Collection of Internet/Collection of Internet.iso/faq/comp/linux/howto/uucp

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From: [e-mail] (Vince Skahan)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce,comp.os.linux.admin,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Linux UUCP HOWTO
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Date: 16 Mar 1994 05:27:49 GMT
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Archive-name: linux/howto/uucp
Last modified:  26 January 1994

The Linux UUCP HOWTO
by Vince Skahan, <[e-mail]>
v1.5, Last Modified 26 January 1994
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This document describes the setup and care+feeding of UUCP under Linux.

You need to read this if you plan to connect to remote sites via UUCP
via a modem, via a direct-connection, or via Internet.

You probably do *not* need to read this document if don't talk UUCP.


0.  Introduction

    The intent of this document is to answer some of the questions and
    comments that appear to meet the definition of 'frequently asked
    questions' about UUCP software under Linux in general, and the
    version in the Linux SLS distribution in particular.

    This document and the corresponding Mail and News 'HOWTO' documents
    collectively supersede the UUCP-NEWS-MAIL-FAQ that has previously
    been posted to comp.os.linux.announce.


0.1 New versions of this document

    New versions of this document will be periodically posted to
    comp.os.linux.announce, comp.answers, and news.answers.  They will
    also be added to the various anonymous ftp sites who archive such
    information including sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.


0.2 Feedback

    I am interested in any feedback, positive or negative, regarding
    the content of this document via e-mail.  Definitely contact me if
    you find errors or obvious omissions.

    I read, but do not necessarily respond to, all e-mail I receive.
    Requests for enhancements will be considered and acted upon based on
    that day's combination of available time, merit of the request, and
    daily blood pressure :-)

     Flames will quietly go to /dev/null so don't bother.

    Feedback concerning the actual format of the document should go to
    the HOWTO coordinator - Matt Welsh ([e-mail]).

0.3 Copyright Information

    The UUCP-HOWTO is copyrighted (c)1994 Vince Skahan.

    A verbatim copy may be reproduced or distributed in any medium physical
    or electronic without permission of the author.  Translations are
    similarly permitted without express permission if it includes a notice
    on who translated it.

    Short quotes may be used without prior consent by the author.
    Derivative work and partial distributions of the UUCP-HOWTO must be
    accompanied with either a verbatim copy of this file or a pointer to
    the verbatim copy.

    Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the
    author would like to be notified of any such distributions.

    In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through
    as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright
    on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to
    redistribute the HOWTOs.

    We further want that ALL information provided in the HOWTOS is
    disseminated. If you have questions, please contact Matt Welsh, the
    Linux HOWTO coordinator, at [e-mail], or [phone].


0.4 Standard Disclaimer

    Of course, I disavow any potential liability for the contents of this
    document.  Use of the concepts, examples, and/or other content of this
    document is entirely at your own risk.


0.5 Other sources of information

    USENET:
    =======
        comp.mail.uucp can answer most of your UUCP questions

    Mailing Lists:
    ==============

        There is a Taylor UUCP mailing list.

        To join (or get off) the list, send mail to
        [e-mail]

        This request goes to a person, not to a program, so please
        make sure that you include the address at which you want to
        receive mail in the text of the message.

        To send a message to the list, send it to
        [e-mail].

    Books:
    ======

    HDB and V2 versions of UUCP are documented in about every vendor's
    documentation as well as in almost all *nix communications books.

    Taylor config files are currently only documented in the info files
    provided with the sources (and in the SLS distribution hopefully).
    To read them, you can grab the nice 'infosrc' program from the
    SLS 's' disks and compile it.

    The following is a non-inclusive set of books that will help...

    'Managing UUCP and USENET' from O'Reilly and Associates is in my
        opinion the best book out there for figuring out the
        programs and protocols involved in being a USENET site.

    'Unix Communications' from The Waite Group contains a nice
        description of all the pieces (and more) and how they fit
        together.

    'Practical Unix Security' from O'Reilly and Associates has a nice
        discussion of how to secure UUCP in general.

    'The Internet Complete Reference' from Osborne is a fine reference
    book that explains the various services available on Internet and
    is a great "one-stop-shopping" source for information on news, mail,
    and various other Internet resources.


