Poll File Format for BNU

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Purpose

Specifies when the BNU program should poll remote systems.

Description

The /etc/uucp/Poll file specifies when the Basic Networking Utilities (BNU) program should poll (initiate automatic calls to) designated remote computers. This file is used in conjunction with the /var/spool/cron/crontabs/uucp file, uudemon.hour command, and uudemon.poll command. Together, these files are responsible for initiating automatic calls to certain remote systems.

Each entry in the Poll file contains the name of the remote computer followed by a sequence of times when the BNU program should poll that system. Modify the times specified in the Poll file based on how the systems at your site are used. Specify times as digits between 0 and 23. The format of the entry is as follows:

SystemName  Time  [Time ...]

The fields in the Poll file entry must be separated by at least one space. More spaces can be used for readability. A tab character between the SystemName field and the first Time field is optional.

Note:
  1. Only someone with root user authority can edit the Poll file, which is owned by the uucp program login ID.
  2. Most versions of UUCP require a tab character between the SystemName field and the first Time field. In BNU, either a tab or spaces will work.

Examples

Following is a standard entry in the Poll file:

hera <TAB> 0 4 8 12 16 20

This entry specifies that the local system will poll the remote system hera every 4 hours.

The tab character can be replaced by one or more spaces. Thus the preceding entry is equivalent to the following one:

hera    0 4 8 12 16 20

Files

Item Description
/etc/locks Contains lock files that prevent multiple uses of devices and multiple calls to systems.
/var/spool/cron/crontabs/uucp Schedules BNU jobs for the cron daemon.