Anyone ever set up a BBS?

[bug]

OS/2 was really awesome and reminds me a bit of how we're using hardware today with VMs and Docker ..

Oh yes, OS/2, the most stable platform to run Windows software!

 

[NoiseBox]

Hold on a second...look up BPQ32. If you are gonna do a BBS, it needs to be accessed by a modem. Remember X.25? Well, how about AX.25 over radio waves, or plain sounds. I have used modems over the air to send/receive messages and do keyboard chat with radios. A whopping 1200 baud with 5 watts RF in VHF. Low UHF allows 56k, but you need some good equipment.

Packet radio. Another way is direwolf.

Of course, you need a FCC license to transmit, but not to listen.

Ha, this is getting waaaaay out of hand, I'll stick with the "modern" way of telnet, but it's a fascinating lesson in options, thanks!

I suggest also avoid that. You can do FTP and e-mail via other common linux packages, which is going to be much better, safer, and easier.
If you are planning on running any debian-based distro, the best option is to simply run Webmin, and use it to set up postfix, webmail, addresses, and sftp.
It may require a bit more resources, but it all depends on how old your machine is.
Our old work server used to handle mail and other stuff on a puny Celeron J4005, but before that it was still feeling comfortable on an old Atom D525. I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the whole thing and replacing current 3 servers with a "brand new" and shiny Supermicro X11. Should be able to run it all in VMs on ESXi and then some...

I speak Debian, but I've not decided yet what I want to SysOp on. The system is a Haswell quad core i5 with 16GB RAM (DDR3 IIRC) with an m.2 for boot and SSD for data.

 

[eidairaman1]

So I've been considering using a spare PC and set up an old-school BBS. Unsure why the idea entered my head, but it seems there is still a thriving BBS culture and hey why not?
Doing some brief looking about for software, Synchronet seems to be a popular choice, but I"m really out of my depth here.
To paraphrase someone way more famous than I am, "I don't know what I don't know."

In other words, I"m not even sure where to start in my learning, so I'm reaching out to you guys in hopes someone has been down this path before, and can help me out.

The bbs is 1 progenitor of the World Wide Web as we know it.

 

[johnspack]

OS/2? man. I did bbses when we only had dos. Started with 1200 baud... not sure how fast we got until the internet. By 14k to 56k we were on the internet.
I do remember blowing $400 in long distance calls using bbses all over north america in one month. That was 30+ years ago. That's like 1k today heh....

 

[NoiseBox]

Started with 1200 baud.

I recall proto-internet/quasi BBS places like Compuserv charging you more if you had a faster modem.
I had a friend who had created a script to dial up, log in and download all his main and newsgroup posts, so he could read them offline and not get charged a ton of cash.
My BBS will not have a charge associated with it

 

[silentbogo]

I speak Debian, but I've not decided yet what I want to SysOp on.

That makes it easier: just go with Ubuntu server.

 

[NoiseBox]

Well, some progress. I was using Putty and it defaulted to SSH, I was just unfamiliar with the UI and thought it was going through Telnet. So one concern down (and a million more to go)
I figured out how to upload files to the file directory structure. It's kind of a PITA as it's a two part process and it's not a simple as throwing the files into the right directory via Windows File Explorer (I'm running Synchronet under a Win10 VM right now as I struggle to understand it)

Got some users created to test with, but the file download section asks for a download protocol, as if I was still using a modem (X,Y or Z or Q {I think} Modem protocol) and I need to figure out how to change that to recognize network download speeds/protocol.

Speaking of such things, does anyone know of a real manual I can buy/download for Synchronet? I'm much more used to reading books offline, than trying wiki pages or pages full of hyperlinks to other pages.

 

[R-T-B]

I did bbses when we only had dos.

The server you logged into was probably running OS/2, not DOS. Just sayin'

 

[bug]

The server you logged into was probably running OS/2, not DOS. Just sayin'

That became the de facto standard setup eventually, yes, but BBS predates OS/2 by 10 years or so.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Taiwan has a huge, vibrant BBS community, where a lot of rumours are spread...

PTT Bulletin Board System - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[R-T-B]

That became the de facto standard setup eventually, yes, but BBS predates OS/2 by 10 years or so.

How old is BBS? People often forget the first release of OS/2 was in 1987.

Still, I am sure DOS based solutions existed.

 

[NoiseBox]

How old is BBS? People often forget the first release of OS/2 was in 1987.

Still, I am sure DOS based solutions existed.

A full list (that I know of) is here

Synchronet BBS List

Some of them list the OS they host on, and some even still support dial-up connections.

 

[bug]

How old is BBS? People often forget the first release of OS/2 was in 1987.

Still, I am sure DOS based solutions existed.

Made me look. First BBS software was released in 1978. That makes it older than MS-DOS even.

 

[johnspack]

Here's a list of dos compatible. There are more, because the one I used isnt even on the list... this is older stuff...

List of BBS software - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[NoiseBox]

I'm trying to set up an old-school BBS on a spare PC I have (haswell core i-5, 16GB RAM, Windows 10 LTSC)
Since this is going on my TP-Link AX-1500 router (where the rest of my network PCs reside) I decided for security sake, I'd enable the Guest network and place the PC on there.
So far, so good.
Set a static IP for the usual 192.168.1.2xx
Made sure it can't see my other PCs or NAS.
So far, so good.
Can surf the internet with the PC.
So far, so good.
Installed the Synchro.net BBS software and configured it. (I followed this page here: https://famicoman.com/HackInACan/BBS.html)
In the router, opened telnet ports (TCP and UDP) of 23 for that PC only (192.168.1.2xx)

Here's where the problems go:
I cannot telnet from my main systems to this PC, using Putty or SyncTERM
I thought perhaps firewall issues with Telnet, so I followed this page here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...curity-administration-with-windows-powershell

The funny thing is, my BBS software tracks .ru IPs trying to root their way in via telnet, so something seems to be working.

I'm not very good at the fine grained security configs, so I'd dearly like some help.

 

[crUshed420]

Wow, that takes me back.
I did actually set up a BBS once, but it was to play VGA Planets with a few friends. It's been almost 30 years now...

Sorry, that's not helpful, but you did offer me a trip down memory lane.

Thanks to your message, this is exactly how I found this thread - I was searching for VGA Planets mods for Synchronet and Google took me here VGA Planets is still alive and well in 2022, you and your friends from back in the day should join a game

Here's where the problems go:
I cannot telnet from my main systems to this PC, using Putty or SyncTERM
I thought perhaps firewall issues with Telnet, so I followed this page here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...curity-administration-with-windows-powershell

The funny thing is, my BBS software tracks .ru IPs trying to root their way in via telnet, so something seems to be working.

I'm not very good at the fine grained security configs, so I'd dearly like some help.

This is a few weeks old now - did you sort out your local telnet issues? If this was put on the back-burner and you still haven't figured it out, start by trying to telnet into your static IP to see if that works ok.

There are a LOT of Synchronet BBS's running these days, and lots of helpful guys to assist in setting it up, hope you get your BBS off the ground!

Cheers!

-crUshed420 (sysop t0kerZ hUt BBS - telnet://t0kerZ.ddns.net )