How to Configure the NNTP Service, Part 1

This article is Part 1 of a two-part article that describes how to configure different features of the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) service in Microsoft Exchange 2000 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. These articles assume that you have already installed Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server, or Datacenter, and Exchange 2000 Server or Exchange 2003.

Part 1 covers the following topics:

• NNTP Virtual Server
• How to Create an NNTP Virtual Server
• How to Change the IP Address and Port Number
• How to Stop, Start, or Pause a Virtual Server
• How to Limit Inbound Connections
• How to Set the Connection Time-Out
• How to Create a Unique Path Header
• How to Enable Transaction Logging
• How to Configure ODBC Logging
• How to Customize W3C Extended Logging
• How to Authenticate Connections
• How to Encrypt Connections
• How to Deny Inbound Connections
• How to Enable or Disable Client Posting
• How to Enable or Disable Feed Posting
• How to Allow Pull Feeds
• How to Allow Control Messages
• How to Configure Moderator Options
• How to Rebuild a Virtual Server



• Newsgroups
• How to View Newsgroups
• How to Add Newsgroups
• How to Set Newsgroups to Read-Only
• How to Import Newsgroups from a Text File
• How to Delete Newsgroups

To see Part 2 of this article, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

The NNTP service that is included with Windows 2000 is the basis for the NNTP service in Exchange. After Exchange is installed, you must use Exchange System Manager to configure the service. After Exchange is installed, the NNTP service is ready to host newsgroups. Additional configuration is required to pull or accept news feeds. The NNTP service is very flexible and can be customized to suit most requirements.

NNTP Virtual Server

How to Create an NNTP Virtual Server

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the NNTP node.
3. On the Action menu, point to New, and then click NNTP Virtual Server. The New NNTP Virtual Server wizard starts.
4. On the Description screen, type a description for your virtual server, and then click Next.
5. On the IP Address screen, click the IP address and TCP port that this virtual server will use, and then click Next.
   
   Note When you specify a TCP port, make sure that the port that you specify is not in use by another virtual server or service. If it is, the server does not start. In addition, if the All Unassigned check box is selected, this virtual server monitors the specified port of all IP addresses that are not currently assigned to a virtual server.
6. On the Internal Files screen, type a path for the internal files for this virtual server, and then click Next. If the path you type in does not exist, it will be created. Do not use a folder that is already in use by another virtual server.
7. On the Storage Medium screen, select the storage medium that you want. The types of mediums are:
   • File System: Stores the articles on the disk.
   • Remote Share: Stores the articles on a share.
   • Exchange Public Folder Database: Stores the articles in the Exchange 2000 public information store.
8. On the next screen, follow these steps depending on the storage medium that you selected:
   • File System: Type the local path to the news content. This is where the articles are stored on the disk.
   • Remote Share: Type the path to the share for the news content. This is where the articles are stored on the remote server. Also, type the user name and password of an account that has rights to gain access to this share.
   • Exchange Public Folder Database: Click Browse to select a public folder tree where the newsgroups and articles are to be stored.
9. Click Finish. Your NNTP virtual server is created.

How to Change the IP Address and Port Number

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the NNTP node.
3. Click the virtual server that you created.
4. On the Action menu, click Properties.
5. On the General tab, click Advanced.
6. In the Advanced IP address configuration box, verify that the identity is selected, and then click Edit.
7. Change either the IP address or the port number. Make sure that there is no conflict with any other virtual servers.
8. Click OK.

How to Stop, Start, or Pause a Virtual Server

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the NNTP node.
3. Click the virtual server that you want to start, stop, or pause.
4. On the Action menu, click Start, Stop, or Pause.

Note Pausing a virtual server prevents new client connections but enables the NNTP service to continue to process existing client connections. Pausing a virtual server also provides a method of stopping the virtual server without interrupting active connections. Use the Sessions node to monitor the active sessions that are connected to the virtual server. When all of the active sessions have disconnected, you can stop the virtual server without interrupting client connections.

How to Limit Inbound Connections

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the General tab, click to select the Limit number of connections to check box.
5. Type the inbound connection limit.
6. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Set the Connection Time-Out

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the General tab, type the connection time-out in minutes.
5. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Create a Unique Path Header

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the General tab, type a string to be included in the path header of articles that are forwarded from this news server.
5. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Enable Transaction Logging

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the General tab, click to select the Enable Logging check box.
5. Choose any active log format.
6. Click Properties to access additional log file settings.
7. On the General Properties tab of the Extended Logging Properties dialog box, specify the following options as necessary:
   • New log file creation
   • Log file naming and rollover
   • Log file directory
8. After you set the options that you want, click OK.
9. Click OK or Apply to save the settings.

