Ctlinnd
sends a message to the control channel of
innd(8),
the InterNetNews server.
In the normal mode of behavior, the message is sent to the server, which
then performs the requested action and sends back a reply with a text
message and the exit code for
ctlinnd.
If the server successfully performed the command,
ctlinnd
will exit with a status of zero and print the reply on standard output.
If the server could not perform the command (for example, it was told to
remove a newsgroup that does not exist), it will direct
ctlinnd
to exit with a status of one.
The ``shutdown,'' ``xabort,'' and ``xexec'' commands do not generate a reply;
ctlinnd
will always exit silently with a status of zero.
OPTIONS
-s
If the ``-s'' flag is
used, then no message will be printed if the command was successful.
-t
The ``-t'' flag can be used to specify how long to wait for the reply
from the server.
The timeout value specifies the number of seconds to wait.
A value of zero waits forever, and a value less
than zero indicates that no reply is needed.
When waiting for a reply,
ctlinnd
will try every two minutes to see if the server is still running, so it
is unlikely that ``-t0'' will hang.
The default is set as
<CTLINND_TIMEOUT in include/config.h>
(typically
0.)
-h
To see a command summary, use the ``-h'' flag.
If a command is included when
ctlinnd
is invoked with the ``-h'' flag, then only the usage for that command
will be given.
If a large number of groups are going to be created or deleted at once,
it may be more efficient to ``pause'' or ``throttle'' the server
and edit the
active(5)
file directly.
The complete list of commands follows.
Note that all commands have a fixed number of arguments.
If a parameter can be an empty string, then it is necessary to
specify it as two adjacent quotes, like "".
addhist <Message-ID> arr exp post paths
Add an entry to the history database.
This directs the server to create a history line for
Message-ID.
The angle brackets are optional.
Arr,
exp,
and
post
specify when the article arrived, what its expiration date is, and
when it was posted.
All three values are a number indicating the number of seconds since the
epoch.
If the article does not have an Expires header, then
exp
should be zero.
Paths
is the pathname within the news spool directory where the article is filed.
If the article is cross-posted, then the names should be separated by
whitespace and the
paths
argument should be inside double quotes.
If the server is throttled manually, this command causes it to briefly
open the history database.
And if the server is paused or throttled except that case, this command
is rejected.
allow reason
Remote connections are allowed.
The
reason
must be the same text given with an earlier ``reject'' command, or an
empty string.
begin site
Begin feeding
site.
This will cause the server to rescan the
newsfeeds(5)
file to find the specified site and set up a newsfeed for it.
If the site already exists, a ``drop'' is done first.
This command is forwarded; see below.
cancel <Message-ID>
Remove the article with the specified Message-ID from the local system.
This does
not
generate a cancel message.
The angle brackets are optional.
If the server is throttled manually, this command causes it to briefly
open the history database.
And if the server is paused or throttled except that case, this command
is rejected.
changegroup group rest
The newsgroup
group
is changed so that its fourth field in the
active
file becomes the value specified by the
rest
parameter.
This may be used to make an existing group moderated or unmoderated,
for example.
checkfile
Check the syntax of the
newsfeeds
file, and display a message if any errors are found.
The details of the errors are reported to
syslog(3).
drop site
Flush and drop
site
from the server's list of active feeds.
This command is forwarded; see below.
feedinfo site
Print detailed information about the state of the
feed to
site
or more brief status of all feeds if
site
is an empty string.
flush site
Flush the buffer for the specified site.
The actions taken depend on the type of feed the site receives; see
newsfeeds(5).
This is useful when the site is fed by a file and batching is going to start.
If
site
is an empty string, then all sites are flushed and the
active
file and history databases are also written out.
This command is forwarded; see below.
flushlogs
Close the log and error log files and rename them to have a
.old
extension.
The history database and
active
file are also written out.
go reason
Re-open the history database and start accepting articles after a ``pause''
or ``throttle'' command.
The
reason
must either be an empty string or match the text that was given
in the earlier ``pause'' or ``throttle'' command.
If a ``reject'' command was done, this will also do an ``allow'' command
if the
reason
matches the text that was given in the ``reject.''
If a ``reserve'' command was done, this will also clear the reservation if
the
reason
matches the text that was given in the ``reserve.''
Note that if only the history database has changed while the server is
paused or throttled, it is not necessary to send it a ``reload'' command
before sending it a ``go'' command.
If the server throttled itself because it accumulated too many I/O
errors, this command will reset the error count.
If the server was not started with the ``-ny'' flag, then this command also
does a ``readers'' command with ``yes'' as the flag and
reason
as the text.
hangup channel
Close the socket on the specified incoming channel.
