Lunduke.com » How To Set Up Your Own BBS – Be The King of 1989… Today!
With the rise of the World Wide Intertubes, in the 19-Something-Or-Others, we saw the decline of the old-school, text based dial-up BBS.
Luckily, that hasn't stopped many of us from continuing to use (and enjoy) the best that BBS-ing has to offer. Considering running your own BBS? Read on!
What is a BBS?
If you never had the joy of using a BBS (perhaps they were a bit before your time), here is the idea in a nutshell:
A BBS is a system that you "call" (in the old days with a modem and an analog phone line) and interact with via a text and ANSI graphics (colorful ascii with a little animation) interface.
There were a few key components to a BBS that closely mirror what we currently have available today on the internet:
1) Message Forums and Networks
2) Email
3) Online, multiplayer games
4) Downloadable files
5) Real-time Chat
Nowadays it is entirely possible to run a BBS, that looks and acts just like a BBS from the 80's and 90's, and have that BBS accessible to anyone on the internet.
Why run your own BBS?
So let's say you decide you want to run a BBS of your very own -- thus making you a SysOp (System Operator).
You really need to ask yourself one question: WHY?!
I mean, let's be honest. It's not for the fame. And it's not for the mega-bucks that are going to come rolling in. So... why?
1) The Nostalgia Factor -- There is something inherently enjoyable about using systems the way they were used 20+ years ago. The experience isn't all that different from playing a video game you played as a kid and finding that it is still just as fun.
2) The Fun Factor -- There are some great multiplayer games available for BBS's. Some of the best, in fact. TradeWars and Legend of the Red Dragon being two of the most famous examples. If you enjoy MUD's and games that put game play, thinking, player interaction and, well, text above all else... you'll be right at home.
3) The Geek Factor -- How many people do you know that run a BBS? Seriously. Anyone can put up a website. Your grandma probably has a website. But do any of them run a telnet-accessible multi-node BBS? Instant Nerd-Cred.
4) The Tin-Foil-Hat Factor -- This one is a bit harder to fully explain. But let's say that you're not happy with the way things are going online in terms of privacy. Let's say that you are paranoid about people snooping in your email, reading your browser cache and cookies and monitoring your general online activity. Well. If you've got a BBS that is only accessible via SSH (Secure Shell)... things just got a lot more secure. Heck. I'd say it's a safe bet that most of the kids in hacker groups (like Anonymous) don't even know what a BBS is.
In a nutshell: A person decides to run a BBS because he/she wants to.
But, be warned. Setting up a BBS can be time consuming. Keeping a BBS running can be time consuming. Administering the users on your BBS... can be time consuming.
Setting up a BBS is a lot like adopting a puppy. Time consuming. (But rewarding... if you like puppies.)
Choosing BBS Software
So, you're in. What next?
Next step: figure out what BBS server software you want to run.
Luckily, there are many options to choose from. Unfortunately... most are abandoned and not exactly super compatible with newer systems.
I am going to talk about two of my personal favorite options that should cover most people's needs: Synchronet and Virtual Advanced.
Both systems can handle many, many concurrent online users ("nodes"). Both support message forums, file downloads, games and chat. So let's look at where they differ.
Synchronet is open source, still updated (though not necessarily all that often) and runs on Windows, Linux and FreeBSD.
Virtual Advanced is closed source (though freely available), no longer in development and runs under DOS. (Yes. I did say this was one of my favorites. I'll explain a little further down.)
Despite these, relatively massive, differences both systems are entirely capable of running an excellent BBS. More on getting these two setup in just a bit.
(There are many other, very capable, BBS servers out there. Including EleBBS, WWIV, Wildcat! and Mystic. I am choosing to cover only Synchronet and Virtual Advanced here to keep things simple.)
BBS Door Games
A BBS "Door" is basically a piece of external software (usually a game). How it works is this:
1) A person calls your BBS, then chooses to run a "door game" from a menu that you have set up.
2) The BBS server software then generates what is called a "drop file" (often called "door.sys" or "chain.txt"). This is simply a text file that contains pieces of information that will tell the door software how to continue communicating with the person (connection info, user name, etc.).
3) The BBS server then launches the door software and instructs it where to look for that drop file.
4) When the user is done playing the game, the door software exits and returns control back to the BBS server.
Now that you know the basics of how they work, you'll need to decide which (if any) you want on your system.
This can be a rather huge task. Not only do you need to find out which games you like (and that your callers may like)... but you need to find a way to actually BUY these games (which are, often, long since abandoned).
Luckily there are some games that are still supported (and usually very inexpensive), and various resources to get you started:
John Dailey Software - John supports and sells some truly excellent games, including Barren Realms Elite (a personal favorite strategy game of mine).
BBSFiles.com - This is a great collection of downloads of door games (as well as add-ons). What makes this site truly excellent is that it also provides many, many public (and legal) registration keys for long abandoned games.
