Quick Start

Requirements

• Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+ recommended)
• Python 3.10+ (3.12 preferred — the installer looks for python3.12
  first, falling back to 3.11, 3.10, then plain python3)
• ~500 MB disk for app + venv, plus space for data/
• Open TCP ports for any protocols you want exposed
  (default: 5000 web, 2233 telnet, 2234 SSH, 513 rlogin,
  21 + 40000-40050 FTP if enabled)

Fresh install

# extract the release tarball
tar xzf ANetBBS-v1.0b2.NNN.tar.gz
cd ANetBBS-v1.0b2.NNN

# run the installer
sudo bash install.sh

The wizard asks every question it needs, roughly in this order:

• Install mode (production / behind / test) — this is the
  first question and changes several other defaults (web port,
  whether nginx+SSL get offered, etc.). production = full public BBS
  with HTTPS via Let's Encrypt; behind = you already have your own
  reverse proxy/TLS in front; test = local/LAN, no domain needed.
• BBS name + description
• System service user + install directory
• Sysop username (your own login handle) + sysop password
  (leave blank to auto-generate one — it's written to
  data/admin_password.txt either way)
• Domain / hostname + web / telnet / SSH ports
• Enable Telnet? Enable SSH? Enable nginx reverse proxy?
• Install the MRC bridge (inter-BBS chat)?
• Enable inter-BBS Instant Messaging (MSP/SYSTAT — privileged ports
  18/11)? Enable Finger (privileged port 79)? Enable BinkP (FidoNet
  inbound mail, port 24554)?
• (if nginx enabled) Enable SSL via Let's Encrypt?
• Optional extras: DOSBox-staging (DOS door games), ClamAV (upload
  virus scanning), lhasa (.lzh archive descriptions), libsixel-bin
  (sixel images in the terminal RSS reader), Mystic BBS runtime (.mps
  door support) — each its own yes/no, all default no.
• Configure UFW firewall to open the ports you just enabled?
  (default no)

Number of concurrent terminal nodes and echomail enable/disable are
not wizard prompts — they default on (GAMES_MAX_NODES=10,
ECHOMAIL_ENABLED=true) and are changed later via .env or
Admin → Settings, not during install.

It then, without any further prompts:

1. Generates a strong random SECRET_KEY and writes .env (skips
   this if .env already exists — re-run with --force to
   regenerate it).
2. Creates data/, logs/, etc.
3. Builds a Python venv and runs pip install -e ..
4. Initializes the SQLite database and seeds your admin user.
5. Installs systemd unit files (paths and service user substituted for
   this install — no /opt/anetbbs hardcoding unless that's where
   you actually installed it) and enables + starts every service you
   said yes to — there's no separate manual systemctl enable --now
   step needed.
6. Runs a set of post-install health checks and prints a summary.

Visit http://<your_host>:<web_port>/ (port 5000 by default in
production mode, 8080 in test/behind mode) and log in with the
sysop credentials from the wizard.

Re-running the wizard

Safe to re-run. It won't touch an existing .env — it just skips
regenerating it and prints "already exists — skipping (use --force
to overwrite)". Pass --force if you actually want it to overwrite
your current config.

Putting nginx in front

Copy deploy/anetbbs-nginx.conf.template to
/etc/nginx/sites-available/anetbbs.conf, edit the server_name,
symlink it to sites-enabled/, and reload nginx. The template handles:

• HTTPS via certbot
• WebSocket upgrade for SocketIO + the MRC bridge
• auth_request gating of the MRC WebSocket so only logged-in users
  can chat

(If you picked production mode in the wizard, this is already done
for you.)

What the install lays down

After install — see the launch checklist