Xref: utzoo news.software.nntp:339 news.sysadmin:2687
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!bu-cs!cloud9!fmbutt
From: fmbutt@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Farooq Butt)
Newsgroups: news.software.nntp,news.sysadmin
Subject: NNTP woes. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (SunOS 4.0.3)
Message-ID: <8974@cloud9.Stratus.COM>
Date: 26 Oct 89 21:55:35 GMT
References: <32166@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Followup-To: psooster
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc., Marlboro, MA
Lines: 49


Help!!!! 

     I am trying to run NNTP 1.5.6.  on a sun 3/280s running SunOS
     4.0.3 and am running into a totally bizarre problem: Clients
     on my network wishing to run "rn" have to wait about 1.3
     minutes before nntpd running on our server will start
     dealing with them.

     After much tracing, I saw that nntpd was spending about a
     minute in the routine "host_access" in "access.c," after
     which it would let me read, write or transfer files (my
     access-file has the default being that everyone can
     read/write/xfer and NO other rules).  After the first 1.3
     minute glitch, things would continue as normal (i.e.
     articles came over as fast as I could handle).  If I
     short-circuit the "host_access" routine everything works
     FAST but in "promiscous" mode (i.e no authentication).
     I am concerned enough about security for this to be a 
     problem.

     The specific line in the "host_access" module where I think all
     the time is being spent in is the gethostbyaddr call (I
     touch files before and after the gethostbyaddr call and the
     second touch happens about a minute after the first) but I
     have no clue why that could be.  To add insult to injury, I
     have tried to perform the same gethostbyaddr call in a
     separate program and things seemed to fly right along.  What
     is it about NNTP's gethostbyaddr that is screwy.  Please
     remember that I can use nntp allright but only in "insecure"
     mode (i.e.  nntpd works nice and fast if and only if I do a
     trivial return from "host_access" giving all access to the
     host in question by setting the permission bits to 1.  I am
     about rip my hair out in frustration..what *could* be the
     cause of all this.  NNTP wizards here's
     your chance to prove that it is I, not NNTP, at fault here! 


     Thanks in advance!
     Farooq Butt 
     Stratus Computer (508) 460-2798
     fmbutt@cloud9.UUCP


-- 
NOTHING  in the above article has the slightest relationship to reality. 
If any reality correspondences are found, please notify me IMMEDIATELY.  
Any threats, abuse or stupidity of any kind are purely UNINTENTIONAL. 
My employer does not know that I exist and is not responsible for anything.