I am sending this reply to the list since there are probably subscribers
who maintain LISTSERVs who are not aware of some of the things I am going
to say. For those of you who are, Just press the "DISCARD" key on this
one.
/hcp
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>Harold,
>
>What files do I need to keep current for LISTSERV? (I know BITEARN NODES
>is one of them)
There are three files which you, as a LISTSERV postmaster are required to
keep current. These files are:
BITEARN NODES
DOMAIN NAMES
XMAILER NAMES
All three files are available from any NETSERV, and the BITEARN NODES
file can be obtained from any LISTSERV (which has the current version) by
the official site contact person for your Site.
>How often do you update these files?
I update the files any time there is a new version available. There is a
LISTSERV distribution list, NODUPD-D, which will distribute the revised
versions of these files, and several other files (used for the maintenance
of MAILER) automatically whenever a new version becomes available.
Subscribe to NODUPD-D from LISTSERV@UGA and your subscription request
will be sent to the best server for your location.
>By the way if you have a BITEARN NODES more current than 04/87, could
>you send it to me? It'd be a lot quicker than getting it from BITNIC.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Darren
You should not have to request a new BITEARN NODES file every month. Each
month, a set of updates to the existing BITEARN NODES file is sent by
NETSERV to all subscribers. These updates are also distributed via the
NODUPD-D list. You use the UPDNODES program (available from NETSERV) to
apply the updates to your current BITEARN NODES to create a new one. If
you are currently at 04/87, then you need to order the following files
from NETSERV:
VERS8705 NODUPD
VERS8706 NODUPD
VERS8707 NODUPD
You will also need to order:
UPDNODES EXEC
UPDNODES MODULE
since this is the program which does the update. Comments at the
beginning of the EXEC will show what to do, but the procedure is simple.
Just make sure you have enough free disk space for two copies of the
BITEARN NODES file and that the * NODUPD files are on the same minidisk
with BITEARN NODES. Then issue the command:
UPDNODES VERSnnnn (REPLACE
and wait. Do it for each file, in order. If you have modified BITEARN
NODES with a text editor, or fail to apply updates in order, the process
will fail with a checksum error and you may have to start over. There
are multiple checksums kept by the program, and extensive error checking
is done to insure a correct file when you finish. If you have modified
BITEARN NODES with a text editor, you probably will have to get a new
copy before can apply the updates.
Finally, a little bit about how I keep my files. All three of the above
files are kept on disks which belong to my userid. The two NAMES files
are kept on a minidisk which is shared with MAILER and LISTSERV. I have a
write link, and both MAILER and LISTSERV have read links. Anytime I get
new versions of XMAILER NAMES, or DOMAIN NAMES I save them to this disk
(My 193), access it as my A disk and run MG. I then send the following
two commands to MAILER:
SMSG MAILER CMS ACCESS 192 D
SMSG MAILER RELOAD
and I send the following command to LISTSERV:
TELL LISTSERV STOP REBOOT
The BITEARN NODES file is kept on another of my minidisks, and after I
update it, I just issue the STOP REBOOT command to LISTSERV. LISTSERV has
LINK cards for read links to both of these minidisks in his directory
entry, and the following is an extract from his PROFILE EXEC:
ACC 193 B/A * NAMES
ACC 194 C/A BITEARN NODES
ACC 200 E
ACC 201 F
ACC 202 G
The 200 series minidisks are for NOTEBOOK storage...
Hope this helps. If anyone has additional questions, or comments, send
them to me. I am trying to put together a LISTSERV MAINTENANCE guide
to outline the sort of things that the local POSTMASTER has to do.
Harold Pritchett
LISTSERV COORDINATOR
The University of Georiga
Athens, GA 30602
(404) 542-3135
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