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jcs   GUIDE: Add FTN info Latest amendment: 449 on 2023-03-26

1 Subtext: a multi-user BBS server for Macintosh
2 Written by joshua stein <jcs@jcs.org> - http://jcs.org/subtext
3
4 Subtext is free software; see the LICENSE file for copyright/licensing.
5
6 Introduction
7 ==================================================================
8 Subtext is a multi-user BBS server that is developed and runs on Macintosh
9 System 6 and above. It supports dialin access through a serial modem and
10 Telnet access through MacTCP.
11
12 Features
13 ==================================================================
14 - Multithreaded, multi-user BBS server that runs on System 6+
15 - Telnet support through MacTCP
16 - Direct serial modem support (no Communications Toolbox)
17 - Integrated ANSI-capable local console
18 - Local log window with smart screen blanking
19 - Multiple threaded message boards
20 - FTN (FidoNet) EchoMail and NetMail support with Binkp hub synching
21 - Multi-user interactive chat
22 - Private messaging/mail
23 - File uploading and downloading with ZMODEM support
24 - Secure user password storage with SHA256
25 - View/menu templates with variable expansion
26 - Configurable main menu key shortcuts
27 - Telnet brute-force IP banning by sending messages to a firewall host
28
29 Setup
30 ==================================================================
31 Most of the administration is done through the BBS itself, by logging in as
32 a sysop and accessing the sysop menu. BBS settings, file areas, message
33 boards, and user accounts can all be modified through this menu.
34
35 Editing views must be done from console, as it is easier to work in large
36 blocks of text in a Mac window than through telnet.
37
38 When first run, Subtext will ask to open an existing BBS database. Clicking
39 Cancel will prompt to save a new database. On subsequent runs, Subtext
40 will automatically try to open the last database that it successfully opened.
41
42 When creating a new database, Subtext will create a default sysop user
43 with the username "sysop" and password "p4ssw0rd". It will also fill in
44 some defaults such as an example BBS name and hostname.
45
46 On launch, Subtext will open its logger window and initialize its connection
47 methods, which are only the console by default. Clicking the BBS menu and
48 then Open Console will open a sysop session. Pressing ! will access the
49 Sysop menu, and then S will enter the BBS Settings menu.
50
51 To enable dialin access, change the Modem Port setting to 1 for the modem
52 port, or 2 for the printer port depending on where the modem is connected.
53 An appropriate Modem Init String can also be configured, though it should
54 *not* be configured for Auto-Answer.
55
56 To enable Telnet access, set the Telnet Port to anything other than 0, such
57 as the standard telnet port of 23. Enabling Telnet requires MacTCP to be
58 installed.
59
60 View Templates
61 ==================================================================
62 In the BBS -> Views menu, each view used in the BBS can be edited:
63
64 - Pre-Login (Issue)
65 - Main Menu
66 - Short Menu (shown after user has seen main menu)
67 - Account Signup
68 - No Free Nodes
69 - Session Signoff
70
71 Views support expansion of variables, which are put inside {{ and }}
72 characters, such as "You are connected to {{node}}."
73
74 Supported variables:
75
76 - {{B}}
77 Enable bold attribute if the user's terminal supports ANSI (otherwise
78 it prints nothing).
79 - {{/B}}
80 Resets ANSI attributes (including bold) if the user's terminal supports
81 ANSI.
82 - {{#}}
83 Stops varible expansion for the rest of the template. Useful when
84 printing untrusted data (mostly used internally).
85 - {{new_mail}}
86 If the user has any new, unread mail messages, the count such as
87 "(4 New)". Otherwise it is blank.
88 - {{node}}
89 The current node, such as "ttyt0".
90 - {{phone_number}}
91 The system's configured phone number, such as "(312) 555-1212".
92 - {{time}}
93 The current system time in 24-hour format, such as "23:59".
94 - {{timezone}}
95 The system's configured "Timezone (Abbrev)".
96 - {{username}}
97 The currently logged-in user's username, or "guest".
98 - {{"string"}}
99 Print the literal string "string". This is useful in conditionals.
100
101 Variable results can also be truncated or padded to a particular length,
102 which can be helpful when creating menus with columns. This is done with
103 the pipe character and the length, such as:
104
105 {{ username|10 }}
106
107 Conditionals are also supported with ternary operators "?" and ":" to print
108 something if the condition is true (or non-null), otherwise print something
109 else. The following conditionals are supported:
110
111 - user
112 True if the current user is logged in as a non-guest.
113 - sysop
114 True if the current user is a sysop.
115
116 For example, the following would print one string in menu if the user is
117 a sysop, otherwise it prints something else.
118
119 {{ sysop ? "Answer sysop page" : "Page the sysop" }}
120
121 Or when printing mail for the user:
122
123 {{ user ? new_mail : "Guests cannot access mail." }}
124
125 Main Menu Configuration
126 ==================================================================
127 In addition to creating a custom menu layout, it may be desirable to change
128 the mapping of keys to functions. This can be done through Edit Menu
129 Options. The mapping is one action per line, with the Action, Menu Key,
130 All Keys list, and Label, separated by a colon. Blank lines and those starting
131 with # are ignored.
132
133 When there is no custom Main Menu view defined, a list of options will be
134 programmatically generated by showing all menu options with a Menu Key
135 defined with the Menu Key and Label. Options with no Menu Key defined are
136 still accessible by any key in the All Keys field, but are not shown.
