---
blurb: |
  This software generates an INN control.ctl configuration file from
  hierarchy configuration fragments, verifies control messages using GnuPG
  where possible, processes new control messages to update a newsgroup list,
  archives new control messages, and exports the list of newsgroups in a
  format suitable for synchronizing the newsgroup list of a Netnews news
  server.  It is the software that maintains the control message and
  newsgroup lists available from ftp.isc.org.
build:
  install: false
  type: make
copyrights:
- holder: Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
  years: 2002-2004, 2007-2014, 2016-2018
- holder: Marco d'Itri
  years: '2001'
- holder: UUNET Technologies, Inc.
  years: '1996'
description: |
  This package contains three major components:

  * All of the configuration used to generate a `control.ctl` file for INN
    and the `PGPKEYS` and `README.html` files distributed with pgpcontrol,
    along with the script to generate those files.

  * Software to process control messages, verify them against that
    authorization information, and maintain a control message archive and
    list of active newsgroups.  Software is also included to generate
    reports of recent changes to the list of active newsgroups.

  * The documentation files included in the control message archive and
    newsgroup lists on ftp.isc.org.

  Manual changes to the canonical newsgroup list are supported in a way that
  generates the same log messages and uses the same locking structure so
  that they can co-exist with automated changes and be included in the same
  reports.

  This is the software that generates the [active newsgroup
  lists](ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/CONFIG/) and [control message
  archive](ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/) hosted on ftp.isc.org, and
  the source of the `control.ctl` file provided with INN.

  For a web presentation of the information recorded here, as well as other
  useful information about Usenet hierarchies, please see the [list of
  Usenet managed hierarchies](http://usenet.trigofacile.com/hierarchies/).
distribution:
  section: usenet
  tarname: control-archive
  version: control-archive
docs:
  user:
  - name: control-summary
    title: control-summary manual page
  - name: export-control
    title: export-control manual page
  - name: generate-files
    title: generate-files manual page
  - name: process-control
    title: process-control manual page
  - name: update-control
    title: update-control manual page
format: v1
license:
  name: Expat
  notices: |
    This product includes software developed by UUNET Technologies, Inc.
maintainer: Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
name: control-archive
quote:
  author: Gene Spafford
  text: |
    Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea — massive,
    difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
    mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.
requirements: |
  Perl 5.6 or later plus the following additional Perl modules are required:

  * Compress::Zlib (included in Perl 5.10 and later)
  * Date::Parse (part of TimeDate)
  * Net::NNTP (included in Perl 5.8 and later)
  * Text::Template

  [gzip](https://www.gnu.org/software/gzip/) and
  [bzip2](http://www.bzip.org/) are required.  Both are generally available
  with current operating systems, possibly as supplemental packages.

  process-control expects to be fed file names and message IDs of control
  messages on standard input and therefore needs to be run from a news
  server or some other source of control messages.  A minimalist news server
  like tinyleaf is suitable for this (I wrote tinyleaf, available as part of
  [INN](https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/software/inn/), for this purpose).
sections:
- body: |
    This package uses a three-part version number.  The first number will be
    incremented for major changes, major new functionality, incompatible
    changes to the configuration format (more than just adding new keys), or
    similar disruptive changes.  For lesser changes, the second number will be
    incremented for any change to the code or functioning of the software.  A
    change to the third part of the version number indicates a release with
    changes only to the configuration, PGP keys, and documentation files.
  title: Versioning
- body: |
    The configuration data is in one file per hierarchy in the `config`
    directory.  Each file has the format specified in FORMAT and is designed
    to be readable by INN's new configuration parser in case this can be
    further automated down the road.  The `config/special` directory contains
    overrides, raw `control.ctl` fragments that should be used for particular
    hierarchies instead of automatically-generated entries (usually for
    special comments).  Eventually, the format should be extended to handle as
    many of these cases as possible.

    The `keys` directory contains the PGP public keys for every hierarchy that
    has one.  The user IDs on these keys must match the signer expected by the
    configuration data for the corresponding hierarchy.

    The `forms` directory contains the basic file structure for the three
    generated files.

    The `scripts` directory contains all the software that generates the
    configuration and documentation files, processes control messages, updates
    the database, creates the newsgroup lists, and generates reports.  Most
    scripts in that directory have POD documentation included at the end of
    the script, viewable by running perldoc on the script.

    The `templates` directory contains templates for the `control-summary`
    script.  These are the templates I use myself.  Other installations should
    customize them.

    The `docs` directory contains the extra documentation files that are
    distributed from ftp.isc.org in the control message archive and newsgroup
    list directories, plus the DocKnot metadata for this package.
  title: Layout
- body: |
    This software is set up to run from `/srv/control`.  To use a different
    location, edit the paths at the beginning of each of the scripts in the
    `scripts` directory to use different paths.  By default, copying all the
    files from the distribution into a `/srv/control` directory is almost all
    that's needed.  An install rule is provided to do this.  To install the
    software, run:

    ```sh
        make install
    ```

    You will need write access to `/srv/control` or permission to create it.

    `process-control` and `generate-files` need a GnuPG keyring containing all
    of the honored hierarchy keys.  To generate this keyring, run `make
    install` or:

    ```sh
        mkdir keyring
        gpg --homedir=keyring --allow-non-selfsigned-uid --import keys/*
    ```

    from the top level of this distribution.  `process-control` also expects a
    `control.ctl` file in `/srv/control/control.ctl`, which can be generated
    from the files included here (after creating the keyring as described
    above) by running `make install` or:

    ```sh
        scripts/generate-files
    ```

    Both of these are done automatically as part of `make install`.
    process-control expects `/srv/control/archive` to exist and archives
    control messages there.  It expects `/srv/control/tmp` to exist and uses
    it for temporary files for GnuPG control message verification.