0.6 Where *NOT* to look for help

    There is nothing 'special' about configuring and running UUCP under
    Linux (any more).  Accordingly, you almost certainly do *NOT* want
    to be posting generic UUCP-related questions to the comp.os.linux.*
    newsgroups.

    Unless your posting is truly Linux-specific (ie, "please tell me
    what config file support is built into the binaries for Taylor
    uucp v1.04 in SLS v1.02"), you should be asking your questions in
    comp.mail.uucp or on the Taylor UUCP mailing list as indicated
    above.

    Let me repeat that.

    There is virtually no reason to post anything uucp-related in the
    comp.os.linux hierarchy any more.  There are existing newsgroups in
    the comp.mail.* hierarchy to handle *ALL* your questions.


1.0 Hardware Requirements

    There are no specific hardware requirements for UUCP under Linux.
    Basically any Hayes-compatible modem works painlessly with UUCP.

    In most cases, you'll want the fastest modem you can afford.  In
    general, you want to have a 16550 UART on your serial board or
    built into your modem to handle speeds of above 9600 baud.

    If you don't know what that last sentence means, please consult the
    comp.dcom.modems group or the various fine modem and serial
    communications FAQs and periodic postings on USENET.


2.0 Getting UUCP

    Taylor UUCP (current version 1.04) is available on prep.ai.mit.edu
    in source form and in the Linux SLS distribution in binary form.

    The newspak-2.0.tar.z distribution contains config files and readme
    files related to building uucp, news, and mail software under Linux
    from the various freely-available sources.  It can usually be found
    on sunsite.unc.edu in the directory /pub/Linux/system/Mail.


3.0 Installing the Software

    [...much of this section is taken verbatim from the README file in
        the Taylor UUCP v1.04 sources - it's provided here so I can
        help you 'rtfm' instead of just telling you to do so...]

    Detailed compilation instructions are in uucp.texi in the sources.

    You can grab 'known good' conf.h and policy.h files for Linux
    from the newspak distribution referred to in the 'other sources of
    information' section above.  In that case, you can probably go right
    to typing 'make'.

    To extract a gzip'd tar archive, I do the following:
        gunzip -c filename.tar.z | tar xvf -


3.1 Edit Makefile.in to set installation directories.

    Here, I set 'prefix' to "/usr" rather than the default
    of "/usr/local"


3.2 Run 'configure'

    Type ``sh configure''.

    The configure script will compile a number of test programs to see
    what is available on your system and will calculate many things.

    The configure script will create conf.h from conf.h.in and
    Makefile from Makefile.in.  It will also create config.status,
    which is a shell script which actually creates the files.


3.2 Configure the future setup of the software

    Examine conf.h and Makefile to make sure they're right.
    - I took the defaults

    Edit policy.h for your local system.
    - set the type of lockfiles you want (HAVE_HDB_LOCKFILES)
    - set the type of config files you want built in
        (HAVE_TAYLOR_CONFIG, HAVE_V2_CONFIG, HAVE_HDB_CONFIG)
    - set the type of spool directory structure you want
        (SPOOLDIR_HDB)
    - set the type of logging you want (HAVE_HDB_LOGGING)
    - set the default search path for commands
        (I added /usr/local/bin to mine...)


3.3 Compile and install the software

    Type "make".

    Use "uuchk | more" to check configuration files.  You can use
    ``uuconv'' to convert between configuration file formats.

    Type "make install" to install.


3.4 Set up the config files

    I'd recommend you start by taking the attached known-good
    config files for HDB mode and installing them.

    Make sure that the Permissions file indicates exactly where
    rmail and rnews are to be found if you put them anywhere
    other than in the path you specified in policy.h

    Make sure that your Devices files matches the actual location
    of your modem (cua1=COM2 in the examples)

    Edit the Systems file to set up the system(s) you talk to
    with their speed, phone number, username, and password.
    *PROTECT THIS FILE AGAINST WORLD READ*

    Set up the Permissions file and add a set of lines for each
    site you talk to.  For security reasons, it's recommended to
    make sure they each have a separate account (if you allow dialin)
    and home directory so you can track things.