This is useful when an incoming connection appears to be hung.
help [command]
Print a command summary for all commands, or just
command
if specified.
lowmark file
Reset the lowmarks in the
active
file based on the contents of the given
file. Each line in the file must be of the form:
group low-value
for example
comp.lang.c++ 243
logmode
Cause the server to log its current operating mode to
syslog.
mode
Print the server's operating mode as a multi-line summary of the parameters
and operating state.
name nnn
Print the name and relevant information of channel number
nnn
or of all channels if it is an empty string. Format is:
f1:f2:f3:f4:f5
And meaning of each field is:
f1 name of this channel
f2 channel number
f3 channel type
f4 idle time for this channel(nntp type)
or process id(process type)
f5 channel status(nntp type)
F3 is one of followings:
control control channel which is used
for ctlinnd
file file channel which is used for
file feed
localconn local channel which is used for
nnrpd or rnews
nntp nntp channel which is used for
current remote connection
proc process channel which is used
for process feed
remconn remote channel which will be
used for nntp
Channel status shows if the channel is paused or not. Nothing is
shown unless the channel is paused. Or ``paused'' is shown.
``Paused'' status happens, if the number of remote connection
for that label in
incoming.conf(5)
is beyond ``max-connections'' within ``hold-time'' seconds since connected.
newgroup group rest creator
Create the specified newsgroup.
The
rest
parameter should be the fourth field as described in
active(5);
if it is not an equal sign, only the first letter is used.
The
creator
should be the name of the person creating the group.
If the newsgroup already exists, this is equivalent to the ``changegroup''
command.
This is the only command that has defaults.
The
creator
can be omitted and will default to the newsmaster (as specified at configure
time, ``usenet'' by default), and the
rest
parameter can be omitted and will default to ``y''.
This command can be done while the server is only throttled manually
or running; it will
update its internal state when a ``go'' command is sent.
This command updates the
active.times
(see
active(5))
file.
This command is forwarded; see below.
param letter value
Change the command-line parameters of the server.
The combination of defaults make it possible to use the text of the Control
header directly.
Letter
is the
innd
command-line option to set, and
value
is the new value.
For example, ``i 5'' directs the server to allow only five incoming
connections.
To enable or disable the action of the ``-n'' flag, use the letter ``y''
or ``n'', respectively, for the
value.
pause reason
Pause the server so that no incoming articles are accepted.
No existing connections are closed, but the history database is closed.
This command should be used for short-term locks, such as when replacing
the history files.
If the server was not started with the ``-ny'' flag, then this command also
does a ``readers'' command with ``no'' as the flag and
reason
as the text.
perl flag
Enable or disable perl news filtering, if
<--with-perl is specified at configure>.
If
flag
starts with the letter ``y'' then filtering is enabled. If it starts with
``n'', then filtering is disabled.
python flag
Enable or disable Python news filtering, if
<--with-python is specified at configure>.
If
flag
starts with the letter ``y'' then filtering is enabled. If it starts with
``n'', then filtering is disabled.
readers flag text
Allow or disallow newsreaders.
If
flag
starts with the letter ``n'' then newsreading is disallowed, by
causing the server to pass the
text
as the value of the
nnrpd(8)
``-r'' flag.
If
flag
starts with the letter ``y'' and
text
is either an empty string, or the same string that was used when newsreading
was disallowed, then newsreading will be allowed.
reject reason
Remote connections (those that would not be handed off to
nnrpd)
are rejected, with
reason
given as the explanation.
reload what reason
The server updates its in-memory copies of various configuration files.
What
identifies what should be reloaded.
If it is an empty string or the word ``all'' then everything is reloaded;
if it is the word ``history'' then the history database is closed and opened,
if it is the word ``incoming.conf'' then the
incoming.conf(5)
file is reloaded; if it is the word ``active'' or ``newsfeeds'' then both
the
active
and
newsfeeds
files are reloaded; if it is the word ``overview.fmt'' then the
overview.fmt(5)
file is reloaded.
If
<--with-perl is specified at configure>
and it is the word ``filter.perl'' then the
filter_innd.pl
file is reloaded. If a Perl procedure named ``filter_before_reload'' exists,
it will be called prior to rereading
filter_innd.pl.
If a Perl procedure named ``filter_after_reload'' exists, it will be called
after
filter_innd.pl.
has been reloaded. Reloading the Perl filter does not enable filtering if
it is disabled; use
perl y
to do this. The
startup_innd.pl
file cannot be reloaded.
