the newsfeed server administrator which news categories, or newsgroups, you want (or do not want) to be fed to your server. Some of the standard newsgroups are:

•comp—Groups relating to computer science

•sci—Groups relating to sciences other than computer science

•news—Groups relating to the Netnews software or of general interest to all net users

•rec—Groups relating to recreational activities

•soc—Groups relating to social interaction or discussion of social topics

•talk—Groups for general discussion and chat

•humanities—Groups relating to arts and humanities

•misc—Groups that do not fit in to any of the other categories

You need enough spool space to hold the news articles you will receive. Table 28 indicates the recommended minimum spool space, based on the article retention period you specify for your news server (see Section : Managing Article Expiration).

Table 28 Recommended Spool Space for News Articles

Article Retention Period

Minimum Spool Space

4 days

4 GB

7 days

6 GB

14 days

12 GB

 

 

It is important to have extra spool space available to handle the surges in news volume that occasionally occur (such as when an external newsfeed comes back on line after having been down for several days).

After you make arrangements with the administrator of an external newsfeed server, your system is added to the external server's configuration files. You must get a copy of the external newsfeed server's /usr/news/etc/active file. The active file is usually copied over to your server when you set up an external newsfeed. See Section : Updating the Local Active File for information on updating the active file.

The newsfeed server controls which newsgroups you receive; if you no longer want to receive articles from a newsgroup, you must notify the administrator of the newsfeed server.

The Administration utility allows you to perform the following tasks related to external newsfeeds:

•Display external newsfeeds that have already been configured (see Section : Displaying an External Newsfeed)

•Add a new newsfeed (see Section : Adding an External Newsfeed), modify existing newsfeeds

(see Section : Modifying an External Newsfeed), or remove an existing newsfeed (see Section : Removing an External Newsfeed)

•Modify newsfeed defaults (Section : Modifying Newsfeed Defaults)

•Update the local active file (Section : Updating the Local Active File)

Displaying an External Newsfeed

To display the external newsfeeds that have been added to your INN server, follow these steps:

1.From the Administration utility Main Menu, choose Manage Components.

2.On the Manage Components menu, choose InterNetNews.

3.From the InterNetNews Administration menu, choose Configure External Newsfeeds.

228 InterNetNews Server Administration