3.5 Give it a try

    /usr/lib/uucp/uucico -r 1 -x 9 -s remote_system_name

    The -x 9 will have maximum debugging information written to
    the /usr/spool/uucp/.Admin/audit.local file for help in initial
    setup. I normally run -x 4 here since that level logs details
    that help me with login problems. Obviously, this contains
    cleartext information from your Systems file (account/password)
    so protect it against world-read.

    [...from [e-mail] ...]

    Taylor has more logging levels.  Use -x all to get the highest
    level possible.

    Also, do a 'tail -f /usr/spool/uucp/.Admin/audit.local' while
    debugging to watch things happen on the fly.


3.6 It doesn't work - now what ?

    In general, you can refer to the documentation mentioned above
    if things don't work.  You can also refer to your more experienced
    UUCP neighbors for help.  Usually, it's something like a typo
    anyway.


4.0 Frequently Asked Questions about Linux UUCP


4.1 Why is SLS uucp configured in HDB rather than 'Taylor' mode?

    [...religious mode on - I know some people are just as religious
        about 'ease of use' as I am about 'being standard'.  That's
        why they make source code you can build your own from :-) ...]

    Because IMHO it's the de-facto standard UUCP implementation at
    this time.  There are thousands of sites with experienced admins
    and there are many places you can get incredibly good information
    concerning the HDB setup.

    The uucp-1.04 that's in SLS 1.02 and later has all three modes of
    config files built in.  While I can't test it, I did 'rtfm' and Ian
    Taylor tells me that it should work.

    The search order for config files is Taylor...then V2 (L.sys)...  then
    HDB.  Use the uuconv utility in /usr/lib/uucp to convert config files
    from one mode to another.

    If you can't wait, grab the sources for uucp and specify
    HAVE_BNU_CONFIG, HAVE_V2_CONFIG *and* HAVE_TAYLOR_CONFIG in the
    policy.h file and type 'make'.

    The following workaround is ugly, but it does work, if you want
    to run Taylor configs from binaries that don't have it built in...

    [... From [e-mail] (Michael E. Bravo) ...]

     - add  '-I /usr/local/lib/uucp/config' to _every_ invocation of
        whatever program in uucp package


4.1 Why do I get 'timeout' on connections when I upgraded to uucp-1.04 ?

    [... from Ed Carp - [e-mail] ...]

    If you use a 'Direct' device in the Devices file, there's now a
    10 second timeout compiled in.  Make the name of the Device anything
    other than 'Direct'.  If you tweak the example /usr/lib/uucp files
    provided with SLS, you won't have problems with this one.

    [... from Greg Naber - [e-mail] ...]

    If you get chat script timeouts, you can tweak the sources by
    editing at line 323 in uuconf/syssub.c and changing the default
    timeouts from 10 seconds to something larger.

    [... from Ed Rodda - [e-mail] ...]
    If you get chat script timeouts, typically connecting to other
    Taylor sites, a pause after login can fix this.

    feed Any ACU,ag 38400 5551212 ogin: \c\d "" yourname word: passwd
                                            ^^^^
    [... from Dr. Eberhard W. Lisse - [e-mail] ...]
    Some kernels experience modems hanging up after a couple of seconds.
    The following patch sent by Ian Taylor might help...

*** conn.c.orig Mon Feb 22 20:25:24 1993
--- conn.c      Mon Feb 22 20:33:10 1993
***************
*** 204,209 ****
--- 204,212 ----

     /* Make sure any signal reporting has been done before we set
       fLog_sighup back to TRUE.  */
+   /* SMR: it seems to me if we don't care about SIGHUPS, we should clear
+      the flag before we return  */
+   afSignal[INDEXSIG_SIGHUP] = FALSE;
    ulog (LOG_ERROR, (const char *) NULL);
    fLog_sighup = TRUE;


4.2 Why doesn't HDB anonymous uucp seem to work ?

    The SLS anonymous uucp only works in Taylor mode because it's
    compiled with HAVE_TAYLOR_CONFIG.  If you want to do anon uucp in HDB
    mode, you'll have to recompile the sources with just HDB defined.
    Ian Taylor is considering which way to deal with this 'feature'...

