NNRP.ACCESS(5)							File Formats Manual						    NNRP.ACCESS(5)

NAME

       nnrp.access - access file for on-campus NNTP sites

DESCRIPTION

       The  file  /etc/news/nnrp.access  specifies  the  access  control for those NNTP sites that are not handled by the main InterNetNews daemon
       innd(8).  The nnrpd(8) server reads it when first spawned by innd.

       Comments begin with a number sign (``#'') and continue through the end of the line.  Blank lines and comments are ignored.  All other lines
       should consist of five fields separated by colons:
	      hosts:perms:username:password:patterns

       The  first  field is a wildmat(3)-style pattern specifying the names or Internet address of a set of hosts.  Before a match is checked, the
       client's hostname (or its Internet address if gethostbyaddr(3) fails) is converted to lowercase.  Each line is matched  in  turn,  and  the
       last successful match is taken as the correct one.

       The second field is a set of letters specifying the permissions granted to the client.  The perms should be chosen from the following set:
	      R    The client can retrieve articles
	      P    The client can post articles

       The  third  and	fourth fields specify the username and password that the client must use to authenticate themselves before the server will
       accept any articles.  Note that no authentication (other then a matching entry in this file) is required  for  newsreading.   If  they  are
       empty, then no password is required.  Whitespace in these fields will result in the client being unable to properly authenticate themselves
       and may be used to disable access.

       The fifth field is a set of patterns identifying the newsgroups that the client is allowed to access.  The patterns are interpreted in  the
       same manner as the newsfeeds(5) file.  The default, however, denies access to all groups.

       The  access  file  is  normally used to provide host-level access control for reading and posting articles.  There are times, however, when
       this is not sufficient and user-level access control is needed.	Whenever an NNTP ``authinfo'' command is used, the nnrpd  server  re-reads
       this file and looks for a matching username and password.  If the local newsreaders are modified to send the ``authinfo'' command, then all
       host entries can have no access and specific users can be granted the appropriate read and post access.

       For example:
	      ##  host:perm:user:pass:groups
	      ## Default is no access.
	      *::  -no-  :  -no-  :!*
	      ##  FOO hosts have no password, can read anything.
	      *.foo.com:Read Post:::*
	      ##  A related workstation can't access FOO newsgroups.
	      lenox.foo.net:RP:martha:hiatt:*,!foo.*

       If the file contains passwords, it should not be world-readable.

HISTORY

       Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews.  This is revision 1.11, dated 1996/09/06.

SEE ALSO

       innd(8), newsfeeds(5), nnrpd(8), wildmat(3).

																    NNRP.ACCESS(5)