All,

OK, I now have what I'd consider to be a solid early start to my Talisman
BBS! Basics are all working. Added my 4th FTN network without any
issue, 100% utilzing Postie.

Turns out I also had a binkd problem -- when running via cron, I needed
full paths. Once I echo'd to logs I found why I wasn't getting mail:

FYI, this is my working cron:

---

*/5 * * * * /home/robbiew/bbs/ftn/poll_bink.sh > /home/robbiew/bbs/logs/cron.log 2>&1

---

(that's all on one line when adding via 'crontab -e')

Then my poll_bink.sh file:

---

#!/bin/bash
UPLINKS=("637:1/100@happynet" "21:4/100@fsxnet" "77:1/100@scinet" "1337:3/100@tqwnet")
for uplink in "${UPLINKS[@]}"
do
/usr/local/sbin/binkd -p -P $uplink /home/robbiew/bbs/ftn/binkd.conf >
done

---

So, the next network I want to add is fidonet, but there are just to many
echos to add these manually. Will probably need some sort of import
script?

Lastly, I just moved my BBS from a Pi in my home office to a robust
Digital Ocean VM -- what a difference. I was getting garbled ANSI on
my pi, probably due to connection issues with my crap DSL service, too
many people using Zoom in the hours -- and with all the weather: power
surges and blackout.

But it only took me about 1/2 hour to go from a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 VM to a fully working Talisman BBS with echomail. Getting t

Re: getting better at this!
By: Alpha to all on Thu Jan 28 2021 03:12 pm

Turns out I also had a binkd problem -- when running via cron, I needed full paths. Once I echo'd to logs I found why I wasn't getting mail:

One thing to keep in mind when starting/running anything with cron is that the environment is *VERY* minimal. There is no path in the environment so you always have to use a full path to the executibles you want to run.

In my cron script that starts binkd and the BBS it sets the environment from /etc/profile.

. /etc/profile

If you are using a script to start things from cron you can also set needed environments in it, but crons environment is almost bare.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... You can name your salary here, I call mine fred.
--- SBBSecho 3.12-Linux
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

One thing to keep in mind when starting/running anything with cron is
that the environment is *VERY* minimal. There is no path in the
environment so you always have to use a full path to the executibles
you want to run.

Yes, I had no idea this was the case. Wasn't until I started looking in
the logs that I realized this.

In my cron script that starts binkd and the BBS it sets the
environment from /etc/profile.

. /etc/profile

Oh, so you are running that a command in crontab, or as part of an .sh
file that launches the BBS and binkd?


|04[] |11Alpha
|03The Drunken Gamer |08/ |14TheDrunkenGamer.com:2323
|07A Talisman BBS

--- Talisman v0.10-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: The Drunken Gamer BBS (21:4/158)

Re: getting better at this!
By: Alpha to Al on Fri Jan 29 2021 11:40 pm

Oh, so you are running that a command in crontab, or as part of an .sh file that launches the BBS and binkd?

It's a .sh file I run from cron like this..

@reboot /usr/local/bin/start-binkd.sh

So this script runs on reboot. The script looks like this..

#!/bin/sh
#
# A shell script to start binkd.
#
. /etc/profile
/usr/local/sbin/binkd -DC /usr/local/etc/binkd.conf
cd /sbbs
exec/sbbs

On my slackware box the /etc/profile contains all the environment I need for binkd and the BBS.

You might want another file like /home/user/.bash_profile.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... All real programs contain errors.
--- SBBSecho 3.12-Linux
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

Al wrote (2021-01-30):

Oh, so you are running that a command in crontab, or as part of an
.sh file that launches the BBS and binkd?

It's a .sh file I run from cron like this..

@reboot /usr/local/bin/start-binkd.sh

If you are running mainstream Linux, is there a reason to not use systemd?

---
* Origin: . (21:3/102)

Re: getting better at this!
By: Oli to Al on Sun Jan 31 2021 08:19 am

@reboot /usr/local/bin/start-binkd.sh

If you are running mainstream Linux, is there a reason to not use systemd?

Yes, I used systemd under debian and it works well.

I don't have systemd under slackware. Well, I might be able to install it but I haven't gone looking.

Both binkd and sbbs are very stable so it has been enough for me to start them from cron on reboot and I don't need to worry about either of them.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... 75%, no, 72% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
--- SBBSecho 3.12-Linux
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

If you are running mainstream Linux, is there a reason to not use
systemd?

I use systemd for binkd, but also requires me to CHOWN the /var/run/pid
file on reboot.


|04[] |11Alpha
|03The Drunken Gamer |08/ |14TheDrunkenGamer.com:2323
|07A Talisman BBS

--- Talisman v0.10-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: The Drunken Gamer BBS (21:4/158)

Re: getting better at this!
By: Alpha to Oli on Sun Jan 31 2021 08:19 am

I use systemd for binkd, but also requires me to CHOWN the /var/run/pid file on reboot.

I adjusted the location of the binkd.pid in binkd.conf to a location where I can read/write that file without chowning.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... Ask not for whom the bell tolls; let the machine get it.
--- SBBSecho 3.12-Linux
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)