The Linux UUCP HOWTO

• Index
• Introduction, copyright & standard disclaimer
• Other sources of information
• Requirements
• Setting up the config files
• It doesn't work - now what?
• Frequently Asked Questions about Linux UUCP
• Acknowledgements

3. Requirements

3.1 Hardware

There are no specific hardware requirements for UUCP under Linux. Basically any Hayes-compatible modem works painlessly with UUCP.

In most cases, you'll want the fastest modem you can afford, i.e. 56000 bps actually. In general, you want to have a 16550 UART on your serial board or built into your modem to handle speeds of above 9600 baud.

If you don't know what that last sentence means, please consult the comp.dcom.modems group or the various fine modem & serial communications FAQs & periodic postings on USENET.

3.2 Software

UUCP for linux is available everywhere, for example on sunsite.unc.edu. But before trying to get any version, try to install & make your current uucp work ; there're many little differences between each linux distribution, therefore it's easier for you to configure/install your distribution's UUCP package rather than editing sources for some options, setting the right paths & permissions, installing, etc.

But if you prefer sources ...

1) Unpack

To extract a gzip'd tar archive, I do the following:

                gunzip -c filename.tar.z | tar xvf -

               tar -zxvf filename.tgz

2) Run "configure"

Type "sh configure".

The configure script will compile a number of test programs to see what is available on your system & will calculate many things.

The configure script will create conf.h from conf.h.in & Makefile from Makefile.in. It will also create config.status, which is a shell script which actually creates the files.

3) Decide where to install

Rather than editing the Makefile.in file in the sources you can get the same effect by:

        "configure --prefix=/usr/lib"

4) Edit "policy.h" for your local system

• - set the type of lockfiles you want (HAVE_HDB_LOCKFILES)
• - set the type of config files you want built in (HAVE_TAYLOR_CONFIG, HAVE_V2_CONFIG, HAVE_HDB_CONFIG)
• - set the type of spool directory structure you want (SPOOLDIR_HDB)
• - set the type of logging you want (HAVE_HDB_LOGGING)
• - set the default search path for commands (I added /usr/local/bin to mine)

5) Then compile & install the software

• Type "make" to compile.
• Type "make install" to install.