+++ /dev/null
- NETWORK CONFIGURATION UTILITIES FOR CITADEL/UX
- ----------------------------------------------
-
- ABSTRACT
- --------
-
- The Citadel/UX system now comes with two utilities for managing room-sharing
-with other systems: 'netsetup' (a command line utility) and 'dnetsetup' (a
-curses-based front end to netsetup). Read on for more detail...
-
-
- THE NETSETUP PROGRAM
- --------------------
-
- 'netsetup' is a program which eliminates the need to edit the files in your
-network/systems directory in order to maintain the sharing of rooms on a
-network. It allows you to make all changes from the command line. While the
-program is quite usable and straightforward this way, the real objective is
-for it to be controlled by any of several user-friendly front ends (such as
-the 'dnetsetup' program, described below). The usage of 'netsetup' is as
-follows:
-
- netsetup: usage: netsetup <command> [arguments]
-
- Commands:
- nodelist (Lists all neighboring nodes)
- addnode [name] (Adds a new node to the list)
- deletenode [name] (Deletes a node from the list)
- roomlist [node] (List rooms being shared)
- getcommand [node] (Show spool command)
- setcommand [node] [cmd] (Set spool command)
- share [node] [room] (Add a new shared room)
- unshare [node] [room] (Stop sharing a room)
- help (Display this message)
-
- The usage of each command should be quite straightforward from the
-descriptions listed here.
-
-
- THE DNETSETUP PROGRAM
- ---------------------
-
- dnetsetup is a more user-friendly front end to netsetup. It's written in
-shell-script and requires no compiling. Simply type 'dnetsetup' at the
-command line and follow the menus to create, edit, and delete neighboring
-network nodes, and to share and unshare rooms.
-
-
- FEEDBACK
- --------
-
- By now you already know where I hang out. :) You can find me at
-UNCENSORED! BBS at uncensored.citadel.org (telnet, www, citadel-client, etc.)
- Citadel/UX Networking Documentation
- (A brief overview on setup)
- Written by Steve Williams (Patriot @ pixel)
+ Room Sharing in Citadel/UX
+ --------------------------
+
+ One way to "keep the conversation going" on your Citadel system is to share
+rooms with other Citadel systems. This process has been streamlined in recent
+versions and is now very easy. In a shared room, a message posted to the room
+is automatically propagated to every system on the network. It's kind of like
+a UseNet newsgroup, but without the spam.
+
+ Obviously, the first thing you have to do is find another Citadel to share
+rooms with, and make arrangements with them. The following Citadels are a good
+place to start:
+
+ The Dog Pound II dogpound2.citadel.org
+ UNCENSORED! uncensored.citadel.org
+ PixelBBS pixel.citadel.org
+
+ You don't have to be a part of the citadel.org domain to participate in the
+Citadel network, but the DNS service is provided free of charge by the Citadel
+community if you wish to do this.
+
+ Before we get into the technical nitty gritty, there are two points of
+etiquette to keep in mind. The first thing to keep in mind is that the
+operator of any particular Citadel may not be willing to share some of his/her
+rooms. Some sites are proud to offer exclusive content in certain areas.
+Chances are, if a room is already being shared on the network, it's available
+for anyone to share; if not, it can't hurt to ask -- but take care not to
+demand it of them. Ask if you may share the room instead of telling them that
+you wish to share the room. When looking at a <K>nown rooms list, network
+rooms are the ones ending in parentheses instead of angle brackets. For
+example, "Gateway)" would be a network room, "Lobby>" would not.
+
+ The other point of etiquette to remember is that you should be making the
+arrangements in advance, and then set it up. It is extremely rude to simply
+begin networking with another Citadel without first obtaining permission from
+its operator. Always ask first. Most Citadel operators are more than happy
+to network with you. Also, if later on you decide to take your system down,
+please take the time to notify the operators of any other Citadels you network
+with, so they can unconfigure their end.
+
+
+ Ok, first things first. On a Citadel room sharing network, the first thing
+you need to know is your own system's node name. Presumably you set this
+up during installation, but if you want to change it you can do so using the
+<.A>ide <S>ysconfig <G>eneral command:
+Lobby> . Aide System configuration General
+Node name [uncnsrd]:
+Fully qualified domain name [uncensored.citadel.org]:
+Human readable node name [Uncensored]:
+
+ The "node name" is important, it's how the network identifies messages
+coming from your system. The "human readable node name" is simply a label;
+it shows up in messages coming from your system. "Fully qualified domain
+name" is your DNS name; it's used for routing messages on the Internet. In
+the above example, the node name is "uncnsrd".
+
+
+ The next thing you need to do is configure your neighbor node(s). You need
+to do this for each node you network with. Let's say you wanted to talk to
+a Citadel system called "frobozz". Use the <.A>ide <S>ysconfig <N>etwork
+command:
- Having come this far, you're ready to set up your networked rooms. In
-and of itself it's not too difficult. I would suggest telnetting to
-another Citadel/UX and checking out what they offer. Currently,
-uncensored.citadel.org and dogpound2.citadel.org and pixel.citadel.org
-are your best bets.
