After spending quite a lot of time troubleshooting a LISTSERV problem due
to incorrect ':internet.' data, I decided to make LISTSERV check the file
for consistency and report errors so that Hans-Ulrich and I can take care
of them before issuing a NODUPD file. I had naively thought that there
would only be a handful of errors, mostly from novice sites. In fact,
there are 65 errors, mostly from knowledgeable sites.
Two types of misunderstandings seem to account for the majority of
errors. The first one is that if you have two BITNET machines (here I
mean different physical machines - not aliases), XYZ1 and XYZ2, whose
users send and receive mail via the generic XYZ.EDU domain, you should
code ':internet.XYZ.EDU' in both entries. This is not correct. If you
code a ':internet.' tag, you are defining a one-to-one equivalence of
userids for the Internet and NJE name and telling servers such as
LISTSERV that if [log in to unmask] issues a GET command for a binary file, it
can be sent via NJE to Joe@XYZ1, for ANY possible value of 'Joe' which is
not longer than 8 bytes. If you have a campus mail system which shuffles
mail around and sends it to the preferred machine of your 20,000
registered users, it must NOT be defined in the ':internet.' tag unless
ALL 20,000 users have an account on the BITNET system in question with
the exact same name. Servers just can't tell [log in to unmask], who also as a
JOE@XYZ1 account, from [log in to unmask], who is only reachable via Internet
while JACK@XYZ1 doesn't exist or belongs to someone else.
The second misunderstanding, assuming a BITNET machine (typically a
VAXcluster) XYZ with aliases XYZ1, XYZ2 and XYZ3 and Internet hostname
XYZ.EDU, is that one should code the Internet address in all three
entries. While it is true that you do have a one-to-one equivalence
between XYZ.EDU and the various XYZn, LISTSERV does not do "transitive
mapping". That is, if a user subscribes to a list as XYZ1 and then sends
a command as XYZ2, LISTSERV will not say "Ah, but I see that XYZ1 is also
XYZ1.XYZ.EDU and XYZ.EDU, hmm XYZ1.XYZ.EDU is not known under any other
name, but wait, XYZ.EDU is also XYZ2, so it must be the same machine".
LISTSERV does not do anything recursive or anything requiring more than
two lookups. Nor do you want to encourage users in your VAXcluster to be
signed up to lists under the individual machine names - what will happen
when you replace the whole cluster with two Alpha servers next year? In
that case the proper thing to do is to code all addresses under the
cluster name, and under the cluster name only. So you would have:
:node.XYZ :internet.XYZ.EDU XYZ1.BITNET XYZ2.BITNET XYZ3.BITNET
I am appending the list of incorrect entries. Followup to NODMGT-L.
People who are planning to flame about the use of BITNET addresses in the
':internet.' tag should read the list archives, in which they will
discover that there is presently no other mechanism for telling servers
that nodes XYZ1 and XYZ2 are the same machine.
Eric
>>> Both ALBNYVM1 and ALBANY claim ':internet' host UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU.
>>> Both ALBNYVM1 and ALBANY claim ':internet' host ALBANY.EDU.
>>> Both ALBNY1VX and ALBNYVMS claim ':internet' host UACSC1.ALBANY.EDU.
>>> Both ALBNY1VX and ALBNYVMS claim ':internet' host RACHEL.ALBANY.EDU.
>>> Both AMHBIT and AMH claim ':internet' host AMHERST.EDU.
>>> Both AMHERST and AMH claim ':internet' host AMHERST.EDU.
>>> Both AMHTST and AMH claim ':internet' host AMHERST.EDU.
>>> Both ARIZRVAX and ARIZJVAX claim ':internet' host CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both ARIZVMS and ARIZJVAX claim ':internet' host CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both BANUFS12 and BANUFS11 claim ':internet' host UFSIA.AC.BE.
>>> Both BITNIC and APS claim ':internet' host BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU.
>>> Both BPAVMS and ARIZBPA claim ':internet' host BPA.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both CERAMICS and ALFREDU claim ':internet' host BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU.
>>> Both CMIVMS and ARIZBPA claim ':internet' host BPA.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both CORNELLC and CORNELL claim ':internet' host CORNELLC.CIT.CORNELL.EDU.
>>> Both CORNELLC and CORNELL claim ':internet' host CORNELLC.CCS.CORNELL.EDU.
>>> Both FINUHA and FINUH claim ':internet' host CC.HELSINKI.FI.
>>> Both FINUHB and FINUH claim ':internet' host CC.HELSINKI.FI.
>>> Both HLSDNL50 and HLSDNL5 claim ':internet' host RESEARCH.PTT.NL.
