NAME
motd.news - Message of the day information for feeders or readers
DESCRIPTION
Two files, found in pathetc, contain local information for news feeders or news readers in a free-form format. The entire files are returned verbatim to any client that issues the LIST MOTD command. This might be used for new information, notification of upcoming downtime, or similar purposes.
These files are named motd.innd (for news feeders) and motd.nnrpd (for news readers); they are used by innd and nnrpd, respectively.
Make sure that these files are encoded in UTF-8. They should also be "dot-stuffed", that is to say that a line beginning with a dot should have that dot doubled.
Be aware that use of the LIST MOTD command is not widespread (though documented in RFC 6048) and most news clients will never ask for this file.
If one or both of these files are missing, it is not an error. The server will just send the client the appropriate response for an unmaintained motd.innd or motd.nnrpd file.
On a fresh INN install, samples for these files are installed in pathetc; you will therefore find in motd.innd.sample and motd.nnrpd.sample a few examples of messages that can be communicated to news clients.
HISTORY
Rewritten in POD by Russ Allbery <eagle [AT] eyrie.org> for InterNetNews.