SYNOPSIS

       expire  [  -d dir ] [ -f file ] [ -g file ] [ -h file ] [ -i ] [ -N ] [
       -n ] [ -p ] [ -r reason ] [ -s size ] [ -t ] [ -v level ] [ -w number ]
       [ -x ] [ -z file ] [ expire.ctl ]

DESCRIPTION

       Expire  scans the history(5)-format text file <pathdb in inn.conf>/his-
       tory and uses the information recorded in it to  purge  itself  of  old
       news  articles.   Articles stored using a storage method that has self-
       expire functionality are by default not affected  by  expire's  primary
       behavior  (but  see  the  ``-N''  flag to disable this).  In this case,
       expire.ctl is ignored except  ``/remember/''  line  for  that  article;
       expire  does  still probe to see if the article still exists and purges
       the relevant history and overview entries if appropriate.  However,  if
       ``groupbaseexpiry'' in inn.conf is true, expire acts on all articles as
       specified by expire.ctl regardless of  whether  their  storage  methods
       have  self-expire  functionality.   In  this  case, the ``-e'', ``-k'',
       ``-N'', ``-p'', ``-q'', ``-w'' and ``-z'' flags are ignored.

       Note that expire never purges articles which do not match any entry  in
       expire.ctl.

OPTIONS

       -d dir If  the ``-d'' flag is used, then the new history file and data-
              base is created in the specified directory, dir.  This is useful
              when  the filesystem does not have sufficient space to hold both
              the old and new history files.  When this flag is  used,  expire
              leaves  the  server  paused and creates a zero-length file named
              after the new history file, with an extension  of  ``.done''  to
              indicate that it has successfully completed the expiration.  The
              calling script should install the new history file and  un-pause
              the server.  The ``-r'' flag should be used with this flag.

       -f file
              To specify an alternate history file, use the ``-f'' flag.  This
              flag is valid when used with the ``-d'', and the output will  be
              written  to the specified file.  The default without ``-f'' flag
              is ``history''.

       -g file
              If the ``-g'' flag is given, then a one-line summary  equivalent
              to  the output of ``-v 1'', except preceded by the current time,
              will be appended to the specified file.

       -h file
              To specify an alternate input text history file, use the  ``-h''
              flag.  Expire uses the old dbz(3) database to determine the size
              of the new one.  (If ``-d'' flag is not used, the  output  file-
              name will be the same as the input filename with an extension of
              ``.n''.)     The    default    without    ``-h''     flag     is
              <pathdb in inn.conf>/history.

       -p     Expire  makes  its decisions on the time the article arrived, as
              found in the history file.  This means articles are often kept a
              little  longer  than  with  other  expiration programs that base
              their decisions on the article's posting date.  To use the arti-
              cle's posting date, use the ``-p'' flag.

       -r reason
              Expire  normally  sends a ``pause'' command to the local innd(8)
              daemon when it needs exclusive access to the history file, using
              the string ``Expiring'' as the reason.  To give a different rea-
              son, use the ``-r'' flag.  The process ID will  be  appended  to
              the reason.  When expire is finished and the new history file is
              ready, it sends a ``go'' command.  See also the ``-n'' flag.

       -s size
              Optimize the new history database for approximately  size  pairs
              (lines  in history).  Accurately specifying the size will create
              a more efficient database.  (The size should  be  the  estimated
              eventual  size of the file, typically the size of the old file.)

       -t     If the ``-t'' flag is used, then expire will generate a list  of
              the  tokens  that  should be removed on its standard output, and
              the new history file will be left in  history.n,  history.n.dir,
              history.n.index  and  history.n.hash.   This  flag be useful for
              debugging when used with the ``-n'' flags.   Note  that  if  the
              ``-f'' flag is used, then the name specified with that flag will
              be used instead of history.

       -v level
              The ``-v'' flag is used to increase the verbosity  of  the  pro-
              gram,  generating messages to standard output.  The level should
              be a number, where higher numbers result in more output.   Level
              one  will print totals of the various actions done (not valid if
              a new history file is not  written),  level  two  will  print  a
              report on each individual file, while level five results in mul-
              tiple lines of output for every history line processed.

       -w number
              Use the ``-w'' flag to ``warp'' time so that expire thinks it is
              running  at  some  time  other then the current time.  The value
              should be a signed floating point number indicating  the  number
              of days to use as the offset.

       -x     If  the ``-x'' flag is used, then expire will not create any new
              history files.  This is  most  useful  when  combined  with  the
              ``-n'' and ``-t'' flags to see how different expiration policies
              would change the amount of disk space used.

       -z file
              If the ``-z'' flag is used, then articles are not  removed,  but
              their  names  are  appended  to  the  specified  file.   See the
              description of delayrm in news.daily(8).


                                                                     EXPIRE(8)