    Also, Taylor in HDB mode seems to be sensitive to white space and
    blank lines.  To be safe, make sure that there are no blank lines
    or trailing spaces in the Permissions file.

    Lastly, make sure that you have a file called remote.unknown in
    /usr/lib/uucp and that it's *NOT* executable.  See the O'Reilly+Assoc
    book "Managing UUCP and USENET" for details regarding this file.


4.3 What does 'no matching ports found' mean ?

    In all probability, you are attempting to use a device
    (/usr/lib/uucp/Devices) that doesn't exist, or the device you've
    specified in the /usr/lib/uucp/Systems file doesn't match up with
    any valid devices in the Devices file.

    Following this are *sanitized* versions of my working Taylor 1.04
    HDB config files that you can plug in and use...

    note the 'ACU' in the Systems ?  That tells which 'port' to use in
    Devices

    see the 'scout' word in Systems ?  That tells which dialer to use
    in Dialers.

    If you had a ACU port, but none that matched the specified dialer
    on the same line in Systems, you'll get that message.


4.4 What are known good config files for HDB mode ?

    The following are 'known-good' config files for Taylor 1.04 under
    Linux in HoneyDanBer mode.  They work on kernels of 0.99-8 or
    later. All files should be in /usr/lib/uucp unless you've tweaked
    the sources to put the uucp library elsewhere.

    If you *HAVE* put things in non-standard places, be aware that
    things like sendmail might get very confused. You need to ensure
    that all communications-related programs agree on your idea
    of 'standard' paths.

    If you're running a kernel of 0.99-7 or earlier, change 'cua1' to
    'ttyS1'.

#------------- Devices -------------
# make sure the device (cua1 here) matches your system
# cua1 = COM2
#
# here 'scout' is the Digicom Scout Plus 19.2 modem I use
# tbfast etc. is for a Telebit Trailblazer Plus modem's various speeds
#
ACU cua1 - 19200 scout
ACU cua1 - 9600 tbfast
ACU cua1 - 1200 tbslow
ACU cua1 - 2400 tbmed

#------------- dialers --------------
# note the setting of the Trailblazer registers 'on the fly'
# 'scout' is a Digicom Scout Plus (Hayes-like) modem I use here
#
scout    =W-,    "" ATM0DT\T CONNECT
tbfast    =W-,    "" A\pA\pA\pT OK ATS50=255DT\T CONNECT\sFAST
tbslow    =W-,    "" A\pA\pA\pT OK ATS50=2DT\T CONNECT\s1200
tbmed    =W-,    "" A\pA\pA\pT OK ATS50=3DT\T CONNECT\s2400

#-------------- Systems -------------
# this is a very generic entry that will work for most systems
#
# the Any;1 means that you can call once per minute with using -f (force)
# the ACU,g means force 'g' protocol rather than Taylor's default 'i'
#
fredsys Any;1 ACU,g 19200 scout5555555 "" \r ogin:--ogin: uanon word: uanon

#-------------------------------- Permissions -------------------------

# Taylor UUCP in HDB mode appears to be sensitive to blank lines.
# Make sure all Permissions lines are real or commented out.
#
# this is a anonymous uucp entry
#
LOGNAME=nuucp MACHINE=OTHER \
READ=/usr/spool/uucp/nuucp \
WRITE=/usr/spool/uucp/nuucp \
SENDFILES=yes REQUEST=yes \
COMMANDS=/bin/rmail
#
# this is a normal setup for a remote system that talks to us
# note the absolute path to rnews since this site puts things
# in locations that aren't "standard"
#
LOGNAME=fredsys MACHINE=fredsys \
READ=/usr/spool/uucp/fredsys:/usr/spool/uucp/uucppublic:/files \
WRITE=/usr/spool/uucp/fredsys:/usr/spool/uucppublic \
SENDFILES=yes REQUEST=yes \
COMMANDS=/bin/rmail:/usr/local/lib/news/bin/rnews
#----------------------------------------------------------------------


5.0 Acknowledgements

    The following people have helped in the assembly of the information
    (and experience) that helped make this document possible:

    Ed Carp, Steve Robbins, Ian Taylor, Greg Naber, Matt Welsh,
    Pierre Beyssac

    If I forgot anybody, my apologies...