If
<--with-python is specified at configure>
and it is the word ``filter.python'' then the
filter_innd.py
file is reloaded. If a Python method named ``filter_before_reload'' exists,
it will be called prior to rereading
filter_innd.py.
If a Python method named ``__init__'' exists, it will be called
after
filter_innd.py.
has been reloaded. Reloading the Python filter does not enable filtering if
it is disabled; use
python y
to do this.
If
<--with-tcl is specified at configure>
and it is the word ``filter.tcl'' then the
filter.tcl
file is reloaded. If a TCL procedure named ``filter_before_reload'' exists,
it will be called prior to rereading
filter.tcl.
If a TCL procedure named ``filter_after_reload'' exists, it will be called
after
filter.tcl
has been reloaded. Reloading the Tcl filter does not enable filtering if
it is disabled; use
filter
to do this.
The
startup.tcl
file cannot be reloaded.
The
reason
is reported to
syslog.
There is no way to reload the data
inn.conf(5)
file.
renumber group
Scan overview database for the specified newsgroup and update the
low-water mark and hi-water mark in the
active
file.
If
group
is an empty string then all newsgroups are scanned.
Renumber never works, unless overview data is created.
See the description of ``enableoverview'' in
inn.conf(5)
for overview creation.
reserve reason
The next ``pause'' or ``throttle'' command must use
reason
as its reason.
This ``reservation'' is cleared by giving an empty string for the
reason.
This command is used by programs like
expire(8)
that want to avoid running into other instances of each other.
rmgroup group
Remove the specified newsgroup.
This is done by editing the
active
file.
The spool directory is not touched, and any articles in the group will
be expired using the default expiration parameters.
Unlike the ``newgroup'' command, this command does not update the
active.times
file.
This command can be done while the server is only throttled manually or running.
This command is forwarded; see below.
send feed text...
The specified
text
is sent as a control line to the exploder
feed.
shutdown reason
The server is shut down, with the specified reason recorded in the log
and sent to all open connections.
It is a good idea to send a ``throttle'' command first.
If
<--with-python is specified at configure>
and a Python method named ``filter_close'' exists,
it will be called just before innd exits.
signal sig site
Signal
sig
is sent to the specified
site,
which must be a channel or exploder feed.
Sig
can be a numeric signal number or the word ``hup,'' ``int,'' or ``term'';
case is not significant.
tcl flag
Enable or disable Tcl news filtering, if
<--with-tcl is specified at configure>.
If
flag
starts with the letter ``y'' then filtering is enabled. If it starts with
``n'', then filtering is disabled.
throttle reason
Input is throttled so that all existing connections are closed and new
connections are rejected.
The history database is closed.
This should be used for long-term locks, such as when
expire
is being run.
If the server was not started with the ``-ny'' flag, then this command also
does a ``readers'' command with ``no'' as the flag and
reason
as the text.
timer off|interval
Performance monitoring is turned off if ``off'' or ``0'' is specified,
otherwise, statistics will be reported every
interval
seconds to syslog. See
inn.conf(5)
for information on how to set the startup default.
trace item flag
Tracing is turned on or off for the specified
item.
Flag
should start with the letter ``y'' or ``n'' to turn tracing on or off.
If
item
starts is a number, then tracing is set for the specified
innd
channel, which must be for an incoming NNTP feed.
If it starts with the letter ``i'' then general
innd
tracing is turned on or off.
If it starts with the letter ``n'' then future
nnrpd's
will or will not have the ``-t'' flag enabled, as appropriate.
``n'' does not affect to
nnrpd
with ``-D'' (running as a daemon).
xabort reason
The server logs the specified
reason
and then invokes the
abort(3)
routine.
xexec path
The server gets ready to shut itself down, but instead of exiting it
execs
<PREFIX specified with --prefix at configure>/inndstart
with all of its original arguments except for ``-r''.
Path
can be any of ``innd'', ``inndstart'' or an empty string.
any other value is an error.
In addition to being acted upon within the server, certain commands can
be forwarded to the appropriate child process.
If the site receiving the command is an exploder (such as
buffchan(8))
or it is a funnel that feeds into an exploder, then the
command can be forwarded.
In this case, the server will send a command line to the exploder that
consists of the
ctlinnd
command name.
If the site funnels into an exploder that has an asterisk (``*'') in its ``W''
flag (see
newsfeed(5)),
then the site name will be appended to the command; otherwise no argument
is appended.
BUGS
Ctlinnd
uses the
inndcomm(3)
library, and is therefore limited to server replies no larger than 4k.
HISTORY
Written by Rich $alz <[email protected]> for InterNetNews.
This is revision 1.16.2.3, dated 2001/03/11.