+Lobby> . Aide System configuration Network
+### Node Secret Host or IP Port#
+--- ---------------- ---------------- -------------------------------- -----
+<A>dd <D>elete <S>ave <Q>uit -> Add
-Below is a list of the networked rooms (most of them) that PixelBBS
-carries. Note the ) after each room name. This designates that room as a
-networked room.
+Enter node name : frobozz
+Enter shared secret: frotz
+Enter host or IP : frobozz.magick.org
+Enter port number : [504]: 504
- Rooms with no new messages on Networked Rooms:
-A/V Talk) Creation/Evolution) babylon 5) Jokes) Networking)
-Astronomy) Books: Sci-Fi) Food) MP3 Universe) TrekNet) PaganNet)
-net.Religion) Music) Programming) Uncensored Magic) Politica) Movies)
-Video Games) Star Wars) Linux) Pets) Swagazine) Global Address Book)
-Sports) Slimies 2000) Science Fiction) Sysop Stuff) Raising Kids)
-Unix) Hot Pink Amoebas) Dreams) Buy/Sell) Tech Area) Citadel
-Development) Linux Today) Citadel/UX) Gay/Lesbian) Of the Weird)
-Magic-The Gathering) The Local Net) Books) Netlinks) Software
-Questions) SCA) Abortion) NASA News) Misheard Lyrics) Snausages)
-Macintosh) Gateway) Microsoft Bashing) IGnet Unlimited) BBS Ads)
+### Node Secret Host or IP Port#
+--- ---------------- ---------------- -------------------------------- -----
+ 1 frobozz frotz frobozz.magick.org 504
+<A>dd <D>elete <S>ave <Q>uit -> Save
+Lobby>
+ As you can see in the above example, you have to enter the Citadel node name,
+the DNS name or IP address of the server, and the port number the Citadel
+service is running on. The "shared secret" is a password to allow the two
+Citadel nodes to connect to each other to exchange network data. The password
+must be *identical* on both ends of the connection -- when the operator of
+the other Citadel node sets up the connection with your system, he/she must
+use the same password.
+
+
+ Now you're ready to share rooms. You have to do this for each room you want
+to share, and you have to do it from BOTH ENDS -- again, when you share a room
+with another Citadel, they must share it with you as well. Let's say you have
+a room called "Quiche Recipes>" and you want to share it with the node you
+set up above. First, edit the room and flag it as a network room:
+Quiche Recipes> . Aide Edit this room
+Room name [Quiche Recipes]:
+Private room [No]: No
+Preferred users only [No]: No
+Read-only room [No]: No
+Directory room [No]: No
+Permanent room [No]: No
+Network shared room [No]: Yes
+Automatically make all messages anonymous [No]: No
+Ask users whether to make messages anonymous [No]: No
+Listing order [64]:
+Room aide (or 'none') [none]:
+Message expire policy (? for list) [0]:
+Save changes (y/n)? Yes
+Ok
-Basically networking your citadel is a very good idea, because not only do
-you have your own userbase to add to your rooms, you also have input from
-every other networked Citadel/UX and some other varieties of Citadel as
-well (Citadel-86, Cit:K2NE, etc), which dramatically increases the
-topical posting. So now you're saying, "Ok, I know what it is now, how do
-I set the damned thing up?" Good question. There are several steps to
-take. Actually setting up the networked rooms is simple so we'll do that
-last. The first thing you need to do is to find another network node to
-share with. The best way to do this (at this time) is to send mail to
-smw@pixel.citadel.org. For the time being I'll share my rooms with just
-about anyone as I have the bandwidth currently to accomplish this. Now,
-for the step by step:
+Quiche Recipes)
+
+ Notice how the prompt changed? It was > before, but it's ) now. That means
+it's a network room. Now you can tell Citadel that you want to share the room
+with frobozz. Enter this command:
+Quiche Recipes) . Aide Network room sharing
+
+ Your text editor will pop up (you *did* configure Citadel to use your
+favorite text editor, right?) with a screen that looks like this:
- 1. Determine from the list above (I have most of the networked rooms
- listed, however I have no idea or way of knowing how often new rooms
- will be added) or from another networked citadel, which networked rooms
- you would like.
+# Configuration for room: Quiche Recipes
+# Nodes with which we share this room
+# Specify one per line.
- 2. Contact me, or the sysop on another networked citadel (login to the
- bbs and send mail to recipient Sysop), asking to share those rooms with
- you.
-
- 3. Configure your neighbor nodes with <.A>ide <S>ysconfig <N>etwork
-
- 4. Configure rooms to share with <.A>ide <N>etwork room sharing
-
-
- At this point we're all done. Oh I admit that you might run into
- some problems, and if you do you can feel free to mail
- smw@pixel.citadel.org with the subject Citadel Problems.
+ All you have to do is enter the name of the other Citadel node (i.e.
+"frobozz" in our example) on a line by itself. As usual, lines starting with
+a "#" are comments. Just go to the end of the file, type "frobozz" (without
+the quotes), save the file... and you're done!
- Visit PixelBBS at:pixel.citadel.org, login as bbs.
- Or, if you prefer: http://pixel.citadel.org:2000
+ At this point, you just sit back and enjoy. Your Citadel and the other one
+will begin polling each other at regular intervals (once per hour by default)
+and sharing messages.
- -Steve Williams (Patriot)
projects / citadel.git / commitdiff