How to Configure ODBC Logging

1. Create a database that contains a table with the appropriate fields for the logging data. Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS) includes a SQL template file, which can run in a SQL database to create a table that accepts log entries from IIS. The file is called Logtemp.sql, and is available in the Winnt\System32\Inetsrv folder. The following fields are required:
   • ClientHost: varchar(255)
   • Username: varchar(255)
   • LogTime: datetime
   • Service: varchar(255)
   • Machine: varchar(255)
   • ServerIP: varchar(50)
   • ProcessingTime: int
   • BytesRecvd: int
   • BytesSent: int
   • ServiceStatus: int
   • Win32Status: int
   • Operation: varchar(255)
   • Target: varchar(255)
   • Parameters: varchar(255)
2. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
3. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
4. On the Action menu, click Properties.
5. On the General tab, click to select the Enable Logging check box.
6. In the Active log format list, click ODBC Logging.
7. Click Properties to open the ODBC logging properties.
8. Type the ODBC Data Source Name (DSN).
9. Type the name of the table.
10. Type the user name and password that you want to use to gain access to the database.
11. Click OK or Apply to save the settings.

How to Customize W3C Extended Logging

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the General tab, click to select the Enable Logging check box.
5. In the Active log format list, click W3C Extended Log File Format.
6. Click Properties to open the extended logging properties. On the Extended Properties tab, the following extended logging options are used by the NNTP service:
   • Date (date)
   • URI Stem (cs-uri-stem)
   • Time (time)
   • URI Query (cs-uri-query)
   • Client IP Address (c-ip)
   • Protocol Status (sc-status)
   • User Name (cs-username)
   • Win32 Status (sc-win32-status)
   • Service Name (s-sitename)
   • Bytes Sent (sc-bytes)
   • Server Name (s-computername)
   • Bytes Received (cs-bytes)
   • Server IP (s-ip)
   • Time Taken (time-taken)
   • Method (cs-method)
   • Protocol Version (cs-version)
   Note The options listed in bold text indicate default log file entries.
7. Click OK or Apply to save the settings.

How to Authenticate Connections

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the Access tab, click Authentication.
5. Click to select any combination of the Anonymous, Basic, Windows Security Package, or SSL Client Authentication check boxes.
   
   Note If you select Basic authentication, passwords are transmitted in plaintext. To enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Client Authentication, a certificate is required.
6. If you click Allow Anonymous, choose the account that will be used to gain access to resources when an anonymous connection is made.
7. Click OK, and then click OK again to close the virtual server properties.

How to Encrypt Connections

To enable encryption, a valid certificate must be installed on the virtual server.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the Access tab, click Certificate. The Web Server Certificate Wizard is displayed.
5. Complete the wizard to generate a certificate request.
6. Send the certificate to a trusted certificate authority (CA).
7. After you obtain the new certificate, repeat steps 1 through 6. The Web Server Certificate Wizard is displayed again.
8. Complete the wizard to process the pending certificate request. At this point, the server is ready for encryption.
9. On the Access tab, click Authentication.
10. In the Authentication Methods box, click to select the Enable SSL Client Authentication check box to enable SSL authentication.
11. Click to select the Require SSL client authentication check box to require that all connections use SSL.
12. To enable mapping client certificates to Windows accounts, click to select the Enable client certificate mapping to Windows user accounts check box.
13. Click OK, and then click OK again to close the virtual server properties.

How to Deny Inbound Connections

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the virtual server that you want to configure.
3. On the Access tab, click Connection.
4. In the Connection box, click to select the Only the list below check box to limit access to this virtual server to the listed computers, or click to select the All except the list below check box to limit the listed computers from gaining access to this virtual server.
5. Click Add.
6. In the Computer dialog box, specify computers by one of the following criteria:
   • IP Address
   • Range of IP Addresses
   • Domain
7. Click OK to add the restriction and return to the Connection dialog box.
8. Click OK, and then click OK again to close the virtual server properties.

How to Enable or Disable Client Posting

Client posting is enabled by default.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. On the Action menu, click Properties.
3. To enable client posting, on the Settings tab, click to select the Allow Client Posting check box. (To disable client posting, click to clear the Allow Client Posting check box, and proceed to step 6.)
4. Click to select the Limit post size check box if you want to specify the maximum size article that a client can post to this news server.
5. Click to select the Limit connection size check box if you want to specify the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted during a session.
6. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Enable or Disable Feed Posting

Feed posting is enabled by default.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. On the Action menu, click Properties.
3. To enable feed posting, on the Settings tab, click to select the Allow Feed Posting check box. (To disable feed posting, click to clear the Allow Feed Posting check box, and proceed to step 6.)
4. Click to select the Limit post size check box if you want to specify the maximum size article that a client can post to this news server.
5. Click to select the Limit connection size check box, if you want to specify the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted during a session.
6. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Allow Pull Feeds