>>> Both HLSDNL50 and HLSDNL5 claim ':internet' host PTTRNL.NL.
>>> Both HLSDNL51 and HLSDNL5 claim ':internet' host RESEARCH.PTT.NL.
>>> Both HLSDNL51 and HLSDNL5 claim ':internet' host PTTRNL.NL.
>>> Both HLSDNL52 and HLSDNL5 claim ':internet' host RESEARCH.PTT.NL.
>>> Both HLSDNL52 and HLSDNL5 claim ':internet' host PTTRNL.NL.
>>> Both HUJIFH and BATATA claim ':internet' host BATATA.HUJI.AC.IL.
>>> Both IPFWCVAX and IPFW claim ':internet' host CVAX.IPFW.INDIANA.EDU.
>>> Both IUBACS and IUAZURE claim ':internet' host UCS.INDIANA.EDU.
>>> Both LUCCPUA and LOYOLA claim ':internet' host LUCCPUA.IT.LUC.EDU.
>>> Both MILORI and ARIZJVAX claim ':internet' host CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both MISVMS and ARIZBPA claim ':internet' host BPA.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both MUVMS1 and MARSHALL claim ':internet' host MARSHALL.WVNET.EDU.
>>> Both MUVMS3 and MARSHALL claim ':internet' host MARSHALL.WVNET.EDU.
>>> Both MUVMS4 and MARSHALL claim ':internet' host MARSHALL.WVNET.EDU.
>>> Both MUVMS5 and MARSHALL claim ':internet' host MARSHALL.WVNET.EDU.
>>> Both NYUACF1 and NYUACF claim ':internet' host ACFCLUSTER.NYU.EDU.
>>> Both NYUACF6 and NYUACF claim ':internet' host ACFCLUSTER.NYU.EDU.
>>> Both NYUACF7 and NYUACF claim ':internet' host ACFCLUSTER.NYU.EDU.
>>> Both PSUECLA and PSUECL claim ':internet' host ECL.PSU.EDU.
>>> Both SITVXC and SITVXA claim ':internet' host VAXC.STEVENS-TECH.EDU.
>>> Both SKYBLU and ARIZJVAX claim ':internet' host CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU.
>>> Both SLOAN and MITECCF1 claim ':internet' host SLOAN.MIT.EDU.
>>> Both STANFORD and FORSYTHE claim ':internet' host FORSYTHE.STANFORD.EDU.
>>> Both STEVENS and SITVXA claim ':internet' host VAXC.STEVENS-TECH.EDU.
>>> Both SUSOLAR and SOLAR claim ':internet' host SOLAR.STANFORD.EDU.
>>> Both TOWSON1 and TOWSONVX claim ':internet' host TOE.TOWSON.EDU.
>>> Both TOWSON2 and TOWSONVX claim ':internet' host TOE.TOWSON.EDU.
>>> Both UBVMSB and UBVMS claim ':internet' host UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU.
>>> Both UBVMSC and UBVMS claim ':internet' host UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU.
>>> Both UBVMSD and UBVMS claim ':internet' host UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU.
>>> Both UCBCSM and UCBALFA claim ':internet' host ALFA.BERKELEY.EDU.
>>> Both UCBMAIL and UCBLILAC claim ':internet' host MAILHOST.BERKELEY.EDU.
>>> Both UIUCHEPB and UIUCHEPA claim ':internet' host UIHEPA.HEP.UIUC.EDU.
>>> Both UIUCHEPG and UIUCHEPA claim ':internet' host UIHEPA.HEP.UIUC.EDU.
>>> Both UMASSD1 and UMASSD claim ':internet' host UMASSD.EDU.
>>> Both UMASSD2 and UMASSD claim ':internet' host UMASSD.EDU.
>>> Both UMICHRS1 and UMICHRLY claim ':internet' host CMS1.RS.ITD.UMICH.EDU.
>>> Both UNBMVS1 and UNB claim ':internet' host UNB.CA.
>>> Both UNBVM1 and UNB claim ':internet' host UNB.CA.
>>> Both UVVMY and UVVM claim ':internet' host UVVM.UVIC.CA.
>>> Both UWALOCKE and LOCKE claim ':internet' host LOCKE.HS.WASHINGTON.EDU.
>>> Both UWAVM and OLY claim ':internet' host UWAVM.U.WASHINGTON.EDU.
>>> Both VTMATH and VTCALVIN claim ':internet' host MATH.VT.EDU.
>>> Both VTVM1 and VPIVM1 claim ':internet' host VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU.
>>> Both VTVM2 and VPIVM2 claim ':internet' host VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU.
>>> Both YALEVMX and YALEVM claim ':internet' host YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU.
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