Installation and Setup

The following is the list of available ini settings that may be setup in your ini file. This ini file should be located in the same directory as the cgi.

General configuration settings are stored in webnews.ini which must be in the same directory and have the same root name as the executable. So if the cgi is renamed xnews.cgi then the configuration file will be xnews.ini

Label	Example	Default	Explanation
admin_news_pass admin_news_user	password username	none none	These two settings are use to generate the list of valid groups that the users can see and are restricted by the 'user.access' file. NOTE: Not to be used with 'user_group_cache true'
admin_user	lynden@1.2.3.4,ralph@*	none	Which is a comma seperated wild card user list that if the user matches are allow to delete any news article.
allow_$	var1,var2	none	A comma seperated variable that allows other ini settings to allow $(...) variable replacement.
allow_form	true	false	This will allow Forms to be ignored when viewing an HTML attachment.
allow_java	true	false	This will allow Javaapplets to be ignored when viewing an HTML attachment.
allow_multiple_news_login	true	false	This ini setting allows more than 1 user to login via one news server account at the same time. They have will be setup with seperate cookie account, so that they can change settings but will not change the orginal account.
allow_read	true	false	When set to true this will store which aticles have been read by the user. SUGGESTED NOT to use on large system. generates a file called: read.dat in each users directory. layout: group.name start_article end_article
allow_script	true	false	This will allow Scripts to be ignored when viewing an HTML attachment.
allow_style	true	false	This will allow <style> tags to be ignored when viewing an HTML attachment.
always_attach	true	false	This will force WebNews to always display the 'attachment' list in the item.tpl. Otherwise the list will only apear when inline images are turned off.
attach_target	target="_blank"	none	Which allows you to set up a target for all attachments.
authent_cookie	true	false	This will allow autologin via cookies.
auto_delete	lynden* 0 @temp 1 30	none	This setting is used to determine when accounts will be automatically used if not logged in for x number of days. You are allowed multiple settings. When set to 0 days then this account will never be removed.
auto_subscribe_display	true	false	When set to true this will default any subscribed groups to be displayed on the group list page.
authent_host	your.server	none	This is the name or number of the host to be authenticated with. It can be an IMAP or a POP server.
authent_imap	true	false	This allows users to state the IMAP server that they wish to authenticate with.
authent_local	true	false	This allows local users to be created.
authent_local_create	false	true	This decides whether accounts will be automatically created as the CGI requires, or if the administration have to create the account before it may be used.
authent_news	true	false	This allows authentication with the particular news server.
authent_pop	true	false	This allows users to state the POP server to be authenticated with.
authent_port	143	110	The port that the authent_host is connected to.
auto_article_reload	30	10	The number of minutes which are required to pass before the article list will be automatically reloaded.
auto_group_reload	300	180	The number of minutes which are required to pass before the group list will be automatically reloaded.
auto_logout_mins	200	60	Time since last activity for logged in user before cache of new mail messages is purged
bind_sockets	1.2.3.4	none	This will force all outgoing sockets to bind to a selected IP number. Only used if the machine has mutiple IP's and you want to make sure that the CGI when talking to the Mail server, talks on a specific IP address.
body_add	http://xxx.yyy.zzz	blank	Adds the line given to the body of all outgoing EMail messages. You can have multiple body_add lines to produce a multi-line addition. To add blank lines use a body_add line with trailing spaces.
body_sig_spaces	1	0	This setting is for the number of lines between the body of the EMail and the users signature.
bypass_email_decode	true	false	This will stop EMail address being converted that are located inside an EMail message when set to true.
cache_dir	d:\dnewsweb\cache	templates	This is where the news groups and articles are cached to.
cache_group_min_size	5000	2000	This is the lower boundary where the cached groups will be forced to when a cache check is performed.
cache_group_size	100000	10000	This is the upper boundary of where the cached groups are allowed to be. Once this level is reached, a cache clearing will be performed in order to force the cache to the lower limit.
cache_msg_check	360	180	This is the amount of time which will pass before WebNews automatically reloads articles, in seconds.
cache_msg_min_size	3000	1000	This is the lower boundary where the cached articles will be forced to when a cache check is performed.
cache_msg_size	10000	3000	This is the upper boundary of where the cached articles are allowed to be. Once this level is reached, a cache clearing will be performed in order to force the cache to the lower limit.
cgi_path	/home/httpd/cgi-bin	env var	Sets the cgi_path. This is only needed if the Web Server does not set the appropriate environment variable for cgi's
cookie_valid_days	2	31	This is how long the cookies are valid for.
copy_name	Copies_to_Self	Sent	This is the name of the folder to store copies to self items in
date_format	dmy	mdy	Sets the date format to month first or day first
date_layout	mm-dd	mm/dd/y	This will change the layout of the date displayed in the list of EMails.
days_before_old	-5	-12	This is used to change the color of old articles so that newer articles stand out more.
debug	true	false	Enables verbose debug output.
debug_socket	socket.log	none	This logs the data that is being sent and received via IMAP/POP/SMTP/POPPASSD servers.
default_frames	false	true	This setting determines whether frames should be used when a cookie login is done.
dflt_xover_download	2000	1000	This is the maximum number of xovers that will be downloaded at any one time. The rest of the xovers will be download seperately.
dictionary	spanish.dat	words.dat	This is used to default what words.dat file to use for the spell checker.
domain	acme.com	this host	Used to create the EMail 'from address' for each user.
enable_user_encode	true	false	When set to true it user profile directories that have '/\:*?"<>\|!' will be encoded.
enable_wml	true	false	This enables wml features for WebMail. The changes that occur are: Content-Type for pages sent back to the web server is: text/vnd.wap.wml (Other features with WML will appear in later versions.)
environ_pass	AUTH_PASSWORD or HTTP_AUTHORIZATION	none	This setting and 'environ_user' are used to autologin users using username and password that is supplied in the environment variables setup by the webserver.
environ_user	REMOTE_USER	none	This setting and 'environ_pass' are used to autologin users using username and password that is supplied in the environment variables setup by the webserver.
