

rmgroup group
Remove the specified newsgroup. This is done by editing the active file. The spool directory is
not touched, and any articles in the group will be expired using the default expiration
parameters. Unlike the ``newgroup'' command, this command does not update the active.times file.

send feed text...
The specified text is sent as a control line to the exploder feed.

shutdown reason
The server is shut down, with the specified reason recorded in the log and sent to all open
connections. It is a good idea to send a ``throttle'' command first.

signal sig site
Signal sig is sent to the specified site, which must be a channel or exploder feed. Sig can be a
numeric signal number or the word ``hup,'' ``int,'' or ``term''; case is not significant.

throttle reason
Input is throttled so that all existing connections are closed and new connections are rejected.
The history database is closed. This should be used for long-term locks, such as when expire is
being run. If the server was not started with the ``-ny'' flag, then this command also does a
``readers'' command with ``no'' as the flag and reason as the text.

trace item flag
Tracing is turned on or off for the specified item. Flag should start with the letter ``y'' or
``n'' to turn tracing on or off. If item starts is a number, then tracing is set for the
specified innd channel, which must be for an incoming NNTP feed. If it starts with the letter
``i'' then general innd tracing is turned on or off. If it starts with the letter ``n'' then
future nnrpd's will or will not have the ``-t'' flag enabled, as appropriate.

xabort reason
The server logs the specified reason and then invokes the abort(3) routine.

xexec path
The server gets ready to shut itself down, but instead of exiting it execs the specified path with
all of its original arguments. If path is ``innd'' then /usr/sbin/innd is invoked; if it is
``inndstart'' then /usr/sbin/inndstart is invoked; if it is an empty string, it will invoke the
appropriate program depending on whether or not it was started with the ``-p'' flag; any other
value is an error.

In addition to being acted upon within the server, certain commands can be forwarded to the appropriate
child process. If the site receiving the command is an exploder (such as buffchan(8)) or it is a funnel
that feeds into an exploder, then the command can be forwarded. In this case, the server will send a
command line to the exploder that consists of the ctlinnd command name. If the site funnels into an
exploder that has an asterisk (``*'') in its ``W'' flag (see newsfeed(5)), then the site name will be
appended to the command; otherwise no argument is appended.

BUGS

       Ctlinnd uses the inndcomm(3) library, and is therefore limited to server replies no larger than 4k.

HISTORY