[afnog] Beta Release: cwhoisd Version 0.9.3

[Begumisa Gerald M]

Hi All,

Just thought this bit of open source software we developed for the .UG
ccTLD may be useful to other ccTLD's and [hopefully] RIR / LIRs may
express enough interest in it for it to be developed further to suite as
many people's needs as possible.

In short it's a whois server that suite's the needs of the .UG ccTLD the
way it is but I wouldn't mind putting in more effort to make it more
flexible :-)

Following are brief notes / instructions on how to get it.


--
Selected Excerpts from the README and CREDITS files:

[README]
What is cwhoisd?

        cwhoisd is a highly scalable, fast, lightweight C/C++ daemon which
        aims to implement most of the RFC1834 whois server specification.
        It has built-in support for the MySQL database engine and is not
        tied to any specific table structure making it a highly viable and
        extremely easy-to-setup option in situations where there is an
        already existing database.  Nonetheless, cwhoisd comes with a
        proposed table structure for a Whois database.

        cwhoisd features a powerful set of Access Control List rules which
        administrators may use tightly control access to the server when
        accessible by the general Internet, on a per-ip basis. These may
        be on a per-client or global basis.  Nonetheless, by building
        cwhoisd with the "default allow" mode, cwhoisd may operate like
        any completely open whois server.

        A typical setup might be:

        o   Limit the query rate of a whose IP is XX.YY.ZZ.AA to 100
            requests per second.

        o   Delay this client to enforce the rate if they exceed this
            specified rate and print a warning for this client before
            servicing<cut>

        In addition to the default action of reading the Access Control
	List rules at startup from the configuration file, cwhoisd
	features [experimental] support for dynamic addition or
	modification of ACL rules in the running server.  This is achieved
	by specifying a second Internet port which will be used for this
	purpose<cut>

	Download the software to learn more!
[/README]


[CREDITS]
Begumisa Gerald <beg_g at cfi.co.ug>
        cwhoisd Server Software Architecture Design and Implementation.

Catherine Aloikin <cathy at aloikin.ug>
        Design of MySQL Database, modelled specifically for the .UG ccTLD
        Registry.

Computer Frontiers International www.cfi.co.ug
	Funded and continues to fund the development of cwhoisd for the
	.UG Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) Registry.  CFI also
	provides the hosting and bandwidth facilities that make cwhoisd
	available for free download.
[/CREDITS]



How to get a copy of the software:

	There are basically 2 ways of getting this software.

	a) Download

	   Grab either of the following two files:

	   http://storm.cfi.co.ug/cwhoisd/cwhoisd-0.9.3.tar.bz2
		OR
	   http://storm.cfi.co.ug/cwhoisd/cwhoisd-0.9.3.tar.gz

	b) Concurrent Versions System (CVS) Server (abit slower)

	   Log in to any Unix server (Linux / FreeBSD) and type out the
	   following commands:

$ cvs -d :pserver:anoncvs at pop.eahd.or.ug:/usr/local/cvsroot login

	NOTE:   At this point you will be required to enter a password,
		use the password "anoncvs" without the double quotes.

$ cvs -d :pserver:anoncvs at pop.eahd.or.ug:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout -r v0_9_3 cwhoisd

	   Then change to the cwhoisd folder and read the file called
	   "README"

	   This will get you version 0.9.3 of the cwhoisd software.
--

Enjoy!


Regards,
Gerald.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Begumisa Gerald M.
Programmer / Systems Administrator
Computer Frontiers International
Plot 32 Lumumba Avenue, Kampala
Office Tel.: +256 41 340417
Mobile Tel.: +256 71 991983
Fax: +256 41 340456
Web: www.cfi.co.ug