Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!utastro!dpw
From: dpw@astro.as.utexas.edu (David Way)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: Using MYNAME with Sun uucp
Message-ID: <1991May13.231918.6994@astro.as.utexas.edu>
Date: 13 May 91 23:19:18 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Texas Astronomy/McDonald Observatory
Lines: 38

In article <1991May6.231157.13859@astro.as.utexas.edu> I wrote:

> I am trying to use the MYNAME keyword in the /etc/uucp/Permissions file of
> a Sun (really HoneyDanBer) uucp package.   It doesn't seem to work the way
> I expect - when uucico reads the Permissions file, it aborts, saying:
> "This system specified: -sMyname: [name], exit code 101".   It is essential
> that this work, since our uucp name differs from our Internet hostname.  It
> appears to work properly in reverse: another machine can call mine, and is
> permitted to call mine by it's uucp hostname.   Here's what the Permissions
> file looks like:
> 
> MACHINE=[incoming_hostname] LOGNAME=[login_hostname] MYNAME=[my_uucp_hostname]
>
> Everything works fine if I let uucico determine the hostname by running 
> hostname(1).   It almost looks like uucico does the wrong thing with the
> MYNAME keyword, using it for the target of the call, instead of the host
> specified with `-s' on the command line.

Several people that replied to my plea for help requested that I post a 
followup explaining what solved this problem.   So here it is - pretty simple,
actually.  The uucp names of the 2 hosts involved differ only in the 8th 
character. It turns out that this edition of uucp only cares about the first
7 characters of a hostname.   I changed the non-unique 8-character name of 
my host to something unique in the first 7 characters, and the MYNAME option
now seems to work correctly for both incoming and outgoing uucp calls.
As far as I know, this isn't documented in the Sun uucp manual.   In fact, 
on page 680 of the Sun System & Network Administration manual (SunOS 4.1.1), 
2nd paragraph from the bottom, it clearly says "Note that the name should not 
exceed 8 characters, so that in some cases truncation or abbreviation may be 
necessary".   This actually applies to the uucp login name in /etc/hosts, 
but it seemed like a reasonable rule for uucp names throughout this 
implementation, and I took it as such.   Live and learn ...

Thanks to all those who responded to my original message.   I hope my
experience documented here will be helpful to someone out there.
--
David Way  McDonald Observatory/Astronomy Dept.- Univ. of Texas, Austin 
(office) RLM 16.206 (voice) 471-7439 (internet) dpw@astro.as.utexas.edu