TradeWars - This is one of the most popular games out there (and for good reason). But purchasing a new license for the old (and unsupported) DOS door game version can be tricky. The new TradeWars server is developed and sold by EIS. If you really want a good, legal copy... your best bet is to contact them directly.
Gameport - Want Legend of the Red Dragon? Hint: Your callers probably do. Gameport owns the rights and can sell you a registration for 15 bucks. They also have a few other BBS door games available for purchase for the same price.
For each game you'll want to read through the supplied documentation for how to set it up with your BBS. Most likely you'll be making your BBS available via Telnet... which means you'll be ignoring any settings for "Com Ports" and the like for each game and instead relying on something called a "Fossil Driver".
Choosing your OS and Hardware
Hardware -
The hardware requirements for running a BBS are... very small. Have an old PC lying around that can technically run semi-modern OS? Should be fine.
Operating System -
Choosing the OS you run your BBS server on is entirely personal. Linux or Windows (XP or newer) would be my recommendations.
Here's what I'm running:
Arch Linux running on an old Eee PC netbok (with a roughly 600mhz processor).
Small. Cheap. Quiet. Low power.
Linux Notes - I like Linux. But setting up DOS based Door games can be a bit more challenging under Linux (for obvious reasons). If you elect to use Synchronet (which is my recommended approach under Linux) here is a great tutorial on setting up door games for Synchronet under Linux using DOSEMU. It is also possible to use DOSBox to run your DOS door games, but this can be very problematic as DOSBox caches the file system... making it difficult to run games that have multiple, simultaneous online users (but not impossible... just very, very hard). For that reason I highly recommend the Synchronet/DOSEMU route.
Network Connection -
A great speed for using a BBS is roughly equivalent to an old 14.4 or 28.8 analog modem. This allows text to appear on the screen rapidly without making people wait. (Man. The days of 300 baud modems... life was tough!)
Luckily, if you have any decently modern network connection you should be all set. If you want to be able to have 10 concurrent connections, you'll be looking at a maximum usage of about 280 kbit/sec. (And even that is unlikely unless people are downloading files).
For a good example: My BBS (The House of Lunduke) has 20 lines. Even when all 20 lines are full of people playing games I don't even notice the network traffic on my FiOS line.
What *is* important to consider is latency. While a satellite internet connection may have enough bandwidth to handle a BBS... the ping time is going to make your BBS almost unusable as you will end up waiting for an eternity every time you hit a key.
The other big consideration here is how people will connect to your BBS. Will you have your own domain name? A static IP address (recommended)?
If you do not have a static IP address (and your ISP refuses to give you one) you can sign up for a Dynamic DNS service.
Getting Up And Running
Ok. So you've chosen your hardware, OS and BBS software and you're ready to go. What now?
Synchronet -
So you chose Synchronet, eh? If you are running Windows go grab the installer from the Download page then follow these instructions. It's truly pretty straight forward.
Running on Linux? You're going to need to build Synchronet from source and do some tweaking. Luckily there are excellent instructions available. Which I recommend following to the letter.
Virtual Advanced -
Running on Windows:
1) Go grab the Virtual Advanced Windows installer.
2) Then you'll need the VADV32 installer, which is supplied by Aspect Technologies.
Remember when I said Virtual Advanced is no longer being developed? Luckily Aspect Technologies stepped up to the plate and built a great tool called VADV32 which acts as a telnet server and configuration front end for Virtual Advanced. Follow the instructions provided with VADV32.
Running on Linux:
Don't do it. VADV32 is necessary to have a good experience running Virtual Advanced as a telnet accessible BBS. And it is a Windows application.
That said: I am running Virtual Advanced and VADV32 under Arch Linux using Wine (and other tools). It was a royal pain to get working properly. But I'm a stubborn Linux user who used to run Virtual Advanced on OS/2 "back in the day"... I chose that route for nostalgic reasons. So it's possible. If you really hate yourself and want to do this like I did, ask in the comments for this article and I will do my best to help with any issues you have.
Additional Considerations
Does your BBS need a website? If so, will you allow people to connect to your BBS via your website (via something such as FlashTerm or jsTerm).
Will you promote your BBS on the various BBS list website out there (such as BBSFinder)?
How much time/access will you give your users? How will you handle new users?
Will you join a message network (such as FidoNet)?
Lots and lots to consider. Far too many to list and answer. But if you have questions, just ask here and I (or others) may be able to point you in the right direction.
My Thoughts on BBSing
I feel that BBSing is genuinely important. Both as a leisure activity (a rather nerdy one), a communication mechanism and a way of preserving our past (and making that past accessible to everyone to see, experience and study).
I would love to see more BBS's. If this interests you, dive in and have fun. What's the worst that can happen? 
Filed under: BBS | 9 Comments