Jenny,
 
    There   is   a   difference  between   manual   installation   and
password-protected  automatic  installation.  Manual  installation  is
caused by changing the INSTALL user exit, LSV$INST EXEC, to return '0'
when called  with the "AUTO"  parameter.  LISTSERV interprets  this to
mean  that  you  do  not   wish  to  use  the  automatic  installation
procedures.  It combines the separate spool files of a shipment into a
single CARD-LOADable file  and punches it to the  postmaster.  You are
then  expected to  load it  in whatever  manner you  find preferrable.
Perhaps you like  to put EXECs, MODULEs, etc.   on read-only "runtime"
disks, separate  from the read/write  data files (xxx FILE,  xxx LIST,
etc.).
 
    Password-protected automatic installation is a comparative breeze.
If LSV$INST allows automatic installation (by returning '1'), the next
check is  for a password.   If you've set  one, LISTSERV won't  do the
install  until it's  supplied by  the postmaster.   In this  case, the
shipment sits  in the reader  in exactly the  same form as  it arrived
(same spool files,  in fact.) Once it has the  password, it will retry
the install.
 
    I whole-heartedly  recommend the  latter form.   I use  it myself,
since we  prefer to check  out any and  all software installed  on our
system,  even  from trusted  sources.   In  fact,  I read  the  entire
contents  of  every  shipment  before giving  LISTSERV  permission  to
install.  Not that I'm paranoid, you understand.  ;-)
 
    As an  aside, I  recommend AGAINST editing  the INSTALL  FILE.  It
provides  an audit  trail, and  I wouldn't  be surprised  if, in  some
future release, it contained hex data, just like the LIST files.
 
Ross