Pull feeds are enabled by default.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. On the Action menu, click Properties.
3. On the Settings tab, click to select the Allow servers to pull news articles from this server check box to allow other servers to configure pull feeds against this server. (To disable this option, click to clear the Allow servers to pull news articles from this server check box.)
4. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Allow Control Messages

Control messages are enabled by default.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. On the Action menu, click Properties.
3. On the Settings tab, click to select the Allow control messages to accept control messages from other servers and clients check box. (To disable this option, click to clear the Allow control messages to accept control messages from other servers and clients check box.)
4. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Configure Moderator Options

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. On the Settings tab, type the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server that is responsible for sending articles to newsgroup moderators or the path to a folder to hold these articles in the SMTP server for moderated groups box.
   
   Note The path must be a local folder.
3. Type the domain name in the Default moderator domain box. Articles posted to moderated newsgroups that do not have a moderator specified are sent to news_group_name@default_moderator_domain.
4. In the Administrator Email account box, type the SMTP address of a user that will receive non-delivery reports (NDRs) for moderated newsgroup articles that cannot be delivered.
5. Click OK to save the settings.

How to Rebuild a Virtual Server

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. On the Action menu, click Stop the Server.
3. On the Action menu, point to Tasks, and then click Rebuild Server.
4. On the Rebuild NNTP Virtual Server screen, click either Standard or Thorough.
   • Standard: Rebuilds the Group.lst file based on the contents of the virtual directories.
   • Thorough. Rebuilds all the internal files (*.hsh, *.lst, and so on).
5. Click Start.
6. When the rebuild finishes, click Close.
7. On the Action menu, click Start the Server.

Newsgroups

How to View Newsgroups

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click the Newsgroups node.
   
   At this point, a list of newsgroups is displayed in the right pane of Exchange System Manager. Only the first 100 newsgroups are listed. You can change the number and type of newsgroups that are displayed. Follow the rest of the steps to change the search criteria.
3. On the Action menu, click Limit group enumeration.
4. In the Find Newsgroups box, use any combination of the following to customize the newsgroups view:
   • Newsgroups: Type the kind of the newsgroups to be displayed when the Newsgroup node is selected. This acts as a filter. Use wildcards, such as alt.*. In this example, only newsgroups under the alt hierarchy are visible.
     
     Note You can also use this option to find a specific newsgroup, but only that newsgroup will be visible. Only one wildcard or one newsgroup can be entered at a time.
   • Limit number of items on the result pane: Click to clear this check box to list all of the newsgroups. This check box is selected by default.
   • Maximum number of items: Type the maximum number of newsgroups to enumerate. This limit only applies when the Limit number of items on the result pane check box is selected. The default is 100 newsgroups.
5. Click OK to display the filtered list.

How to Add Newsgroups

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Expand the container for the NNTP virtual server that you want to configure.
3. Click the Newsgroups node. A list of newsgroups appears in the right pane of Exchange System Manager.
4. On the Action menu, point to New, and then click Newsgroup.
5. In the Name box, type the name of the newsgroup that you want to create, and then click Next.
6. Type a brief description of the newsgroup function (optional).
7. Type a "pretty" name for the newsgroup (optional). This name will be returned by the NNTP list prettynames command. The pretty name is another alias for the newsgroup that can be displayed by clients.
8. Click Finish.

The new newsgroup appears in the list of newsgroups in the right pane of Exchange System Manager.

How to Set Newsgroups to Read-Only

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Expand the NNTP virtual server that you want to configure.
3. Click the Newsgroups node. A list of newsgroups appears in the right pane of Exchange System Manager.
4. Click to select the newsgroup that you want to configure.
5. On the Action menu, click Properties.
6. On the General tab, click to select the Read Only check box.
7. Click OK or Apply to save the setting.

How to Import Newsgroups from a Text File

Use the Rgroup.vbs script (located in the C:\Winnt\System32\Inetsrv folder) to create groups.

1. Obtain a file with the list of newsgroups to be imported. The file must be in the following format:

   215 List of newsgroups follows 
   news.group.1
   news.group.2
   .
   					

2. At a command prompt, change directory to the C:\Winnt\System32\Inetsrv folder, and then type the following command:
   cscript rgroup.vbs -t l -a path to file -s server name -v virtual server ID

The newsgroups is created.

How to Delete Newsgroups

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Expand the NNTP virtual server that you want to configure.
3. Click the Newsgroups node. A list of newsgroups appears in the right pane of Exchange System Manager.
4. Click the newsgroup that you want to delete.
5. On the Action menu, click Delete to delete the newsgroup.

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