Hello all, I hope this gets out onto the network.
It has taken me some time to get SBBS working on Linux, (Mint) and what a struggle it was. I am new to Linux and the learning curve is quite high and different from dos/windows. But I refuse to go back to windows as I don't agree with the direction they are going.

I ran SBBS back from 2005 to around 2009ish with XP running on a old HP Netserver. I got pretty good at writing some custom code, had a ham radio door tied to a TNC that you could go into the BBS and out Packet or Packet into the BBS. I made custom login, menus, etc. I was by all means not a pro with code or SBBS but I had a good handle on it. That said in Windows/DOS. Linux? Yeah no... I suck.

Since the old BBS was definitely a old version and I got 3.19 working on Linux. What are the chances of being able to move the old board and it's mods over to this Linux install? I assume, the copy and drop files into the folders are not going to work. With some maybe, but I doubt it will go that easy.

Any suggestions on how to go about this? Has any one done this, and maybe can lend a pointer of what not to do?

I know this is very vague, but at this point I just got the board up and running without sending a ton of errors to the logs and it seems to be stable. At this time it is not in the wild per-say I would like to get it working and back to how I had it before I put it fully out there.
Thanks in advance,
-Jason

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ï¿­ Synchronet ï¿­ PRS (in Beta)
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Phantomrage to all on Mon Oct 24 2022 10:11 am

Since the old BBS was definitely a old version and I got 3.19 working on Linux. What are the chances of being able to move the old board and it's mods over to this Linux install?

Very good.

I assume, the copy and drop files into the
folders are not going to work. With some maybe, but I doubt it will go that easy.

It will work for things like menus (*.ans, *.asc) and other display files, but be sure to double-check that command keys haven't been changed (where applicable) since 2009.

Baja modules (*.src, *.bin) will mostly "just work" still.

I'm not sure what other files you're considering "dropping", so please clarify. --
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #33:
Nigel Tufnel: Well, so what? What's wrong with bein' sexy?
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* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Very good.

That's good to hear.

It will work for things like menus (*.ans, *.asc) and other display files, but be sure to double-check that command keys haven't been changed (where applicable) since 2009.

Baja modules (*.src, *.bin) will mostly "just work" still.

I will add this to the list of things to check, thank you.

I'm not sure what other files you're considering "dropping", so please clarify. --

At this point I am going to start small, and move menus and other *.ans *.anc files over. see how it goes. I was able to pull the full drive image off the server so I am able to run a VM of XP and get the old BBS working, I can use that as a comparison of how it worked. I need to spend some time and remember what I modded and changed. There is over 10k of files in the old sbbs directory so might take some time to sort and work through.

Some of it is funny. 100 nodes? Not even sure what I was thinking there. Grand visions of being the next AOL?

End goal, look and feel of old board having the latest version and new features of SBBS.

Thanks for the help thus far.

---
ï¿­ Synchronet ï¿­ PRS (in Beta)
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Phantomrage to Digital Man on Mon Oct 24 2022 03:07 pm

Some of it is funny. 100 nodes? Not even sure what I was thinking there. Grand visions of being the next AOL?

:-) Many door games require that you have a separate configuration (e.g. cfg file) for each node, so that could get pretty tedius to support correctly.
--
digital man (rob)

Rush quote #69:
He's a writer and a ranger, and a young boy bearing arms .. New World Man Norco, CA WX: 75.5øF, 18.0% humidity, 1 mph ESE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

:-) Many door games require that you have a separate configuration (e.g. cfg file) for each node, so that could get pretty tedius to support correctly.

The new BBS is going to have 8 nodes.

The old one was version 3.14 and I am finding out this is not gonna be easy at all, or not till I get a grasp on this. So I figured the FTP display files would be the easiest to drop in. So I took the old ones and put them in the new text folder. Not displaying them on the new BBS. I have a feeling something isn't configured to look in the correct area or??? Small steps.

---
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* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Phantomrage to Digital Man on Mon Oct 24 2022 04:39 pm

:-) Many door games require that you have a separate configuration (e.g. cfg file) for each node, so that could get pretty tedius to support correctly.

The new BBS is going to have 8 nodes.

