Help help info

Table of Contents

1.1 Can't Get a CNS Product?

CNS Product distribution is carefully monitored. We allow access to active-duty U.S. military personnel, activated National Guard and Reserve personnel, and DOD civilian employees. Due to copyright restrictions, retired military status does not qualify for access.

If you attempt to access a CNS Product, and you cannot get permission to download the files, it is because your system does not "prove" that it meets the aforementioned requirements and we can not find your personal identifying data.

Our server uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to validate the identity of a user's machine. It performs a DNS lookup to verify a fqdn (fully qualified domain name) in the .mil domain. If your DNS server responds to our lookups with the correct information, you will be allowed to retrieve a CNS Product.

If not, you will be invited to log in with personal information. If your organization shares personnel data with the Defense Manpower Data Center and your DoD status matches one of those allowed, you will be allowed to retrieve a CNS Product.

If you are in a qualified domain and you still get the invitation to log in, it is because there is a problem resolving your address. This is indicative of one of two problems:

  • Your site's DNS may be misconfigured.
  • Your site's DNS tables do not correctly/completely reflect your machine.

Here is a DNS Test Service that you can use to help analyze your situation.

  • Call your technical support staff to resolve this issue. Only they can control your DNS tables.
  • Call your technical support staff to resolve access issue.

1.2 What is the authentication procedures for non .mil visitors?

Non .mil visitors have to verify their credentials directly with the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC).

After sucessful login, they will be re-directed and able to browse the website. Sessions will expire after one hour of inactivity.

PLEASE NOTE: You must have cookies enabled in your web browser. Otherwise you will not be allowed access to the website.

1.3 Why can't I just FTP CNS Products?

We're sorry, but we cannot run an anonymous FTP site for CNS Products.

Due to security considerations, the detractions outweigh the benefits of running an anonymous FTP site in conjunction with the WWW site.

1.4 What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a popular XML format for viewing news in News Aggregator applications. Depending on each News Aggregator, you may set up the application to download the latest data from the RSS source on scheduled times, and view the news contents inside the application. EarlyBird's new RSS feed provides summary of EarlyBird articles and is updated daily.

URL for EarlyBird RSS feed: http://ebird.osd.mil/ebfiles/cnsebird.xml

As with other EarlyBird content, the EarlyBird RSS feed can only be accessable from .mil sites or with DMDC authentication.

More information on RSS can be found here.

1.5 Who can you contact?

If your site does not meet the above qualification criteria, but you still want to access CNS Products online, please contact the Current News Service:

Current News Service (CNS)
Pentagon 2D961
Washington, DC 20301-1400
(703) 614-1889
Email: EBird@osd.mil

1.6 Why can't my web crawler retrieve data from EarlyBird website?

Due to DoD security requirements, we have added a "robot.txt" file to our Ebird servers to prevent crawling of the EarlyBird. If your crawler resolves to a .mil domain, however, you may request the robot.txt file be modified to allow access.

To request this, please use the the Contact Us link and provide the following information:

1. IP address of your crawler (must be a static ip)
2. Name of your organization
3. Point of Contact's email and telephone number.

 
 

The Early Bird is prepared by the Current News Service of the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD-PA).

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