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Papercut NNTP Server
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For more information on what exactly Papercut is, and what are its main 
objectives / intended audience, please read the README file.


Requirements:
-------------

- Python 2.2 (it needs the email module to parse MIME based messages)
- Database server
  - The Phorum backend needs MySQL or PostgreSQL as the storage driver)
    - MySQLdb python module (http://sf.net/projects/mysql-python)
    or
    - pyPgSQL python module (http://pypgsql.sourceforge.net/)
  - The phpBB backend needs MySQL
    - MySQLdb python module (http://sf.net/projects/mysql-python)
  - There are other storage modules, seek the source for details on those

- Permission to add a new column to one of the Phorum tables


Step by Step Instructions:
--------------------------

1) Unpack the distribution tarball where you intend to run it from

  $ cd /path/to/where/papercut/will/run
  $ gunzip papercut-X.tar.gz
  $ tar vxf papercut-X.tar
  [lots of stuff shows up on the console]
  $ cd papercut-X

2) Edit the settings.py configuration file

  - Change the 'log_path' variable to point to the appropriate directory on your
    server (i.e. /usr/local/papercut/logs/)

  - Modify the 'nntp_hostname' and 'nntp_port' variables to your appropriate
    server name and port number. (Note: if you want to run Papercut on port 199,
    you may need to be root depending on your system)

  - Choose your backend type by changing the 'backend_type' variable. (Note: as
    of version 0.7.1, there is only one backend -> phorum_mysql)

  - Finally, change the MySQL related variables so Papercut can connect to the
    appropriate database and get the content of the messages.

3) If your backend type is 'phorum_mysql':

  - You will need to add a new column under the main forum listing table to
    associate the name of a newsgroup to a table name. Since Phorum is totally
    dynamic on the number of forums it can create, we need an extra column to
    prevent problems.

    $ cd /path/to/where/papercut/will/run/
    $ cd backends
    $ less phorum_mysql_fix.sql
    [read the information contained on the file]
    $ mysql -u username_here -p database_here < phorum_mysql_fix.sql
    [password will be requested now]

  - Now that the new column was created on the main forum listing table, you 
    will need to edit it and enter the name of the newsgroup that you want for
    each forum.

  - After you finish editing the main forum table, you will need to go back to
    the settings.py file and configure the full path for the Phorum settings
    folder. That is, the folder where you keep the 'forums.php' configuration
    file and all other files that setup the options for each forum.

    It will usually have 'forums.php', '1.php', '2.php' and so on. The numbers
    on the filenames are actually the forum IDs on the main forum table. In any
    case, you will need to change the 'phorum_settings_path' variable on the
    settings.py file and put the full path to this folder.

  - You will also need to set the version of the installed copy of Phorum so
    Papercut can send the correct headers when sending out copies of the posted
    articles (also called PhorumMail for the Phorum lovers out there). Set the
    'phorum_version' variable as appropriate on your case (i.e. '3.3.2a').


If you find any problems on this set of instructions, or if the instructions
didn't work out for you, please let me know.