The old one was version 3.14 and I am finding out this is not gonna be easy at all, or not till I get a grasp on this. So I figured the FTP display files would be the easiest to drop in. So I took the old ones and put them in the new text folder. Not displaying them on the new BBS. I have a feeling something isn't configured to look in the correct area or??? Small steps.

What's an "FTP display file"?
--
digital man (rob)

Rush quote #61:
He's a rebel and a runner, he's a signal turning green .. New World Man
Norco, CA WX: 71.5øF, 27.0% humidity, 6 mph SSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

What's an "FTP display file"?

I made ones for the old BBS and figured this was easiest to drop in and test. Unless this was removed from the new version. Figured if the new build see's these and displays them correctly I would start moving on to login screen, then the login script, and move along that way.

The Synchronet FTP server can optionally send text files from your text directory to the FTP client/user under certain conditions:
Filename Description
ftplogin.txt Sent before the username and password is requested
ftphello.txt Sent upon successful login
ftpbadlogin.txt Sent upon unsuccessful login attempt
ftpbye.txt Sent upon logoff (before server acknowledgment of the QUIT command)

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Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Digital Man to Phantomrage on Mon Oct 24 2022 03:29 pm

Some of it is funny. 100 nodes? Not even sure what I was thinking
there. Grand visions of being the next AOL?

:-) Many door games require that you have a separate configuration (e.g. cfg file) for each node, so that could get pretty tedius to support

Often, the only difference is the path to the dropfile.. When I was running my BBS on Windows, there was a program I wrote that would copy the first configuration file of a door for however many nodes you have and change the path of the dropfile in the config files (assuming the only difference was the node number in the path).

Nightfox

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Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Phantomrage to Digital Man on Tue Oct 25 2022 06:54 am

What's an "FTP display file"?

I made ones for the old BBS and figured this was easiest to drop in and test. Unless this was removed from the new version. Figured if the new build see's these and displays them correctly I would start moving on to login screen, then the login script, and move along that way.

The Synchronet FTP server can optionally send text files from your text directory to the FTP client/user under certain conditions:
Filename Description
ftplogin.txt Sent before the username and password is requested ftphello.txt Sent upon successful login
ftpbadlogin.txt Sent upon unsuccessful login attempt
ftpbye.txt Sent upon logoff (before server acknowledgment of the QUIT command)

Ah, yes, indeed, those files are still supported. They must be in your Synchronet "text" directory and remeber that Linux uses a case-sensitive file system (unlike Windows), so often (and in this case), the filenames need to be all lowercase.
--
digital man (rob)

Sling Blade quote #14:
Karl Childers: Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a kaiser blade. Norco, CA WX: 64.6øF, 36.0% humidity, 1 mph E wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
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Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Nightfox to Digital Man on Tue Oct 25 2022 08:44 am

Re: New project, with linux and SBBS
By: Digital Man to Phantomrage on Mon Oct 24 2022 03:29 pm

Some of it is funny. 100 nodes? Not even sure what I was thinking
there. Grand visions of being the next AOL?

:-) Many door games require that you have a separate configuration (e.g. cfg file) for each node, so that could get pretty tedius to support

Often, the only difference is the path to the dropfile.. When I was running my BBS on Windows, there was a program I wrote that would copy the first configuration file of a door for however many nodes you have and change the path of the dropfile in the config files (assuming the only difference was the node number in the path).

True, right, but those config files can be of an adhoc binary format making that a unique challenge to solve for *each* door game.
--
digital man (rob)

Rush quote #52:
His world is under observation, we monitor his station .. Digital Man
Norco, CA WX: 64.6øF, 36.0% humidity, 1 mph E wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

On 10/24/22 15:07, Phantomrage wrote:

Some of it is funny. 100 nodes? Not even sure what I was thinking there. Grand visions of being the next AOL?

I ran configured to 25 for a long while, only once got something like 17 around 2003, and that took coordinated effort and several people showing
up for regular chat nights. Even then, rarely got over 10... today
don't think I'd bother configuring more than 10 for a regular use case
unless I had significant reason to do so.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
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I ran configured to 25 for a long while, only once got something like 17 around 2003, and that took coordinated effort and several people showing

That would have been fun. I will be shocked if more than one node is in use at a time. Even more shocked if I can get this project finished and working..

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