diff --git a/docs/sbbscon.txt b/docs/sbbscon.txt
index d470bc86e6036bc8245ee05f18f9fba96d7830e5..298c8e475ef7e8dd0e1cec02e28f690e87979995 100644
--- a/docs/sbbscon.txt
+++ b/docs/sbbscon.txt
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@ On Win32 operating systems, the exact same underlying server libraries (DLLs)
are used to service the clients, so from the users perspective there should
be no difference in performance or functionality. The console mode interface
does use fewer system resources than the graphical control panel, so for some
-sysops that wish to conserve system resources, this may be the preferred
-interface.
+Win32 sysops that wish to conserve system resources, this may be the preferred
+interface. But, to date, this interface has been used almost exclusively by
+Unix sysops.
2. BBS Configuration
@@ -26,9 +27,11 @@ exec/scfg.exe on Win32 and exec/scfg on Unix.
SCFG needs to be told the location of your Synchronet ctrl directory, where
it expects to find the Synchronet configuration (.cnf) files. This can be done
-by passing the path to your ctrl directory on the SCFG command line, example:
+by passing the path to your ctrl directory on the SCFG command line. Example:
scfg /sbbs/ctrl
+or:
+ scfg /usr/local/sbbs/ctrl
or by setting the SBBSCTRL environment variable before running SCFG. Example:
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ suggested you initialize this environment variable in your system startup
and/or login scripts. See section 3 for details.
The SCFG application supports multiple forms of user interface. The default
-interface is currently curses/conio (full-screen colored text). To use a
+interface is currently curses/conio (fullscreen colored text). To use a
different interface, use the -G (graphical) or -D (stdio) command-line
options. There are other command-line options to control the character set
used, escape key delay, monochrome/color mode, etc. Type "scfg -?" to list
@@ -60,16 +63,18 @@ these files should contain a description of its purpose and usage.
-------------------------------------------------
For Windows NT-based operating systems, goto the Windows Control Panel->
System->Advanced->Environment Variables->System Variables->New...
- Variable: SBBSCTRL
- Variable Value: c:\sbbs\ctrl (or wherever is correct)
+ Variable: SBBSCTRL
+ Variable Value: c:\sbbs\ctrl
+ (replace c:\sbbs\ctrl with the full path to your ctrl directory)
For Windows 9x-based operating systems, edit your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file
and add the line:
- SET SBBSCTRL=c:\sbbs\ctrl (or wherever is correct)
+ SET SBBSCTRL=c:\sbbs\ctrl
+ (replace c:\sbbs\ctrl with the full path to your ctrl directory)
For Unix bash/sh:
In the home directory of the user the BBS will be running as, edit the file
-name either .profile or .bash_profile depending on if you're running bash or
+named either .profile or .bash_profile depending on if you're running bash or
sh and add the line:
SBBSCTRL=/sbbs/ctrl && export SBBSCTRL
@@ -86,14 +91,34 @@ named .tcshrc (for tcsh) or .cshrc (for csh) add the line:
4. Server Configuration
-----------------------
The server/host-specific configuration options are set with sbbs command-line
-options (run "sbbs help" for a list), or by editing the Synchronet
+options (run "sbbs help" for a list) or by editing the Synchronet
Initialization file (e.g. ctrl/sbbs.ini).
4.1 Initialization File
-----------------------
+The Synchronet initialization file is a plain text file in Windows ini format.
+Lines beginning with a semicolon (;) character are considered comments and
+are ignored. Configuration values are grouped into sections. Sections are
+defined by a "[section_name]" line. The configuration sections are:
+
+ [Global] - Settings applied to all servers and services
+ [BBS] - Settings applied to the Telnet/RLogin server
+ [Mail] - Settings applied to the SMTP/POP3 mail server
+ [FTP] - Settings applied to the FTP server
+ [Web] - Settings applied to the Web server
+ [Services] - Settings applied to Synchronet services
+ [UNIX] - Settings applied to operations under Unix only
+ [SBBSCTRL:*] - Settings exported from the Synchronet Control Panel
+
+Within each section is a list of values (one per line) in the form:
+ name=value
+
+It is recommended that sysops new to Synchronet, leave the default values
+intact unless instructed to do otherwise.
