Table of Contents

Doors in Synchronet

This page is about Synchronet on Linux. Running Synchronet on Windows? See The Windows version: it has the SCFG settings for LORD FP as a Windows door, step by step.

Synchronet calls doors “external programs”. Each one gets a directory under /sbbs/xtrn and an entry in SCFG, under External Programs > Online Programs (Doors), inside a program section such as “Games”. DOS doors need dosemu2 for Synchronet first.

A DOS door, step by step

  1. Make a directory for the door under /sbbs/xtrn, with a short name that is also a valid DOS name (8 characters or fewer, no spaces), for example /sbbs/xtrn/bre. Unzip the door into it.
  2. Make sure the user Synchronet runs as owns the files: chown -R <bbsuser> /sbbs/xtrn/bre. Doors write their data files as they run.
  3. Run the door's setup program under de (see the local DOS prompt). Wherever it asks for paths, give DOS paths: the game directory is E:\BRE\, and the drop file is in D:\.
  4. If the door expects a batch file to start it (most do), check that it changes to the door's directory or doesn't need to. external.bat has already changed to the start-up directory before it runs the command line.
  5. Run scfg, go to External Programs > Online Programs (Doors), pick a section and add the door with the settings below.
  6. Log in to the BBS and run the door. Test entering, a few keys, and quitting back to the BBS.
  7. If the door has a daily maintenance program, add it as a timed event (SCFG > External Programs > Timed Events) or use the door's own “run maintenance at first login” option.

SCFG settings for a DOS door

Setting Value
Name What callers see.
Internal Code e.g. BRE (up to 8 characters, unique).
Start-up Directory ../xtrn/bre. Relative to /sbbs/ctrl, so it starts with ../xtrn/. A wrong path here is the most common cause of a door that hangs at start.
Command Line e.g. bre.bat or start.bat %# (%# is the node number).
Multiple Concurrent Users Yes, if the door supports it.
I/O Method FOSSIL or UART (not Standard).
Native Executable/Script No (“DOS program, use dosemu2”).
Use Shell or New Context Yes.
BBS Drop File Type What the door reads (below).
Place Drop File In Node Directory (the door finds it on D:\).

Drop file types

The drop file tells the door who the caller is, their time left and their terminal. Pick the one the door's documentation asks for:

SCFG type File Used by
GAP (extended) DOOR.SYS, 52 lines TradeWars 2002, most 1990s doors.
GAP (original) DOOR.SYS, 31 lines LORD (either works).
RBBS/QuickBBS DORINFO1.DEF Barren Realms Elite, Esterian Conquest.
Mystic DOOR32.SYS Newer and native Linux doors.
Others CHAIN.TXT, CALLINFO.BBS, PCBOARD.SYS, SFDOORS.DAT, DOORFILE.SR Doors written for those BBS packages.

A native Linux door

A Linux program that talks to the caller on standard input and output needs no dosemu2. The differences in SCFG:

Setting Value
Command Line The full path to the program and its options.
Native Executable/Script Yes.
I/O Method Standard (stdio); turn input echo off if the program echoes for itself.
Use Shell or New Context No.

An rlogin door

To send players to another server (TWGS, LORD Server), the command line is Synchronet's ?rlogin script, with no drop file: ?rlogin host:port -t xtrn=A -P.

Working examples

The door entries on Kalgoorlie Retro BBS, in a section called “Games Hosted by Kalgoorlie Retro”:

Door Start-up directory Command line Drop file
LORD 4.06 ../xtrn/lord4 start.bat %# GAP (original)
LORD FP (DOS) ../xtrn/lordf start.bat %# GAP (original)
LORD FP (Linux) ../xtrn/lordfp /sbbs/xtrn/lordfp/lord -d %n -r %r (native) GAP (original)
LORD - Windows Server ?rlogin 10.0.0.8:5130 -t xtrn=A -P none
TradeWars 2002 ../xtrn/tw2002 tw.bat %# GAP (extended)
Barren Realms Elite ../xtrn/bre bre.bat DORINFO1.DEF
Esterian Conquest ../xtrn/EC ec.bat DORINFO1.DEF

Their batch files: 

REM tw.bat - TradeWars 2002
@ECHO OFF
SET RTM=EXTMAX 1024
TW2002 TWNODE=%1 SHARE VIDEO=SLOW > TWERR%1.LOG
REM bre.bat - Barren Realms Elite
@ECHO OFF
E:
CD \BRE
SRDOOR
BRE
REM ec.bat - Esterian Conquest (game in a subdirectory)
@ECHO OFF
CD GAME01
..\ECGAME D:\DORINFO1.DEF
CD ..