The Pier Shareware 8/The Pier Shareware #8 (The Pier Exchange) (1996).ISO/051/primp.des

Text File | 1995-10-05 | 16KB | 348 lines

===========================================================================
                          PRIMP DESCRIPTION FILE
===========================================================================

                 PRIMP - the PRe-Internet Mail Processor

                          by Bernal Schooley

                   (for use with PIMP by Jack Rickard)

    PRIMP is product of Advanced Designs, created for use on TBBS systems
that run the Personal Internet Mail Processor (PIMP) by Jack Rickard of
Boardwatch magazine.  If you have any questions regarding PRIMP, I can be
contacted by e-mailing [e-mail], through the
[e-mail] mailing list, or by phone at [phone].


    PRIMP tries to do the following:

        o Move e-mail and newsgroup files from PIMP's staging directories to
          the live directories for PIMP to process.
        o Convert UUCP bang path addresses to domain addresses in both the
          From: and Reply-To: header fields
        o Backup the inbound and outbound files to another directory
        o Remove all extraneous header information from e-mail messages
          leaving only what you've configured to keep
        o If newsgroups are received that have compressed data PRIMP will
          move these to another staging area for off-line or external
          decompression
        o Log the inbound and outbound transactions in both text files and
          database files
        o View the status of inbound and outbound messages
        o View, Edit, and Erase various PIMP configuration and log files
        o View sent and received statistics for each day, month, and year
        o View user statistics by number of bytes sent or received
        o Configure files that are to be secured from general FTPMAIL
          requests, by specifying a list of valid From: addresses

    To purchase PRIMP you can send a check or money order for $49.00 to:

                            Advanced Designs
                            246 Peppertree Ln
                            Aurora, IL 60504

To purchase PRIMP online you may do so on the Advanced Designs BBS at
708-978-2777 or on the Advanced Systems Research system at 702-334-3308.

Distribution is done via e-mail from Advanced Designs and on the ASR system
you can download it immediately when ordered via credit card.  Support for
PRIMP is from Advanced Designs directly at 708-820-8875 or by e-mail through
[e-mail].


If you are registered with any ASR product you may access the ASR Support
Echo using our toll free 800 number at:

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    │                         1-800-ASR-TBBS                             │
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===========================================================================
  INTRODUCTION
===========================================================================

    PRIMP, short for the PRe - Internet Mail Processor, is an addon utility
for use with the Personal Internet Mail Processor (PIMP) option module for
TBBS by Jack Rickard at Boardwatch Magazine.  PRIMP was designed to enhance
the handling of internet mail by PIMP.  This means in english that PRIMP was
written to clean up before and after PIMP so that we don't have to bug Jack
about doing these things himself, inside the depths of PIMP's assembly
language code.  Since PRIMP is a TDBS program, requiring the eSoft TDBS
option module, it was much easier to implement these special routines with
room to add even more, with much more flexibility and ease, than Jack could
do in PIMP.


===========================================================================
  FEATURES
===========================================================================

  What PRIMP actually does, is intercept all incoming mail before PIMP
gets to it, and all outgoing mail before it is sent out to the internet.
While PRIMP has the incoming mail it will do two things that your users will
notice right away.  First, PRIMP will remove the un-necessary routing and
header information from the e-mail messages.  You need to realize that most
of the bulk of this removed header information is used only by system
administrators to trouble shoot errors.  Some information is used by other
"unix" programs during the handling of these messages, and even more
information is just completely useless stuff added by some mail programs
that feel the need to leave their mark on our mail.  Actually during the
configuration of PRIMP you will have the opportunity to keep up to 12
optional header fields that could possibly contain desired information, in
this way you will have some control over the trimming of these header fields.

    The second thing that PRIMP does to the messages is to convert any
UUCP bang addresses in the "From:" or "Reply-To:" fields to internet domain
addresses that PIMP can handle much more smoothly.  UUCP bang addresses may
occasionally be used in mail you get that comes from or through UUCP based
mail systems.  It looks like "oneworld.wa.com!boardwatch.com!jack.rickard".
When primp finds theses, it will strip out the senders name and the
originating systems domain and rearrange them into a standard internet
domain address like "[e-mail]".

    The rest of the things that PRIMP does are more for system
administrative than for the users.  Foremost among these is statistical
recording of message and newsgroup traffic, both sent and received, for each
day, month, and year.