    To process incoming control messages, you need to run `process-control` on
    each message.  `process-control` expects to receive, on standard input,
    lines consisting of a path to a file, a space, and a message ID.  This
    input format is designed to work with the tinyleaf server that comes with
    INN 2.5 and later, but it should also work as a channel feed from
    pre-storage-API versions of INN (1.x).  It will not work without
    modification via a channel feed from a current version of INN, since it
    doesn't understand the storage API and doesn't know how to retrieve
    articles by tokens.  This could be easily added; I just haven't needed it.

    If you're using tinyleaf, here is the setup process:

    1. Create a directory that tinyleaf will use to store incoming articles
       temporarily, the archive directory, and the logs directory and
       install the software:

       ```sh
           make install
       ```

    2. Run tinyleaf on some port, configuring it to use that directory and
       to run process-control.  A typical tinyleaf command line would be:

       ```sh
           tinyleaf /srv/control/spool /srv/control/scripts/process-control
       ```

       I run tinyleaf using systemd, but any inetd implementation should work
       equally well.

    3. Set up a news feed to the system running tinyleaf that sends control
       messages of interest.  You should be careful not to send cancel control
       messages or you'll get a ton of junk in your logs.  The INN newsfeeds
       entry I use is:

       ```
           isc-control:control,control.*,!control.cancel:Tf,Wnm:
       ```

       combined with nntpsend to send the articles.

    That should be all there is to it.  Watch the logs directory to see what
    happens for incoming messages.

    `scripts/process-control` just maintains a database file.  To export that
    data in a format that's useful for other software, run
    `scripts/export-control`.  This expects a `/srv/control/export` directory
    into which it stores active and newsgroups files, a copy of the
    `control.ctl` file, and all of the logs in a `LOGS` subdirectory.  This
    export directory can then be made available on the web, copied to another
    system, or whatever else is appropriate.  Generally,
    `scripts/export-control` should be run periodically from cron.

    Reports can be generated using `scripts/control-summary`.  This script
    needs configuration before running; see the top of the script and its
    included POD documentation.  There is a sample template in the `templates`
    directory, and `scripts/weekly-report` shows a sample cron job for sending
    out a regular report.
  title: Installation
- body: |
    This package is intended to provide all of the tools, configuration, and
    information required to duplicate the ftp.isc.org control message archive
    and newsgroup list service if you so desire.  To set up a similar service
    based on that service, however, you will also want to bootstrap from the
    existing data.  Here is the procedure for that:

    1. Be sure that you're starting from the latest software and set of
       configuration files.  I will generally try to make a new release after
       committing a batch of changes, but I may not make a new release after
       every change.  See the sections below for information about the Git
       repository in which this package is maintained.  You can always clone
       that repository to get the latest configuration (and then merge or
       cherry-pick changes from my repository into your repository as you
       desire).

    2. Download the current newsgroup list from:

           ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/CONFIG/newsgroups.bz2

       and then bootstrap the database from it:

       ```sh
           bzip2 -dc newsgroups.bz2 | scripts/update-control bulkload
       ```

    3. If you want the log information so that your reports will include
       changes made in the ftp.isc.org archive before you created your own,
       copy the contents of ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/CONFIG/LOGS/ into
       `/srv/control/logs`.

    4. If you want to start with the existing control message repository,
       download the contents of ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/ into
       `/srv/control/archive`.  You can do this using a recursive download
       tool that understands FTP, such as wget, but please use the options
       that add delays and don't hammer the server to death.

    After finishing those steps, you will have a copy of the ftp.isc.org
    archive and can start processing control messages, possibly with different
    configuration choices.  You can generate the files that are found in
    ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/CONFIG/ by running `scripts/export-control`
    as described above.
  title: Bootstrapping
- body: |
    To add a new hierarchy, add a configuration fragment in the `config`
    directory named after the hierarchy, following the format of the existing
    files, and run `scripts/generate-files` to create a new `control.ctl`
    file.  See the documentation in `scripts/generate-files` for details about
    the supported configuration keys.

    If the hierarchy uses PGP-signed control messages, also put the PGP key
    into the `keys` directory in a file named after the hierarchy.  Then, run:

    ```sh
        gpg --homedir=keyring --import keys/<hierarchy>
    ```

    to add the new key to the working keyring.

    The first user ID on the key must match the signer expected by the
    configuration data for the corresponding hierarchy.  If a hierarchy
    administrator sets that up wrong (usually by putting additional key IDs on
    the key), this can be corrected by importing the key into a keyring with
    GnuPG, using `gpg --edit-key` to remove the offending user ID, and
    exporting the key again with `gpg --export --ascii`.

    When adding a new hierarchy, it's often useful to bootstrap the newsgroup
    list by importing the current checkgroups.  To do this, obtain the
    checkgroups as a text file (containing only the groups without any news
    headers) and run:

    ```sh
        scripts/update-control checkgroups <hierarchy> < <checkgroups>
    ```

    where <hierarchy> is the hierarchy the checkgroups is for and
    <checkgroups> is the path to the checkgroups file.
  title: Maintenance
support:
  email: eagle@eyrie.org
  extra: |
    Configuration updates should be sent to usenet-config@isc.org.
  github: rra/control-archive
  web: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/software/control-archive/
synopsis: processing and archiving of Netnews control messages
vcs:
  browse: https://git.eyrie.org/?p=usenet/control.archive.git
  github: rra/control-archive
  type: Git
  url: https://git.eyrie.org/git/usenet/control-archive.git
version: 1.8.0
