How To Set Up and Configure an NNTP Virtual Server in Windows 2000 (308162)

SUMMARY

This article provides step-by-step instructions for setting up a Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) server on a Windows 2000 Server-based computer.

Microsoft NNTP Service implements NNTP, with which you can create newsgroups and host discussion groups on a server. By using any standard news reader client (such as Microsoft Outlook Express), users in your organization can read articles from others who have similar interests, post articles to other users, and participate in conversation threads.

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Install Internet Information Services and Microsoft NNTP Service

Because Microsoft NNTP Service depends on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), IIS must be installed on your computer. To install IIS and Microsoft NNTP Service, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
4. In the Windows Components Wizard, click Internet Information Services (IIS), and then click Details.
5. Click to select the following check boxes:

   Common Files
   Documentation
   Internet Information Services Snap-In
   Internet Services Manager (HTML)
   NNTP Service
   World Wide Web Server

6. Click OK, and then on the Windows Components page, click Next.
7. On the Completing the Windows Components Wizard page, click Finish.
8. In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, click Close.

IIS and the NNTP service are now installed.

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Configure the NNTP Virtual Server

The NNTP virtual server that is created when you install Microsoft NNTP Service is automatically configured with default settings that enable it to accept local client connections. You can either accept the default settings or change the NNTP virtual server configuration. There are many options available for you to configure the NNTP virtual server to meet your needs.

This section explains how to configure the following three (required) options:

• Assign an Internet Protocol (IP) address
• Set the Authentication method
• Configure the Virtual Directory settings

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Assign an IP Address

To assign an IP address to your NNTP virtual server, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager. Or, open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) that contains the IIS snap-in.
2. In the console tree, right-click Default NNTP Virtual Server, and then click Properties.
3. In the Default NNTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box, click the General tab.
   • If you want the NNTP virtual server to respond to connection requests for all IP addresses configured on the computer, click (All Unassigned).
     
     This is the default setting.
   • If you want to assign a specific IP address to the NNTP virtual server, click the IP address that you want to assign in the IP address box.
   • If you want to assign additional IP addresses to the virtual server, click Advanced, and then click Add. In the Identification dialog box, specify the IP address and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) port numbers. Note that the default TCP port is 119, and the default SSL port is 563. Click OK twice to return to the Default NNTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box.
4. Click OK to return to the Internet Information Services window.

The NNTP virtual server is now configured to accept connection requests from the IP address assigned to it.

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Set the Authentication Method

To specify the authentication methods that you want to set on the NNTP virtual server, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager. Or, open the MMC containing the IIS snap-in.
2. In the console tree, right-click Default NNTP Virtual Server, and then click Properties.
3. In the Default NNTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box, click the Access tab.
4. Under Access control, click Authentication.
5. Specify the authentication method (or methods) that you want.
   
   Click to select one or more of the following check boxes, and then click OK:

   Allow anonymous
   Basic authentication
   Windows security package
   Internet Services Manager
   Enable SSL client authentication

   NOTE: If you do not want to restrict access to a newsgroup, click to select the Allow anonymous check box to enable anonymous access. In addition, do not set any Windows 2000 Server folder permissions for the folder that contains the newsgroup.
   
   
6. Click OK twice to return to the Internet Information Services window.

The authentication method (or methods) that you specified are now configured for the NNTP virtual server.

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Configure the Virtual Directory Settings

A virtual directory is a folder on a local or remote drive that stores newsgroup content. Each virtual directory represents a level of your newsgroup hierarchy. You can create as many virtual directories as needed to match the structure of your newsgroup hierarchy.

When an NNTP Virtual Server is created, two virtual directories, Control and Default, are created by default. The Control virtual directory stores all control processing content, and the Default directory stores newsgroup and article content.

To configure the virtual directory settings, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager. Or, open the custom MMC containing the IIS snap-in.
2. In the console tree, double-click Default NNTP Virtual Server to expand the container.
3. Click Virtual Directories.
4. In the Newsgroup Subtree pane, right-click the directory that you want (for example, Default), and then click Properties.
5. Under Virtual Directory Properties, click Contents. In the Directory Contents dialog box, specify the storage location that you want for the virtual directory's contents, and then click OK.
   
   The default location for the home directory is Inetpub\Nntpfile\root. NOTE:
   
   
   • If you want to allow news clients to post articles to newsgroups in this directory, click to select the Allow posting check box under Access restrictions.
   • To generate an access log for this directory in the IIS access log, click to select the Log access check box under Content control.
     