    In addition to system wide statistics, PRIMP will track e-mail statistics
for each user.  And allow you to list the users with the highest number of
bytes either sent or received.  With this you can check to make sure that
there are no users abusing the use of mail.  Remember that with the spread
of FTPMAIL sites your users may begin requesting files from them.  These
users will quickly jump to the top of these statistics.

    The next and possibly the most important feature of PRIMP is FTPMAIL
security.  PRIMP does not at this time use a password system, but rather
allows a tighter level of security.  PRIMP's current method is to allow the
sysop to define a specific file name and for that file define a list of
"From:" addresses (full name@domain) which will be able to send FTPMAIL
requests for that file.  What happens is PRIMP will scan all incoming
messages sent to FTPMAIL and if the requested file is secured, PRIMP will
verify if the "From:" address is listed as having access.  If so PRIMP will
send the message on to PIMP as is.  On the other hand, if the request does
not pass the security check, PRIMP will actually change the get request to
"GET SECURED.TXT" and send that on to PIMP.  By changing the get request
PIMP will not send the secured file but will instead attach the text file
SECURED.TXT to the returning message.  This way you can write your own
message explaining to the requester what they need to do or who they need
to contact regarding the file.  An IMPORTANT thing to remember with the new
PIMP feature of FTPMAIL is that if you use the TIMS.CTL file that eSofts
Integrated Mail Module (TIMS) and allow fido file requests there is
effectively a back door that can be used to download these files that the
PIMP FTPMAIL has access to.  When your trying to implement PRIMP's FTPMAIL
security you should use the "FTPMAIL: [path to alternate .CTL]\FTPMAIL.CTL"
configuration parameter in the PIMPOM.CTL to point PIMP at a different
set of pickup directories than is accessible via TIMS.  (See the new
PIMP v2.00 documentation for more info on this.)

    Before PRIMP actually begins processing you can configure it to make
a backup of both the inbound and outbound messages.

    Another side feature of the PRIMP console is to allow viewing, editing,
and erasing of various PIMP and PRIMP configuration and log files.  Also on
the main console screen you can see which directories have files waiting to
be processed and view the directories if desired.


===========================================================================
  STEP-BY-STEP INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
===========================================================================


STEP 1 -

    Place the files, that come in the distribution ZIP file, into a
directory which will be used to hold all the PRIMP data files and log
files.  Then create the following menu entry and menu.

    On the menu you want to place an option for the sysop to use when
accessing the PRIMP console create the following SDL or MEDIT entry:

        ENTRY:
        KEY=P  TYPE=5 OPTDATA=PRIM
        PRIV=255

    Then create the following menu called PRIM:

        Menu: PRIM
        ENTRY:
        KEY=^@  TYPE=200  OPTDATA=[path]\PRIMP /Q &&-
        ENTRY:
        KEY=^@  TYPE=45   OPTDATA=PRIM
        EndMenu:

    This menu will allow PRIMP to be reloaded automatically whenever it
calls out to PIMP or runs one of its sub-programs.  The &&- is needed to
tell primp to exit by using a TYPE=12 OPTDATA=1 rather than just dropping
out to the current menu.


STEP 2 -

    Log on to your system and select the option for the PRIMP console.
It will create a few files and then take you to the configuration screen.
From here you need to fill in the appropriate values and then once that is
completed you can exit the PRIMP console for now.  Following are short
descriptions of the configuration options:

        UUCPIN, UUCPOUT, STAGEIN, and STAGEOUT should all be filled with
          the same path as you will soon set in the PIMPOM.CFG file.
        COMPRESSED: should be a path and directory for PRIMP to place all
          compressed newsgroups into for off-line or network decompression.
        BACKUP and BCKUP-PATH allow you to turn on and off backup copying
          routines within PRIMP.  This is a bit CPU intensive and should
          not be used unless completely necessary.
        FTP SECURITY:  This option should be turned on only if you intend
          to define files which will have enhanced FTPMAIL security to be
          processed by PRIMP.
        SLOWDOWN:  This option allow you to slow the processing of mail
          and should be used if PRIMP has a heavy impact on the system
          response time.  This will not completely fix the problem but
          will allow a pause to happen between each processed message.
        LOG: will tell PRIMP to track message statistics and will most
          likely be desired.
        PRUNE: will tell PRIMP to remove unwanted information from e-mail
          message headers.  The KEEP fields are used to tell PRIMP what
          not to remove from the header.  The red fields are required
          by PIMP.
        PIMP-PATH: the path to the PIMP configuration and log files.
        PRIMP In and Out Processing: is used to keep PRIMPIN and PRIMPOUT
          from processing when called by PIMP.

