Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site akgua.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!gatech!akgua!glc
From: glc@akgua.UUCP (G.L. Cleveland [Lindsay])
Newsgroups: net.mail
Subject: Re: cant send mail to osu-eddie AUGH!
Message-ID: <1987@akgua.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 13-Dec-85 00:34:00 EST
Article-I.D.: akgua.1987
Posted: Fri Dec 13 00:34:00 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Dec-85 03:32:38 EST
References: <33@drutx.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Technologies/Bell Labs, Atlanta
Lines: 35

More than once has a site connected to "akgua" been cursed with the
problem of mail only flowing in one direction.  It usually turns
out that:

  1. It is a new site that is using the UUCP control tables
       "USERFILE" or "Permissions" as received on the release tape.
  2. It is a site that has just upgraded their UUCP to the 
       Honey-Danbur version (changing from "USERFILE" to "Permissions")
  3. Somebody decided to "tighten up security" and started mucking
       around with "USERFILE" or "Permissions".

By manipulation of the above-mentioned control table, it is quite
possible to create a set of permissions that only allow mail to be
sent but never received.  The message from the "refused" site that
gets sent to the mailer ("...unable to contact machine...") is
misleading.

I suggest that the UUCP maintainers of both sites involved get on
the phone, run some tests with the "debug mode" on, i.e.

  /usr/lib/uucp/uucico -r1 -x8 -scbosgd &

and watch what happens.  Of course, a review of the permission
table might also reveal the problem, but that's not as much fun as
watching "uucico" run!

(Of course this could all be some other problem, like one site having
their telephones turned off during the holidays because "nobody
will be using them".)

Cheers,
  Lindsay

Lindsay Cleveland  (akgua!glc) (404) 447-3909   Cornet 583-3909
AT&T Technologies/Bell Laboratories ... Atlanta, Ga