How to test an NNTP (news) server using telnet

What you need

• news server host name (use in telnet command)
• newsgroup name (use in group command)
• an article (send after having received a positive response to the POST command)

What to do

Post test messages only in test groups.

The initial telnet: > symbolizes your shell prompt.

telnet: > telnet news.example.com nntp
telnet: Trying 192.0.2.2...
telnet: Connected to news.example.com.
telnet: Escape character is '^]'.
server: 200 news.example.com DNEWS Version 5.5d1, S0, posting OK
client: POST
server: 340 Ok, recommended ID <400da85b@news.example.com>
client: From: sender@example.com
client: Newsgroups: misc.test
client: Subject: Test article
client: Message-ID: <400da85b@news.example.com>
client: 
client: This is a test.
client: .
server: 240 article posted ok
client: GROUP misc.test
server: 211 24 269620 269643 misc.test selected
client: ARTICLE 269643
server: 220 269643 <400da85b@news.example.com> article retrieved - head and body follows
server: From: sender@example.com
server: Newsgroups: misc.test
server: Subject: Test article
server: Message-ID: <400da85b@news.example.com>
server: NNTP-Posting-Host: client.example.com
server: Date: 21 Jan 2004 00:16:08 +0200
server: X-Trace: news.example.com 1074636968 client.example.com (21 Jan 2004 00:16:08 +0200)
server: Lines: 2
server: Path: news.example.com
server: Xref: news.example.com misc.test:269643
server: 
server: This is a test.
server: .
client: quit
server: 205 closing connection - goodbye!

Related FAQs

What do the different headers mean?

The netnews message headers are defined in RFC 1036 (Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages).

Required headers

From:

The address of the person who sent the message.

Date:

The date when the message was posted.

Newsgroups:

The newsgroup(s) in which the message belongs.

Subject:

What the message is about.

Message-ID:

A unique identifier.

Path:

The path the message took to reach the current system.

Optional headers

Reply-To:

Mailed replies to the author should be sent to the name given here.

Sender:

The entity responsible for submitting the message to the network.

Followup-To:

Follow-up messages are to be posted to the newsgroup or newsgroups listed here.

Expires:

A suggested expiration date for the message.

References:

The Message-IDs of any messages prompting the submission of this message.

Control:

If a message contains a Control: line, the message is a control message.

Distribution:

Used to alter the distribution scope of the message.

Organization:

The organization to which the sender belongs, or to which the machine belongs.

Keywords:

A few well-selected keywords identifying the message.

Summary:

A brief summary of the message.

Approved:

Required for any message posted to a moderated newsgroup.

Lines:

A count of the number of lines in the body of the message.

Xref:

The name of the host and a list of pairs of newsgroup names and message numbers from the spool directory.

How do I post to more than one newsgroup at a time?

Posting the same article to separate groups is called crossposting. Technically, you just enter the names of all the groups you want to post to on the Newsgroups: line, separated by commas, for instance:

Newsgroups: misc.test,alt.test

If your news reader has a non-conforming user interface, you may need to refer to its documentation.

Before you crosspost you must make sure that your article is on-topic for all the groups you are posting it to. Even if it is, some servers may drop the article because they are configured to throw away crossposted articles. Also, if one or more of the groups you are crossposting to is moderated, your article will not be posted to any group until a moderator has approved it.

Do not confuse crossposting with multiposting, which means posting separate copies of an article to different groups. Multiposting wastes resources, and is almost never acceptable.

I try to read or post netnews, but I get Permission denied or You have no permission to talk. Goodbye.

Most news servers are not open to the general public, only to users from specific hosts (such as the IP addresses of the local network or of the ISP), or users with an account on the server. Sometimes a certain class of users may (in order to prevent spamming) be allowed to read news, but not to post.

Often the organization that provides you with Internet connectivity will also give you access to a news server; if so, this may well be the best means to access netnews.

There are also "open" news servers you can try, but your access on those may be very limited. If a server appears to be have been accidentally left "open", I advise against using it!

I would like a complete list of newsgroups.

There really is no such thing; every news server has its own file of "active" groups.

Not all news administrators want to carry all groups, and of those who try, not all will receive all newgroup messages. Also, different news admins may have different criteria for creating and deleting groups even if they carry the same hierarchies. Certain internal hierarchies leak although they should not. There are other reasons as well.

Because of the above, the appropriate active file for you (as a client) to use will be the one your news reader downloads from your news server. You can, however, also download reasonable starting point active and newsgroup (description) files from the Internet Software Consortium.

More information

…is available on the news.newusers.questions site.