Synchronet v3.19b-Win32 (install) has been released (Jan-2022).

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Finger Service

This service (implemented in exec/fingerservice.js) supports the following protocols:

Note: Active Users over UDP is required for inter-bbs Instant Message support.

Configuration

Example configurations (in ctrl/services.ini):

[Finger]
Port=79
Options=NO_HOST_LOOKUP
Command=fingerservice.js
[Finger-UDP]
Port=79
Options=UDP | NO_HOST_LOOKUP
Command=fingerservice.js
[ActiveUser]
Port=11
Options=NO_HOST_LOOKUP
Command=fingerservice.js -u
[ActiveUser-UDP]
Port=11
Options=UDP | NO_HOST_LOOKUP
Command=fingerservice.js -u

Command-line options

Add to the command lines shown above to change the behavior of the Finger service:

Option Description
-n Eliminate user age and gender information from the query results
-a Report aliases only (no real names)
-ff Enable the findfile feature (requires a “guest” account)
-u Report users currently online only (ignore any request), a.k.a. Active Users protocol

Plan Files

Each BBS user may have their own finger-readable plan file stored as data/user/####.plan where #### is the user's account number on the BBS. This file can be viewed, edited, or deleted on the BBS (Terminal Server) by using the PLAN string command (e.g. type the ;PLAN command, using most command shells).

Special Requests

The normal Finger protocol usage is to request information on a specific user-ID/name (sent by the client). The Synchronet Finger Service (when not run in Active Users protocol mode), supports the following Special Requests as well:

Request Description
?ver Synchronet version information
?uptime Current system up-time
?time Current system time
?logon.lst BBS Logon list
?auto.msg BBS auto-message
?sockopts Current socket options
?stats BBS Statistics
?nodelist BBS node list
?services Other TCP/IP Services enabled/running
?findfile Find a file (enabled with the -ff option)

Additional Special Requests

You can have additional files available for query via Finger Special Request by placing the files in the data/finger directory. Such files may be request remotely with a request to finger ?filename, where filename is the name of the file to be sent.