nntp//rss - version 0.2 ----------------------- January 27, 2003 Bridging the worlds of NNTP clients and RSS feeds, nntp//rss is an application that will enable you to use your existing NNTP newsreader to read your favourite RSS syndicated information channels. Project Home Page: http://www.methodize.org/nntprss Source Forge Project Page: http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/nntprss Email: nntprss@methodize.org Requirements ============ - Java Runtime Environment (nntp//rss has been tested against JDK 1.3.1 and JDK 1.4.1 on Win32, and JDK 1.4.1 on Solaris and Red Hat Linux 7.2) Sun's Java Runtime Environment may be downloaded from: http://java.sun.com/j2se/downloads.html - NNTP-based news reader nntp//rss has been tested with the following newsreaders: - Outlook Express 6 - Netscape v4.7 - Mozilla v1.2.1 - Free Agent v1.92 - MT-NewsWatcher v3.1 (Mac OS 9) - Tin 1.5.8 (RedHat 7.2) (ensure content type is set to text/plain in nntp//rss's System Configuration) - MacSoup 2.4.6 (Mac OS 9) (ensure content type is set to text/plain in nntp//rss's System Configuration) Upgrading from version 0.1 ========================== If you are upgrading from v0.1, follow these steps to ensure that your existing channel configuration is maintained: 1. Backup your channel configuration. Go into nntp//rss's web administration interface, select 'System Configuration', then click on 'Export Channel List'. Save the nntprss-channels.xml file to a safe location. 2. Stop nntp//rss v0.1 3. Backup your current nntp//rss directory. 4. Unpack nntp//rss v0.2 to a *different* directory. 5. Copy nntprss.jar, nntprss-start.jar and nntprss-config.xml from the 0.2 directory to your original nntp//rss directory. 6. Restart nntp//rss in your original directory (java -jar nntprss-start.jar) Your existing configuration will be kept. nntp//rss will automatically upgrade its database to take advantage of 0.2 features. Installation ============ To install nntp//rss, simply unpack the distribution into a directory of your choice. Configuration ============= Configuration is only necessary at this stage if you want to change the port on which the NNTP server listens (default 119), or the port for the web admin interface (default 7810). Both parameters are stored in the nntprss-config.xml file, found in the directory where you unpacked nntp//rss. Simply change the 'port' attribute of either the nntp or admin elements to your desired port(s). If you change either of the ports after nntp//rss has been started, you will need to stop and restart nntp//rss. Running nntp//rss ================= In the directory where you unpacked the nntp//rss distribution, execute the following command: java -jar nntprss-start.jar This will start the nntp//rss server. The first time the server is run, it will create and prepopulate a database with some sample feeds. These feeds can be changed through the web-based administration interface. Note to Unix/Linux users: As nntp//rss starts an NNTP client listener on TCP port 119, if you are running on a Unix-based environment, the user under which nntp//rss runs will need to have the appropriate rights to open that port. If the user does not have those rights, you will see the following exception during startup: 19:38:44,527 [main] INFO Main - Starting nntp//rss v0.2 java.net.BindException: Permission denied at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketBind(Native Method) at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.bind(PlainSocketImpl.java:331) ... Accessing nntp//rss from your existing news reader ================================================== The configuration process varies from one news reader to another, so check the documentation for your news reader on this process. When configuring a new news server within your newsreader for nntp//rss, specify the following as the news server's address: 127.0.0.1 e.g. In Outlook Express, you'll specify 127.0.0.1 as the value in the News (NNTP) Server field. Once you have configured the news server, you will be able to download a list of the currently configured groups. If you experience problems with a particular news reader, please send an email, containing details about your Operating System, news reader version, and the problem itself to nntprss@methodize.org Administration of nntp//rss =========================== nntp//rss has a Web-based administration interface. Point your web browser to the following location: http://127.0.0.1:7810/ A list of the currently configured channels will be displayed. From here you will be able add, delete, and check the status of existing channels. System Configuration Here you can alter the platform-wide polling interval. This defines how often nntp//rss will go out and check RSS feeds for updates. In addition, you can export your current channel configuration, or import a previous configuration. The final option in System Configuration defines how content is served to newsreaders. You can either select multipart/alternative (plain text and html), text/plain or text/html. Shutting down nntp//rss ======================= Windows - Issue a CTRL+C in the Window where nntp//rss is running. The application will terminate all activity and cleanly shutdown Unix/Linux - If nntp//rss is running as a foreground process in a shell, issue a CTRL+C to cleanly shutdown the application. If it is running as a background process, send a SIGTERM to the java process that is running nntp//rss. Securing access to the web interface ==================================== Access to the web admin interface can be password protected by creating a file named users.properties in the root directory of your nntp//rss installation. This file takes the form: username:password e.g. sample user.properties jason:mypassword Multiple users can be configured by adding additional lines of usernames and passwords in the above format. You will need to stop and restart nntp//rss for these changes to take effect. The next time you access the web interface, you will be prompted to enter your user name and password. To disable secure access, just delete or rename the users.properties file, and stop and restart nntp//rss. Running nntp//rss as a Windows Service ====================================== See the separate WINDOWS-SERVICE.TXT documentation for information on how to configure nntp//rss to run as a Windows service. nntp//rss News Feed =================== nntp//rss has a news feed containing the latest information about the project: http://rss.methodize.org/nntprss.xml Support ======= If you have any questions, please email them to the following address: nntprss@methodize.org Please keep a close watch on the nntp//rss website for future updates.