+
The default initalization file is ctrl/sbbs.ini. A different initialization
-(.ini) filename may be used by specifying the path and filename on the sbbs
+filename may be used by specifying the path and filename on the sbbs
command-line. Example:
sbbs /sbbs/ctrl/mybbs.ini
@@ -104,14 +129,16 @@ the location of your Synchronet ctrl directory, where it expects to find
either <HOSTNAME>.ini or sbbs.ini.
-4.2 For Unix Sysops
+5. For Unix Sysops
--------------------
-You will particularily want to pay attention to the [UNIX] section of sbbs.ini
-if you do not want to run Synchronet (and all doors!) as root (You don't), you
-will have to set the User= and Group= lines.
+You will particularily want to pay attention to the [UNIX] section of your
+Initialization file.
+
+If you do not want to run Synchronet (and all external programs/doors) as
+root, you will have to set the User and Group values.
-If you wish the program to fork and run in the background as a daemon, logging
-via syslog, Set Daemonize=True in this section.
+If you want Synchronet to fork and run in the background as a daemon, logging
+via syslog rather than the local console, set Daemonize=True in this section.
The use of the LogFacility setting is beyond the scope of this document.
Read your syslog.conf manpage for more information about this. In particular,
@@ -126,37 +153,43 @@ of Synchronet as appropriate. Specifically, S will use:
LOG_CRON
-4.3 Terminal Capabilities
+5.1 Terminal Capabilities
-------------------------
-As you have probobly noticed by now, most telnet programs designed for BBSes
-do not display screens in *nix programs correctly. Included with Synchronet
-is a pair of files to enable you to run native *nix programs and have the
-output be useable in standard BBS terminals. These files are termcap and
-terminfo. Your system will use one of the other, and it won't hurt to install
-both. You will need to be root.
-
-Installing the terminfo:
-------------------------
-1) Change to the directory which contains the terminfo file.
-2) enter the command ``tic terminfo''
-
-Installing the termcap:
------------------------
-1) Change to the directory which contains the termcap file
+As you may have noticed by now, most telnet clients designed for use with
+ANSI BBSes do not display fullscreen Unix programs correctly. Included with
+Synchronet is a pair of terminal capability definition files that enable you
+to run native fullscreen Unix programs and have the output displayed correctly
+in a standard ANSI-BBS terminal. These files are termcap and terminfo,
+located in your Synchronet install directory. Your system will use one or the
+other, and it won't hurt to install both. You will need to be logged in as
+root to install the files.
+
+Installing the terminfo file:
+-----------------------------
+1) Change to the Synchronet install directory (e.g. sbbs/install)
+2) Enter the command ``tic terminfo''
+
+Installing the termcap file:
+----------------------------
+1) Change to the Synchroent install dircetory (e.g. sbbs/install)
2) Enter the command ``cat termcap >> /etc/termcap''
3) *** FreeBSD Only *** run the command:
``cap_mkdb -f /usr/share/misc/termcap.db /etc/termcap''
-Once they are installed, edit the ExternalTerm line in your *.ini file to read:
+Once the terminal capability files are installed, edit the ExternalTerm value
+in the [BBS] section of your .ini file to read:
ExternalTerm=ansi-bbs
-5. Running Synchronet
+6. Running Synchronet
---------------------
If you've initialized the SBBSCTRL environment variable and edited your BBS
and server configuration, you are now ready to run Synchronet. You can do
this by simply running exec/sbbs (off of the installation directory).
+
+6.1 Running Synchronet Automatically During Boot-up (Unix)
+----------------------------------------------------------
If you want Synchronet to start automatically whenever your system boots,
you will need to set that up using the system rc scripts. A few example are:
@@ -176,7 +209,7 @@ SBBSDIR=/sbbs
case "$1" in
start)
echo -n 'sbbs '
- cd /usr/bbs/sbbs/exec
+ cd $SBBSDIR/exec
export SBBSCTRL=$SBBSDIR/ctrl
export SHELL=/bin/sh
./sbbs