     NOTE: To turn on logging, you must also click to select the Enable logging check box on the General tab of the NNTP virtual server Properties dialog box. (In the console tree, right-click your virtual server, click Properties, and then click the General tab).
   • To index the contents of the directory by using Microsoft Indexing Service, click to select the Index news content check box. By doing this, users can query the newsgroup articles for specific words or phrases.
6. Click OK to return to the Internet Information Services window.

The NNTP virtual server is now configured with the settings that you specified, and is ready to accept incoming requests from NNTP clients. After you define the newsgroup hierarchy structure and then create newsgroups, users can post articles to, and view the articles in, those newsgroups.

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Troubleshooting

When NNTP clients are unable to connect to Microsoft NNTP Service, follow these steps to troubleshoot the issue.

Check Event Viewer

Check the Windows NT Event Viewer System log for NNTP Service-related error messages. Each time Microsoft NNTP service starts, stops, processes a command, or detects an error, an event is recorded in the System log.

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Event Viewer.
2. In the console tree, click System Log.
3. In the details pane, click the event that you want, and then click Properties on the Action menu to view more details about the event.

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Use the Ping Utility to Verify Network Connectivity

Use the Ping utility (Ping.exe) to verify network connectivity to Microsoft NNTP Service:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. At the command prompt, type the following, where server name is the Domain Name Service (DNS) name of the Windows 2000 Server-based computer on which the NNTP Service is running:

   ping server name

   If you are able to establish a network connection, you receive a response similar to the following:

      Pinging <server name> with [192.168.888.888] with 32
      bytes of data:
   
      Reply from 192.168.888.888: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=121
      Reply from 192.168.888.888: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=121
      Reply from 192.168.888.888: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=121
      Reply from 192.168.888.888: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=121
   					

   If you are unable to establish a network connection, you receive a response similar to the following:

      Unknown host <server name>
   					

3. At the command prompt, type the following, where IP address is the IP address of the Windows 2000 Server-based computer on which Microsoft NNTP Service is running:

   ping IP address

   If you are able to establish a network connection when you use the IP address but not when you use the DNS name, investigate DNS issues. For example, verify that the DNS entry for Microsoft NNTP Service is correct, and that the client is configured to use the correct DNS name.
   
   If you are unable to establish a network connection, the issue is likely network-related. Investigate possible network connectivity issues.

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Use Telnet to Verify That Microsoft NNTP Service Is Accepting Connections

Use Telnet (Telnet.exe) to verify that Microsoft NNTP Service is accepting connections and is correctly responding to NNTP commands. By doing this, you can determine whether the issue is related to the client or the service.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type telnet, and then click OK.
3. At the command prompt in the Telnet window, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line, where server name or IP address is the DNS name or the IP address of the Windows 2000 Server-based computer running Microsoft NNTP Service, and port is the NNTP TCP port:

   set local_echo
   open server name or IP address port

   Note that the default NNTP TCP port is 119.
   
   
   • If the service accepts the connection, you receive a message similar to the following:

        200 NNTP Service 5.00.0984 Version: 5.0.2195.2966 Posting Allowed
     						

     At the command prompt, type list, and then press ENTER.
     
     A list of available newsgroups is displayed if the service responds correctly to the NNTP command.
     
     If you can connect and run the list command, this is probably a client-related issue.
     
     
   • If the service does not accept the connection, you may receive any of the following error messages:
     Could not open a connection to host on port number: Connect failed.
     This indicates that the NNTP Service may not be running or is not accepting connections.
     502 Connection refused
     This indicates that the NNTP Service is paused or the connection limit has been reached.
     480 Logon Required
     This indicates that the NNTP Service does not allow anonymous access.
     
     If you cannot connect and you receive any of these messages, this is probably a service-related issue. Verify that the service is running, and then check Microsoft NNTP Service configuration settings.

For additional information about troubleshooting Microsoft NNTP Service issues, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
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REFERENCES

More information about Microsoft NNTP Service is available in the Microsoft News (NNTP) Service documentation. To view the documentation, start Microsoft Internet Explorer, and then type the following URL on the Address bar: For additional information about how to start, stop, and pause the NNTP Service, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about how to create additional NNTP virtual servers, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about how to start, stop, and pause NNTP virtual servers, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about how to configure security for a Windows 2000 Server-based computer that uses the NNTP service, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about how to start, stop, and pause the NNTP Service, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: back to the top