NOTE: You need to be sure to create a NEWS directory under the UUCPIN path!
^^^^  And a BAD directory under the STAGEIN and UUCPOUT directories!


STEP 3 -

    From DOS edit the PIMPOM.CFG file and make sure the following paths and
options are set to point to PRIMP:

        For automatic dialing of PIMP you need to have the UUCICO set to
        INTERNAL.  Or if your message are handled via the WAFFLE uucico then
        set UUCICO to WAFFLE.  [PRIMP does not support messages under the
        FSUUCP format!]

        UUCPIN-STAGE: [inbound staging directory path]
        UUCPOUT-STAGE: [outbound staging directory path]
        SPAWN ON RECEIPT: [path to PRIMP]\PRIMPIN /Q
        SPAWN FOR DELIVERY: [path to PRIMP]\PRIMPOUT /Q
        FTPMAIL: [path to TIMS.CTL]\TIMS.CTL

    Next time PIMP is restarted the new configuration file will take affect.


STEP 4 -

    Sit back!  Your done. <G>


===========================================================================
  The following are detailed descriptions of the configuration variables
===========================================================================


[A] UUCPIN:

This field should be identical to that found in the PIMPOM.CFG file.  Also in
this directory you must create a NEWS directory.  PRIMP will place all
un-compressed Usenet News packets in this NEWS directory.


[B] UUCPOUT:

This field should be identical to that found in the PIMPOM.CFG file.  Also in
this directory you must create a BAD directory.


[C] UUCPIN-STAGE:

This field should be identical to that found in the PIMPOM.CFG file.  Also in
this directory you must create a directory called BAD.  If PRIMP finds
any .X file that it doesn't know how to handle or that is corrupted, PRIMP
will place those files in this BAD directory under the staging directory.


[D] UUCPOUT-STAGE:

This field should be identical to that found in the PIMPOM.CFG file.

[E] COMPRESSED:

PRIMP will place all compressed Usenet News packets in this staging
directory.  This is where you will point any external routines you may need
to use in order to un-compress the news packets.


[F] BACKUP: YES/NO
[G] BCKUP-PATH:

This field is used to tell PRIMP to create backup copies of all files in the
staging directory before it begins processing.  Note that this can be a CPU
intensive task and probably should not be used except when debugging your
internet mail operations.


[H] FTP SECURITY: YES/NO

FTPMAIL under PIMP is a simple access to any directories that you set up
to have available for request.  With PRIMP you can set up individual files
in these directories to have a limited form of security which should prove
fairly good.  The idea here is that you will define (on console screen 6) a
file you want secured and then for that file you create a list of "From:"
addresses which are allowed to request that file.  If anyone whose address
is not in the list requests the file, PRIMP will change the GET FILE.ZIP to
GET SECURED.TXT.  This allows you to set up a file called SECURED.TXT which
tells the unauthorized requester why the file was not sent.  By allowing
PIMP to process the request with secured.txt the requester will receive a
message back explaining the problem so that they do not repeatedly try to
request that file.


[I] SLOWDOWN: 0-9

This field will allow you to slow down the processing of staged mail.  This
will reduce the affects of CPU load while increasing the length of time it
takes to process the staged mail.  A value of 0 will tell PRIMP to run at
full speed, while a values up to 9 will cause it to pause between each
message for 1 to 9 seconds based on the value entered here.


[J] LOG: YES/NO

This field will turn on logging by PRIMP.  PRIMP does two types of logging.
First, is a text file that contains the name of the user who sent or
received the message and the size of the data file (.D file).  Second,
PRIMP will record in the PRIMPDAY.DBF and PRIMPUSR.DBF files, the size and
number of messages that each user sends and receives.  This data can be seen
on the PRIMP console.


[K] PRUNE: YES/NO
[M] Mail header field to KEEP

These fields are used to control whether PRIMP will prune fields from the
header of mail.  The KEEP variables allow you to define what information
fields should be left in the header.


[L] PIMP-PATH:

This field should contain the path and directory which contains all the
PIMP configuration and log files.


[O] PRIMP In and Out Processing: ON/OFF

This controls whether PRIMPIN and PRIMPOUT will process the files when
called by PIMP during spawned tasks.  Use this field if you want to manually
control processing for a limited period.