Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!yale!bunker!wtm
From: wtm@bunker.UUCP (Bill McGarry)
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: Help!  My history files are taking over!
Message-ID: <2882@bunker.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Oct-87 23:46:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: bunker.2882
Posted: Wed Oct 14 23:46:24 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Oct-87 05:51:10 EDT
References: <15057@clyde.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: wtm@bunker.UUCP (Bill McGarry)
Distribution: na
Organization: Bunker Ramo, an Olivetti Company, Shelton, CT
Lines: 25

In article <15057@clyde.ATT.COM> rcj@clyde.ATT.COM (Curtis Jackson) writes:
>Look at this!
>
>-rw-r--r--   1 news     news     1514496 Oct  9 03:35 history
>-rw-r--r--   1 news     news        4096 Oct  9 07:43 history.dir
>-rw-r--r--   1 news     news     2092032 Oct  9 07:52 history.pag
>
>What can I do to reduce this?  /usenet/lib disk usage is now
>more than 15000 blocks.
>

I assume that you are running 2.11 news where expired articles ID's are
kept in the history file for a period of time to prevent old articles
from re-appearing.  The default for this period of time is 4 weeks.
(The define is HISTEXP in "defs.h".)

With 4 weeks worth of article ID's, an 1 1/2 meg history file is
about the right size.  What can you do to reduce this size?  Change
the HISTEXP define to some smaller number (3 weeks?).

				Bill McGarry
				Bunker Ramo, Shelton, CT
				(203) 337-1518

     PATH:  {philabs, decvax, fortune, yale}!bunker!wtm