INNXBATCH(8)						      System Manager's Manual						      INNXBATCH(8)

NAME

       innxbatch - send xbatched Usenet articles to a remote NNTP server

SYNOPSIS

       innxbatch [ -D ] [ -t timeout ] [ -T timeout ] [ -v ] host file ...

DESCRIPTION

       Innxbatch connects to the NNTP server at the specified host and sends it the specified xbatch files, using the XBATCH extension to the NNTP
       protocol. It is normally invoked by a script run out of cron(8) that uses shlock(1) to lock the host name, followed by a ctlinnd(8) command
       to flush the batchfile.

       Innxbatch  normally  blocks  until  the connection is made.  To specify a timeout on how long to try to make the connection, use the ``-t''
       flag.
       To specify the total amount of time that should be allowed for article transfers, use the ``-T'' flag.
       The default is to wait until an I/O error occurs, or all the articles have been transferred. If the  ``-T''  flag  is  used,  the  time	is
       checked just before an article is started; it will not abort a transfer that is in progress. Both values are measured in seconds.

       Each fileis removed after it has been successfully transferred.

       If  a communication error such as a write(2) failure, or an unexpected reply from the remote server occurs, innxbatch will stop sending and
       leave all remaining files untouched for later retry.

       Upon exit, innxbatch reports transfer and CPU usage statistics via syslog(3).  If the ``-v'' flag is used, they will also be printed on the
       standard output.

       Use  the  ``-D'' flag to print debugging information on standard error.	This will show the protocol transactions between innxbatch and the
       NNTP server on the remote host.

       A sample newsfeeds(5) entry to produce appropriate xbatch files (thanks to Karsten Leipold <poldi@dfn.de>):

	 nase
	   :*
	   :Tc,Wnb
	   :/usr/lib/news/bin/batcher 
	      -p "(/bin/gzip > /var/spool/news/out.going/nase.$$)" 
	      nase.do.main

       A sample script to invoke innxbatch(8) is:

	 #!/bin/sh
	 ##  SH script to send xbatches for a site, wrapped around innxbatch
	 ##  Invocation:
	 ##	sendxbatches.sh <sitename> <hostname> <xbatch file name> ...

	 if [ $# -le 3 ]
	 then
	    echo "usage: $0 <sitename> <hostname> <xbatch file name>"
	    exit 1
	 fi

	 ##  =()<  . @<_PATH_SHELLVARS>@>()=
	 . /usr/lib/news/innshellvars

	 site="$1"; host="$2"; shift; shift

	 ctlinnd flush "$site" 
	 && sleep 5 
	 && exec $NEWSBIN/innxbatch -v -D "$host" $*

HISTORY

       Written by Stefan Petri <petri@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de>, modelled after innxmit(8) and the XBATCH patch for the nntp reference implementation.

SEE ALSO

       innxmit(8), nntpsend(8), ctlinnd(8), innd(8), newsfeeds(5), shlock(1).

																      INNXBATCH(8)