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Local Doors

ENiGMA½ has many ways to add doors to your system. In addition to the many built in door server modules, local doors are of course also supported using the ! The abracadabra module!

See also Let’s add a DOS door to Enigma½ BBS by Robbie Whiting for a great writeup on adding doors!

The abracadabra Module

The abracadabra module provides a generic and flexible solution for many door types. Through this module you can execute native processes & scripts directly, and perform I/O through standard I/O (stdio) or a temporary TCP server.

Configuration

The abracadabra config block can contain the following members:

Item	Required	Description
`name`		Used as a key for tracking number of clients using a particular door.
`dropFileType`		Specifies the type of dropfile to generate (See Dropfile Types below). Can be omitted or set to `none`.
`cmd`		Path to executable to launch.
`args`		Array of argument(s) to pass to `cmd`. See Argument Variables below for information on variables that can be utilized here.
`preCmd`		Path to a pre-command executable or script to launch. Executes before `cmd`.
`preCmdArgs`		Array of argument(s) to pass to `preCmd`. See Argument Variables below for information on variables that can be utilized here.
`cwd`		Sets the Current Working Directory (CWD) for `cmd`. Defaults to the directory of `cmd`.
`env`		Sets the environment. Supplied in the form of an map: `{ SOME_VAR: "value" }`
`nodeMax`		Max number of nodes that can access this door at once. Uses `name` as a tracking key.
`tooManyArt`		Art spec to display if too many instances are already in use.
`io`		How to process input/output (I/O). Can be `stdio` or `socket`. When using `stdio`, I/O is handled via standard stdin/stdout. When using `socket` a temporary socket server is spawned that can be connected back to. The server listens on localhost on `{srvPort}` (See Argument Variables below for more information). Default value is `stdio`.
`encoding`		Sets the door’s encoding. Defaults to `cp437`. Linux binaries often produce `utf8`.

Dropfile Types

Dropfile types specified by dropFileType:

Value	Description
`none`	No door file is needed
`DOOR`	DOOR.SYS
`DOOR32`	DOOR32.SYS
`DORINFO`	DORINFOx.DEF

Argument Variables

The following variables may be used in args and preCmdArgs entries:

Variable	Description	Example
`{node}`	Current node number.	`1`
`{dropFile}`	Dropfile filename only.	`DOOR.SYS`
`{dropFilePath}`	Full path to generated dropfile. The system places dropfiles in the path set by `paths.dropFiles` in `config.hjson`.	`C:\enigma-bbs\drop\node1\DOOR.SYS`
`{dropFileDir}`	Full path to directory containing the generated dropfile.	`/home/enigma-bbs/drop/node1/`
`{userAreaDir}`	Full path to a directory safe for user-specific save files/etc.	`/home/enigma-bbs/drop/node1/NuSkooler/lord/`
`{userId}`	Current user ID.	`420`
`{userName}`	Sanitized username. Safe for filenames, etc. If the full username is sanitized away, this will resolve to something like “user_1234”.	`izard`
`{userNameRaw}`	Raw username. May not be safe for filenames!	`\/\/izard`
`{srvPort}`	Temporary server port when `io` is set to `socket`.	`1234`
`{cwd}`	Current Working Directory.	`/home/enigma-bbs/doors/foo/`
`{termHeight}`	Current client term height	`25`
`{termWidth}`	Current client term width	`80`

Example args member using some variables described above:

args: [
    "-D", "{dropFilePath}",
    "-N", "{node}"
    "-U", "{userId}"
]

DOSEMU with abracadabra

DOSEMU can provide a good solution for running legacy DOS doors when running on Linux systems. For this, we will create a virtual serial port (COM1) that communicates via stdio.

As an example, here are the steps for setting up Pimp Wars:

First, create a dosemu.conf file with the following contents:

$_cpu = "80486"
$_cpu_emu = "vm86"
$_external_char_set = "utf8"
$_internal_char_set = "cp437"
$_term_updfreq = (8)
$_layout = "us"
$_rawkeyboard = (0)
$_com1 = "virtual"

The line $_com1 = "virtual" tells DOSEMU to use stdio as a virtual serial port on COM1.

Next, we create a virtual X drive for Pimp Wars to live such as /enigma-bbs/DOS/X/PW and map it with a custom AUTOEXEC.BAT file within DOSEMU:

@echo off
path d:\bin;d:\gnu;d:\dosemu
set TEMP=c:\tmp
prompt $P$G
REM http://www.pcmicro.com/bnu/
C:\BNU\BNU.COM /L0:57600,8N1 /F
lredir.com x: linux\fs\enigma-bbs\DOS\X
unix -e

Note that we also have the BNU FOSSIL driver installed at C:\BNU\\. Another option would be to install this to X: somewhere as well.