force_login	true	false	This determines whether the user MUST first login in order to use WebNews.
groups_allowed	humor,rec*	*	This determines which news groups are allowed to be accessed.
groups_notallowed	alt,binaries*	none	This determines which news groups are not allowed to be accessed.
hash_method	2	1	This determines which user profile hashing method is used, 1 or 2. Note! Do not change this on existing systems as user files will not be found after change. You will need to use the manager page to change this.
host_authent	true	false	This allows authentication via a fixed POP or IMAP server.
href_target	target="_blank"	none	Any <a href="...."> inside of an Email will have this also added as part of the link. ie. <a target="_blank" href=".....">
html_limit	2000	none	This is used to limit the number of characters that may be displayed in an EMail message.
imapport	1143	143	IMAP port to connect on.
imaphost	pop.your.domain	this host	The name or number of your IMAP mail server.
key	2222-333-44-222	1 month key	Used to enter Registration key.
lang_file	lang.dat	none	This is used to translate the error messages into different languages.
limit_reference	1000	none	Which is used to limit the size of the reference field of new articles when sending a new message. Most news server do this internally but some don't.
log_path	/logs/webnews	ini dir	Directory to store the log file in.
log_size	1000000	100000	This is the size of the logfile before it is rotated.
lowercase_password	true	false	Password is always lowercase, so secret is the same as Secret and SECRET.
lowercase_username	true	false	Username is always lowercase, so user ralph is the same as Ralph and RALPH.
managers_ip	1.2.*,2.3.4.5	none	This restrict access to the managers page to valid IP addresses.
managers_password	mysecretpassword or \|filename	none	Password for access to manager.tpl manager page. You can state a file where the managers password is stored.
max_email_rcpt	10	30	The maximum number of people that a message can be sent to in one go.
max_email_sends	10	20	The maximum number of messages that can be sent in one day.
min_article_reload	300	60	The minimum number of seconds allowed between article reloads.
min_group_reload	3000	600	The minimum number of seconds allowed between group reloads.
netwin_autologin	<url> <product directory> <extra>	none	Used to setup netwin's products so that they automatically login.
newgroups_yyyymmdd	true	false	When set to true will force the news server to change the date layout to yyyymmdd instead of yymmdd when asking for newgroups.
news_server_login	local foo bar	none	This will setup the news account that the user will be talking to the news server on depending on the type of account. layout: news_server_login type username password Types temp : This is a temp cookie account pop: The user has logged in via their own pop server. imap: The user has logged in via their own imap server. local: The user has logged in via a Local WebNews account. host: The user has logged in via their admin mail server. (ie the 'authent_host' ini setting)
newshost	your.news.server	this host	The name or number of your NEWS server
no_cookies	true	false	When set to true this will disable ALL cookies.
no_email_hr	true	false	When set to true the '<hr>' are not display when viewing Emails.
no_log	true	false	Disable file logging.
no_login	true	false	When set, it is not necessary to login in order to get access to WebNews.
no_newgroups	true	false	When set to true the nntp command 'NEWGROUPS' is not used at all. Some new servers do not have this command setup for Y2K compliance.
no_tcode	true	false	Disable tcode checking.
port	1119	119	POP port to connect on
pophost	pop.your.domain	this host	The name or number of your POP mail server
re_fwd_ignore	true	false	Which will make the new sort routines to ignore any 're:' and 'fwd:' at the beginning of the subject.
read_wrap	64	85	Automatically wraps displayed email message's lines to X characters wide.
reply_prefix	#	>	This is the character(s) that is attached to the body of any reply to a message.
send_wrap	85	60	Automatically wraps email message's lines to X characters wide, before sending them.
smtpport	1025	25	The SMTP port to connect on
smtphost	mail.your.domain	this host	The name or IP number of your SMTP mail gateway
sort_by_page	true	false	When set to true when it does a thread sort by the page and not the entire list of threads.
spell_seperators	-[]()	(none)	This is just a list of characters the spell check will not use as part of a word.
templates	/var/spool/webnews	NONE	The directory where you have copied the *.tpl files
time_24hr_format	true	false	Determines whether or not to display time using a 24hr clock.
time_layout	Hr:MM pm	HH:MM:SS	This will change the layout of the time displayed in the list of EMails.
time_offset	nzst	(none)	This is used when the CGI does not correctly determines the CGI's GMT. Set this to the timezone that the computer is on. This also shows up on the 'cmd=test' page.
timezone	nzst	GST offset	This ini setting is used to default new users to a timezone. The users timezone setting is used to display times in the selected time zone no matter where the Email message was sent. All displayed times are converted to the user timezone setting. (Normally setup on the user options page to change).
user_group_cache	true	false	When set to true the groups list is dupulcated for login users in their user profile directory. This is also refreshed every login and cleared on logout. NOTE: Can not be used with: 'admin_news_pass user' 'admin_news_user pass'
user_parameter	_usr_*	_*	This determines the prefix to be used on all user settings. These are passed to every template.
valid_host	my.pop.host	none	limits the number of IMAP/POP hosts that users can connect to
valid_to	lynden,.nz	none	limits the number of email addresses that users can send email to
valid_user	lynden,*ralph	none	limits the usernames which may be used to a wildcard list
vagent	Nokia	none	Starts a section of ini settings which apply to a specific user agent. This is normally used for setting up WML settings depending on the phone, but can also be used for netscape and ie settings. Note: vagent sections must follow any general settings.
vagent_match	HTTP_HOST	USR_AGENT	The environment variable which is matched against vagent lines.
vend			Ends a section of ini setting which applies to a particular virtual host
vhost	my.domain.two	none	Starts a section of ini settings which applies to a virtual host my.domain.two Note: vhost sections must follow any general settings.
vhost_match	HTTP_HOST	SERVER_NAME	The environment variable which is matched against vhost lines.
webserver_out	web_sent.log	none	This logs the data that is being sent back to the webserver.
workarea	/var/spool/webnews	templates	The directory which WebNews work files and user subdirectories are created in.
x_mailer		WebMail....	Used to build the X-Mailer: header that is attached to all outgoing EMails from WebMail. To remove the X-Mailer header just leave the setting blank. This will only work on the full version of WebMail.

