Table of Contents
Network Configuration
Select the type of network technology that you want to configure in SCFG->Networks.
╔═══════════════════════════════╗ ║ Network Configuration ║ ╠═══════════════════════════════╣ ║ │Internet E-mail ║ ║ │QWK Packet Networks ║ ║ │FidoNet EchoMail and NetMail ║ ║ │MQTT ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════╝
Internet E-mail
Configuration that applies to Internet (SMTP/POP3/IMAP) e-mail handling by the Synchronet Mail Server.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Internet E-mail ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ │System Address mybbs.com ║ ║ │Inbound E-mail Semaphore ║ ║ │Outbound E-mail Semaphore ║ ║ │Allow Sending of E-mail Yes ║ ║ │Allow File Attachments No ║ ║ │Send E-mail Using Alias Yes ║ ║ │Kill E-mail After Sent No ║ ║ │Cost to Send E-mail 0 ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
| Option Name | Description |
|---|---|
| System Address | The Internet domain name used as the right-hand side of outbound e-mail addresses (e.g. user@mybbs.com). |
| Inbound E-mail Semaphore | Path to a file Synchronet creates after receiving inbound Internet e-mail (used to trigger external delivery / processing). |
| Outbound E-mail Semaphore | Path to a file Synchronet creates when there is new outbound Internet e-mail pending (used to trigger an external SMTP-out program if not relying on the built-in mail server). |
| Allow Sending of E-mail | Allow users to send Internet e-mail at all. |
| Allow File Attachments | Allow users to attach files to outbound Internet e-mail. |
| Send E-mail Using Alias | Use the user's alias (rather than real name) in the From header. |
| Kill E-mail After Sent | Delete sent messages from the user's outbox after delivery, rather than retaining a copy. |
| Cost to Send E-mail | Credits charged per outbound Internet e-mail (0 = free). |
QWK Packet Networks
From this menu you can configure the default tagline to use for outgoing messages on QWK networked sub-boards, or you can select Network Hubs... to add, delete, or configure QWK hubs that your system calls to exchange packets with.
This menu configures your BBS as a QWK network node (a system that calls hubs). To run your BBS as a QWK network hub instead — so other systems can call you to exchange packets — see qwk-network-hub.
╔═════════════════════╗ ║ QWK Packet Networks ║ ╠═════════════════════╣ ║ │Network Hubs... ║ ║ │Default Tagline ║ ╚═════════════════════╝
QWK Network Hub
This menu allows you to configure options specific to this QWKnet hub.
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ VERT QWK Network Hub ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ │Hub System ID VERT ║
║ │Enabled No ║
║ │Archive Format ZIP ║
║ │Call-out Command Line *qnet-ftp %s dove.synchro.net YOURPASS ║
║ │Native Call-out Command No ║
║ │Call-out Node 1 ║
║ │Call-out Days All ║
║ │Call-out Frequency 4 times a day ║
║ │Include Kludge Lines No ║
║ │Include VOTING.DAT File Yes ║
║ │Include HEADERS.DAT File Yes ║
║ │Include UTF-8 Characters Yes ║
║ │Include MIME-encoded Text No ║
║ │Word-wrap Exported Messages No ║
║ │Extended (QWKE) Packets No ║
║ │Exported Ctrl-A Codes Leave in ║
║ │Advanced Options... ║
║ │Import Conferences... ║
║ │Networked Sub-boards... ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
The Hub System ID must match the QWK System ID of this network hub.
The Archive Format should be set to an archive/compression format that the hub will expect your REP packets to be submitted with (typically, ZIP).
The Call-out Command Line is executed when your system attempts a packet exchange with the QWKnet hub (e.g. executes a script).
Toggle Native Call-out Command to Yes if your Call-out Command-line is invoking a native (not a 16-bit DOS) program or script.
Kludge Lines (e.g. @TZ, @VIA, @MSGID, @REPLY) provide information not available in standard QWK message headers, but are superfluous when the HEADERS.DAT file is supported and used.
The VOTING.DAT file is the distributed QWKnet voting system supported in Synchronet v3.17 and later
The HEADERS.DAT file provides all the same information that can be found in Kludge Lines and also addresses the 25-character QWK field length limits. HEADERS.DAT is supported in Synchronet v3.15 and later.
Synchronet v3.18 and later supports UTF-8 encoded messages within QWK packets. If the hub is using Synchronet v3.18 or later, set this option to Yes. This option also changes the QWK new-line sequence to the ASCII LF (10) character instead of the traditional QWK newline byte (227).
Include MIME-encoded Text exports message bodies as MIME-encoded content. Generally only useful when the hub expects MIME-formatted QWK messages.
Word-wrap Exported Messages applies word-wrapping to exported message text before packing.
Extended (QWKE) Packets are not normally used in QWK Networking. Setting this to Yes enables some QWKE-specific Kludge Lines that are superfluous when the HEADERS.DAT file is supported and used.
Exported Ctrl-A Codes determines how Synchronet attribute/color codes in messages are exported into the QWK network packets. This may be set to Leave in (retain), Expand (to ANSI), or Strip (remove). This setting is used for QWKnet NetMail messages and may over-ride the equivalent setting for each sub-board.
Import Conferences... allows you to import a QWK control.dat file which can both create new sub-boards in a target message group of your choice and set the Networked Sub-boards with QWK conference numbers correlating with the hub system.
Networked Sub-boards... allows you to manually add, remove, or modify local sub-board associations with conferences on this QWK network hub.
