Installing ANetBBS

Requirements

Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+ recommended)
Python 3.10+
~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 somewhere temporary
tar xzf anetbbs-rebuilt-v120.tar.gz
cd anetbbs-rebuilt

# kick off the wizard
sudo python3 -m anetbbs.installer.wizard

The wizard asks every question it needs:

BBS name + description + sysop name + email
Public domain (or leave blank if just a LAN box)
Web / telnet / SSH / rlogin ports + which to enable
Number of concurrent terminal nodes (1–100)
Echomail enable/disable
Admin username + password

It then:

Generates a strong random SECRET_KEY and writes .env.
Creates data/, logs/, etc.
Builds a Python venv and runs pip install -e.
Initializes the SQLite database and seeds your admin user.
Optionally installs systemd unit files (with paths and user
replaced for this install — no /opt/anetbbs hardcoding).

When it's done you start the services:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now anetbbs-web anetbbs-telnet anetbbs-ssh

Visit http://<your_host>:5000/ and log in.

Re-running the wizard

Safe to re-run — it won't clobber an existing .env without an
explicit "yes" prompt. Use it to redo specific steps after manual
poking.

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

What the install lays down