Finally, let’s create a menu.hjson entry to launch the game:

doorPimpWars: {
    desc: Playing PimpWars
    module: abracadabra
    config: {
        name: PimpWars
        dropFileType: DORINFO
        cmd: /usr/bin/dosemu
        args: [
            "-quiet",
            "-f",
            "/path/to/dosemu.conf",
            "X:\\PW\\START.BAT {dropFile} {node}"
        ],
        nodeMax: 1
        tooManyArt: DOORMANY
        io: stdio
    }
}

Shared Socket Descriptors

Due to Node.js limitations, ENiGMA½ does not directly support DOOR32.SYS style socket descriptor sharing (other DOOR32.SYS features are fully supported). However, a separate binary called bivrost! can be used. bivrost! is available for Windows and Linux x86/i686 and x86_64/AMD64. Other platforms where Rust builds are likely to work as well.

Example configuration

Below is an example menu.hjson entry using bivrost! to launch a door:

doorWithBivrost: {
    desc: Bivrost Example
    module: abracadabra
    config: {
        name: BivrostExample
        dropFileType: DOOR32
        cmd: "C:\\enigma-bbs\\utils\\bivrost.exe"
        args: [
            "--port", "{srvPort}",          //  bivrost! will connect this port on localhost
            "--dropfile", "{dropFilePath}", //  ...and read this DOOR32.SYS produced by ENiGMA½
            "--out", "C:\\doors\\jezebel",  //  ...and produce a NEW DOOR32.SYS here.

            //
            //  Note that the final <target> params bivrost! will use to
            //  launch the door are grouped here. The {fd} variable could
            //  also be supplied here if needed.
            //
            "C:\\door\\door.exe C:\\door\\door32.sys"
        ],
        nodeMax: 1
        tooManyArt: DOORMANY
        io: socket
    }
}

Please see the bivrost! documentation for more information.

Phenom Productions Releases

Pre-built binaries of bivrost! have been released under Phenom Productions and can be found on various boards.

Alternative Workarounds

Alternative workarounds include Telnet Bridge module to hook up Telnet-accessible (including local) door servers – It may also be possible bridge via NET2BBS.

QEMU with abracadabra

QEMU provides a robust, cross platform solution for launching doors under many platforms (likely anywhere Node.js is supported and ENiGMA½ can run). Note however that there is an important and major caveat: Multiple instances of a particular door/OS image should not be run at once! Being more flexible means being a bit more complex. Let’s look at an example for running L.O.R.D. under a UNIX like system such as Linux or FreeBSD.

Basically we’ll be creating a bootstrap shell script that generates a temporary node specific GO.BAT to launch our door. This will be called from AUTOEXEC.BAT within our QEMU FreeDOS partition.

Step 1: Create a FreeDOS image

FreeDOS is a free mostly MS-DOS compatible DOS package that works well for running 16bit doors. Follow the QEMU/FreeDOS guide for creating an freedos_c.img. This will contain FreeDOS itself and installed BBS doors.

After this is complete, copy LORD to C:\DOORS\LORD within FreeDOS. An easy way to tranfer files from host to DOS is to use QEMU’s vfat as a drive. For example:

qemu-system-i386 -localtime /home/enigma/dos/images/freedos_c.img -hdb fat:/path/to/downloads

With the above you can now copy files from D: to C: within FreeDOS and add the following to it’s autoexec.bat:

CALL E:\GO.BAT

Step 2: Create a bootstrap script

Our bootstrap script will prepare GO.BAT and launch FreeDOS. Below is an example:

#!/bin/bash

NODE=$1
DROPFILE=D:\\$2
SRVPORT=$3

mkdir -p /home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE

cat > /home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE/GO.BAT <<EOF
C:
CD \FOSSIL\BNU
BNU.COM
CD \DOORS\LORD
COPY /Y $DROPFILE
CALL START.BAT $NODE
FDAPM POWEROFF
EOF

unix2dos /home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE/GO.BAT

qemu-system-i386 -localtime /home/enigma/dos/images/freedos_c.img -chardev socket,port=$SRVPORT,nowait,host=localhost,id=s0 -device isa-serial,chardev=s0 -hdb fat:/home/enigma/xibalba/dropfiles/node$NODE -hdc fat:/home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE -nographic

Note the qemu-system-i386 line. We’re telling QEMU to launch and use localtime for the clock, create a character device that connects to our temporary server port on localhost and map that to a serial device. The -hdb entry will represent the D: drive where our dropfile is generated, while -hdc is the path that GO.BAT is generated in (E:\GO.BAT). Finally we specify -nographic to run headless.

For doors that do not require a FOSSIL driver, it is recommended to not load or use one unless you are having issues.

Finally we can create a menu.hjson entry using the abracadabra module:

doorLORD: {
    desc: Playing L.O.R.D.
    module: abracadabra
    config: {
        name: LORD
        dropFileType: DOOR
        cmd: /home/enigma/dos/scripts/lord.sh
        args: [
            "{node}",
            "{dropFile}",
            "{srvPort}",
        ],
        nodeMax: 1
        tooManyArt: DOORMANY
        io: socket
    }
}

Local Doors

Local Doors

The abracadabra Module

Configuration

Dropfile Types

Argument Variables

DOSEMU with abracadabra

Shared Socket Descriptors

Example configuration

Phenom Productions Releases

Alternative Workarounds

QEMU with abracadabra

Step 1: Create a FreeDOS image

Step 2: Create a bootstrap script

Step 3: Create a menu entry

See Also

Additional Resources

DOS Emulation

Door Downloads & Support Sites

General

L.O.R.D.