1 nntp//rss - version 0.5
2 -----------------------
6 Bridging the worlds of NNTP clients and RSS feeds, nntp//rss is an
7 application that will enable you to use your existing NNTP
8 newsreader to read your favourite RSS syndicated information channels.
10 Project Home Page: http://www.methodize.org/nntprss
11 Source Forge Project Page: http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/nntprss
13 Email: nntprss@methodize.org
18 - Java Runtime Environment
19 (nntp//rss has been tested against JDK 1.3.1 and JDK 1.4.1 on
20 Win32, and JDK 1.4.1 on Solaris, Red Hat Linux 7.2 and Mac OS X)
21 Sun's Java Runtime Environment may be downloaded from:
22 http://java.sun.com/j2se/downloads.html
24 - NNTP-based news reader
25 nntp//rss has been tested with the following newsreaders:
30 - MT-NewsWatcher v3.1 (Mac OS 9), v3.2 (Max OS X)
31 - Tin 1.5.8 (RedHat 7.2) (ensure content type is set
32 to text/plain in nntp//rss's System Configuration)
33 - MacSoup 2.4.6 (Mac OS 9) (ensure content type is set
34 to text/plain in nntp//rss's System Configuration)
35 - Entourage (Office X - Mac OS X)
36 - MicroPlanet Gravity v2.50
39 Upgrading from version 0.3
40 ==========================
42 nntp//rss v0.5 uses a new database persistence engine. This
43 provides greater performance, and reduces memory usage. Follow the
44 steps below if you wish to migrate your existing articles from
45 nntp//rss v0.5. Note that if you have a large database of articles,
46 this process may take a some time.
48 If you do not want to migrate your existing articles, just follow the
49 steps to export your channel configuration. You can import this
50 configuration directly into nntp//rss v0.5.
52 1. Backup your channel configuration. Go into nntp//rss's web
53 administration interface, select 'System Configuration', then
54 click on 'Export Channel List'. Save the nntprss-channels.xml
55 file to a safe location.
57 2. Stop nntp//rss v0.3
59 3. Backup your current nntp//rss directory.
61 4. As v0.5 contains a number of additional libraries and files,
62 the easiest way to upgrade is to unpack nntp//rss 0.5 to a
63 separate directory, then copy over your nntp//rss 0.3 database
64 files. These files contain configuration and channel data.
66 i. Unpack v0.5 to a new directory
67 ii. Copy the following files from the root (nntprss) directory of
68 your nntp//rss v0.3 installation, to the root (nntprss) directory
69 of your v0.5 installation:
76 5. If you had changed the NNTP or administrative web interface
77 listener ports, you should copy over the nntprss-config.xml
78 from your previous version.
80 Also, if you had configured a users.properties file, for
81 web interface security, you should copy this over from your
82 previous installation.
84 6. Start nntp//rss v0.5
85 (See below for startup information)
87 Your existing configuration will be kept.
93 To install nntp//rss, simply unpack the distribution into a directory
100 Configuration is only necessary at this stage if you want to
101 change the port on which the NNTP server listens (default 119),
102 or the port for the web admin interface (default 7810).
104 Both parameters are stored in the nntprss-config.xml file, found
105 in the directory where you unpacked nntp//rss.
107 Simply change the 'port' attribute of either the nntp or admin
108 elements to your desired port(s). If you change either of the
109 ports after nntp//rss has been started, you will need to stop
110 and restart nntp//rss.
116 In the directory where you unpacked the nntp//rss distribution, execute
117 the following command:
125 java -jar nntprss-start.jar
127 This will start the nntp//rss server. The first time the server is
128 run, it will create and prepopulate a database with some sample feeds.
129 These feeds can be changed through the web-based administration
132 Note to Unix, Linux and Mac OS X users:
134 As nntp//rss starts an NNTP client listener on TCP port 119,
135 if you are running on a Unix-based environment, the user under which
136 nntp//rss runs will need to have the appropriate rights to open that port.
137 If the user does not have those rights, you will see the following exception
140 19:38:44,527 [main] INFO Main - Starting nntp//rss v0.4
141 java.net.BindException: Permission denied
142 at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketBind(Native Method)
143 at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.bind(PlainSocketImpl.java:331)
147 Accessing nntp//rss from your existing news reader
148 ==================================================
150 The configuration process varies from one news reader to another, so
151 check the documentation for your news reader on this process.
153 When configuring a new news server within your newsreader for nntp//rss,
154 specify the following as the news server's address:
158 e.g. In Outlook Express, you'll specify 127.0.0.1 as the value in
159 the News (NNTP) Server field.
161 Once you have configured the news server, you will be able to
162 download a list of the currently configured groups.
164 If you experience problems with a particular news reader, please
165 send an email, containing details about your Operating System,
166 news reader version, and the problem itself to nntprss@methodize.org
169 Administration of nntp//rss
170 ===========================
172 nntp//rss has a Web-based administration interface. Point your web
173 browser to the following location:
175 http://127.0.0.1:7810/
177 A list of the currently configured channels will be displayed. From
178 here you will be able add, delete, and check the status of existing
183 Here you can alter the platform-wide polling interval.
184 This defines how often nntp//rss will go out and check
185 RSS feeds for updates.
187 In addition, you can export your current channel configuration,
188 or import a previous configuration.
190 The final option in System Configuration defines how content
191 is served to newsreaders. You can either select multipart/alternative
192 (plain text and html), text/plain or text/html.
194 Click on help within the web interface for more information.
197 Shutting down nntp//rss
198 =======================
200 Windows - Right click on the nntp//rss System Tray icon, and
201 select Exit. Confirm the shutdown by click on the OK button.
202 The application will terminate all activity and cleanly shutdown.
203 If nntp//rss has been configured to run as a Windows Service,
204 use the stop button within Windows' Service Manager to shutdown
207 Unix/Linux - If nntp//rss is running as a foreground process in a
208 shell, issue a CTRL+C to cleanly shutdown the application. If it
209 is running as a background process, send a SIGTERM to the java
210 process that is running nntp//rss.
213 Securing access to the web interface
214 ====================================
216 Access to the web admin interface can be password protected
217 by creating a file named users.properties in the root directory of
218 your nntp//rss installation.
220 This file takes the form:
224 e.g. sample user.properties
228 Multiple users can be configured by adding additional lines of
229 usernames and passwords in the above format.
231 You will need to stop and restart nntp//rss for these changes
232 to take effect. The next time you access the web interface, you
233 will be prompted to enter your user name and password.
235 To disable secure access, just delete or rename the users.properties
236 file, and stop and restart nntp//rss.
239 Running nntp//rss as a Windows Service
240 ======================================
242 See the separate WINDOWS-SERVICE.TXT documentation for
243 information on how to configure nntp//rss to run as a
247 Using MySQL as the underlying Database
248 ======================================
250 nntp//rss v0.5 support MySQL as a database. To use MySQL with
251 nntp//rss, perform the following steps:
253 1. Create an empty database in MySQL, create a MySQL user, and
254 assign it the appropriate rights for the new database.
255 2. Edit nntprss-config.xml, and comment out the entire <db> element
256 for the Derby database.
257 3. Uncomment the <db> element for MySQL, and modify the connection
258 string to match the database and user credentials for the
259 database you created in step 1.
260 4. Start nntp//rss as shown above.
266 nntp//rss has a news feed containing the latest information
269 http://rss.methodize.org/nntprss.xml
275 If you have any questions, please email them to the following address:
277 nntprss@methodize.org
279 Please keep a close watch on the nntp//rss website for future updates.