
                  INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR REBATCH V1.0
                                       
   Read the file README for a general overview of rebatch. The file
   THEORY explains how this program hangs together at the technical
   level.
   
Contents

     * Requirements
     * Installation
          + 0. Know what I assume
          + 1. Auto-configuration (optional)
          + 2. Other things in the Makefile
          + 3. Where is Perl?
          + 4. Where are you installing me?
          + 5. Configuration parameters
          + 6. Installation
          + 7. Testing
          + 8. Install the manual pages (optional)
     * De-Installation
       
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Requirements

   The rebatch package requires Perl and its libraries to be installed on
   your system. It runs under both Perl 4.036 and Perl 5.000 without
   modification. It does not use any Perl 5 specific features, or hairy
   Perl constructs ;)
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Installation

   All of the configuration for rebatch and where.to is set in Perl
   variables in the file
   
     rebatch.conf
     
   There are also several variables related to the installation of
   scripts and manual pages in the Makefile.
   
   The steps below outline what needs to be looked at and what it all
   means.
   
  0. KNOW WHAT I ASSUME
  
   READ THE ASSUMPTIONS PART OF THE THEORY FILE. If those assumptions are
   not true at your site you are going to have to work a bit harder. I
   give some work arounds. If you find any more, please let me know.
   
   While you are at it you might as well read the rest of this
   installation document, the README and the manual pages.
   
  1. AUTO-CONFIGURATION (OPTIONAL)
  
   The rebatch package can be auto-configured using the values set in
   INN's config.data file. To make use of this: (a) Edit the Makefile and
   change the definitions at the top of the file to point to the INN
   files at your site:
   
   INN_CONF_DIR
          the 'config' directory in INN's distribution
          
   INN_SUBST
          location of subst program
          
   INN_CONFIG_DATA
          location of config.data file
          
   SED
          same as in config/Makefile
          
   (b) Type
   
     make config
     
   to perform the substitutions.
   
   You should definitely look through rebatch.conf and the Makefile to
   make sure it has done the right thing, and the values there match the
   reality of your setup.
   
  2. OTHER THINGS IN THE MAKEFILE
  
   (a) To perform automatic installation using the Makefile you will need
   to alter the variable
   
     INN_INSTALLIT
     
   to point to the installit.sh script in INN.
   
   If you are unhappy with the installation directory you will need to
   alter the line:
   
     NEWSBIN = /usr/local/news/bin
     
   to point to the right place.
   
  3. WHERE IS PERL?
  
   The first line of the rebatch and where.to scripts
   
     #!/usr/local/bin/perl5 -w
     
   may need to be altered to point to your Perl interpreter. The '-w'
   flag makes Perl complain about possible typos or logic errors, as well
   as just plain stupid mistakes I have made. Remove it if you wish.
   
  4. WHERE ARE YOU INSTALLING ME?
  
   If you altered the NEWSBIN variable in the Makefile you will need to
   adjust the lines in rebatch and where.to that read:
   
     push(@INC, "/usr/local/news/bin");
     
   to match the Makefile
   
  5. ALL OF THE CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
  
   All of the variables used by the rebatch and where.to scripts are set
   in the file
   
     rebatch.conf
     
   
   
   You should look through these and make sure they match your set up.
   
   The variables are:
   
   $debug
          debugging level. Also set by the -d and -n flags
          
   $remove_status
          should rebatch remove its temporary files when the batch has
          been sent? See the notes on $rebatch_status_prefix below.
          
   $path_batchdir
          where does INN write batch files
          
   $path_newsfeeds
          where is your newsfeeds file?
          
   $path_locks
          where to write lock files.
          
   $rebatch_lockfile
          lockfile for the master rebatch process
          
   $rebatch_lockfile_prefix
          lockfile prefix for each site behind. Lock files are make of
          the form $rebatch_lockfile_prefix.$sitename, e.g.,
          /usr/local/news/LOCK.rebatch.auckland.ac.nz (for $sitename ==
          auckland.ac.nz).
          
   $nntplink_id
          how to identify NNTPlink feed sites in newsfeeds file
          
   $nntplink_link_suffix
          NNTPlink state files that appear in the $path_batchdir
          directory. These are the files with the name like
          news.auckland.ac.nz.link.
          
   $nntplink_tmp_suffix
          suffix NNTPlink uses when remote host is down. These are files
          with the name like news.auckland.ac.nz.1234.tmp.
          
   $log
          log file for rebatch. Set to "/dev/null" if you don't want any.
          You might want to add rotation of this file to your news.daily
          progress.
          
   $rebatch_batch_suffix
          suffix used for rebatch batch files in $path_batchdir.
          
   $rebatch_status_prefix
          prefixed uses to record innxmit's debugging output. These files
          can get big and DO NOT GET DELETED when the innxmit finishes
          (why? so you can easily see the reason the site stopped) Choose
          somewhere where there is lots of space. You can make rebatch
          delete them by default or by a command line option.
          
   $ctlinnd
          where do I find this program?
          
   $innxmit
          how to send off batch files. It is probably best to include a
          '-t nnn' timeout parameter to avoid hung processes.
          
   where.to has a subset of these variables.
   
  6. INSTALLATION
  
   Aftering altering the variables, you can type
   
     make install
     
   to install the scripts in the directory given in the Makefile.
   
   You can run the programs in the current directory by using
   
     perl rebatch parameters
     
   or
   
     chmod a+x rebatch where.to
     ./rebatch parameters
     
  7. TEST IT OUT
  
   Try rebatch out in 'debug, no execute mode' to see what it does...
   
     ./rebatch -n | more
     
   it should print things out about all the sites it finds, then what it
   thinks about each site. It will tell you about the files it finds and
   what it will do.
   
   If it pauses after a saying
   
     .... running innxmit -d nntp.host nntp.host.rebatch
     
   don't panic. There is a small sleep in there to make the parent/child
   waiting stuff works.
   
   You could then try it in real mode
   
     ./rebatch -d
     
   and then try tailing /tmp/rebatch.whatever to see it in action. Then
   try out 'where.to'
   
  8. INSTALL THE MANUAL PAGES (OPTIONAL)
  
   To install the manual pages, type
   
     make install-man
     
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
De-Installation

   If you ever want to uninstall this package you can type
   
     make uninstall uninstall-man
     
   or remove the files
     * rebatch
     * where.to
     * rebatch.conf
     * rebatch.common
       
   from the binary directory and the man pages
     * rebatch.1
     * where.to.1
       
   from the manual page directory.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
    Part of the rebatch package
    Russell Street (r.street@auckland.ac.nz)
    Last updated: 12th February 1995