download the self extracting archive from netwinsite
webmail11h.exe	# Unzip the self extracting archive to wntemp
cd \wntemp	# Change to temporary unpack directory

mkdir \webnews	# Create a directory for templates
mkdir \inetpub\wwwroot\nwimg	# Create a directory for image files
mkdir \inetpub\wwwroot\nwimg\news	# Create a directory for image files

copy webnews.exe "\inetpub\scripts"	# Copy CGI
copy webnews.ini "\inetpub\scripts"	# Copy ini
copy tpl\* \webnews	# Copy docs templates etc to destination
copy img\* \inetpub\wwwroot\nwimg\news	# Copy image files

del \wntemp	# Clean out temporary directory

uncompress webmail11h.tar.Z		# Uncompress tar file
tar -xvf webmail11h.tar		# Extract distribution files to WebNews
		# sub-directory
cd WebNews		# Change to temporary WebNews sub-directory

After uncompressing and un-tarring the archive.

cd \webnews	# Change to temporary unpack directory

mkdir /var/spool/webnews	# Create a directory for templates
mkdir /home/httpd/html/nwimg	# Create a directory for image files
mkdir /home/httpd/html/nwimg/news	# Create a directory for image files

copy webnews.cgi /home/httpd/cgi-bin/	# Copy CGI
copy webnews.ini /home/httpd/cgi-bin/	# Copy ini
copy tpl\* /var/spool/webnews	# Copy docs templates etc to destination
copy img\* /home/httpd/html/nwimg/news	# Copy image files

chown nobody /home/httpd/cgi-bin/webmail*	# Change Ownership of
chown nobody /var/spool/webnews	# WebNews and template
chown nobody /var/spool/webmail/*	# files.

Symbol	Example	Explanation
newshost	news.your.domain	The name or IP number of your NEWS server.

templates	\var\spool\webnews	The directory where you have copied the *.tpl files.
cache_dir	\var\spool\webnews\cache	The directory where WebNews will place all the cache groups and new articles.

domain	acme.com	Your domain, this will be used to construct addresses with.
nwimg	/nwimg/news	The web server relative address of the images.

Installation and Setup

Contents

Templates

NT Installation

Unix Installation

Basic Setup

Authentication Methods

Advanced Authentication Methods

Default Settings

INI Settings

Date/Time Layouts

temp	-	This is a temp cookie account
pop	-	The user has logged in via their own pop server
imap	-	The user has logged in via their own imap server
local	-	The user has logged in via a Local WebNews account
host	-	The user has logged in via their admin mail server. (ie the 'authent_host' ini setting)
news	-	The user has logged in via the news server.