137
138 The default mapping is:
139
140 # Action:Menu Key:All Keys:Label
141 BOARD_LIST_FTN_AREAS:A:Aa:List FTN Areas
142 BOARD_SHOW_FIRST:B:Bb:Message Board
143 BOARD_SHOW_1::1:Message Board 1
144 BOARD_SHOW_2::2:Message Board 2
145 BOARD_SHOW_3::3:Message Board 3
146 BOARD_SHOW_4::4:Message Board 4
147 BOARD_SHOW_5::5:Message Board 5
148 BOARD_SHOW_6::6:Message Board 6
149 BOARD_SHOW_7::7:Message Board 7
150 BOARD_SHOW_8::8:Message Board 8
151 BOARD_SHOW_9::9:Message Board 9
152 BOARD_SHOW_10::10:Message Board 10
153 CHAT:C:Cc:Multi-User Chat
154 FILES_MENU:F:Ff:File Areas
155 GOODBYE:G:GgXx:Goodbye
156 RECENT_LOGINS:L:Ll:Recent Logins
157 MAIL_COMPOSE:N:Nn:Compose New Mail
158 MAIL_MENU:M:Mm:Private Mail {{ user ? new_mail : "" }}
159 MOTD:O:Oo:Message Of The Day
160 PAGE_SEND_OR_ANSWER:P:Pp:{{ sysop ? "Answer Page" : "Page Sysop" }}
161 SETTINGS_OR_SIGNUP:S:Ss:{{ user ? "Settings" : "Signup For Account" }}
162 WHOS_ONLINE:W:Ww:Who's Online
163 SHOW_MENU:?:?:List Menu Options
164 SYSOP_MENU::!:Sysop Menu
165
166 FTN (FidoNet) Support
167 ==================================================================
168 Subtext supports FTN EchoMail (distributed message boards) and NetMail
169 (relayed mail to a user at another node) by way of a Binkp hub.
170 Directly-delivered "CrashMail" is not supported. Subtext has a built-in
171 scanner/tosser with limited support for PKZIP archives of FTN packets.
172
173 To get started, configure the FTN Hub Binkp hostname, port, and password
174 settings. The network name, hub node address (e.g., "21:3/100"), local node
175 address, and packet passwords must also be set. This is enough to enable
176 NetMail, so users can send mail to a user@XX:X/XXX and have it delivered
177 through the hub. Likewise, any incoming NetMail for valid usernames are
178 delivered, or bounced to the Sysop.
179
180 To enable EchoMail areas, create local boards in the Sysop menu and set the
181 "FTN Area Name" field to match each desired area name exactly. Note that
182 once a board has its FTN area name set, it cannot be removed later due to
183 FTN boards using a different database structure than local, threaded boards.
184
185 Once Binkp polling is enabled, Subtext will attempt to login to the Binkp hub
186 at the configured interval and retrieve any packets sent from the hub, saving
187 them to the "binkp-inbox" directory. After fetching any outstanding files,
188 any packets in the "binkp-outbox" directory are sent to the hub.
189
190 Packets (or PKZIP archives of packets) in the inbox are tossed and NetMail is
191 delivered. Any EchoMail packets for areas that match the FTN Area Name set
192 in a local board are imported.
193
194 To minimize latency, the Binkp poller will not start while there are any
195 users logged in. This means that NetMail messages sent locally will not be
196 sent out right away unless a Sysop manually triggers Binkp polling from the
197 Sysop menu. This comes into play when communicating back and forth with an
198 FTN AreaFix bot to configure which area messages should be delivered through
199 the Binkp hub.
200
201
202 Trusted Host
203 ==================================================================
204 While Subtext can handle direct TCP connections for Telnet, it will likely
205 be behind a firewall/trusted host. To limit brute-force login attempts,
206 Subtext has a hard-coded list of banned account names that most bots will
207 try in rapid succession, such as "root", "admin", etc. When a Telnet client
208 tries one of these usernames, Subtext can send a UDP packet to the trusted
209 host containing the IP to be banned (in dotted-quad plaintext format, such
210 as "192.168.1.1"). The trusted host IP and port can be configured in the
211 Sysop menu. If either value is empty/zero, this functionality is disabled.
212 Since there is no authentication with this mechanism, ensure the trusted
213 host is only listening for UDP packets on the interface facing the Subtext
214 server!
215
216 Also during Telnet negotiation, if the IP of the connecting client matches
217 the trusted host's IP, Subtext will honor the "REMOTE_ADDR" value present
218 in the NEWENV variable list and use it as the client's connecting IP address
219 in logs. This is useful if the trusted host is acting as a web proxy and can
220 pass the IP of the web client through to Subtext over Telnet.
221
222 Screen Blanking
223 ==================================================================
224 When running on compact Macs, it is recommended to enable Subtext's
225 screen blanking option to prevent the log window from burning into the
226 CRT. When the system is idle for a configured amount of time, it will blank
227 the entire screen for a configured amount of time, immediately unblanking
228 as soon as a new connection comes in, or when a key is pressed or a mouse
229 button is clicked. This is better than using a dedicated screen saver which
230 will not unblank after a period of time, and may be wasting CPU time
231 drawing flying toasters while Subtext needs to process user activity.
232
233 Run on Startup (System 6)
234 ==================================================================
235 To run Subtext when your Mac starts up, select the Subtext application in
236 Finder, then open the Special -> Set Startup... menu. Under "Upon startup,
237 automatically open:" select Subtext.