enigma-bbs/docs/index.md

3.1 KiB
Raw Blame History

Introduction

ENiGMA½ is a modern from scratch BBS package written in Node.js.

Quickstart

TL;DR? This should get you started...

Prerequisites

  • Node.js version v4.2.x or higher
    • It is suggested to use nvm to manage your Node/io.js installs
  • Windows users will need additional dependencies installed for the npm install step in order to compile native binaries:

New to Node

If you're new to Node.js and/or do not care about Node itself and just want to get ENiGMA½ running these steps should get you going on most *nix type enviornments:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.31.0/install.sh | bash
nvm install 4.4.0
nvm use 4.4.0

If the above completed without errors, you should now have nvm, node, and npm installed and in your environment.

Clone

git clone https://github.com/NuSkooler/enigma-bbs.git

Install Node Modules

cd enigma-bbs
npm install

Generate a SSH Private Key

To utilize the SSH server, a SSH Private Key will need generated. This step can be skipped if desired by disabling the SSH server in config.hjson.

openssl genrsa -des3 -out ./misc/ssh_private_key.pem 2048

Create a Minimal Config

The main system configuration is handled via ~/.config/enigma-bbs/config.hjson. This is a HJSON file (compiliant JSON is also OK). See Configuration for more information.

{
	general: {
		boardName: Super Awesome BBS
	}

	servers: {
		ssh: {
	    	privateKeyPass: YOUR_PK_PASS
	    	enabled: true /* set to false to disable the SSH server */
	    }
	}

	messageConferences: {
		local_general: {
			name: Local
			desc: Local Discussions
			default: true

		    areas: {
		    	local_music: {
					name: Music Discussion
					desc: Music, bands, etc.
					default: true
	        	}
	        }
	    }
	}
}

Launch!

./main.js

ENiGMA½ does not produce much to standard out. See below for tailing the log file to see what's going on.

Points of Interest

  • Default ports are 8888 (Telnet) and 8889 (SSH)
    • Note that on *nix systems port such as telnet/23 are privileged (e.g. require root). See this SO article for some tips on using these ports on your system if desired.
  • The first user you create via applying is the SysOp (aka root)
  • You may want to tail the logfile with Bunyan: tail -F ./logs/enigma-bbs.log | ./node_modules/bunyan/bin/bunyan

Advanced Installation

If you've become convinced you would like a "production" BBS running ENiGMA½ a more advanced installation may be in order.

PM2 is an excellent choice for managing your running ENiGMA½ instances. Additionally, it is suggested that you run as a specific more locked down user (e.g. 'enigma').