QWK Hub Advanced Options
The Advanced Options sub-menu of a QWK hub configures the archive command lines used when the built-in libarchive cannot handle the Archive Format (rare in modern setups):
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ QWK Hub Advanced Options ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ │Pack Command Line ║ ║ │Unpack Command Line ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
| Option Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Pack Command Line | External pack/compress command for outbound REP packets, when not using libarchive's built-in support. See Command Lines for the available specifiers. |
| Unpack Command Line | External unpack/extract command for inbound QWK packets, when not using libarchive. |
For ZIP, 7z, and tarball formats supported by libarchive, leave both blank — Synchronet will pack/unpack in-process.
FidoNet EchoMail and NetMail
Configuration for FidoNet-style networks (NetMail and EchoMail). Operational tools: sbbsecho (tossing/scanning) and BinkD / BinkIT (mailer).
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FidoNet EchoMail and NetMail ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ │System Addresses ║ ║ │Default Origin Line ║ ║ │NetMail Semaphore %jfidoout.now ║ ║ │EchoMail Semaphore %jfidoout.now ║ ║ │NetMail Directory ../fido/netmail/ ║ ║ │Allow Sending of NetMail No ║ ║ │Allow File Attachments Yes ║ ║ │Send NetMail Using Alias No ║ ║ │NetMail Defaults to Crash No ║ ║ │NetMail Defaults to Direct No ║ ║ │NetMail Defaults to Hold No ║ ║ │Kill NetMail After Sent Yes ║ ║ │Cost to Send NetMail 0 ║ ║ │Choose NetMail Source Address No ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
| Option Name | Description |
|---|---|
| System Addresses | List of FidoNet (or other FTN) addresses by which this BBS is known. The first address is the primary address; additional addresses are typically AKAs (alternate addresses, e.g. for joining secondary FTNs). Edit via the sub-menu. |
| Default Origin Line | Default Origin line appended to outbound EchoMail. Per-sub-board overrides are configured under Sub-board Network Options. |
| NetMail Semaphore | Path to a file Synchronet creates when there is outbound NetMail pending (signals the mailer to make a session). |
| EchoMail Semaphore | Path to a file Synchronet creates when there is outbound EchoMail pending. Often the same file as NetMail Semaphore. Common values use command-line specifiers like %j (= data). |
| NetMail Directory | On-disk directory where outbound NetMail messages are stored as *.MSG files for the front-end mailer to pick up. |
| Allow Sending of NetMail | Allow users to send NetMail at all. |
| Allow File Attachments | Allow users to attach files to outbound NetMail. |
| Send NetMail Using Alias | Use the user's alias (rather than real name) in the From field. |
| NetMail Defaults to Crash | New NetMail defaults to Crash flag (immediate, high-priority delivery). |
| NetMail Defaults to Direct | New NetMail defaults to Direct flag (no routing through hubs; goes directly to destination). |
| NetMail Defaults to Hold | New NetMail defaults to Hold flag (held until destination polls in). |
| Kill NetMail After Sent | Delete sent NetMail from user's outbox after delivery. |
| Cost to Send NetMail | Credits charged per outbound NetMail (0 = free). |
| Choose NetMail Source Address | Only shown when more than one System Address is configured. If Yes, the user is prompted to choose which of the system addresses to send from. If No, the primary address is used. |
MQTT
Synchronet can publish status and log messages to an MQTT Broker for monitoring by MQTT clients. Synchronet will also subscribe to topics that may be used to control Synchronet servers and nodes from MQTT clients.
For the MQTT Topic Naming and Payload Schemes used by Synchronet, see: mqtt
Note: An MQTT Broker is sometimes referred to as an MQTT Server.
╔══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Message Queue Telemetry Transport ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ │Enabled No ║ ║ │Broker Address 192.168.1.1 ║ ║ │Broker Port 1883 ║ ║ │Keep-alive 60 seconds ║ ║ │Publish Verbosity High ║ ║ │Publish QOS 0: At most once ║ ║ │Subscribe QOS 2: Exactly once ║ ║ │Log Level Informational ║ ║ │TLS (encryption) Off ║ ║ │Username ║ ║ │Password ║ ║ │Protocol Version 3.1.1 ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝
| Option Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Master switch for the MQTT integration. |
| Broker Address | Hostname or IP address of the MQTT broker (sometimes called MQTT Server). |
| Broker Port | TCP port the broker is listening on. Default 1883 (plain) / 8883 (TLS). |
| Keep-alive | MQTT KEEPALIVE interval in seconds. The client sends a PINGREQ if no other traffic happens within this interval. |
| Publish Verbosity | Low = essential events only; High = also publish detailed activity (logon/logoff, message events, etc.). |
| Publish QOS | MQTT Quality of Service level for messages published by Synchronet. 0 = at most once, 1 = at least once, 2 = exactly once. |
| Subscribe QOS | QOS level requested when Synchronet subscribes to control topics. |
| Log Level | Minimum log severity to publish (Debug / Informational / Warning / Error / Critical). |
| TLS (encryption) | TLS mode: Off, Pre-shared Key (PSK), or Certificate. Reveals additional fields when set. |
| Username | MQTT username for broker authentication. |
| Password | MQTT password for broker authentication. |
| Protocol Version | MQTT protocol version: 3.1, 3.1.1, or 5.0. |
When TLS is set to Certificate, additional fields appear: CA Cert, Client Cert, Key File, Key File Password. When TLS is set to Pre-shared Key, Key and Identity fields appear.
For the topics published / subscribed, see MQTT topic and payload reference.
