Debugging Emacs Gnus to determine the starttls command working with No Gnus

Debugging Emacs Gnus to determine the starttls command working with No Gnus

[JJ]

OK, I'm trying to accomplish the following:

I can use the git checkout of No Gnus no probs at home. At work, it
won't connect to hcoop.net's IMAP server. The admin has assured me that
port 993, and for that matter also 143, is not blocked at work.

I can connect however, without any change in setup, but using the Gnus
in Emacs 24, the latest bzr version.

I've checked I can't reach the server with `gnutls-cli -p imaps
mail.hcoop.net' which is the command that No Gnus uses at home to
connect. At work this just times out...

What I'd like to see is the actual commandline it the Emacs Gnus uses to
be able to connect to hcoop at work, since I just can't figure it out,
I've been experimenting today all day with various ports, nnimap-stream
variations and what have you, no luck...

However neither *imap-debug*, nor *nnimap-debug*, or *Messages* will
show me the commandline syntax the Emacs Gnus uses, so I can force No
Gnus to work that way.

I'm sure it's easy to derive, however don't know where to examine the
actual commandline syntax...
--
JJ

Re: Debugging Emacs Gnus to determine the starttls command working with No Gnus

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

JJ <ding_gnus.org@sumou.com> writes:

> What I'd like to see is the actual commandline it the Emacs Gnus uses to
> be able to connect to hcoop at work, since I just can't figure it out,
> I've been experimenting today all day with various ports, nnimap-stream
> variations and what have you, no luck...

But are you using starttls or tls?

For starttls, this is controlled by starttls-gnutls-program and
friends.  For tls, it's tls-program.  And in Emacs 24, we'll soon have
built-in tls support, so there will be no external program at all.  :-)

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: Debugging Emacs Gnus to determine the starttls command working with No Gnus

[JJ]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> But are you using starttls or tls?
>
> For starttls, this is controlled by starttls-gnutls-program and
> friends.  For tls, it's tls-program.  And in Emacs 24, we'll soon have
> built-in tls support, so there will be no external program at all.  :-)

The thing is I don't know what it's using, that's what I'm trying to
find out.

I've got the following:

(setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil))
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnimap "mail.hcoop.net"
				   (nnimap-address "mail.hcoop.net")
			           (nnir-search-engine imap))))

So I assume it's using tls;
tls-program is ("gnutls-cli -p %p %h" "gnutls-cli -p %p %h --protocols
ssl3" "openssl s_client -connect %h:%p -no_ssl2 -ign_eof") which means I
have it set to default, i.e. hasn't been modified by anything.

And that's what I need to decipher, which of these with which port the
GNU Emacs Gnus uses to connect, as it connects.

I've experimented from the CLI with various variants of ports etc., for
instance I can connect without specifying any port, but not with 993 etc.

I don't even know whether the Emacs Gnus uses the first option, or fails
on it and some further one is working, as I can't get (meaning probably
don't know how to get) a debugging trace showing me the command with
which the Gnus is successfull in connecting, so I could force the Git
Gnus checkout to use this specific combination, so that it would
connect.

I.e. `gnutls-cli -p imaps mail.hcoop.net', which the git version uses as
a default fails, so Emacs gnus must be using something else.
However, for instance I can connect with `gnutls-cli -p 443 mail.hcoop.net'
from the commandline, however if I `(setq imap-port 443)' Gnus will not
connect, even the Emacs Gnus, so clearly it isn't using this command or the
port, having been set this way is passed to it differently.

So how can I determine which command exactly it is using to connect, so
that I may set it explicitly and can use the Git Gnus, until tls is used
internally?
-- 
JJ

Re: Debugging Emacs Gnus to determine the starttls command working with No Gnus

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

JJ <ding_gnus.org@sumou.com> writes:

> (setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil))
> (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnimap "mail.hcoop.net"
> 				   (nnimap-address "mail.hcoop.net")
> 			           (nnir-search-engine imap))))

This probably means that you're using TLS and not STARTTLS, so
tls-program is used.

> So I assume it's using tls;
> tls-program is ("gnutls-cli -p %p %h" "gnutls-cli -p %p %h --protocols
> ssl3" "openssl s_client -connect %h:%p -no_ssl2 -ign_eof") which means I
> have it set to default, i.e. hasn't been modified by anything.
>
> And that's what I need to decipher, which of these with which port the
> GNU Emacs Gnus uses to connect, as it connects.

Since it's TLS, it's port 993.  If you want STARTTLS, you should
probably say `(nnimap-stream starttls)', which will make it connect to
the normal imap port instead of imaps.

nnimap should do some probing, however, to automate this.

> So how can I determine which command exactly it is using to connect, so
> that I may set it explicitly and can use the Git Gnus, until tls is used
> internally?

gnutls-cli is probably failing because you're not using --insecure, so
it's falling through to the openssl s_client, would be my guess.  Do you
have that installed?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: Debugging Emacs Gnus to determine the starttls command working with No Gnus

[JJ]

On Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:06:10 +0200, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
<larsi@gnus.org> wrote:
> Since it's TLS, it's port 993.  If you want STARTTLS, you should
> probably say `(nnimap-stream starttls)', which will make it connect to
> the normal imap port instead of imaps.
...
> gnutls-cli is probably failing because you're not using --insecure, so
> it's falling through to the openssl s_client, would be my guess.  Do you
> have that installed?

I've noticed --insecure has been added in nnimap.el at some point in time
as a parameter that gnutls-cli is called with.

After much experimentation with ports settings etc. at work I came to the
conclusion that port 993 must be blocked partially somehow, even though the
admin has repeatedly assured me, that it's unblocked. So I discussed with
him again today, he went back, did some `defaults overrulling' or what have
you, as he called it, and it does work now, indeed.

So I can connect with No Gnus at work. Thanks a lot for your help.
-- 
JJ